Linda Cardillo is the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed novels DANCING ON SUNDAY AFTERNOONS, ACROSS THE TABLE and THE BOAT HOUSE CAFÉ, as well as novellas and children's fiction. Linda's 2014 novel, THE BOAT HOUSE CAFÉ, is the opening book in her FIRST LIGHT series. Book Two, THE UNEVEN ROAD, will be available in spring 2016. She is also at work on a trilogy set in 16th century Italy focused on a dynamic group of literary women. The first book in the series, THE POET, is based on the life of the poet Vittoria Colonna, the only woman Michelangelo ever loved. In an earlier life Linda worked as an editor of college textbooks before earning an MBA at Harvard Business School at a time when women made up only 15% of the class. Armed with her Harvard degree, she managed the circulation of Inc. magazine during its successful start-up, founded a catering business and then built a career as the author of several works of nonfiction, from articles in THE NEW YORK TIMES to books on marketing and corporate policy. She later went on to teach creative writing before her debut novel, DANCING ON SUNDAY AFTERNOONS, launched Harlequin's Everlasting Love series. With Ann DeFee, Linda is the co-founder of Bellastoria Press (www.bellastoriapress.com), an independent publisher of books about women with grit and gifts, who not only survive but flourish; and wildly imaginative and colorful children's picture books. Bellastoria Press books have been called everything from lyrical and sparkling to quirky and laugh-out-loud. Readers will find stories told from the heart, with an eye for vivid detail, an ear for snappy dialog and a funny bone that gets exercised regularly. Linda loves to cook and is happiest when the twelve chairs around her dining room table are filled with people enjoying her food. She speaks four languages, some better than others. She plays the piano every night--sometimes by herself and sometimes in an improvisational duet with her younger son. She does THE NEW YORK TIMES Sunday crossword puzzle in ink, a practice she learned from her mother. From her mother she also absorbed a love of opera, especially those of Puccini and Verdi, whose music filled her home when she was a child. She once climbed Mt. Kenya and has very curly hair.Visit Linda's website at www.lindacardillo.com; follow her on Facebook at Linda Cardillo, Author; or write to her at linda@lindacardillo.com.