An overnight sensation -- just eleven years in the making!
~First RWA conference -- Seattle, 1988
~First SALE to Harlequin Superromance -- summer, 1999
The moral of this story is never give up dreaming -- and writing.
When my first attempt to sell a manuscript failed, I returned to my
roots -- journalism.
I wrote. And learned the benefits of editing.
I listened -- to the story behind the story. And discovered that
character is as important as plot.
And I read. A lot. I found a line that spoke to me -- Harlequin
Superromance. And I targeted my writing for that line.
It worked! THAT COWBOY’S KIDS was published May 2000.
My second book, HIS DADDY’S EYES (Aug. 2000), had two
spin-offs. BACK IN KANSAS (May 2001) -- which was nominated
for the Romantic Times’ Reviewer’s Choice "Best Superromance
of 2001" Award and the Golden Quill for Best Long Contemporary — and
SOMETHING ABOUT EVE (Aug. 2001).
In May 2002 my fifth book WONDERS NEVER CEASE came out to
the surprise and -- I'm tickled to say -- "delight" of many. Its
working title was Boy Meets Girl Meets...Dog. As you might
guess, the hero’s K-9 partner, Czar, plays a very important role.
It, too, was nominated as Romantic Times’ Reviewer’s Choice
"Best Superromance of 2002."
A sequentially released Superromance trilogy, MY HUSBAND, MY
BABIES, WITHOUT A PAST and THE COMEBACK GIRL, came
out in December 2002, January and February 2003. Jenny, Andi and
Kristin -- "Those Sullivan Sisters" -- proved: "It takes a village to
raise triplets." The village in question was a historic Gold
Rush-era town called Gold Creek, CA, which some think bears a
similarity to the towns of Mariposa, Oakhurst, Bear Valley and El
Portal -- just up the road from me.
My 2004 releases include: April’s A COWBOY SUMMER (a
reunion story that includes a bull-rider hero who made me a fan of
the PBR) and in November, CALEB’S CHRISTMAS WISH (a tender
story about a little boy in need and the hero and heroine who answer
the question: How far would you go for the sake of a child?)
And looking ahead, I have 6 -- count them -- 6 new projects in the
works. Two books for Superromance, tentatively titled THE THREE
OF US and A FAMILY MATTER, a book for Harlequin’s new
Signature line, and three connected titles for Harlequin American.
I've adopted a new credo: Write with passion, read with joy and
embrace your family (they're the ones who feed you when you're on
deadline).
Please visit my newly remodeled website, where there’s a new
contest every month. And check out my "Blog" (that’s short for
web-log), where I'm keeping a "Real Time" journal of what it’s like
to write 6 books in 2.5 years. Gulp.
