Jennifer McGowan

Jennifer McGowan has been writing fiction for long enough to know better. Her first attempt at a full-length Choose Your Own Adventure computer program written when she was 12 years old was keyed into her brand new Commodore Vic 20. (yes, this means shes really old. That was back when computers had tape cassettes.) It was called The Silver Key, and was the story of a young, intrepid adventurer who discovers pirates, underground labyrinths, and mysterious villains; and who thenagainst all oddsfalls in love.

Fast forward through getting $5 a pop for love poems (shes not proud) in Jr. High, a job as editor in chief of her college newspaper, and a year in Paris based largely on her ability to write awesome essays, and Jenn finally got a clue that writing could be a full-time career. It didnt mattershe still sold out and took a job on the dark side of the mountain. Now, however, she lives in the Midwest and spends her days writing for love or moneyand sometimes, happily, for both.

A past RWA Golden Heart winner and 2011 Golden Heart finalist, Jenn is represented by agent extraordinaire Alexandra Machinist, of Janklow & Nesbit. Her debut novel, MAID OF SECRETS, will be published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers in Spring, 2013. Its the tale of a resourceful thief who is forced to join an elite group of spies in Queen Elizabeths court to find a killer, save the crown, and resist the greatest danger of all: falling in love.

Because, in the end, it seems like every story worth writing about is about falling in love.