A native Californian, Tanya Hanson loves life near the Pacific coast with a real-life hero--her firefighter husband, and two very spoiled black Labs. Her son and daughter survived the college-prep classes she taught as a high school English teacher and went on to obtain their own degrees. These days she just can't get enough of her toddler grandson, but she does take time to snorkel in Hawaii and work on her rose bushes when she's not writing or reading. New England in the fall is just about her favorite place to visit, although New York City and Nebraska run close behind.