Bio: Born in Los Angeles, raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and a long-time Oregon resident, Maureen Mackey has lived much of her life in the cities along the US West Coast. Though she uses her hometown of Portland, Oregon, as a setting for her contemporary mysteries, she's sure she must have lived a past life in 19th century England, where she sets her historical romances. Trained as a journalist, with newspaper and magazine credits, Maureen prefers the fictional worlds she creates to the real world events she's covered. She's married, and lives with her husband, two sons and a host of small pets, including a cat with literary aspirations of his own. When she's not writing her books or reading other authors, Maureen likes to garden, watch old movies, and explore the wild Oregon coastal beaches and breath-taking trails in the Columbia River Gorge with her family.