While the other neighborhood children were out getting fresh air and sunlight playing Zim Zam and freeze tag, Cyn Balog preferred to be locked in her bedroom, writing. When she emerged, with her growth only slightly stunted, she graduated from Rutgers with a degree in Shoelace Tying or something. She’d wanted to major in Writing, but certain “wise elders” in her life told her that career writers must learn to subsist on three Saltines a day, and being part-Italian, Cyn adamantly refused to give up Pasta Sundays. Cyn now lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with her husband and daughters. She rarely listens to “wise elders” anymore, still eats pasta regularly and is currently looking for a way to get back her figure, possibly by taking up Zim Zam or freeze tag. Her first novel, FAIRY TALE (Delacorte), is a 2009 RITA finalist in the young adult category, and her second novel, SLEEPLESS, which School Library Journal calls “an interesting, quick-paced, and compelling paranormal romance” and Kirkus calls “a lovely read,” released this year. Two more young adult paranormal novels, STARSTRUCK and LIVING BACKWARDS, will be released in 2011 and 2012. Visit her online at www.cynbalog.com.