Steve Berry (born in 1955) is an American author, professor and former attorney currently living in St. Augustine, Florida. He is a graduate of Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law. He was a trial lawyer for 30 years and held elective office for 14 of those years. He is a founding member of International Thriller Writers—a group of more than 2,600 thriller writers from around the world—and served three years as its co-president.Steve Berry first appeared in print with his historical thrillers The Amber Room and The Romanov Prophecy in 2003 and 2004. A practicing attorney (at the time), Berry had been writing since 1990, and it took him 12 years and 85 rejections (over five different editions) to finally sell a manuscript to Ballantine Books. Berry credits the nuns who taught him in Catholic school with instilling the discipline needed both to craft a novel and to find a publisher. His latest novel, The Lincoln Myth, was released May 20, 2014.Today, Berry's novels have earned spots on The New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and BookSense bestseller lists. He has more than 18 million books in print, which have been translated into 40 languages and sold in 51 countries. Berry focuses much of his time on writing or planning new novels, teaching the concepts of writing to audiences throughout the world, golfing or spending time on the beach.History lies at the heart of every Steve Berry novel. It’s his passion, one he shares with his wife, Elizabeth, which led them to create History Matters, a foundation dedicated to historic preservation. Since 2009 Steve and Elizabeth have crossed the country to save endangered historic treasures, raising money via lectures, receptions, galas, luncheons, dinners and their popular writers workshops. To date, over 2,500 students have attended those workshops.Berry is among several thriller writers who reside in the northeast Florida area.