Valerie A. Withers is a single mother of two daughters. She lives on the South Side of Chicago, and currently works for a major telecommunications company in a northwestern suburb. In her spare time, she enjoys reading a good book. Some of her favorite authors include: John Grisham, Dean Koontz, Eric Jerome Dickey, Omar Tyree, Zane, and Anne Rice, just to name a few. She is a member of the Local School Council at her daughters’ school, where she has held several positions for the last few years. When time permits she loves to travel. This is Valerie's first attempt at fiction writing. 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S. & The Choices That We Make is the name of her 1st novel. She has also penned two additional books since releasing F.R.I.E.N.D.S. in July 2005. What major influences does she give credit to for her writing style and abilities? Life!

She has been nominated in three categories for the Infini Promoters Literary Awards, May 2007. The categories are: Best New Female Author, Best New Author, and Best Characters in a book.