Christina Hoag is a former journalist who has had her laptop searched by Colombian guerrillas, her phone tapped in Venezuela, was suspected of drug trafficking in Guyana, hid under a car to evade Guatemalan soldiers, and posed as a nun to get inside a Caracas jail. She has interviewed gang members, bank robbers, thieves and thugs in prisons, shantytowns, and slums, not to forget billionaires and presidents, some of whom fall into the previous categories.

Christina’s noir crime novel Skin of Tattoos was a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award for suspense, while her YA novel Girl on the Brink was named one of Suspense Magazine’s best for young adults. She also co-authored the nonfiction book, Peace in the Hood: Working with Gang Members to End the Violence, which is used as a textbook at University of California Los Angeles, University of Southern California and other academic institutions.

She has won several awards for her short stories and creative nonfiction essays, which have been published in anthologies and literary journals including Shooter (UK), San Antonio Review, Santa Barbara Literary Journal, and others.

She's a former staff writer for the Miami Herald and Associated Press and reported from 14 countries around Latin America for Time, Business Week, New York Times, Financial Times, Sunday Times of London, Houston Chronicle, and other news outlets. She is a graduate of Boston University.

Born in New Zealand, Christina grew up in seven countries. She now lives in California, where she has taught creative writing at a maximum-security prison and to at-risk teen girls. She is a regular speaker at women’s conferences, writing conferences and organizations, book clubs and stores, and libraries.