Donna Alward thinks she has the best job in the world: a combination of stay-at-home mom and romance novelist.
In 2001 she penned her first novel, and found herself hooked on writing romance. In 2006 she sold her first manuscript, and now writes heartwarming Romances from her home in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Donna loves to hear from readers; you can contact her through her website at www.donnaalward.com or through her publishers.
Linda considers herself a “writer in training.” She has been her whole life and it started with reading. Many nights, long after the house grew dark and everyone else was asleep, Linda would lie beneath her covers and read by flashlight until she either reached the end of the book or her eyes got too heavy to see the words. Although she now resides in North Texas, she grew up in New Mexico where she discovered a love for storytelling, history, and anything pertaining to the Old West. Cowboys fascinate her. The rugged cowboy, his lady, and the struggles they endure in carving out a home in the untamed land make wonderful stories.
Published novels: Knight on the Texas Plains, The Cowboy Who Came Calling, Redemption
6 Anthologies all by Linda, Jodi Thomas, Phyliss Miranda, and DeWanna Pace
Visit Linda’s website: www.LindaBroday.com
Visit: www.facebook.com/linda.broday1
Or Twitter: http://twitter.com/lbroday
Thrills, mystery, suspense, romance: Margaret penned it all. Nothing wrong with that—except Margaret happened to be writing for the church newsletter. After making the church picnic read like a Grisham novel, her former pastor took her aside and said, “Maybe God’s calling you to write fiction.”
So that’s what Margaret did. She now has more than 20 novels to her credit. Although she’s written contemporary novels for Harlequin, her first love is writing about love and laughter in the old west. Her latest book A Lady Like Sarah is her current release. The second book in her Rocky Creek series A Suitor For Jenny will be published September 2010.
Happily married to her real life hero, Margaret and her husband live in Southern California. They have three grown children.
Margaret’s website is: www.margaretbrownley.com
A rainbow over eastern Arizona marked the beginning of Victoria Bylin’s writing career. When a job change for her husband required a move to the East Coast, Victoria and her family packed up their Dodge Ramcharger and took off down Interstate 40. A thunderstorm nearly washed them from the road, but moments later a double rainbow emerged. Victoria took it as a promise of good things to come and she hasn’t been disappointed.
In February 2002 she sold her first book to Harlequin Historicals. A western with inspirational themes, OF MEN AND ANGELS opened the door to the world of publishing. She has written six books for Harlequin Historicals and is currently with Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historicals for a series of westerns called “The Women of Swan’s Nest.” Her work has finaled in several contests including the RITA Awards.
Victoria (or Vicki as her friends call her) lives in northern Virginia with her husband. They have two grown sons and a crazy little dog named Hartley. To learn more about Vicki and her books, visit www.victoriabylin.com.
“If they’re sassing each other and falling in love while running for their lives, then I’m happy.”
Mary Connealy writes books that bring humor to the Wild West. Read her Lassoed in Texas Series PETTICOAT RANCH, CALICO CANYON, and GINGHAM MOUNTAIN.
Following that series, she will write another series of humorous romances called Montana Marriages, more of the same sassy, suspenseful fun in the old west. She also has a cozy mystery, NOSY IN NEBRASKA, scheduled for release. It’s not a western but it’s a lot of fun.
Mary is a teacher married to a rancher, and has four beautiful daughters.
To learn more about Mary and her books, visit www.MaryConnealy.com; and http://mconnealy.blogspot.com/
Pam read her very first romance novel way back in the 70’s, and she’s still reading them today. Even better, she loves to write them, too. Her childhood was spent in the ranch country of western Nebraska where she became fascinated with the Old West and the cowboys who lived it.
She published four western historical romances with Dorchester Publishing for their Leisure Books line before joining Harlequin Historical. Her third western in the Wells Cattle Company trilogy, THE LAWMAN’S REDEMPTION, is slated for August, 2010.
Pam is the brainchild behind Petticoats and Pistols. She still resides in Nebraska with her husband (who is not a cowboy) and their growing family–four daughters, three sons-in-law and five grandchildren.
Contact Pam via email from her website, www.pamcrooks.com
Award-winning author Tracy Garrett can’t remember when books weren’t a part of her life. Some of her most treasured possessions are books given to her by her parents and grandparents. From bedtime stories to extra credit reading assignments, Tracy has always loved to disappear into the pages of a good story.
As a descendant of the colorful Hatfield family, the past has always held a fascination for Tracy. When her need for creativity and her passion for reading began to merge, she knew writing historical romance was the path she would take.
Though she now lives in Missouri, Texas holds a special place in her heart. When she moved there more than a quarter century ago, Tracy fell in love with the vast state and its amazing history. From cowboys to gold mines, mountains to the Gulf of Mexico, Texas has it all, and she’s happy to be able to share a little of it in her stories.
Tracy’s western historical romances, TOUCH OF TEXAS and TOUCHED BY LOVE, are available now from Zebra Historical Romance.
Winnie Griggs is a small town girl born and raised in Southeast Louisiana’s Cajun Country who grew up to marry a rural farm boy from the piney hills of Northwest Louisiana. Though her Prince Charming (who often wears the guise of a cattle rancher) is more comfortable riding a tractor than a white steed, the two of them have been living out their own happily ever after for 33+ years. During that time they raised four proud-to-call-them-mine children and a too-numerous-to-count assortment of dogs, cats, aquarium fish, hamsters, turtles and 4-H sheep.
With a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and a minor in Computer Science, Winnie has held various professional and managerial positions in the electric utility industry since she graduated from college. At the moment, however, she’s actively working on transitioning into a full time writing career.
Winnie’s favorite pastimes, besides reading and writing, are cooking, exploring flea markets and pretending the platoon of dust bunnies who have invaded her home will disappear on their own if she just ignores them long enough.
Winnie enjoys hearing from readers. You can contact her through her website at www.winniegriggs.com .
A native Californian, Tanya Hanson credits her love of the Old West to the many childhood camping trips she spent in the High Sierras. Teaching English to high school students helped her hone her writing skills, and membership in two local RWA groups led to publication.
Marrying Minda received first place honors in two recent fiction contests, the “Ignite the Flame” Contest of the Central Ohio Fiction Writers, and the Merritt “Magic Moment” Contest sponsored by San Antonio Fiction Authors. For news, reviews, and other books, visit www.tanyahanson.com.
Tanya enjoys life on the coast an hour northwest of Los Angeles with her firefighter husband, in close proximity to their two-year old grandson, the new love of her life.
Author of fourteen Historical Indian romances for such prestigious publishers as Berkley and AVON/HarperCollins, Karen Kay has been praised by reviewers and fans alike for bringing insights into the everyday life of the American Indian way of life.
Karen Kay, whose great-grandmother was a Choctaw Indian, is honored to be able to write about the Native American culture.
“With the power and passion of romance, I strive to bring to my work an awareness of the vital and powerful forces that helped shape the Plains Indian culture. It is my hope that through communication, we might come to understand one another better. And in our world today, this just might be an indispensable commodity.”
Visit Karen’s website at: http://www.novels-by-karenkay.com
Stacey Kayne brings her love of American history to vivid life with stories set in the wild west, featuring heroic women and the men strong enough to love them. Stacey’s pre-published works garnered four Golden Heart finals and over sixty regional contest wins. Her debut novels MUSTANG WILD and BRIDE OF SHADOW CANYON kicked off her Wild and Bride series in 2007. The second book in her Wild Series, MAVERICK WILD is a 2009 Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award nominee for Best Historical KISS Hero.
Stacey lives on a ranch near the Sierra Nevada Mountains with her high school sweetheart turned husband of twenty years and their two sons. Currently working on a new western series, she strives to weave fact and fiction into a wild ride that can capture the heart.
Visit her website at www.staceykayne.com.
Elizabeth Lane is a Westerner by birth and upbringing. A descendant of pioneers who settled the West, she grew up in a small town, in a family of people who loved the outdoors. Western romance is a natural for her.
But she can and does write other things. Her earliest books were historical sagas set in Mexico and China. Then the market changed and eventually she found a new home at Harlequin Historicals.
Elizabeth’s first Western, which she still considers one of her best, was CAPTURE THE WIND, published in 1985 by Pinnacle Books under the pen name of Lisa Lancaster. Her second was WIND RIVER, published by Harlequin Historicals in 1989. Most, though not all, of the books she’s written since have been Westerns, all of them for Harlequin.
Her novels have finaled for the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice award and the 2006 Holt Medalion. Her recent Western, WYOMING WILDFIRE, was named a Best Historical of 2006 by CataRomance.
Watch for Elizabeth’s upcoming releases. THE LAWMAN’S VOW (March 2012) is set in post-Gold Rush California. She’ll also have a novella, THE HAND-ME-DOWN BRIDE, in Harlequin’s 2012 Spring Brides Anthology. Her next book, tentatively titled THE BALLAD OF EMMA O’TOOLE, should be out sometime in 2012, followed by her first book for Harlequin’s DESIRE line – yes, it’ll be a Western.
Visit her website at: http://www.elizabethlaneauthor.com
Award-winning author, Phyliss Miranda, lives with her husband, Bob, in the Texas Panhandle. With aspirations of writing a cookbook, she took her first creative writing class in 2001. She hasn’t gotten around to completing her original project, but believes her favorite parts of becoming an author is teaching and mentoring new writers. A native Texan, she enjoys sharing her love for the new frontier, the Civil War, quilting and antiques; and still believes in the Code of the West.
In 2006, Phyliss teamed up with NY Times Bestselling Author, Jodi Thomas, Linda Broday, and DeWanna Pace to write a collection of short stories for Kensington Publishing. All of her novellas are set in the Texas Panhandle. “Give Me a Texan” (originally titled “Amarillo by Morning.”) was published in February 2008, and set exclusively in Amarillo.
Other anthologies:
“Give Me a Cowboy” Kensington, February 2009
“Give Me a Texas Ranger” Kensington, July 2010
“Give Me an Outlaw” Kensington, July 2011
Coming from Kensington ….”A Texas Christmas” and “Be My Texas Valentine”.
Visit Phyliss at: www.phylissmiranda.com or on facebook
Cheryl was born in Duncan, Oklahoma, and grew up in Seminole, Oklahoma. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma, and holds a B.A. in English. She has taught numerous writing classes and workshops over the past years and also works on an individual basis with many of her students, and other authors, locally and nationwide.
Cheryl’s most recent publications include her debut novel, released through The Wild Rose Press in May of 2009, “Fire Eyes,” and her second novel, “Time Plains Drifter.”
Look for her third novel, “Sweet Danger,” available Oct. 1, 2010 through The Wild Rose Press, and her short story, “To Make the Magic Last,” through Victory Tales Press, “A Summer Collection” anthology, June 2010. “Scarlet Ribbons,” a Christmas short story, will be released in September, 2010, through Victory Tales Press.
Cheryl lives with her husband in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where she has been for the past 25 years. She has two grown children, ages 20 and 23.
You can visit her website at http://www.cherylpierson.com
You can e-mail her at fabkat_edit@yahoo.com (she loves to hear from readers and other authors!)
You can visit her blogs at: http://www.cherylpiersonbooks.blogspot.com and also at http://www.westwindsromance.blogspot.com
Charlene Sands is a USA Today Bestselling author of thirty romance novels, writing sexy contemporaries and stories set in the Old West. Her stories have been honored with the National Readers Choice Award, the Cataromance Reviewer’s Choice Award and she’s a double recipient of the Booksellers’ Best Award. She’s a member of the Orange County Chapter of RWA as well as the PAN liaison for the Los Angeles Chapter of RWA.
When not writing, she enjoys great coffee, bowling in a woman’s league, country music, reading books from her favorite authors and going on movie dates with her “hero” husband. She loves holding contests and giveaways via www.charlenesands.com . Twitter and Facebook her!!
Bold, strong, heartstopping heroes and always . . . real good men!
Real people. Real Emotion.
Cheryl St.John delivers every time.
Cheryl St.John‘s first crush was Little Joe Cartwright. Cheryl is the author of more than thirty Harlequin and Silhouette books. Her first book, RAIN SHADOW was nominated for RWA’s RITA for Best First Book, by Romantic Times for Best Western Historical, and by Affaire de Coeur readers as Best American Historical Romance. In 2005 HIS SECONDHAND WIFE, earned another RITA nod. LAND OF DREAMS, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, and PRAIRIE WIFE each won RT’s Reviewers Choice Awards. Many of her Special Editions made Waldenbooks Top Ten and BIG SKY BRIDES anthology climbed to #35 on the NYT list. In describing her stories of second chances and redemption, readers and reviewers use words like, “emotional punch, hometown feel, core values, believable characters and real life situations.”
Today she’s glad Little Joe wasn’t available: There are so many cowboys to choose from.
Blog with Cheryl at: http://cherylstjohn.blogspot.com/
Karen Witemeyer writes historical romance fiction for Bethany House, believing that the world needs more happily-ever-afters.
In 2011, her debut novel, A Tailor-Made Bride, was a finalist in the Best First Book categories for both the prestigious RITA® award and the National Reader’s Choice Award. Karen holds a master’s degree in Psychology from Abilene Christian University and is a member of ACFW, RWA, and her local writers’ guild. She is an avid cross-stitcher, shower singer, and bakes a mean apple cobbler. Karen makes her home in Abilene, TX with her hunky, computer nerd husband and their three kids who think it’s pretty cool that Mom writes books, even if the people on her covers usually have no heads.
To learn more about Karen, visit her at her website: www.karenwitemeyer.com
