James DeVita, a native of Long Island, NY, is an author and playwright, and an actor. Along with his three novels, A Winsome Murder, The Silenced, and Blue, he has also written more than sixteen plays and adaptations of classics for young audiences and adults. Jim is the resident playwright for First Stage Children’s Theater. His plays have been awarded The Distinguished Play Award from The American Alliance of Theater and Education; The Intellectual Freedom Award by the Council of Teachers of English/Language Arts; and he was the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship for Fiction. Jim lives in Spring Green, WI, with his wife and two children, where he is a core company member of American Players Theater, a classical repertory theater. He has been a member of the company there for twenty-two years.