Lynna Banning was born in Oregon, but has lived in Northern California most of her life. She graduated from Watsonville High School, where her father taught English, and from Scripps College in Claremont, California. She embarking on her first career as an editor and technical writer for Stanford Research Institute and later for Lockheed. She also taught English and journalism at Santa Cruz High School. After 30-plus years as professional editor, in 1993 she retired early, and began writing fiction. But she found it wasn't easy. How-to books, workshops, conferences and sweaty hours with pen in hand finally led to a completed novel, which was rejected. But they asked for "what else did she have?" and thus was born a tale of the Old West (Oregon frontier) and, loosely, the story of her grandparents' courtship, that became her first published book. Western Rose, was published by Harlequin Historicals in 1996. In 2007, she published her first medieval, Crusader's Lady, set during the Third Crusade, a departure from the Westerns for which she is well known. She combines a lifelong love of history and literature into a satisfying career as a writer. Currently Lynna lives in Felton, near Roaring Camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains, with her two canaries. An amateur pianist and harpsichordist, she performs on psaltery, harp, and recorders with two medieval music groups and coaches ensembles in her spare time. Lynna loves to hear from her readers. You may write to her at P.O. Box 324, Felton, CA, 95018, or e-mail carolynw@cruzio.com. You can also visit Lynna's Web site at www.lynnabanning.com