E. Lynn Harris is a former IBM computer sales executive and a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He is the author of seven previous novels: Any Way the Wind Blows, Not a Day Goes By, Abide with Me, Invisible Life, Just as I Am, And This Too Shall Pass, and If This World Were Mine. His most recent novel is A Love of My Own. In 1996, Just as I Am was named Novel of the Year by the Blackboard African American Bestsellers, Inc. Abide with Me and If This World Were Mine won the James Baldwin Award for Literary Excellence. In 2000, E. Lynn Harris was named one of the fifty-five Most Intriguing African Americans by Ebony and inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. Harris divides his time between New York City and Atlanta.