Taylor Stevens

Born into the Children of God, raised in communes across the globe, and denied an education beyond the sixth grade, Taylor Stevens broke free of the cult in order to follow hope and a vague idea of what possibilities lay beyond. She now lives in Texas, and is writing a third Vanessa Michael Munroe novel. Her first Vanessa Michael Munroe thriller, The Informationist, debuts this month.

From Stevens's Q & A with Melissa Mia Hall at Publishers Weekly:

Before you escaped the Children of God cult, you once had your stories confiscated and burned.

Those in charge just took them and told me they burned them. I ended up being locked away for three days in a room with no food because they wanted to exorcise the devils out of me.

How old were you?

Fifteen.

When did you decide to become a writer?

I finally had a chance to read back in the United States. I was about 31. I had two little kids, and I was a stay-at-home mom. It was after reading the Jason Bourne trilogy that I made the decision to write. I wanted to be able to create in others the same emotion, the connection, the excitement that I felt when reading these books. I want to take people places where they've never been before. Robert Ludlum is my hero of writers.

Define "informationist."

Munroe earns money by...[read on]

--Marshal Zeringue