Victoria Patterson is the author of Drift, a collection of interlinked short stories published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in June 2009. Her novel This Vacant Paradise was published by Conterpoints Press in March 2011. Her essays and fiction have appeared in various publications and literary journals, most recently the Los Angeles Times, Orange Coast Magazine, the Southern Review, Santa Monica Review, and the Florida Review.  Her short story “Johnny Hitman” was listed in the 100 Distinguished Stories in Best American Short Stories 2009.  She lives with her family in Southern California, and teaches through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.