At age five, Lillian Csernica discovered the Little Golden Books fairy tales. From there she moved on to the works of Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Tanith Lee, and Terry Pratchett. Her very first short story sale, "Fallen Idol," appeared in After Hours and was later reprinted in The Year's Best Horror Stories XXI. Ms. Csernica has gone on to publish over thirty short stories in such markets as 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, These Vampires Don't Sparkle, and Fantastic Stories. Her Christmas ghost story "The Family Spirit" appeared in Weird Tales #322 and "Maeve" appeared in #333. Ms. Csernica has also published a pirate romance novel, Ship of Dreams.

Ms. Csernica's two nonfiction ebooks, The Writer's Spellbook: Creating Magic Systems for Fantasy and The Fright Factory: Building Better Horror, provide nuts and bolts instruction in the techniques of writing those genres.

Born in San Diego, Ms. Csernica is a genuine California native. She currently resides in the Santa Cruz mountains with her her husband, two sons, and three cats. Visit her at lillian888.wordpress.com.