Gwyn Cready

Cready was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She attended Mt. Lebanon High School (where she became close friends with novelist Teri Coyne (The Last Bridge, 2009) and shared theatre classes with actress Ming-Na), graduating in 1979. Cready majored in English literature at the University of Chicago, graduating with a BA in 1983, and followed that with an MBA in marketing, also from Chicago. She married Lester Pyle (who shares a last name with Seph, the heroine of Tumbling Through Time) in 1986. They have two children, born in 1988 and 1994. One of them is Carol Cameron Cready Pyle, who currently attends Drexel University. She aspires to be like Dr. Phil, and is studying psychology. Like Seph, Cready worked as brand manager in the pharmaceutical industry.

Cready is a paranormal romance author who specializes in sexy, funny time travel stories. Her novels are typically set in Pittsburgh, Cready's hometown. Her first book, Tumbling Through Time (2008), involves a woman who tries on a pair of magical pink sandals in the Nine West shoe store in the Pittsburgh Airport and ends up on the deck of a privateer ship in 1705. Her second book, Seducing Mr. Darcy (2008), involves a woman who, through a magical massage in which one is encouraged to "imagine oneself in one's favorite book," ends up thrust not just into the pages of Pride and Prejudice but into the arms of Fitzwilliam Darcy himself.

Publishers Weekly called Tumbling Through Time "a joy" and Cready "an author worth watching." Given the humorous tone and situations which often involve one woman and two men, Cready's books have been likened to those of Janet Evanovich. Seducing Mr. Darcy won the 2009 RITA Award for Best Paranormal Romance Novel.