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Meg Chittenden
Meg Chittenden grew up in the North of England, near the
North Sea. After graduation, she worked for a time as a
civil servant. Which in England means you work for the
government. She found that very boring and went to work
for J. Arthur Rank at Pinewood Studios, where she met a
lot of movie stars and wasn't bored at all.
But then she met a handsome American and moved to the
United States. She had the idea all Americans owned orange
groves or oil wells, but found out that wasn't quite true,
so she went back to work.
She started out writing articles for a local newspaper,
then wrote short stories for "Good Housekeeping,"
switched to novels and wrote some in several genres.
Now that she's writing mystery novels, Meg spends a lot of
her time asking questions of police officers, FBI agents,
forensic anthropologists and medical examiners. So far
these experts have been wonderfully patient and helpful.
If you find errors in her books, they are hers not theirs!
(Remember the slogan, which she coined, "To err is human,
to forgive makes the reader divine.") You might also
remember that Albert Einstein said: "If the facts don't
fit the theory, change the facts."
In 2003, at Sleuthfest, a conference for mystery writers
held annually in Florida, Meg learned how to handle, load
and shoot several types of firearms. She has no desire to
own weapons, but she wanted to be able to write a little
more knowledgeably about them. She might now be able to
come up with something more imaginative than "He had a
gun. He shot the gun."
In the 34 years she's been writing, Meg has published over
100 short stories and articles, three children's books,
and 32 novels that include romance, suspense, mystery, and
mainstream. Some of her books deal with reincarnation,
magic, or ghosts. Her novels have been widely reprinted
abroad and have appeared on several bestseller lists. She
is a recipient of the Pacific Northwest Writers Lifetime
Achievement Award for "Enhancing the stature of Northwest
Literature," an Anthony Award for "Noir Lite," one of her
short stories, and the Otter for "More Than You Know." She
is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in
Crime, Crime Writers Association (UK) Romance Writers of
America, American Crime Writers League, and International
Association of Crime Writers.
Meg has spoken at writers and readers gatherings in
Washington, British Columbia, Colorado, Oregon,
Massachusetts, Idaho, New York, California, Illinois,
Nevada, Nebraska, Texas, Wisconsin, Georgia, Florida,
Minnesota, Hawaii, Washington D.C., New Mexico, Arizona,
Tennessee, Alaska, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
Alabama and Japan. (She's a self-admitted convention
junkie!)
When she's not writing, or talking about writing at one of
the many conventions she speaks at each year, Meg enjoys
family gatherings, working out at the gym, beach-combing,
hiking the rain forest, dancing, (gimme that old time rock
and roll!) reading, and traveling. She's a devoted member
of DorothyL, the online mystery digest, and of a group of
authors known as Femmes Fatales whom you can visit at http://femmesfatalesauthors.com
Books:
 Snap Shot, September 2004
 More Than You Know, September 2003
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