S. Renée Bess is a Philadelphia bred former high school teacher, who has been writing fiction, in one form or another, for many years. Her short stores have been published in the "Labyrinth Newspaper", Piece of My Heart, A Lesbian of Colour Anthology, and Ma-Ka Diasporic Juks: Contemporary Writings by Queers of African Descent. She is thrilled to have had the opportunity to publish Leave of Absence. Renée is dedicated to the act of writing about African-American lesbians.

"It's important for us to tell our own stories because we need to affirm our right to exist in the world and in the body of lesbian and gay literature...many times we are not only invisible to the non-black gay and lesbian community. We are invisible to each other."

Presently, Renée is working on a third novel, creating and bonding with new and memorable characters and searching for interested readers.