Marita Woywod Crandle, originally from Germany, moved to California with her parents at a young age. She became a marketing executive in California for several organizations, including Coldwell Banker, Home Savings of America and a product-driven company, Ashten. On a business trip to New Orleans, the city enchanted her, and she moved almost immediately to the French Quarter. She lives both in the French Quarter and by the lake with her husband, Steven Crandle, of New Orleans. Marita and her husband own Boutique du Vampyre, a vampire-themed gift shop, and they manage Potions, their vampire-themed speakeasy, both in the French Quarter. Other books she has written include New Orleans Vampires: History and Legend and Johnny White’s Sports Bar: The Tiny Joint that Never Closed Until It Did, both for The History Press. She is currently writing a historical fiction vampire novel, The Carter Brothers, in which Josie Arlington is a featured character.