Holly Lynn Payne is a novelist, writing coach and screenwriter who lives with her husband and daughter in Marin County, California. She is the found of Skywriter Books, a publishing consultancy, and is the author of four novels, Kingdom of Simplicity, The Virgin's Knot, The Sound of Blue and forthcoming Damascena. Published in nine countries, The Virgin's Knot received critical acclaim as a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection 2002, a Border's Original Voices Book 2002. 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. Kingdom of Simplicity won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best First Book from a new press (2010). Payne received a MFA from the Master of Professional Writing Program at USC and has served on the faculty of CCA and Stanford.