Margaret Shepherd is a noted calligrapher and author whose clients include numerous headliners. The author of thousands of personal letters and fourteen hand-lettered instructional books on calligraphy, including the bestselling Learning Calligraphy, she has exhibited her work in many museums and galleries. She lives in Boston.

Sharon Cloud Hogan has written and edited several books for general readers . She leads workshops on nonfiction writing for physicians, and she is a manuscript editor at The New England Journal of Medicine.  She lives near Boston.