Tess
Gerritsen graduated from medical school at the University of
California, San Francisco, and began writing romantic thrillers while she was on maternity leave. Her first medical thriller, Harvest, was released in hardcover in 1996, and it
marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list. Her books have been translated into 37
languages, and more than 20 million copies have been sold around the world. Her
crime series featuring detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles,
Rizzoli & Isles, airs on TNT. Now retired from medicine, Gerritson writes
full time. She lives 
in Maine.
On your nightstand now:
The Way of Herodotus: Travels with the Man Who Invented History by Justin Marozzi. (I'm almost finished reading it, and will be so sorry when it ends!)
When I was very young: a picture book about dinosaurs--I don't remember the title or author.
As a young adult: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Your top five authors:
Robert Harris, Lisa See, Barbara Kingsolver, Larry McMurtry, Stephen King.
Book you've faked reading:
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.
Book you're an evangelist for:
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Midnight in the Garden of Good And Evil by John Berendt.
Book that changed your life:
Telling Lies for Fun and Profit by Lawrence Block. (It made the craft of writing far less mysterious and even do-able.)
Favorite line from a book:
"No one is fool enough to choose war instead of peace. In peace, sons bury fathers, but in war fathers bury sons."--The Histories by Herodotus
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.