Leanne "L. A." Schwartz has spent about half her life at either the library or the theater, where she played Mrs. Paroo in her local production of The Music Man, as well as a dozen other mothers over the years. When this autistic author and English teacher hasn’t got her nose in a book, she can be found baking pizzelle, directing scenes for the student Shakespeare festival, and singing along to show tunes. She is also the author of the young adult fantasies A Prayer for Vengeance and To a Darker Shore and lives in California with her family.