I was born in Washington, DC, and spent my childhood in Lagos, Nigeria, and Bangkok, Thailand, where I learned to form my letters vertically and stay indoors when the sun went down because that's when the snakes slithered out. When I was ten, my family returned to DC where I attended the National Cathedral School for Girls. Every day, my sister and I took two city buses to school. Picture pleated uniform skirts that flew up at the slightest wind, a bulging book bag, the crazy lady that haunted Calvert Street at seven in the morning, the unfriendly looks on the faces of the other passengers, a two-mile trek to the bus stop, rain and sleet and shine, and you can see why I spent my teenaged years gritting my teeth.

Oberlin College presented a breath of fresh air. No uniforms, no academic requirements, plus co-ed dorms? This was the place for me. I delved right in, majoring in English, Studio Art, and Art History. I graduated with High Honors in English, then looked around and wondered, now what?

I got my first job as a graphic artist for a defense contractor, then as a technical writer, and learned a whole lot about the Tomahawk Missile System. One beautiful autumn evening, I went to a party, saw Tim Buckley and fell in love at first sight.

After I convinced him it was mutual, we got married in 1987. While Tim finished his PhD, I attended The Wharton School of Business, and then pursued a marketing career persuading women that pantyhose is a necessary fashion statement. After my first child was born, I decided to stay home and micro-manage her life. It was at this point that I turned to my first passion, writing novels.

Several books bloomed from this effort, going from terrible to not too bad. I attended writers' conferences, joined writers' groups, and stalked a literary agent until she took me on. She called me one morning while the repairman stood in the front doorway, explaining to me how much it was going to cost to fix the garage door, and my son was in the bathroom audibly suffering from the stomach flu. "Now, I don't want to get you excited," she began, but it was too late. My voice had already gone up an entire register.

THE THINGS THAT KEEP US HERE will be published February 9, 2010, and I am working on my next novel, another standalone, which Delacorte Press will publish in 2011.

I currently live in Columbus, Ohio with Tim, an environmental scientist at The Ohio State University, our three children and two miniature dachshunds, numerous dust bunnies and some scary-looking weeds.

I'm Chair of the International Thriller Writers Debut Committee.