In addition to condensing other people’s novels, Brenda Scott Royce has written one of her own—Monkey Love, which Janet Evanovich hailed as “Delicious as a jelly doughnut!” Like Stephanie Plum, Holly Heckerling, the plucky heroine of Monkey Love, juggles romantic entanglements, career disasters and wacky relatives—but at least nobody shoots at her! (The most menacing character in Monkey Love is a mischievous monkey with a mad crush on Regis Philbin.) Not surprisingly, given her love of all things monkey, Brenda is director of publications for the Los Angeles Zoo. She has completed Monkey Star, the sequel to Monkey Love, and is contemplating more monkey adventures.
Jonna Rubin spends her days writing, child-wrangling, and drinking far too much caffeine while daydreaming of a world where vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures actually exist. A former newspaper editor and publicist, she developed an unhealthy obsession with vampires at the age of thirteen, when she began checking out books about Vlad Tepes and Elizabeth Bathory from the local library; surprisingly, her mother did not send her into counseling. Since departing the high-powered world of small-town community journalism, she ekes out a living writing and blogging about motherhood, pop culture, and life in New England at www.jonniker.com.
Steven Rubio has never been cornered by a mountain lion. His writing has been featured in several books in the Smart Pop series.
Alyssa Ruderman is a Campaigns Manager at DoSomething.org, where she conducts research, formulates strategy, and project manages the execution of cause campaigns that give young people the tools to take action. Prior to joining DoSomething.org, Alyssa studied Public Relations, Business, and Sociology at The Pennsylvania State University. She is an Americorp alumna and worked as a job counselor for New York City’s homeless population.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes mystery novels about 1960s black detective Smokey Dalton under the name Kris Nelscott. Those novels have been nominated for the Edgar, the Shamus and several other awards. As Kristine Kathryn Rusch, she writes science fiction and fantasy. While most readers ask Nelscott how she can write from the perspective of a black man, no one asks Rusch how she can write from the point of view of an elf.
Tracy Russell has tried just about every fad diet and expensive “superfood” supplement out there. It wasn’t until she discovered the green smoothie that she lost 40 pounds, lowered her cholesterol by 50 points, and started running—marathons!
Tracy is one of the foremost experts on green smoothies and nutrition. She shares her wealth of first-hand information, research, and experiences with tens of thousands of people every day. Tracy is the author of one of the largest green smoothie websites on the Internet, Incredible Smoothies (http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com), which she launched in 2009 to help others achieve a healthy lifestyle. She is also a contributor to the Whole Pregnancy website (http://wholepregnancy.org/). She has written guest articles for other blogs and magazines as well.
Jan Rutherford is a former Green Beret and founder of Self-Reliant Leadership® where he coaches executives, and leads Crucible® wilderness expeditions with executives and veterans. Jan has over 25 years of business experience and has held executive roles in business development, marketing, sales, training, product management, and as a CEO. For 15 years, he was a Senior Instructor with the University of Colorado Denver Business School, teaching leadership to MBA students in the U.S. and Ireland. He’s the co-host of The Leadership Podcast, and also serves on numerous boards, and invests time with select DOD units and veteran organizations.
Christopher Ryan, PhD, is a psychologist. He is co-author (with Cacilda JethÁ, MD) of Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality (sexatdawn.com). He blogs at Psychology Today (blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-dawn) and at Huffington Post (huffingtonpost.com/christopher-ryan).
Liz Ryan is a former Fortune 500 Human Resources SVP and the world’s most widely-read career advisor. Liz is the CEO and Founder of Human Workplace, a think tank and publishing firm whose mission is to reinvent work for people. Liz is the architect of the Human Workplace vision and the beloved career adviser to millions of working people and job-seekers around the world.
Liz was SVP of HR for U.S. Robotics during its rise from $15M to $2.5B in annual sales and cofounder of vc-funded networking startup Ucentric Systems before its acquisition by Motorola. Liz was CEO and Founder of WorldWIT, the world’s largest online community for professional women, before founding Human Workplace in 2012 to reinvent work for people. Liz writes for Forbes.com, LinkedIn, and many other publications, and is a sought-after and evangelical international keynote speaker.
Liz earned her BS from Loyola University of Chicago and an MS in Communication from Northwestern University. She lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband, five children, two dogs and two cats. When Liz is not writing, speaking, or drawing, she sings opera professionally.
Charles J. Ryan, MD, is The Thomas Perkins Distinguished Professor of Clinical Medicine and Urology at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Ryan earned a BA in Philosophy, magna cum laude from Marquette University where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He attended the University of Wisconsin Medical School. He trained at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He is the Program Leader for genitourinary medical oncology at UCSF and is Chair of the UCSF Committee on Human Research, which oversees the ethical conduct of research on humans at the institution. He serves as co-chair of the National Cancer Institute’s Prostate Cancer Task Force and the leader of the Advanced Prostate Cancer Cadre in the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, a national clinical trials group.
Dr. Ryan’s research focuses on the development of new treatments for advanced prostate cancer and he has published over 100 articles and chapters in the world’s leading medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine. In addition, he was the principal investigator for the development of Abiraterone acetate, a treatment now considered a standard of care in advanced prostate cancer that has been administered to over 200,000 patients worldwide. Dr. Ryan is the cofounder of the Supportive Therapy in Androgen Deprivation (STAND) program at UCSF, a program which seeks to integrate physical activity, nutrition, and emotional support for men receiving hormonal therapy for prostate cancer and their partners.
