Flisi ClaudiaClaudia Flisi has been writing professionally since the age of 16, with articles and stories in magazines, newspapers, websites, blogs, and books, about companies ranging from Apple (computers) to Zegna (clothing), and topics ranging from abortions t zoos. Much of her work has appeared in trade publications but some clients are well-known: the magazines of BA, Brussels, KLM, Swiss, and Singapore Airlines, Fortune, International New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, and Variety. She has won several awards for corporate communications when she worked for American Express, Burson-Marsteller, and J. Walter Thompson in the US and Europe. "Crystal and Jade" is her first published story for children. Flisi's mother clearly had a premonition about her daughter, since the name "Claudia" was not popular when she was growing up in New Jersey, nor at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, where she earned her BA with distinction. Her first opportunity to try out her name properly came in graduate school, when she spent a year at the Bologna Center of Johns Hopkins University in Italy. Claudia has an Italian husband of long standing, and two quadrilingual sons. She herself speaks Italian, French, and a bit of Spanish. The dogs in her life -- a Weimaraner, bodeguero andaluz, and current Doberman-wannabe -- enjoy frequent trips between Milan, Monte Carlo, and Marbella. Her free time not dedicated to a number of civic and political organizations is spent advancing her prospects for the Explorers Club, open to those who have visited 100 countries. She reports being "pretty close." Read More Read Less