Maria Murnane left a successful career as a public-relations executive to pursue a more fulfilling life as a novelist and speaker. Her own “story behind the story” is an entertaining tale of the courage, passion, and perseverance required to get the first Waverly novel, Perfect on Paper, published. Maria is the bestselling author of It’s a Waverly Life, Honey on Your Mind, Chocolate for Two, Cassidy Lane, and Katwalk. Maria graduated with high honors in English and Spanish from the University of California–Berkeley, where she was a Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholar. She also holds a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from Northwestern University. She currently lives in New York City.