Andrea Cornell Sarvady hails from the San Francisco Bay Area, specifically San Mateo, California, a duller-than-dishwater suburb that transformed itself into an exciting Silicon Valley hotspot the minute Citizens were assured that Sarvady was gone for good.

After graduating from San Francisco State with a degree in creative writing, Sarvady found a job making overpriced lattes for peers who had actually majored in something marketable.

Fortunately, getting a few essays published in The San Francisco Bay Guardian while mangling coffee orders led Sarvady to think, "Wow! Getting published is easy!"

Unfortunately, this proved to be delusional thinking. Soon she was forced to fall back on her only other talent-drinking coffee and talking to friends about her other friends. This naturally led to a graduate degree in counseling.

While working for various non-profits, Sarvady continued to write professionally upon occasion. Marriage to fellow writer and consultant Glen Sarvady brought her across the country, first to New York and then Atlanta.

Her east coast pursuits have run the gamut from teaching high school to editing a luxury magazine catering to private jet owners, a readership Sarvady is still fond of calling "My People."

Eventually her somewhat conflicting interests in both helping people and making fun of them would come together in her first book, THE MODERN NEUROSIS HANDBOOK: A GUIDE TO COPING (LAUREL GLEN). Two other books followed in short order: THE ULTIMATE GIRLS' MOVIE SURVIVAL GUIDE: WHAT TO RENT, WHO TO WATCH, HOW TO DEAL (SIMON & SCHUSTER SPOTLIGHT) and BABY-GAMI: BABY WRAPPING FOR BEGINNERS (CHRONICLE BOOKS). She has also recently assisted Turner Classic Movies with LEADING LADIES: THE 50 MOST MEMORABLE ACTRESSES OF THE STUDIO ERA (CHRONICLE BOOKS).

In addition to writing books, articles, website content and musicals for preschoolers on animal protection and air pollution (see OTHER WRITING), Sarvady busies herself with teaching, raising three daughters and wondering what her childhood home in not-so-dull San Mateo, California would be worth today. She can be reached at niddy@aol.com