Shamontiel L. Vaughn joined the Chicago Tribune's team on October 11, 2010. She blogs for CT's Taking Off travel blog and is the Digital News Editor for Media on Demand's (MoD) National Health and Travel sections. She was also the producer for the 2010-2011 live health chats and has written book reviews for the Arts & Entertainment section.

Shamontiel (Shuh mawn T L) became the Message from Montie blogger on ChicagoNow.com in October 2009. She's had work published in Yahoo! News, Yahoo! TV, TheFrisky, AT&T, HyPa Chicago, Yahoo! Contributor Network and Examiner; and print publications like Underlined Magazine, Fate magazine, The DePaulia, Spoken Vizions magazine, the Chicago Defender and Chicago Tribune. She's also the author of two novels, "Change for a Twenty" and "Round Trip."

* Music (R&B, positive hip-hop, neo-soul, jazz and a lil' bit of country)

* Books (topic interest varies but favorite authors are Karen Siplin and Langston Hughes)

* Entertainment enthusiast (Diehard fan of the "Peanuts" comic strips and movies; enjoys "Twilight" books and movies [Team Jacob], and "Vampire Diaries" television show)

* Vegetarian who could eat Thai tofu fried rice — or hot water cornbread with green vegetables — every single day

* Fascinated by health and sex education (was a public speaker on college campus to talk about STD prevention)

* Weight training and regular fitness club workouts

* Journal writing, especially by the lakefront

* Traveling (planes are OK but prefers road trips with sunflower seeds and Arizona green tea)