Our Authors

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Chuck Kalish

Charles Kalish is a professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests concern the development of inductive inference and intuitive theories. Thanks to this essay, he is now able to look back on all those enjoyable hours spent reading Harry Potter books and realize he was actually working.

Michael Kane

Michael J. Kane is a cognitive psychologist with research interests in memory, attention, intelligence, cognitive control and individual differences. He earned his B.A. in psychology from Haverford College in 1989, and his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology in 1995. He is currently an associate professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and serves on the editorial boards of two scientific journals, as associate editor for Memory & Cognition and consulting editor for Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. He is also the father of two and the husband of one.

Donna Kauffman

USA Today bestselling author Donna Kauffman has seen her books reviewed in venues ranging from Kirkus to Library Journal to Entertainment Weekly. A past RITA finalist, National Readers Choice, Maggie and PRISM award winner, she lives in Virginia with her teenage sons and a growing menagerie of animals. Donna loves to hear from her readers. You can contact her through her Web site at donnakauffman.com.

Frank Keil

Frank C. Keil received a B.S. in biology from M.I.T. in 1973, an M.A. in psychology from Stanford University in 1975, and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1977. He was a faculty member in the Psychology Department at Cornell University from 1977 to 1998. Since 1998 he has been professor of psychology and linguistics at Yale University, where he is also Master of Morse College. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and has received national awards from the American Psychological Association and NIH for his work in cognition and cognitive development.

Tim Keiningham

Tim Keiningham is a world-renowned authority in the field of loyalty measurement and management. He is chief strategy officer and executive vice president for Ipsos Loyalty, one of the world’s largest research organizations. A prolific author, Tim has co-authored numerous books on loyalty and service: Loyalty Myths, The Customer Delight Principle, Service Marketing and Return on Quality.

Tim is also an acclaimed scientific researcher, having won numerous awards for his research. He is one of only a very small number of scientific researchers to have twice won best paper from the Journal of Marketing, the most prestigious scientific journal all of management and economics (as measured by the citation index).

Jay M. Kelly

Jay Kelly, CDP, AAMS, is a former financial advisor with a major Wall Street firm. He also took his own advice in Making Work Optional and left the financial services industry to pursue advanced degrees in philosophy so he can teach in the college classroom. He lives in Oklahoma City.

Karen Kendall

Karen Kendall is the award-winning author of 14 romantic comedies and many disasters. She grew up in central Texas, has a B.A. from Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and now lives in South Florida with her husband, where she writes full time. The books of the Stephanie Plum series are among her most treasured possessions.

Beth Kendrick

As the owner of three wild and crazy dogs, Beth Kendrick was a big fan of McVet. (Finn, we hardly knew ye!) Her novels include Nearlyweds, Fashionably Late, Exes and Ohs and My Favorite Mistake. You can visit her Web site at www.bethkendrick.com.

Caren Kennedy

Caren Kennedy is a freelance features writer and photographer living in Ireland.

Julie Kenner

Nationally bestselling author Julie Kenner’s first book hit the stores in February of 2000, and she’s been on the go ever since, with over 20 books to her credit. Her books have won numerous awards and have hit bestseller lists as varied as USA Today, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble and Locus magazine. She writes a range of stories, from sexy and quirky romances to chick-lit suspense (The Givenchy Code) to paranormal mommy lit (Carpe Demon and California Demon). Visit Julie on the Web at www.juliekenner.com.

David A. Kenny

David A. Kenny is a Distinguished Board of Trustees professor at the University of Connecticut where he has taught since 1978. He has also taught at Arizona State University and Northwestern University. He is the author of six books, the most recent being Dyadic Data Analysis, and over 100 journal articles and book chapters. Besides his work in person perception, he is known for his contributions in the area of methodology. He is the proud father of three children, one of whom co-authored this chapter.

Allison Kent

Alison Kent was a born reader, but was married with children before she decided she wanted to be a writer when she grew up. She found a home at Harlequin when she accepted an invitation issued by her editor live on the “Isn’t It Romantic?” episode of CBS “48 Hours.” She now writes for both Harlequin Blaze and Kensington Brava, penning stories she believes in—fantasies that show readers the way love was meant to be. She lives in Texas with her hero, four vagabond kids and a dog named Smith. And she actually manages to write in the midst of all that madness.

Kay Kenyon

Kay Kenyon’s latest work is a science fiction series with a fantasy feel. The lead title, Bright of the Sky, was one of Publishers Weekly’s top books of 2007. The series has twice been shortlisted for the American Library Association Reading List awards. Rounding out the quartet are A World Too Near, City Without End, and Prince of Storms. They are available from Pyr and Audible.com. Other novels, including Maximum Ice and The Braided World, were shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick and John W. Campbell awards. Her website is www.kaykenyon.com, and she also can be found on Facebook and LiveJournal.

Sherrilyn Kenyon

New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon has been a devout “Angel” fan from the beginning. She lives outside of Nashville, Tenn., with her husband and three sons. Versatile and prolific, she has successfully published in virtually every known genre and subgenre. Writing as Kinley MacGregor and Sherrilyn Kenyon, she is the bestselling author of several series, including The Dark-Hunters, Brotherhood of the Sword, The MacAllisters, Sex Camp Diaries and BAD. For more information, you can visit her online at one of her Web sites: sherrilynkenyon.com or kinleymacgregor.com.

Shoshana Kerewsky

Shoshana D. Kerewsky earned her master’s degree in counseling psychology from Lesley College and her doctorate in clinical psychology from Antioch New England Graduate School. She is an assistant professor in counseling psychology and human services at the University of Oregon, an adjunct instructor in the Transitions to Success program at Lane Community College and a licensed psychologist in private practice. In addition to psychology publications, her work has appeared in English Journal, Fiction International and literary anthologies. Although she never learned to speak Elvish or Klingon, she may be the only psychologist ever to present to the American Psychological Association in full wizard’s regalia.

Dan Kerns

Dan Kerns served as chief lighting technician (“gaffer”) for the final three seasons of “Angel” after serving as the assistant chief lighting technician (“best boy”) for seasons one and two. He is native of Port Carbon, Pa., and currently lives in Burbank, Calif.

Kristen Kidder

Kristen Kidder is a writer, cultural scholar and recovering academic who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. In the last seven years, she has only missed one episode of “Gilmore Girls.”

Nancy Kilpatrick

Award-winning author Nancy Kilpatrick has published 14 novels, 150-plus short stories, five collections of stories and has edited seven anthologies. She has also penned three comic books, co-scripted a bilingual stage play and written a slew of nonfiction. Much of her work involves vampires; for example, her popular Power of the Blood series, which will be reprinted this year (Mosaic Press), and her newest title Eternal City (Five Star Books/ Gale Publishing). In 2004 she will publish The Goth Bible, a nonfiction profile of the modern gothic culture (St. Martin’s Press), and Goth Gurrls & Boi, an anthology she is co-editing with Nancy Holder (Roc/NAL). Nancy is currently writing the screenplay for one of her books, Near Death, being produced by C3 Productions. Check her Web site for the latest news: nancykilpatrick.com.

Daniel M. Kimmel

Daniel M. Kimmel is a Boston-based film critic whose reviews appear in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. He is the Boston correspondent for Variety and a past president of the Boston Society of Film Critics. He is an award-winning author of several books, including The Fourth Network, a history of FOX broadcasting, and The Dream Team, a history of DreamWorks. He is also a regular contributor to the Internet Review of Science Fiction.

Dr. Daniel Kirschenbaum

Daniel S. Kirschenbaum, Ph.D., is the director of the Center for Behavioral Medicine & Sport Psychology in Chicago and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Medical School. He has served as a consultant to dozens of professional journals, the U.S. Olympic Committee, the National Basketball Association, the Ladies Professional Golf Association, the World Scientific Congress on Golf and several major corporations. He is the author of The 9 Truths about Weight Loss. He lives in Chicago.

Ellen Kirschman

Ellen Kirschman, Ph.D., police and public safety psychologist, is the author of I Love a Cop: What Police Families Need to Know (Guilford, 1997) and I Love a Firefighter: What the Family Needs to Know (Guilford, 2004). She lives in California.

Paul Kix

Paul Kix was educated in the public schools of rural Iowa and is a 2003 graduate of Iowa State University. He interned at many places, most notably ESPN the Magazine, found permanent employment in Phoenix at New Times, and then, in 2004, moved to Dallas and the city’s alt-weekly, the Observer. He is now associate editor at D magazine, Dallas’s monthly magazine. In his office cube is a miniature Cadillac Escalade. It has spinners. Paul’s proud of those spinners.

Amanda Anne Klein

Amanda Anne Klein is a Ph.D. candidate in film studies in the English department at the University of Pittsburgh. Her dissertation is a case study of 1990s ghetto action films and a theorization of how and why film cycles form. Her publications include forthcoming essays in the journal The Quarterly Review of Film and Video and in the anthologies Deadwood: A Western to Swear By and Media(ted) Deviance and Social Otherness: Interrogating Influential Representations. She has also published online essays and reviews in Critical Quarterly Debates, Reality Blurred: Exposed and PopMatters.

Geoff Klock

Geoff Klock (D.Phil., Oxford University) is the author of How to Read Superhero Comics and Why (Continuum 2002) and Imaginary Biographies: Misreading the Lives of the Poets (Continuum 2007). The first applies Harold Bloom’s poetics of influence to comic books; the second argues that the bizarre portrayal of historical writers in 19th- and 20th-century poetry constitutes a genre (and will be followed by a companion book on film). For BenBella, he has written on “Veronica Mars,” “Firefly” and “House.” His blog—Remarkable: Short Appreciations of Poetry, Comics, Film, Television and Music—can be found at geoffklock.blogspot.com. He lives in New York City, where he is a freelance academic.

E. David Klonsky

E. David Klonsky, Ph.D., received his B.A. in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Virginia. He is currently an assistant professor of psychology at Stony Brook University, where he is also director of the Personality, Emotion and Behavior Laboratory. His research examines the personality traits and emotion processes that lead to psychopathology and maladaptive behaviors. He wishes to thank his wife Alexis for her love, support and numerous Harry Potter insights. David and Alexis would both like to thank J.K. Rowling for bettering the world through her books and example.

Steve Knowlton

Steve Knowlton is a senior research analyst with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. He received his B.A. in rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley, his M.A. in communications from the University of California, Davis, and his M.A. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

JA Konrath

JA Konrath writes the pretty funny Lt. Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels mystery series. Whiskey Sour, Bloody Mary and Rusty Nail are currently in print, with threats of more coming soon.

Wesley Kort

Wesley A. Kort is professor in and chair of the Department of Religion and a member of the Graduate Faculty of Religion at Duke University. He has his Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago, and before joining the faculty at Duke, he taught in the Department of Religion at Princeton University. He was born in Hoboken, N.J., and he did his undergraduate work at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. He is the author of many articles and of nine books, the most recent of the being Place and Space in Modern Fiction (University of Florida Press, 2004) and C.S. Lewis Then and Now (Oxford University Press, 2001). At the present time he is working on a book that will address the question of religious identity and its relation to autobiography. Professor Kort has given lectures at many universities; within the last year he presented papers at Claremont University, at the University of Calgary and at Trinity College, Oxford. He is the recipient of a distinguished teaching award at Duke University.

Julia Kosatka

Julia Blackshear Kosatka was in her 30s before she realized that everyone else didn’t have “daydreams” that ran for months with plots and subplots and several generations of characters. The year 2000 really was the end of things as we know them because that was the year she sold her first story (“Bones of the Dead,” Black Gate, Summer 2001). Her most recent fiction sale is “Ned and the Cookie Girls” (The Four Bubbas of the Apocalypse, Yard Dog Press). Julia works at the University of Houston, doing computerish things and counting down the months until her pension is ripe. She lives inside the Loop with her insanely bright 10-year-old daughter and two cats who hate each other with a passion. Life is never dull.

Harley Jane Kozak

Harley Jane Kozak, a sometime actress, lives in Topanga Canyon, Calif., with her trial lawyer husband, two big dogs and three small children. Her debut novel, Dating Dead Men, won the Agatha, Anthony and Macavity awards. Its sequel, Dating Is Murder, came out last spring, and she’s now writing number three, working-titled Dead Ex. Her short fiction has appeared in Ms. Magazine, Soap Opera Digest, the Sun and the Santa Monica Review.

Marguerite Krause

Marguerite Krause’s favorite activities involve the printed word. In addition to writing, she works as a freelance copyeditor, helping other writers to sharpen their skills, and for relaxation loves nothing better than to curl up with a good book. She is married to her high school sweetheart; they have two children. You can find more of Marguerite’s writing in the anthologies Seven Seasons of Buffy and Five Seasons of Angel; her two-part epic fantasy, Moons’ Dreaming and Moons’ Dancing, co-written with Susan Sizemore; and her fantasy novel, Blind Vision.

Robert F. Krueger, Ph.D.

Robert F. Krueger, Ph.D., is professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and an associate editor of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. Dr. Krueger has been honored with both early- and mid-career distinguished research awards from the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Foundation. His professional interests include personality, psychopathology, statistics and behavior genetics; that said, he feels slightly unnerved by the possibility that, ultimately, his most widely read publication might be about “Firefly.” Aside from his psychological endeavors, Dr. Krueger enjoys things like “The Simpsons,” jazz, science fiction and video gaming. His top secret desire is that this chapter will become a citation classic and someday earn him the degree of Doctor of Science Fiction, honoris causa.

Christine Kruse-Feldstein

Crime Scene Detective Christine Kruse-Feldstein has been with the Miami-Dade Police Department for over 10 years. She also has experience in law enforcement in Kentucky and was a part of a volunteer fire department working as an emergency medical technician. Overall she has been involved in law enforcement or fire rescue for 16 years. One of Christine’s favorite sayings is “I do not respond unless you are raped, robbed, shot, stabbed or dead.”

James Anthony Kuhoric

James Anthony Kuhoric is known for his work writing licensed science fiction and horror comic books. He’s crafted tales for many fan-favorite series including “Battlestar Galactica,” “First Wave,” “Lexx,” “Army of Darkness” and “Stargate: SG-1.” To this day he maintains that next to his family, quality science fiction is his greatest love. People who know him best sometimes call him “Starbuck.”

Robert Kurzban, Ph.D.

Robert Kurzban, Ph.D., is currently an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the department of psychology. He received his Ph.D. at the University of California Santa Barbara, and received postdoctoral training at Caltech, UCLA and the University of Arizona. His research focuses on evolved cognitive adaptations for navigating the social world in domains such as mate choice, friendship, morality and cooperation.

Amy Kurzweil

Amy Kurzweil is in the 11th grade at Milton Academy in Milton, Mass. She and her mother Sonya live in Boston.

Sonya Kurzweil

Sonya Kurzweil is a psychotherapist, developmental psychologist and an instructor in psychology at Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Ray Kurzweil

Ray Kurzweil was the principal developer of the first CCD flatbed scanner, the first omni-font optical character recognition, the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, the first text-to-speech synthesizer, the first music synthesizer capable of recreating the grand piano and other orchestral instruments, and the first commercially marketed large-vocabulary speech recognition. Ray’s Web site KurzweilAI.net has more than 1 million readers. Among Ray’s many honors, he is the recipient of the $500,000 MIT-Lemelson Prize, the National Medal of Technology and the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame, established by the U.S. Patent Office. He has received 15 honorary doctorates and honors from three U.S. presidents. Ray has written five books, four of which have been national bestsellers. The Age of Spiritual Machines has been translated into nine languages and was the #1 bestselling book on Amazon in science. Ray’s latest book, The Singularity Is Near, was a New York Times bestseller and has been the #1 book on Amazon in both science and philosophy.