Cynthia Leal Massey, a native of San Antonio, Texas, has published several books and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles and stories. A full-time writer, she has lived in Helotes, Texas, since 1994. She was the 2008 winner of the Lone Start Award for Magazine Journalism given by the Houston Press Club for "Is UT Holding Our History Hostage?" published in Scene in SA magazine. The article was also a finalist for the Texas Institute of Letters O. Henry Award for Best Work of Magazine Journalism.