## SHORT BIO (50 words)
Elena Vasquez weaves Napa Valley's secrets into taut thrillers. In *Shadows in the Vineyard*, a winemaker unearths a hidden journal exposing her grandfather's role in a 1950s murder cover-up. Once a sommelier savoring rare vintages, she now ferments stories from her vineyard home.

*(48 words)*

## MEDIUM BIO (150 words)
Elena Vasquez knows the earth holds more than roots—she's spent years tending Napa's vines as a sommelier, tasting stories in every soil layer. Her debut thriller *Shadows in the Vineyard* plunges readers into that world, where protagonist Lila uncovers a journal detailing her grandfather's entanglement in a 1950s scandal of murder and buried family shame. Drawing from real vineyard lore and her own treks through fog-shrouded hills, Elena builds suspense note by note, like a perfect cabernet. She's judged wine competitions, led tastings for harvest festivals, and always jotted plot ideas on napkins stained with pinot noir. A dog lover whose rescue mutt shadows her writing desk, she balances drafts with pruning seasons. Elena lives amid Napa's rolling hills, California, where she's deep into her next novel tracing a modern heirloom's deadly path.

*(148 words)*

## LONG BIO (300 words)
Elena's path to thrillers started in the dirt. Raised helping her immigrant parents graft vines in Napa Valley, she learned early that the ground conceals as much as it yields—roots twisted around rocks, forgotten irrigation pipes surfacing after storms. By her twenties, she'd risen to sommelier at a boutique winery, swirling glasses for tourists while mentally mapping tales from overheard gossip: feuds over heirloom grapes, whispers of bootleggers in Prohibition cellars. Writing crept in during quiet shifts; napkins became notebooks filled with "what ifs" about family legacies gone wrong.

That spark ignited *Shadows in the Vineyard*, her gripping debut where Lila, a third-generation winemaker, digs up more than soil—a leather journal chronicling her grandfather's desperate cover-up of a 1950s murder tied to a rival's poisoned crop. Elena layered in authentic details from her life: the metallic tang of wet earth after rain, the way fog muffles screams at dawn, the ache of pruning shears in callused hands. Influences like Tana French's rural unease and Ruth Rendell's domestic shadows shaped her voice, obsessing over how ordinary places harbor human fractures—betrayal in the barrel room, greed fermenting under sun-ripened skins.

Readers and early reviewers praise how Elena makes Napa breathe, its beauty laced with menace. She's judged at the Napa Valley Wine Auction, led sensory workshops blending taste and storytelling, and shared vineyard hikes with writer groups. Human moments ground her: mornings walking her rescue mutt Pippa through dew-heavy rows, evenings grilling flatbreads with neighbors while debating plot holes.

From those vines, Elena's journey arcs toward deeper excavations. She's researching her follow-up, *Vintage Lies*, probing a contemporary DNA test unraveling a winery dynasty's WWII secrets. Living hillside in Napa, California, surrounded by the very landscapes she twists into fiction, she reminds us: the best stories, like the finest wines, reveal themselves slowly.

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## FIRST-PERSON "ABOUT ME" (100 words)
I write thrillers because Napa's vineyards taught me secrets don't stay buried—they push up like stubborn roots. In *Shadows in the Vineyard*, my winemaker digs into a journal exposing her grandfather's 1950s murder plot, and yeah, that's straight from the foggy hills I call home. Ex-sommelier here (ask me about pairing mysteries with malbec), I swap tastings for typing now, with my mutt Pippa snoring nearby. You'll find me pruning plots or people-watching at harvest fairs. Grab a glass; let's uncover what ferments beneath.

*(92 words)*

## SOCIAL HANDLE BIOS
- **Twitter/X (160 chars):** Napa vines hide killer secrets—I'm Elena Vasquez, thriller writer. *Shadows in the Vineyard*: journal reveals granddad's '50s murder cover-up amid poisoned grapes. Plotting more. Sip & suspense. @ElenaVThrillers #WineCountryMystery

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- **Instagram (150 chars):**  
Napa's fog rolls in...  
What if your roots hid murder?  
Elena Vasquez | *Shadows in the Vineyard*  
Winemaker unearths granddad's 1950s scandal via hidden journal.  
Ex-sommelier spinning thrillers. 🧑‍🌾🍷📖  
@elenavasquezbooks

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- **LinkedIn (220 chars):** Elena Vasquez writes literary thrillers rooted in California's wine country. Debut *Shadows in the Vineyard* follows a winemaker discovering a journal detailing her grandfather's 1950s murder involvement. Former sommelier at St. Helena Winery; Napa Valley resident. Open to speaking on place-based storytelling. elenavasquez.com

*(198 chars)*

## AUTHOR PHOTO CAPTION
Elena Vasquez amid Napa's morning mist, where her thriller *Shadows in the Vineyard* was born.

## MEDIA CONTACT BLOCK
Elena Vasquez  
elena@elenavasquez.com  
(707) 555-0192  
elenavasquez.com  
Twitter/X: @ElenaVThrillers | Instagram: @elenavasquezbooks | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/elenavasquez