Bestselling writer Kathleen Ernst is the award-winning author of 30 mystery, historical fiction, and non-fiction books for adults and young readers. Her latest include "Tradition of Deceit," the fifth Chloe Ellefson Historic Sites mystery for adults from Midnight Ink, and the upcoming "The Smuggler's Secrets" -- her ninth Caroline Abbott children's novel from American Girl. Over the years Kathleen's work has earned numerous writing honors, including Edgar and Agatha mystery award nominations, a LOVEY, and an Emmy. To date, readers have purchased over 1.5 million printed, electronic, and audio copies of her books.Kathleen has a Masters Degree in History Education and Writing from Antioch University, where her self-designed program focused on nontraditional methods of teaching and learning history, with a special emphasis on historical fiction. She spent over a decade as a Curator of Interpretation and Collections at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin's Old World Wisconsin outdoor museum, a job that provided great material for her novels.She lives near Madison, Wisconsin with her husband Scott and Sophie the cat. Some of her greatest pleasures include gardening, learning folk crafts, traveling to research new books, and hearing from readers. To that end, she maintains an extensive website, kathleenernst.com, an author's page on Facebook, facebook.com/kathleenernst.author, and a blog, sitesandstories.wordpress.com.