Allene Symons is a veteran journalist who holds a bachelor’s in philosophy from San Francisco State University, and master’s degrees in the fields of Communications (Journalism) and in History of Religions (Buddhism). She was a writer, book reviewer, and senior editor for Publishers Weekly in New York (1982-1988), and has written for consumer and specialty magazines. Born in Long Beach, California, she has lived in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Manhattan, N.Y. She now lives in Santa Ana, California. In 2016 she retired as an instructor in communications and media studies at Santa Ana College.

Freelance credits include articles in Details, Los Angeles Times (book reviews and travel), and she originated and wrote the travel lit review column “Great Reads for the Restless” for msnbc.com (1999-2000). Her latest book is Aldous Huxley’s Hands: His Quest for Perception and the Origin and Return of Psychedelic Science (Prometheus Books, distributed by Penguin Random House; release date December 8, 2015).

She is the author of Nostradamus, Vagabond Prophet: A Novel of His Life and Time (Forked Road Press, a 2011 revised edition of Vagabond Prophet, Avon Books, 1983), and co-author with Jane Parker of the nonfiction title Adventures Abroad: Exploring the Travel/Retirement Option (Gateway Books/Globe Pequot, 1991).

Also see her CV at Authors Guild  Authors Guild and CV