Samara O'Shea
Samara O'Shea (born September 22, 1979 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American author, blogger, and professional letter writer. She has written two books published by HarperCollins: "For the Love of Letters: A 21st-Century Guide to the Art of Letter Writing" and "Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits". She blogs for The Huffington Post, and has been a guest blogger for Powell's Books and TalkingMakeup.com. She also runs an online letter-writing service at LetterLover.net. O'Shea spent her adolescent years in Mantua Township, New Jersey. She graduated from Clearview Regional High School  in 1997 and from Duquesne University in 2001. In college, O'Shea wrote for the Duquesne Duke, was an intern at "Pittsburgh Magazine", and presided as president of the Alpha Omega chapter of the national sorority Alpha Gamma Delta. Following graduation, O'Shea moved to Manhattan to pursue a career in magazines before writing books. She was fired from an internship at "", (a story included in "For the Love of Letters"), but survived internships at both "Harper's Bazaar", and "Esquire". Her writing has since appeared in "Country Living", "Woman's Day", and "All You". In April 2005 she launched LetterLover.net—an  online letter-writing service. Shortly after launching the site she was approached by a publisher asking her to pen a modern guide to letter writing, which is how her first book came to be. She has come full circle and now resides in Philadelphia.