JONES, Merry Bloch 1948-

PERSONAL: Born September 29, 1948, in Chicago, IL; daughter of Herman S. (a research chemist) and E. Judith (a homemaker and teacher; maiden name, Kahn) Bloch; married Dobroslav M. Valik (a dentist), June 16, 1973 (divorced, September, 1978); married Robert Llewellyn Jones (a lawyer), July 26, 1987; children: (second marriage) Baille Ariel Esther, Neely Meredith Samantha, a stepson, and a stepdaughter. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Cornell University, B.A. (with honors), 1970; University of Pennsylvania, M.A., 1972.

ADDRESSES: Home—1619 Winston Rd., Gladwyne, PA 19035. Agent—Liza Dawson, Liza Dawson Associates, 240 W. 35th St., New York, NY 10001. E-mail—jonesmb@aol.com.

CAREER: Writer, 1989—. Video producer, scriptwriter, and consultant, 1975—; operator of video production company, 1980-89. Worked as producer and director for WKBS-TV; staff communication consultant for Sun Co.; instructor at Temple University; assistant producer for WCAU-TV and KYW-TV; seminar leader; guest on television and radio talk shows.

MEMBER: Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America.

AWARDS, HONORS: Video awards from Society for Technical Communication and International Association of Business Communicators.

WRITINGS:

(With Jo Ann Schiller) Stepmothers: Keeping It Together with Your Husband and His Kids, Birch Lane Press, 1992.

Birthmothers: Women Who Have Relinquished Babies for Adoption Tell Their Stories, Chicago Review Press (Chicago, IL), 1993.

(Compiler) I Love Him, But—, Workman (New York, NY), 1995.

"Please Don't Kiss Me at the Bus Stop!": Over 700 Things Parents Do That Drive Their Kids Crazy, Andrews McMeel (Kansas City, MO), 1997.

America's Dumbest Dates: Over 500 Tales of Fumbled Flirtations, Andrews McMeel (Kansas City, MO), 1998.

(Compiler) "If She Weren't My Best Friend, I'd Kill Her!": Almost 600 Ways Women Drive Their Girlfriends Crazy, Andrews McMeel (Kansas City, MO), 1998.

The Nanny Murders, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor to magazines and newspapers, including American Woman, Woman's Own, and Philadelphia.

WORK IN PROGRESS: More mystery novels.

SIDELIGHTS: Merry Bloch Jones once told CA: "I began Stepmothers because I was frustrated by my own experience as a stepmother. Through research I learned I wasn't alone. I teamed up with another stepmom, and we wrote about the collective experiences of a number of similarly stymied women.

"The process of writing Stepmothers made me realize how many of us are dealing with roles and relationships for which we are not prepared. Birthmothers explores what happens to women after they have surrendered babies for adoption. It examines the effects of surrender and identifies patterns that will help birthmothers, their families, adoptees, and adoptive parents prepare for and/or cope with the scars of relinquishment."

Jones later added that her first work of fiction, The Nanny Murders, "is based on the life of a divorced single mother. Although it's fiction, its tensions emerge from the quiet struggles of 'regular' people who encounter the unexpected." Jones anticipated that The Nanny Murders would be the first in a series of suspense mysteries.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2005, review of The Nanny Murders p. 307.

Publishers Weekly, April 11, 2005, review of The Nanny Murders p. 34.