Being part of the community of authors is a wonderful thing, and one I never anticipated when I set out to get published. But lo these many years later, my fellow writers—some just starting out, some hugely successful, most somewhere in between—are a big part of what makes all this work worth it. Whatever ups and downs our careers take, we’re part of something bigger, cheering each other on.

And Kate Quinn is one of the greatest cheerleaders I know. Even with her dramatic rise into mega-bestseller territory with THE ALICE NETWORK a couple years back, she still makes time to support other writers with shout-outs, blurbs, joint events, collaborations, and other uses of time that sometimes fall by the wayside when an author finds herself in high demand. When I asked her for a #read99women recommendation even though I knew she was on deadline for her next book THE ROSE CODE, I was both thrilled and not entirely surprised that she made it happen. She’s cool like that.

Her more formal bio: Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance, before turning to the 20th century with THE ALICE NETWORK and THE HUNTRESS. All have been translated into multiple languages. Kate and her husband now live in San Diego with two rescue dogs.

Kate’s #read99women recommendation is a book that centers around, in her words, “a stellar trio of heroines--women I want to hug, women I want to befriend, women I want to be.” BEYOND THE POINT by Claire Gibson is a debut novel about three women who attend West Point on the eve of 9/11 and their lives together and apart.

Read Kate’s review in its entirety on BookBub here; or follow Kate on BookBub for more on her books and recommendations.