Roby James has been writing since she was nine years old, with a ten-year hiatus from 1978 to 1988 to ensure that her marriage would succeed (it has). She is the author of Commencement (Hawk Books, 2000) and Commitment (Hawk Books, 2000); both books were previously published by Del Rey Books. She has also written a great deal of nonfiction, most notably for The Washington Post. She has spoken before audiences as large as 1,000 without being pelted by tomatoes or cabbages. At one time, she wrote for television (where assault by vegetables is one of the nicest things that happens to you), and her plays have been presented in Los Angeles, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In real life, she is a desktop publisher, a technical writer, and a fiction instructor.