A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR, MAYA BECAME addicted to science fiction as the result of a hair-raising encounter with a robot named Gort. Her dad let her stay up late to watch The Day the Earth Stood Still when she was 6 and Maya was never the same. Her debut novel, The Meri (Baen), was a Locus Magazine 1992 Best First Novel nominee (now available as a trade paperback from Sense of Wonder Press). Since, she has published eight more speculative fiction nov- els, including Mr. Twilight (with Michael Reaves) and also worked with Michael on Star Wars - Coruscant Nights III: Patterns of Force, Star Wars: Shadow Games and the New York Times Bestseller and Science Fiction Club selection, THE LAST JEDI -fourth book in the Coruscant Nights series. She recently stepped sideways into the world of mystery/crime novels with her first Gina Miyoko mystery-THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER. I've read mysteries all my life and I love them. I realize I've embedded a mystery of some sort in almost everything I've written. I'm thrilled that I'm finally working in the genre. Dave Di Pietro has over 38 years' experience within the film and video industries. Beginning by shooting Super-8 movies while still in high school, it wasn't long before he joined a group of fellow filmmakers and formed Cinema Group 4, a small film society. While at the New Jersey based organization, he began writing and directing, as well as producing special effects for their in-house films. Their grandest accomplishment was a 16mm feature based on Arthur C. Clarke's novel Rendezvous with Rama. Dave eventually went to work for Paramount Pictures for over 13 years. While there, he wrote and directed a pilot for the SyFy Channel called, Quad 9, which was about a space station at the edge of our galaxy, set up to patrol and police this dangerous frontier. He is now writing and directing for both stage and screen in the Atlanta, Georgia area, which is becoming the Hollywood of the East. He has formed Reel Cool Entertainment, which is an independent, full-service production company. Their focus is creating original intellectual property and online content for the international film, television and video game markets.