Jaden Terrell is a Shamus Award finalist and the author of a private detective series featuring Nashville PI Jared McKean, a hardboiled hero with a soft-boiled heart. Terrell is the special programs coordinator for the Killer Nashville conference and the winner of the 2009 Magnolia Award for service to the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. She's a member of MWA, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and Private Eye Writers of America. While researching her novels, she attended the Metro Nashville Citizen Police Academy, the FBI Citizen Academy, the TBI Citizen Academy, and Lee Lofland's Writers' Police Academy. She was a pretty fair shot with a sniper rifle, but was hopeless at lifting fingerprints.A former special education teacher, Terrell has a red belt in Tae Kwan Do, a certification in equine massage therapy, and a passion for ballroom dancing. When not writing fiction, Terrell is a writing coach, workshop leader, and compassionate editor.