With a sword swallower as a father and a repentant chanteuse for a mother, it's no wonder Carolyn Burns Bass became a writer. Carolyn has written nonfiction for magazines for more years than she cares to admit. She has published short fiction in several literary journals. Her short story "Sketches Past and Present" was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer prize for fiction and is featured in the 2013 Best New Writing anthology published by Hopewell. She is currently at work on a novel called THE SWORD SWALLOWER'S DAUGHTER, an up-market literary adventure through culture and catastrophe. Carolyn is the founder and moderator of #litchat, a reader/writer discussion operated entirely through Twitter. (www.litchat.net)