Holly Payne is a novelist, writing coach and screenwriter who lives with her husband in Marin County, California. She is the author of two novels, The Virgin's Knot and The Sound of Blue. Published in nine countries, The Virgin's Knot received critical acclaim as a Contra Costa Times Book Club Pick 2003, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection 2002, a Border's Original Voices Book 2002 and was nominated for The First Novelist Award by the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program of Virginia Commonwealth University. Payne's second novel, The Sound of Blue, is set during the Balkan conflict and is based on a true story of a Serbian refugee who she befriended while teaching English in Hungary. Payne serves on the faculty of the California College of the Arts MFA Writing Progam where she teaches screenwriting. She received a MFA from the Master of Professional Writing Program at USC and has produced two short films. She has recently finished her third novel, Kingdom of Simplicity, due in June 2009, and is currently at work on a new novel.