Thorne Smith was the author of nine novels, including The Night Life of the Gods, Topper Takes a Trip, and The Stray Lamb. He was born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1892 and died in 1934.

Carolyn See, the author of more than a dozen books, was a book reviewer for The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. She received a PhD in American literature from UCLA, where she taught creative writing. Her awards include the prestigious Robert Kirsch Body of Work Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship in fiction.