Anchorage nature and travel writer Bill Sherwonit first visited Alaska in 1974 while employed as a geologist. After switching to journalism, he returned to Alaska in 1982 as a sportswriter for The Anchorage Times, where he worked for ten years, the last seven as its outdoors writer/editor. Now a full-time freelancer, he's contributed stories and photos to a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, anthologies, and guidebooks. He's the author of 7 books on Alaska, and he lives in the foothills of the Chugach Mountains. He also teaches classes in wilderness and travel/adventure writing at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Andromeda Romano-Lax, the author of five books about Alaska and Mexico, arrived in Anchorage in 1994 and has traveled the state by kayak, mountain bike, car, ferry, and bushplane with her family. She teaches creative writing in university and workshop settings. Ellen Bielawski was born in Alaska and still prefers northern life to any other, although she has worked as an archaeologist in West Africa and trekked in Tibet. Her editing credits include scientific papers as well as essays, and she is the author of Rogue Diamonds and The Peoples' Prehistory of Alaska, as well as numerous magazine articles.