<p Patricia Bow is the author of <em The Bone Flute</em (Orca, 2004), a fantasy novel for young people that was nominated for the Silver Birch and Red Cedar awards. Her other published books include <em The Spiral Maze</em (Thistledown Press, 1997), also a fantasy novel for kids, and <em Chimpanzee Rescue</em (Firefly Books, 2004), a non-fiction book that was chosen as an Honor Book by the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. <em The Ruby Kingdom</em (Dundurn), the first book in a series, is due out in February 2007.<br <br Patricia has been reading ever since the local library opened its magic doors for her and writing since she was old… enough to hold a crayon. She uses a computer now instead of a crayon, but the thrill of the story hasn't changed. She writes what she loves to read: fiction with a strong flavour of the strange and mysterious, anchored by down-to-earth heroes. <br <br Over the years she has worked as a librarian, a press reader for a clipping service, and a reporter at a small-town newspaper. Now she works in communications at the University of Waterloo. By day she writes serious prose; by night she maps new worlds of the imagination. <br <br Patricia Bow lives in Kitchener, Ontario with her husband Eric and a small but fierce grey tabby named Pooka. She is a member of CANSCAIP (the Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers).<br <br Email: <a href="mailto:pabow@gto.net" pabow@gto.net</a <br Website: <a href="http://home.golden.net/~thebows/patricia.htm" http://home.golden.net/~thebows/patricia.htm</a </p <p </p<P Karleen Bradford is the award-winning author of twenty-two works of fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults. Her books include historical novels, fantasy and contemporary stories, as well as picture books and chapter books. <P She was born in Toronto, Ontario, but spent most of her childhood years in Argentina. She returned to Canada to take a B.A. at the University of Toronto in 1959, and married James Bradford, a Foreign Service Officer with the Canadian Government. Until 1992, Karleen and her family travelled and lived in Colombia, the United States, England, the Philippines, Brazil, Germany and Puerto Rico, with two home postings in Canada. Settings for many of her books have come from these countries. She now lives back in Canada in Owen Sound, Ontario. Three children, four grandchildren, and assorted granddogs live nearby.<P Karleen has taught Creative Writing and Writing for Children at Algonquin College, the Adult High School, and various community centres in Ottawa. During a posting in Germany she also taught creative writing classes and did writing workshops with children in U.S.A. Department of Defense Schools throughout the country. In 1999 she worked with students in the Taipei American School in Taiwan.<P She has worked in schools across Canada through The Writers' Union of Canada and the Ontario Arts Council programs for writers in the schools and has, as well, participated in numerous Canada Council Readings programs. She toured Nova Scotia in 1984, New Brunswick in 1989, Quèbec in 1998, and Manitoba in 2005 for the TD Children's Book Week, and has worked as a Writer in Residence for the WIER (Writers in Electronic Residence) program in schools across Canada. <P You can find out more about Karleen and her work at <A HREF="http://www.karleenbradford.com" www.karleenbradford.com</A .<P </P <P </P