ABOUT RAINER M. SCHRöDER
Known for his Buxtehude Bull Award-winning novel Die Lagune der Galeeren and for his Friedrich-Gerstäcker-Preis-winning work Abby Lynn - Verbannt ans Ende der Welt, this internationally popular author of thrillers, historical fiction, plays, and young adult novels has sold over six million copies of his works.
Early in his life, he trained as an opera singer and also performed with a German rock group called Union Jack. He went on to study law, theater & film, and philology at the University of Cologne.
He wrote dozens of novels, including the Jessica and Valerie series, under the pen name of Ashley Carrington.
He was raised in East Berlin and Düsseldorf, Germany. In the early 1980s, he and his wife Helga settled on a farm in Virginia, U.S.A.; they later split their time between Florida and Germany.
A huge fan of the German rock band The Scorpions, he accompanied the group's members (including singer Klaus Meine ) on several tours and published a 1980 nonfiction work about the popular band.
