Two names, one writer: Libby Malin/Libby Sternberg

Although writing was always her first love, Libby earned both bachelor's and master's degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and also attended the American School of Music in Fontainebleau, France.

After graduating from Peabody, she worked as a Spanish gypsy, a Russian courtier, a Middle-Eastern slave, a Japanese geisha, a Chinese peasant, and a French courtesan-that is, she sang as a chorister in both Baltimore and Washington Operas. She also sang with small opera and choral companies in the region.

She eventually turned to writing full-time, finding work as a freelancer.

Her debut novel, Loves Me, Loves Me Not, was hailed as a "whimsical look at the vagaries of dating..." by Publishers Weekly, called "charming" by the Washington Post, and dubbed a "clever debut..." by Booklist. Her rom-com FIRE ME has been bought for film by a major studio.

Writing as Libby Sternberg, she's the author of historical and contemporary fiction and literary mysteries, as well as four YA mysteries, the first of which was an Edgar finalist.

Her contemporary novel of an evangelical's Fall from Grace was hailed as a "novel for our times" by Midwest Book Review, and her retelling of the Jane Eyre story, Sloane Hall, was one of only 14 books highlighted on the "Off the Shelf" blog on the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Bronte's birth. 

Publishers Weekly noted the following of her two historical mysteries, set before and after World War II (Death Is the Cool Night and Lost to the World): "Blending operatic drama, sumptuous description, and noir, Sternberg gracefully puzzles out her tormented characters' actions and motivations in each book."

For many years, she and her family lived in Vermont, where she worked as an education reform advocate, contributed occasional commentaries to Vermont Public Radio, and was a member of the Vermont Commission on Women.

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she now lives in Lancaster, PA.