Betty J. Vaughn, former department chair and art teacher at Enloe Magnet High School in Raleigh, NC, following years of teaching, launched a career as an author. Previously her books The Man in the Chimney (first published as Muddy Waters) and Turbulent Waters (first published as Blue Waters) won the award for historical fiction from the North Carolina Society of Historians for 2011 and 2012 respectively. She is the 2013 winner for her book Run, Cissy, Run. The fourth book in the series, The Intrepid Miss LaRoque, won in 2015. Yesterday's Magnolia is not part of the historical fiction series. Tiger's Code, a CIA thriller, is the first book in the Quint Cord series. Dragon's Sword is the second in the series. All seven books are published by Total Recall Press. In honoring her books, in a unanimous decision, the judges commented: "It is gratifying to find an astute historian whose skills far exceed that realm; someone who can take facts and weave them together with fiction and end up with a story that actually could have happened...[It is] a wonderful story full of emotion, unexpected twists and turns, close calls and tragic moments...Mrs. Vaughn can consider herself a seasoned novelist...[Her books] are fast paced, action packed, and full of adventure...Her work simply isn't just a flurry of words, dry, and boring...She is a master of literary technique as she weaves her tapestry of words." A prize winning visual artist with paintings in collections worldwide, Mrs. Vaughn designed the magnet art program at Enloe where her students consistently won top honors. The recipient of a three year Federal Grant to the Wake County School System, she led Enloe Enterprises, Inc. in operating an art gallery, a summer arts camp, and an Emmy award winning television production company. As a result of the Enterprises Enloe was selected as one of the ten best art schools in the nation by Business Week Magazine. She wrote and published a monthly newsletter for the Enterprises and is the author of numerous professional articles. She loves to travel and led study tours of Europe for many years. History, art, and books are a lifelong passion. Both as a teacher of advanced placement art history and as a writer, Mrs. Vaughn brings the story of the past alive through the people who lived it. The Quint Cord series focuses on the issues currently facing us as a people and country.