Photo by Benet Pols

Mary Pols is the author of “Accidentally on Purpose: The True Tale of a Happy Single Mother,” originally published in June 2008 by Ecco/Harper Collins, now available in paperback from Harper Perennial. A native of Maine, Pols has spent most of her professional life as a journalist in California.

She reviews film for Time.com and MSN.Movies. For many years, she was the movie critic for the Contra Costa Times, and her reviews could be found in the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune. Pols has written for Time Magazine, The New York Times, Self, Wondertime, MoreIntelligentLife.com, Glamour.com, the Times of London, Red Magazine and Grazia. Her memoir was optioned by BermanBraun and is being developed for a television series by CBS.

Pols lives in Northern California with her son Dolan. She’s working on her next book, a novel.