Cori Crooks, is a writer, an artist, a playwright, and a musician. Beginning in 2004, she documented her quest for the truth about her paternity and then aired the DNA test results online to the readers of her art/life blog, “A Gag Reflex”. Her offbeat prose quickly earned her local press, respect amongst top bloggers and published writers, as well as a cult following of fans eager for more of her quirky and fresh story telling.

Cori attributes her talents to having lived a full life at an early age. Once a homeless teen in the suburbs of Oakland, CA, she went on to write and direct plays at her community college theatre, record music and tour with indie rock bands, and study Humanities at San Francisco State University. Her first book, "Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake", Seal Press, was released December 2008 and has wow'd the critics.  It continues to receive glowing reviews and in the summer of 2009, "Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake", received editor's pick in Curve Magazine. 

Cori’s writing has appeared independently in projects from California to New York, and internationally online. Her artwork has shown at galleries in New York and California, and is currently available through the Catalina Island Museum, the American Museum of Ceramic Art, and her online store. 

She lives with her husband and children in the San Francisco Bay Area.