Timothy Schaffert's novel The Swan Gondola, a story of love and ghosts set among the flimflam men, snake-oil salesmen, occultists, and actresses of the 1898 Omaha World's Fair, is forthcoming from Riverhead/Penguin. Schaffert is the author of four other novels, all from Unbridled Books: The Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters, The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God, Devils in the Sugar Shop, and The Coffins of Little Hope. His work has been a Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers selection, an Indie Next pick, and New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice. He teaches in the English Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is the director/founder of the (downtown) Omaha Lit Fest, and is a contributing editor to Fairy Tale Review.