Ronny Herman de Jong, born and raised on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies, survived four years in Japanese concentration camps during World War Two. A B.A. in English Literature from Leiden University in the Netherlands served her well during the rest of her life, since she emigrated to the United States in 1972 with her husband, three children and their dog. Her mother’s secret camp journal was the basis for her first book In the Shadow of the Sun, published in 1992 and her memoir Rising from the Shadow of the Sun: A Story of Love, Survival and Joy, published in 2011. On the occasion of the 69th anniversary of the end of the War in the Pacific, she published her third book Survivors of WWII in the Pacific. Ronny is an Honorary Professional Member of the SSA, the Society of Southwestern Authors and PWP, the Professional Writers of Prescott. She has been interviewed on Radio and Television shows in Arizona, Hawai'i, the Netherlands, and on SBS Dutch Radio in Australia. Her favorite things are dancing, traveling, reading, writing, walking, swimming and snorkeling. Her family, counting 7 grandchildren, always comes first. Her motto is: Reach for the stars! You may not actually get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either!