Lona Manning is a lifelong Jane Austen fan. She began writing A Contrary Wind, her award-winning debut novel, while she was teaching English in China. Her articles about Jane Austen have appeared in Jane Austen's Regency World Magazine and in Persuasions, the online journal of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Her blog, "Clutching My Pearls," can be found at www.lonamanning.ca.