Minerva Spencer's brief author bio will tell you she has been a criminal prosecutor, college history teacher, and B&B operator. What it doesn't tell you is she also worked as a dock worker, ice cream manufacturer, reader for the blind, motel maid, and bounty hunter. Okay, so the part about being a bounty hunter is a lie. Minerva does, however, know how to hypnotize a Dungeness crab, sew her own Regency Era clothing, knit a frog hat, juggle, rebuild a 1959 American Rambler, and gain control of Asia (and hold on to it) in the game of RISK. Minerva loves writing historical romances that feature uncommon heroes and heroines in unusual and challenging situations. When Minerva isn't beavering away on her next book she plays with her dogs and many rescue birds, buys too many beads and too much yarn, and spends time fixing up her old adobe house with her wonderful, tolerant husband. Minerva also writes historical romance, historical erotic romance, and science fiction romance under the name S. M. LaViolette, and historical detective stories under S. M. Goodwin.