Morgana MacArthur is the pen name for Dr. Dana Thomas, a woman who many say "does it all." Her Scottish heritage inspired the nom de plume and has led to fascinating discussions on selecting the perfect pseudonym.

Dana has been married to her biggest fan for 20 years and is mother of two teenage boys and an English Bully pup named Dozer. She is the former vice-principal of the seventh-best high school in the nation (Newsweek, 2000), and the current Associate Dean of Liberal Arts at Florida Community College at Jacksonville.

Her vita reads long: a doctorate in educational leadership, a master's degree in the same concentration, a second masters in curriculum and instruction, and a bachelors in Literature. Her personal and professional motto is "Be the cause of wonderful things!" and living by that axiom has resulted in her achieving great things.

Despite her busy schedule, she makes time to do what she loves best: writing. As a past English teacher, Dana has taught writing at the middle, high school, and college level. Her first full-length, award-winning novel, The Ditchwalkers, was published by Amber Quill Press in 2002, and is an addition to her varied literary contributions.

An educator at heart, Dana's doctoral dissertation challenged Florida's controversial accountability system and its grading of Florida public schools. She presented her study, "F-Nicity: The Culture of Teachers in a Past-Failing Elementary School," at the annual American Educational Research Association conference in Louisiana in April, 2002. Following Gandhi's advice, Dana believes, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world."

When not writing, Dana loves playing racquetball, listening to the sounds of Jimmy Buffett, grilling on the back deck of her Northeast Florida home, watching movies with her family, and dreaming about living in tropical paradise. In fact, that dream, coupled with recent vacations to the Western and Eastern Caribbean, was the catapult for her second novel, Tradewind Island, a tale about escaping the rat race.

Fans can contact Morgana at morganamacarthur@msn.com.