Gar Anthony Haywood is the Shamus and Anthony award-winning author of eleven crime novels and numerous short stories. His short fiction has been included in the Best American Mystery Stories anthologies and Booklist has called him "a writer who has always belonged in the upper echelon of American crime fiction." Haywood has written for both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, and for such television shows as New York Undercover and The District. His most recent novel is Cemetery Road, and his next thriller-Assume Nothing -will be published this December. He blogs at: http://www.wisdommistakenforlunacy.com

Naomi Hirahara is the Edgar Award-winning author of the Mas Arai mystery series, which features a Japanese American gardener and atomic-bomb survivor who solves crimes. Nominated also for Macavity and Anthony awards, the novels in the series include Summer of the Big Bachi, Gasa-Gasa Girl, Snakeskin Shamisen and Blood Hina. Her crime short stories are featured in Los Angeles Noir, Los Angeles Noir 2: The Classics, A Hell of a Woman and The Darker Mask. Hirahara, born and raised in Southern California, is a former editor of The Rafu Shimpo daily newspaper.

Mark Haskell Smith is the author of four novels: Moist, Delicious, Salty (which was a Book Sense Notable Book in 2007 and voted "Top 100 Beach Reads" by NPR), and Baked. His novels have been published in the UK, France, Italy, Norway, and Russia. In addition, he has worked extensively in film and television; his credits include the feature films Playing God and the Brazilian film A Partilha that won the Audience Award for Best Picture and the Crystal Lens Award for Best Screenplay at the Miami Brazilian Film Festival; and original pilots for ABC and CBS television. Currently he is writing the non-fiction book Heart of Dankness: Underground Botanists, Outlaw Farmers and the Race to the Cannabis Cup due in spring 2012. He is part of the core faculty of the UC Riverside Palm Desert M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts program.

Paula L. Woods is the author of the acclaimed Charlotte Justice mystery series, including the forthcoming Smiling Faces. Stormy Weather, the second in the series, was named one of the Best Books of 2001 by the Los Angeles Times and Dirty Laundry, the third novel in the series, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller and was named a Best Mystery of 2003 by The Seattle Times. Paula is also the editor of the critically acclaimed anthology Spooks, Spies, and Private Eyes: Black Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction of the 20th Century, nominated for an Anthony Award, Macavity Award, and received a special award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. A member of the National Book Critics Circle, she reviews books regularly for the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. Paula is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.