Julia Park Tracey

You found me! I'm the sassypants behind the chicklit suspense novel, "Veronika Layne Has a Nose for News" (#2 in the Hot Off the Press series). Veronika Layne, a smart, tattooed, twenty-something newspaper reporter, goes head to head with a TV house-flipper, a pirate and hos gold, and a little old lady painter who might hold the secret to everything. Read more adventures of Veronika in "Veronika Layne Gets the Scoop" (#1 in the Hot Off the Press series).

I'm also the author of "Tongues of Angels," a sexy contemporary novel about the Catholic Church and a handful of priests who can't keep it holy.

Background Check: I'm an award-winning writer, blogger, journalist and poet. I've been a writer all my life. I started as a poet, and am currently Poet Laureate of Alameda (city). I've been a newspaper+magazine editor and a freelance writer for years.

Women's History: I've been curating the diaries of my late Aunt Doris. There are two volumes so far: "I've Got Some Lovin' to Do" and "Reaching for the Moon," both the authentic and hilarious diaries of a Roaring Twenties teenager. Proceeds from sales of The Doris Diaries are funding a women's scholarship at Reed College. www.thedorisdiaries.com

Bad Habits: Old books are my crack. I love Jane Austen and British lit. I got my master's in early 20th century British literature, and that nerdiness hasn't stopped. I have a thing for DE Stevenson and Nevil Shute, Dorothy Whipple and Rumer Godden. I'm always haunting used book sales, looking to rediscover forgotten early 20th century women authors who still have something to say.