Serita Deborah Mendelson-Stevens, RN, BSN, MA, FNE
Agatha, MacCavity, and Edgar award nominee
6012 N. Carpenter Ave
No Hollywood, CA 91606 4707
818 769 0842/ fax 769 0297
E-mail: sstevenstarlow@gmail.com
Agented by Joann Carol, Monterio Rose Dravis (scripts)
Jacky Sachs, Book Ends Ltd (books)
www.SeritaStevens.org

Serita Deborah Mendelson-Stevens was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from the University of Illinois Medical Center.  She specializes in psychiatric nursing and is a qualified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner/ Death Scene Investigator (St. Louis Medical School Dept. of Forensic Pathology.). As a nurse, she is a member of Disaster Mortuary Operations Recovery Team (DMORT) helping disaster areas where their own medical capabilities are overwhelmed.

Shortly after obtaining a master’s degree in writing -with honors--from Antioch University’s London, England program, Serita started her publishing career in historical and contemporary women’s fiction.  From there she branched into suspense, thrillers and true crime. 

Many of Serita's 32 novels and non fiction have been adapted to script and several have been optioned as movies and shown nationally on HBO/Cinemax.  She has also written several radio plays.  As an active member of Sisters In Crime, she chaired their Speaker's Bureau for the LA area, arranging book signings and tours for various authors.  She served as a judge for the Edgars, Malice Domestic and the Hemmet Awards.  Twice her choices have become St. Martin’s Best First Novel.

As an author, Serita has received honors and awards and she has worked with many companies including Publisher’s Weekly analyzing books and scripts.  She also worked in development at Cinaco Films and Jireh Productions and is still called upon to consult story matters with these and other companies.  Using her nursing and forensic expertise, she has acted as a medical expert fine tuning forensic details in stories.   Her recent book, The Forensic Nurse, is being turned into a television drama in Canada (CTV) with Greg Bell (former showrunner of Bones) as the head of production. 

Serita has also done many adaptations of her work and others and does novelizations, as well and teaches a class in adapting books to scripts. 

Serita has taught writing for the past twenty years at such places as USC, UCLA, Loyola Marymount, Roosevelt University, Cal State Los Angeles, Santa Monica City College and Writer’s Digest Novel Writing Program.  She is a sought after speaker for high schools and junior highs and was chosen to speak to young readers and writers by the Los Angeles Public Library as well as being the key note speaker at the Girl Scouts of American 50th Birthday celebration. In 2003, she received the Alumni of the Year award from University of Illinois Medical Center School of Nursing for her contribution to nursing.

In 1995, Serita adopted a Romanian child (Alexzandra) and as a result founded Hugs and Hopes- Romania, a non- profit organization to aid the Romanian orphans. Many of her fellow authors contributed to her mystery anthologies, Unholy Orders, Too Unholy, and Blondes in Trouble benefiting Hugs. To see the story of how Serita adopted her daughter as a single mother, go to her web site, www.seritastevens.org.   The story is under Alexzandra’s page – bio.

Her young adult mystery, Unholy Alliance (Fawcett) about a rabbi’s daughter who solves crimes was nominated best book for the Reluctant Reader by the American Library Association in 1989.  In 2001, her story the Unborn won an honorable mention from the Edgar short story committee.

Serita’s Deadly Doses: A Writer's Guide to Poisons (Writer's Digest) ISBN 0-89879-371-8 was nominated for an Anthony Award (Bouchercon) and a Macavity Award (Mystery Readers Association).  It has been on Writer’s Digest Books best selling lists for 17 years and has been recently re-released as The Book of Poisons (Writer’s Digest 2007.)

Her TV Sitcom pilot We Got Class, written with Robert Loche, Din Payne was a finalist in the Cinema City International Film Festival.

The Forensic Nurse is currently being made into a TV show in Canada with Gregory Bell as showrunner. 

Her horror has recently been optioned, too. 

Serita has on numerous occasions helped with development of stories for her students, done rewrites on scripts, written scripts for others based on their outlines, done novelizations of scripts and adaptation of books.

She is currently writing the true crime script and book of The Kris McDuffie Gamie Case and is planning a book series staring a forensic nurse investigator.

Personal info:

She dreams of seeing Hugs and Hopes as a successful intervention for the many Romanian orphans.  She continues to attend classes in forensics, profiling, investigation and criminology when time permits and is an active member of the International Association of Forensic Nurses.  She has written several articles on forensics for law enforcement journals and did investigative reporting for CBS-TV to aid in the uncovering of an illicit hospital scheme. 

Serita's many interests include reading, history, horseback riding, travel, and animal rescue.  She has dabbled in acting, directing, and given numerous television and radio interviews.

Currently, Serita lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, daughter, her  cats—Caesar, Othello and Goldie and her dogs -- Pupperazzi, (who likes to hound her,) Cupcake and Sophia.

Listed in Who’s Who of American Women; International Who’s Who of Professional and Business Women, and others.  In 1996, ABI nominated her as one of the Women of the Year. 

 Some of Serita's books include: