Diane McKinney-Whetstone is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Our Gen, Tumbling, Lazaretto, Tempest Rising, Blues Dancing, Leaving Cecil Street, and Trading Dreams at Midnight. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Black Caucus of the American Library Association's Literary Award for Fiction, which she won twice. A past lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, her work has appeared in the Atlantic, Essence Philadelphia magazine, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. She lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her husband.