Nan Temkin Dudley

Nan Temkin Dudley has been writing since she could hold a pencil… short stories, often humorous and autobiographical, a lifetime of poetry and songs, eight screenplays (including two novel adaptations), newspaper and magazine articles and a children's book. After editing other people's books and columns for more than a decade, she and her writing partner decided to write their first screenplay into this novel.

Nan was a dancer and an actress. She owned several dance and theater companies in California and Hawaii, producing and performing for thirty years. She taught Yoga for decades. She is an avid reader and lives with her husband overlooking the glorious Kona coast. It was here that she met Katina Le Kerr, who dressed her for the movie Waterworld. One day, sitting on the set with fake bombs blasting all around them, Katina said, "There aren't enough female action heroes." Nan responded, "I met one. She was a World War II spy, and she commanded me to write her life story."

Katina was all in, so they set out traveling the world from Malta to London, New York, Switzerland and the Caribbean, tracking the life of their beguiling, inspiring heroine. The Nearest Thing to Heaven is a joint venture.

If you're purchasing an AudioBook, which Nan narrated, check out our beautiful hand-drawn maps on our website.

After writing the first page of her autobiography when she was eleven, Katina Le Kerr moved on to her second dream, fashion. She studied at LA Trade Tech and has since designed costumes for countless live performances, TV shows and films, including Dawson's Creek, SpiderMan 3, Men In Black II (Associate Costume Designer) and six years designing the hit show, Homeland. Katina honed her action-adventure writing skills by reading hundreds of Homeland scripts. While filming the show in South Africa, she adapted a novel about an accidental female spy, The Delhi Deception, into a screenplay.

Katina edited and self-published a book with her father called, Sound Links, introducing a reading program he invented. She has written three screenplays and is a passionate, talented artist. Her preferred medium is oil painting. She recently taught a course in costume design in Saudi Arabia and is working on a book about Hollywood styling for civilians.

Katina met her writing partner, Nan Temkin Dudley, working on the movie Waterworld. One day, on the set with fake bombs blasting all around them, Katina said, "There aren't enough female action heroes." Nan responded, "I met one. She was a World War II spy." Katina was all in, so they set out traveling the world from Malta to London, New York, Switzerland and the Caribbean, tracking the life of their beguiling, inspiring heroine. The Nearest Thing to Heaven is a joint venture.

Katina designed the book cover.