Maverick, Liz

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MAVERICK, Liz

PERSONAL: Female. Education: Holds several degrees, including an M.B.A. and C.P.A. Hobbies and other interests: Travel.

ADDRESSES: Home—San Francisco, CA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Love Spell, 200 Madison Ave., Ste. 200, New York, NY 10016. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Former accountant and Web site developer; works variously as freelance travel writer and novelist.

WRITINGS:

What a Girl Wants, New American Library (New York, NY), 2004.

The Shadow Runners, Love Spell (New York, NY), 2004.

Adventures of an Ice Princess, New American Library (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor of travel articles to numerous periodicals.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Card Sharks.

SIDELIGHTS: Novelist Liz Maverick started her career as a tax accountant, later working as a Web site developer, believing that she needed to work in something she considered an industry. She started writing her first novel on her laptop computer while riding the train to work and discovered that she was meant to be an author. She writes both contemporary women's fiction and futuristic romance novels, as well as freelancing as a travel writer, which enables her to indulge her passion for seeking out new places. Her writing has taken her to France, Antarctica, and Indonesia, among other locales.

Maverick's first novel, What a Girl Wants, follows the adventures of Haley Jane Smith, a single woman working in the Silicon Valley dot-com world and trying to find both the perfect job and the perfect boyfriend. When the man working one cubicle over dies, Haley decides the only saving grace is Grant Hutchinson, the police detective assigned to investigate the case. Kristine Huntley, in a review for Booklist, called the book a "charming debut novel." However, a contributor for Kirkus Reviews remarked that "mean-spirited characters and elaborately snotty prose don't do much for this lifeless first outing." But Harriet Klausner commented in AllReaders.com that "readers wanting an offbeat amusing contemporary will enjoy this maverick of a tale."

In Adventures of an Ice Princess Maverick sends her heroines—three young women from Northern California—to work at the South Pole as part of a scientific community. Each woman leaves behind her own personal troubles, including a long-term boyfriend, an eliminated job, and a newly sold business. Booklist critic Aleksandra Kostovski noted the improbability of the situation, but remarked that "in Maverick's hands it's not so unthinkable." She concluded that the book is "an outlandishly funny adventure."

Maverick explores the future in The Shadow Runners, a romance set in a 2176 Australia that relies heavily on the nation's history. When Jenny Red's father is arrested, Jenny and the rest of her family find themselves in the royal palace's servants' quarters, and then the Newgate penal colony. Jenny meets Shadow Runner D'ekker Han Valoreen, the prince's half brother, who convinces her to assist him in his quest to improve the situation at Newgate. The pair inevitably fall in love, despite the differences in their circumstance.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 2004, Kristine Huntley, review of What a Girl Wants, p. 954; October 1, 2004, Aleksandra Kostovski, review of Adventures of an Ice Princess, p. 316.

Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2003, review of What a Girl Wants, p. 1375.