In "Love and Consequences," Margaret Seltzer, writing under the name Margaret B. Jones, recalled her adolesence as a racially mixed foster child who ran drugs for the Bloods gang.

After her sister called her editors to expose her tale as fiction, Seltzer admitted she was white and grew up comfortably in upscale Sherman Oaks, Calif., with her biological family.

Her publisher has since yanked the book off of shelves.

Jones is described on the book's jacket as "an active member" of Brother/SisterHood, "which works to reduce gang violence and mentor urban teens."

The author has said in interviews she is one of the group's co-founders.

However, the Los Angeles Times said the organization's Web site, which was recently taken down, did not list its physical address.

The newspaper also said neither GuideStar, which monitors non-profit groups through federal filings, nor the California state attorney general's office, with which all California non-profits must be registered, had a record of the group.