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Stephanie Maher Palenque was born and raised in New Jersey, where she earned her B.A. in Political Science and Criminal Justice, and her M.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing, from Seton Hall University in South Orange.She went on to earn her Masters in Education (M.Ed.) from Northern Arizona University. She is currently attending Loyola University.

She spent more than ten years in the publishing industry as an employee of Reed Elsevier, Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of Time Warner Trade Publishing, and The Coriolis Group.

Stephanie currently devotes her days and nights to her business, "The Word Nerd." "The Word Nerd" offers writing, copyediting, proofreading, indexing, and instruction services to the writing and publishing community. She also serves as an adjunct English Professor at Paradise Valley Community College, and teaches online for various colleges and educational institutions.

Stephanie copyedits, proofreads, and indexes books for major trade, technical, and academic publishers. She is the President of the Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Indexers (ASI) and is a 2004 Honoree of The Order of the Kohlrabi.

Stephanie's writing, both fiction and non-fiction, has been published in regional and national magazines including: Arizona Foothills Magazine, Arizona Highways, Images AZ, Arizona Bride, Food & Lifestyles Magazine, Amateur Chef, Scottsdale Magazine, East Valley Magazine, Ahwatukee Monthly, Corporate & Incentive Travel Magazine, City AZ, City NY, and Catersource. Her book on cocaine, Busted! Crack & Cocaine was published by Enslow Publishers in 2005.

Stephanie is currently Executive Writer of ImagesAZ, where she writes monthly food and wine features. She also authors a food blog, "Food for Thought."