Denise M. Baran-Unland is the author of the phantasmic BryonySeries, which includes the “drop of blood” vampire trilogy for young and new adults, a Gothic prequel for adults, the Adventures of Cornell Dyer chapter book series for grade school children, and the Bertrand the Mouse series for young children.

She has six adult children, three adult stepchildren, seventeen total grandchildren, six godchildren, and four cats. 

She is the co-founder of WriteOn Joliet and previously taught features writing for a homeschool coop, with the students' work published in the co-op magazine and The Herald-News in Joliet.

Denise blogs daily and is currently the features editor at The Herald-News. To read her feature stories, visit theherald-news.com. For more information, visit dmbaranunland.com and writeonjoliet.com.