LOVESICK: A Novel by Alex Wellen

ALEX WELLEN is a writer, inventor, and award-winning television producer for CNN who lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Kris, and son, Nathaniel.

He is a New York Times contributor, and has written for numerous national publications as well as appeared on a wide range of syndicated television and radio programs. On September 18, 2006, through an Act of God, Wellen won the much revered, universally loathed New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest. He has two patents -- one that covers a unique double-sided table tennis paddle and another for a tactile timepiece (exclusive licenses still available!). He is the author of the critically acclaimed nonfiction memoir, Barman. Lovesick is his first novel.

As Deputy Political Director, Wellen currently coordinates CNN's political coverage and integration across the network's television and digital platforms. Prior to his work in the CNN Political Unit, Wellen was a senior producer for The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, writing and producing hundreds of news segments examining the impact of the Internet on our lives. His contributions to Election Night 2006 helped earned CNN an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Live Coverage of a Breaking News Story"; the network's multi-platform coverage of the 2008 presidential primary campaigns, debates, and Election Night 2008 earned CNN a National Headliner Award, an Editor & Publisher Award and Peabody Award.

In addition to hosting and moderating national programs and appearing on CNN as an on-air analyst and contributor, Alex Wellen has appeared on ABC News, NBC News, TechTV, and NPR, among others. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, McSweeney's, C-NET, MSNBC.com, and San Francisco Magazine, among others, covering technology, crime, law, security, privacy, government, and fraud, and has been profiled by dozens of other publications.

His most recent New York Times Sunday features include "The $8.78 Million Maneuver," a six-month investigation into how law schools inflate U.S. News & World Report rankings, and "Degrees of Acceptance," an exploration into what employers really think of job applicants with online degrees.

From 2003-05, Alex was an active member of the San Francisco writing community, working out of the esteemed "Writer's Grotto." From 2000-03, Wellen co-created, executive produced, and co-hosted 100 episodes of the TechTV series, CyberCrime, the first and only investigative TV series devoted to covering high-tech crime. The Emmy award winning series lasted three years and was syndicated worldwide. Prior to his work in television, Wellen was a high-tech litigator at the New York law firm Pennie & Edmonds LLP. He graduated with honors from Rutgers College of Engineering and received his law degree cum laude from Temple School of Law.