Allene Symons is the author of Nostradamus, Vagabond Prophet: A Novel of His Life and Time and a former instructor of communications and media studies at Santa Ana College. She previously worked as a senior editor at Publishers Weekly, Drug Store News, and For the Pharmacist magazines and as general manager of Rizzoli International Bookstore in Costa Mesa, California.

   She  graduated from San Francisco State  with a Bachelor’s in philosophy. She holds a master’s in history of religions (Buddhism) from Claremont Graduate University, and a master’s in Communications/Journalism from California State University, Fullerton.