Chris Roerden

An accomplished editor, writer, and teacher, Chris Roerden shares knowledge gleaned from more than 40 years in niche publishing—a career that began upon graduation from New York City's H. S. of Music & Art at age 16. It took publication of a first book for Chris to act on the urge to go to college, which produced a BA in English summa cum laude, an MA, and an invitation to stay on at the University of Maine to teach writing. Eventually returning to publishing, in 1983 Chris left a busy managing editor's position to become a busy independent book editor, taking time out to teach communication skills in South Korea one summer, serve as president of a regional trade association of 250 commercial publishers and university presses, teach classes in publishing at night at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and serve six years on the southeast regional board of Mystery Writers of America, receiving its Magnolia Award for service to the organization. Her clients have been published by St. Martin's, Berkley Prime Crime, Midnight Ink, Rodale, Walker, and Viking, and have won more than 21 awards, including an Agatha for Best First Mystery and two Benjamin Franklins. Chris is also a member of Sisters in Crime and Mensa, and a proud parent and grandparent—with one son, three grandsons, and a daughter-in-law (also an editor) in Boston, and a son and two granddogs in Los Angeles. Now settled in Greensboro, NC, Chris enjoys seeing pansies bloom in February and hasn't put on snow boots since the 20th century.