Darien Gee (’99) is the national bestselling author of three novels written under the name Mia King (Good Things, Sweet Life, and Table Manners, all published by Berkley Books). Her fourth novel, Friendship Bread (Ballantine Books/Random House) was released in April 2011 under her own name, as was her fifth novel, The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society, which was released in April 2013. Darien is a former Bay Area resident who served on the board of directors for ZYZZYVA and the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. In October 2023, she was appointed the Third Mark Twain Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the University of Connecticut.