Deborah Smith is the NYT bestselling author of more than 35 novels and anthologies including A PLACE TO CALL HOME (Bantam Books) SWEET HUSH (Little, Brown & Co) and the RITA nomininated A GENTLE RAIN, (BelleBooks.) She is also a partner and editorial director of a small press, BelleBooks and its fantasy imprint, Bell Bridge Books. As an editor, her authors include Sarah Addison Allen, Haywood Smith, Anne Bishop, Patti Henry Callahan, Sabrina Jeffries, and two-time Oprah guest Susan Nethero. In 2009 Deborah will publish Book One of a romantic women's fiction trilogy, KITCHEN CHARMS. She will also launch an urban fantasy series under the pen name LEIGH BRIDGER. 

Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award, 2008 RITA Finalist, multiple regional and national romance writing awards.