As a child, Kristina Cook took her nose out of a book only long enough to take a ballet class (or five) each week. Not much has changed since then, except she’s added motherhood to the mix and now enjoys penning her own novels as much as reading everybody else’s. Before turning her hand to historical romance, Kristina did graduate work at Columbia University and wrote grant proposals for some of New York City's top cultural institutions. After the birth of her second child, she decided to finally write that novel she'd always wanted to write. The rest, as they say, is history. Kristina lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

Well, that's the 'official' bio. Here's some slightly more interesting but totally useless tidbits about me!

• I'm a member of MENSA, the high-IQ society. Never been to a meeting, but I carry the card around just in case someone demands proof that I'm not *really* a dumb blonde.

• I'm a huge NASCAR fan! My dad is a racer and has been my entire life--sports cars, now vintage--and I spent *way* more time at the track than I'll ever admit to, hanging about and working timing & scoring. I mostly root for the #14 Office Depot car--that would be Tony Stewart--but I also like Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, and Jimmie Johnson, among others!

• I also write Edwardian-set historical romance as Kristi Astor.

• Favorite color: lavender

• Favorite food: king crab shumai at my favorite sushi restaurant, Haru.

• Husband proposed to me: on the 'Chunnel' train that runs between Paris and London--somewhere around Calais.

• Favorite TV shows: The Office, LOST, Heroes, and Dancing with the Stars.

• Majored in college: History. In graduate school, I studied American History.

• Biggest life-changing event (other than having kids!): I had brain surgery in 1996 to remove a non-cancerous tumor. Pretty scary stuff. The surgery itself lasted over eight hours, and I was in the hospital for eight days. Afterwards, I suffered from Bell's palsy (facial paralysis) on one side of my face for about six (really long!) weeks. Couldn't even blink my eye. The entire ordeal really made me take a look at my life and readjust my goals. Now, if there's something I really want to accomplish, I try to.

• Strangest almost-career move: In early 1996, I applied to and got accepted into the FBI's SSG (special surveillance group) unit. I would have begun training in Quantico during the summer of 1996, but everything got derailed when I had to have surgery instead (see above!). Looking back, that whole application process seems very surreal. I think I'm better off being a romance novelist, instead.