Ellen Hart is the author of twenty-six crime novels in two different series.� She is a five-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, a three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for Best Popular Fiction, a three-time winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award, a recipient of the Alice B Medal, and was made an official GLBT Literary Saint at the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans in 2005. � In 2010, Ellen received the GCLS Trailblazer Award for lifetime achievement in the field of lesbian literature. Entertainment Weekly�named her one of the �101 Movers and Shakers in the Gay Entertainment Industry.� For the past fourteen years, Ellen has taught �An Introduction to Writing the Modern Mystery� through the The Loft Literary Center, the largest independent writing community in the nation.