Ella J. Fraser

While her day job had been in corporate marketing and communications, making the most of an MBA she'd earned years earlier, it often required a knack for creativity and the sort of willing suspension of disbelief worthy of an MFA. Nevertheless, it failed to provide the level of satisfaction accrued from more legitimate pursuits like painting and writing.

After receiving New York photographer Christopher Beane's book Flower as a gift, she was so moved she sat down to write him an email complimenting him on his talent. What she ended up writing was the manuscript for Waking Up In London, her first novel.