K
ATHLEEN
A
LCALÁ
is the author of a story collection,
Mrs. Vargas and the Dead Naturalist
; three novels set in nineteenth-century Mexico:
Spirits of the Ordinary, The Flower in the Skull
, and
Treasures in Heaven
; and a collection of essays,
The Desert Remembers My Name
. A cofounder of and contributing editor to the
Raven Chronicles
, Alcalá has been a writer in residence at Seattle University and the University of New Mexico. She teaches in the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts on Whidbey Island.
C
URT
C
OLBERT
is the author of the Jake Rossiter & Miss Jenkins mysteries, a series of hardboiled, private detective novels set in 1940s Seattle. The first book,
Rat City
, was nominated for a Shamus Award in 2001. A Seattle native, Colbert is also a poet and an avid history buff. He is currently finishing the fourth book in the series,
Nowhere Town
, as well as working on a present-day novel,
All Along the Watchtower
, featuring Rossiter’s son Matt as a Seattle-based PI.
R. B
ARRI
F
LOWERS
is a best-selling, award-winning author of more than forty books, including the thrillers
State’s Evidence, Persuasive Evidence
, and
Justice Served
. He is the editor of the American Crime Writers League’s mystery anthology
Murder Past, Murder Present
and the recipient of the prestigious Wall of Fame Award from Michigan State University. He has appeared on the Biography Channel and Investigation Discovery. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.
G.M. F
ORD
is the author of the six-book Leo Waterman series, which has been nominated for Shamus, Anthony, and Lefty awards. He also writes another series based on the disgraced reporter Frank Corso, and he recently completed his first nonseries novel,
Nameless Night
. Ford lives and works by the shores of the Pacific Ocean, and is a former creative writing instructor. He is married to mystery author Skye Moody.
P
ATRICIA
H
ARRINGTON
is a Derringer Award winner and her work has appeared in
Woman’s Day
and
Mysterical-E.
The author’s first mystery novel,
Death Stalks the Khmer
, had the distinction of being used as supplemental reading in university social work and intercultural communication classes.
T
HOMAS
P. H
OPP
lived his earliest years in a West Seattle housing project. He draws on his European and Native American heritage to explore diverse themes in fiction. He studied molecular biology at the University of Washington, earned a PhD in biochemistry at Cornell Medical College in New York City, and helped found the biotechnology company, Immunex Corporation. His latest medical thriller is
The Jihad Virus
.
L
OU
K
EMP’S
writing has appeared in
Eldritch Tales, Black October
, and
Pirate Writings
, as well as several anthologies. One of her short stories received an honorable mention in
The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2005
edited by Ellen Datlow. She has just completed a novel,
Farm Hall.
B
HARTI
K
IRCHNER
writes novels, cookbooks, essays, short stories, and magazine articles. She is the author of eight books, including four critically acclaimed novels. Her first novel,
Shiva Dancing
, was chosen by
Seattle Weekly
as one of the top eighteen books by Seattle authors in the last twenty-five years. Bharti’s work has been translated into German, Dutch, Spanish, Thai, and other languages. Her story in this volume, “Promised Tulips,” is an excerpt from a novel-in-progress.
R
OBERT
L
OPRESTI
is enjoying his third decade in western Washington. His more than thirty published short stories include a Derringer Award winner and an Anthony Award nominee. His first novel,
Such a Killing Crime
, was published in 2005.
S
TEPHAN
M
AGCOSTA
has worked as a contributing writer for the
Stranger
and guest film curator at the University of Washington’s Henry Art Gallery. He has read commentary on NPR and his writing has appeared in
La Voz
, the
Raven Chronicles
, and on numerous websites. He recently finished writing his first novel,
Surrounded by Grey
, an Aztec noir set in Seattle and pre-Colombian Mexico.