Our Authors

Takako Hirata

Takako Hirata is Head of International Business Development at ROHTO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. By working to bridge the information gap between Japan and the U.S., she’s also building an online technology-focused media hub called InTech Media. And as a Board Member of Mentholatum, she works at the frontier of healthcare and technology. Previously she was at Proctor & Gamble, where she oversaw major product lines such as Febreze, before becoming a Marketing Design Manager and leading branding strategy in P&G’s US and China markets. She later took on a role as Director of Brand Strategy at Aeon. Currently, she is an Executive MBA candidate at UCLA-NUS and the only Japanese certificate holder of the MIT-Harvard Medical School Healthcare Innovation Bootcamp. She lives in Tokyo, Japan. She leads everywhere.

Books by Takako Hirata

Andrea Schicke Hirsch

Andrea Schicke Hirsch has been a bookseller, freelance editor and copywriter, teacher and paralegal. She studied theatre and English at Fordham University and has a master’s degree in education from the University of Bridgeport. A Connecticut native, she lives in Wilton, Conn., with her family.

Dr. Dave Hodgson

Dr. Dave Hodgson is an ecologist, working at the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on the Cornwall (U.K.) campus of the University of Exeter. He lives in the middle of Cornwall and enjoys views of the North and South coasts. He and Penny share their house and garden with Merlin, the magic dog, and Patch and Bridget, the depraved bunnies. When not studying the maintenance of biodiversity, he plays drums for warblefly, the kickingest trad-punk band this side of anywhere.

Steven A. Hoffman

Steven A. Hoffman has lived in 17 states and countries and has been very happy to call Sioux Falls, S.D., home since 1997. When he’s not writing, he oversees a seven-gallery visual arts center, a science center with three floors of hands-on exhibits, a domed large format theater and a performing arts center with 1,900- and 300-seat theaters. Professionally, Steve has curated performing arts series, festivals, events and individual performances for more than 15 years. Steve holds degrees from the University of Illinois and University of Wisconsin and has worked and taught in Chicago, New York, Ann Arbor, Mich., and Madison, Wis. He is actively involved with a variety of local and national boards, associations and panels and has previously been published in several literary and trade publications. Since living in South Dakota his appreciation for country music, fishing and hunting has steadily grown. Steve can be contacted at SH.writings@hotmail.com.

Steven S. Hoffman

Steve Hoffman, or Captain Hoff as he’s called in Silicon Valley, is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world’s leading startup incubators. He’s also an angel investor, limited partner at August Capital, serial entrepreneur, and author of several award-winning books, including Make Elephants Fly and Surviving a Startup. Hoffman was also the founder and chairman of the Producers Guild Silicon Valley Chapter, Board of Governors of the New Media Council, and founding member of the Academy of Television’s Interactive Media Group.

Books by Steven S. Hoffman

Jordan Hoffman

Jordan Hoffman is an entertainment journalist whose work can be read in Vanity Fair, The Guardian, The New York Times, New York Daily News, Los Angeles Times, and New York Magazine. He penned 100 “One Trek Mind” columns for startrek.com, hosted “Engage: The Official Star Trek Podcast” for two years, and has moderated at Star Trek conventions across the world.

Books by Jordan Hoffman

Larry Hogan

Larry Hogan is the 62nd governor of Maryland and chairman of the National Governors Association. Recently reelected in a landslide, he is only the second Republican governor in Maryland history to win a second term. Known for his practical solutions, his stark transparency and his ability to work across party lines, he is also a proud survivor of late-stage non-Hodgins lymphoma. His wife, Yumi Hogan, is the first Korean-American first lady in America. The Hogans live in the historic state capital of Annapolis.

Steven Holcomb

Steven Holcomb

Steven Holcomb is an American bobsled driver who won the Olympic gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the first gold medal in four-man bobsledding for the United States since 1948.

Holcomb is the only Olympic athlete for whom a medical procedure is named: the Holcomb C3-R procedure for keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease that can lead to total blindness. Holcomb was cured of keratoconus from the procedure and went on to become America’s most decorated bobsledder. He will compete to defend his Olympic title at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Books by Steven Holcomb

Nancy Holder

Nancy Holder is a four-time Bram Stoker Award–winning author, and was nominated a fifth time for one of her “Buffy” novels. She also received a special award from Amazon.com for The Angel Chronicles, Volume 1. She has written or cowritten over three dozen projects in the “BtVS” and “Angel” universes. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Watcher’s Guide, Volume 1, coauthored with Christopher Golden, appeared on the USA Today bestseller list and was described in Entertainment Weekly and the Wall Street Journal as “superb.” She lives in San Diego with her 8-year-old daughter, Belle, a daunting karate student and key soccer defender, who, as of this writing, is eagerly awaiting her first softball season.

Sam Hollander

As one of the most renowned songwriters and producers in the game, Sam Hollander has had multi-platinum success writing and producing for the likes of Panic! At The Disco, Fitz and the Tantrums, Weezer, Katy Perry, Train, One Direction, Daughtry, Pentatonix, and Gym Class Heroes, amongst many others. To date, he has achieved 22 US Top 40 Hits, as well as 10 Number 1’s, 10 top fives, and 87 Top 10 chart positions globally. His songs have been streamed over 5 billion times, and in 2019, he held the #1 position on the Billboard Rock Songwriters chart for nine weeks, a year-end record. Sam has also been chosen to be on Variety’s Hitmakers list, as well as being named Rolling Stone’s Hot List Producer of the Year in 2008.

Hollander’s career has recently hit new heights from collaborations with Fitz and the Tantrums’ multi-platinum worldwide hit, “HandClap” (one-billion-streams) and eight songs he co-penned on Panic! At The Disco’s Billboard 200 No. 1 album Pray For The Wicked, including the 5x platinum, billion streamed record-breaking global hit “High Hopes” and “Hey Look Ma, I Made It!” which replaced “High Hopes” at No. 1 on the Hot Rock Songs chart. Other notable recent successes include writing Banners’ platinum hit, “Someone To You,” Blink-182’s Alternative Top 10 single “Blame It On My Youth”, James TW’s worldwide platinum hit “When You Love Someone” and writing and producing two songs on the legendary Ringo Starr’s recent release “What’s My Name.” He’s currently writing and producing the music for NBC’S fall 2021 new drama series Ordinary Joe.

Books by Sam Hollander