With her extensive background in publishing, editing, and design, Cheryl McLean has helped her clients produce award-winning books and publications in a variety of subjects. With a bachelor's degree in English literature and a master's degree in journalism, she began her career as a freelance writer for Sunset Magazine, associate editor for the Oregon State University alumni magazine, and an editor for the university's Extension Service publications. She then taught writing and journalism at Western Oregon University and served as an advisor for student publications before setting out on her own. She is coauthor with her husband, Clint Brown, of Oregon's Quiet Waters: A Guide for Canoeists and Other Paddlers and Drawing from Life, a college textbook in its third edition. She also wrote the first five editions of Fun with the Family in Oregon, published by Globe Pequot Press, and Careers for Shutterbugs and Other Candid Types for the National Textbook Service. Since 1979, she has been actively involved with CALYX: A Journal of Art and Literature by Women, which was an excellent school for learning what it takes to create a book and get it to the marketplace.