Lona Andrews is the pen name used by urban fantasy novelist Ilona Gordon with her spouse Andrew Gordon.Ilona was born in Russia and came to the United States as a teenager. She attended Western Carolina University, where she majored in biochemistry and met her husband Gordon, who helped her write and submit her first novel, Magic Bites. Its sequel, Magic Burns, reached #32 on the New York Times extended bestseller list in April 2008. Ilona and Gordon currently live in Texas.