Erica Obey is the author of Dazzlepaint, as well as four other historical and paranormal novels set in the Hudson Valley, including the award-winning The Curse of the Braddock Brides, which Publishers Weekly called a "smoothly unfolding, satisfyingly twisty tale of lurid legends, deadly blackmail, hidden identities, international spycraft, and practical romance." She is also working on a contemporary cozy series featuring a Hudson Valley librarian and her AI sidekick, which could best be described as Knives Out meets Ready Player One. Erica has served on the MWA-NY Board as the Chair of the Mentor Program Committee and is the 2020 Chapter President. She has also served as the Chair of the 2018 Edgars Best Novel Committee. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and taught college-level classes on fairy tale and fantasy, mystery fiction, and Arthurian romance, before she decided she'd rather be writing the stories herself. But once an academic, always an academic, and she remains a dedicated research junkie both in the depths of dusty archives and out on the hiking trails of the Catskill Mountains. She enjoys posting her explorations on her "Of Research and Rabbit Holes" blog, as well as on social media.