Dr.
Barbara G.
Mertz is the
real life person who also writes fiction under the names
Barbara Michaels and
Elizabeth Peters.
Under her real name, she has published three non-fiction books
Barbara Mertz studied at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, receiving an M.A. in 1950 and a PhD in Egyptology in 1952. In 1950 she married Richard Mertz and had two children, Elizabeth and Peter. She was divorced in 1969. A past president of American Crime Writers League, she presently serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of "KMT, A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt" and the Board of Governors of The American Research Center in Egypt, as well as the Editorial Board of The Writer. She is also a member of the Egypt Exploration Society, the James Henry Breasted Circle of the Oriental Institute, and the National Organization for Women. Dr. Mertz was awarded a D.H.L. from Hood College in 1989. The Mystery Writers of America awarded her the MWA Grandmaster in 1998.
Barbara died 8th August, 2013.
For more info, see http://mpmbooks.com (It's MPM for Mertz Peters Michaels)