Garinè Isassi is a recovering journalist and author of the award-winning novel, “Start with the Backbeat.” Additional publications include the weekly humor column, “Mom in the Middle;” the anthologies, “This is What America Looks Like” and “Grace in Love;” and Gargoyle Online. In 2022, she won a grant from the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County and was accepted into the George Washington University JMM Writing Workshop. She currently lives in Maryland, where she works full-time in marketing communications. She is the Gaithersburg Book Festival Adult Workshops Chair and on the organizing committee of the Washington Writers Conference.