Samantha Waltz
Samantha Waltz, the editor of Blended: Writers on the Stepfamily Experience, has been writing since childhood. She sold her first story at age eleven to a local newspaper, followed by first prizes in fiction and non-fiction and publication in American Girl when she was in her teens. She later worked as a guest editor and then an editorial assistant for MADEMOISELLE. Her books include Parenting: Four Patterns In Child-Rearing, (New York: Hart Publishing) and Parenting Gifted Children (Salem: Oregon State Department). Her essays have been published in sixty-plus anthologies, Redbook, and Christian Science Monitor. Samantha’s early work is under the names Samellyn Jones and Samellyn Wood. She holds very dear her three children, five step-children and twelve step-grandchildren. Samantha lives in Portland, Oregon.