Lynda Burch
Eileen Dreyer (also writing as Kathleen Korbel)
Born
and raised in Brentwood, Missouri and a product of Catholic Schools,Eileen
lives in St. Louis County with husband Rick and her two children. She has
animals but refuses to subject them to the glare of the limelight.
Dreyer won her first publishing award in 1987, being named the best new
Contemporary Romance Author by Romantic Times. Since that time she has also
garnered not only five other writing awards from Romantic Times, but five
RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America, which secures her only the
fourth place in the Romance Writers of America prestigious Hall of Fame.
Since extending her reach to suspense, she has also garnered a coveted
Anthony Award nomination for her last paperback, Bad Medicine. She has over
three million books in print world wide, and has made regular appearances on
the Waldenbook and B.Dalton bestsellers list, and now the USA Today list.
A frequent speaker at conferences, she maintains membership in Romance
Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and, just
in case things go wrong, Emergency Nurses Association and International
Association of Forensic Nurses, for which she is the unofficial mascot.
Eileen is an addicted traveler, having sung in some of the best Irish pubs
in the world, and admits she sees research as a handy way to salve her
insatiable curiosity. She counts film producers, police detectives and
Olympic athletes as some of her sources and friends. She's also trained in
forensic nursing and death investigation, although she doesn't see herself
actively working in the field, unless this writing thing doesn't pan out.
Please visit Eileen's website at:
www.eileendreyer.com
Michele Dunaway
In first grade, Michele
Dunaway knew she wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. By second
grade, she wanted to be an author. By third grade, she determined to be
both. Michele succeeded in 1999, turning her first attempt into a first
sale. Born and
raised in St. Louis, she’s traveled extensively, with the cities and
places she’s visited often becoming settings for her stories.
The author of several nonfiction educational journal articles, Dunaway
has sold over 15 titles to Harlequin Enterprises, including one for
their NASCAR-licensed line. In addition to writing romance, Michele is a
nationally recognized educator who teaches high school English and
journalism. She shares her life with two young daughters and several
lazy house cats on five acres in a Missouri river town west of St.
Louis.Visit Michele at her website
at
http://www.micheledunaway.com
Angie Fox
Angie Fox is the New York Times Bestselling author of the Accidental Demon
Slayer series. Critics call it, "fresh, unique and larger than life," Angie
simply calls it fun. That's because she gets a kick out of surprising
herself, and her readers, with plenty of plot twists, magical moments and
spine-tingling suspense. The first book in the series is called The
Accidental Demon Slayer. The second is The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers.
Angie is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. When
she's not writing, Angie can often be found at the playground with her two
small children, or cheering on the Mizzou Tigers with her husband.
Visit Angie at www.angiefox.com.
Shirl Henke (also writing as Alexa Hunt)
Shirl enjoys gardening in her greenhouse, cooking
holiday dinners and listening to jazz. When deadlines permit, she loves to
travel. Her son works in telecommunications and keeps her computers
running. When she can con him into it, he digs holes for new shrubs and
builds bookcases for her ever-expanding “keeper” collection. In addition to
helping with research and choreographing action sequences for her books, her
husband is charged with the care and feeding of their very geriatric
tomcat. All humans in the Henke household “live only to serve.”
She has appeared on the USA TODAY Bestseller list,
been a RITA Finalist twice, received a Bookrak Bestseller Award, and won
three Career Achievement Awards, an Industry Award and three Reviewers
Choice Awards from ROMANTIC TIMES. In addition to Romance Writers of America
and MORWA, Shirl is a member of the Authors Guild, Novelists, Inc., Sisters
in Crime and International Thriller Writers.
“I wrote my first twenty-two novels in longhand with a
ball-point pen. It’s hard to get good quills these days,” quips the
author. Dragged into the 21st century, she now uses those
“devil machines.” Another troglodyte bites the dust.
Please visit her at:
www.shirlhenke.com
Charlotte Hubbard (also writing as Melissa MacNeal)
Many
moons ago--like 1983 while I was still a school librarian-- I sold my first
story to True Story. This launched me into writing about seventy of those
"true confessions" stories over the years, and I've been a slave to my
overactive imagination ever since.
My stories invariably take on a life of their own, different from the way
I've proposed them: I love it when unforeseen characters and plot twists
come along, because they keep me guessing right along with my readers!
I often speak to my RWA chapter in St. Louis, and at conferences. I also
belong to Novelists, Inc. and Heartland Writers Guild.
I love touring historic homes, trying new recipes, crocheting, and playing
with Ramona--although it's humbling, having a dog smarter than I am! I'm an
ordained Presbyterian deacon, and I devote a lot of time to singing and
chiming in my church choirs, as well as hostessing a monthly potluck group
and cooking our Adult Fellowship lunches. I'm celebrating thirty years with
my husband, who--bless him--has never once suggested I get a real job!
Please visit Charlotte at her website:
www.charlottehubbard.com
About Melissa:
Truly a woman for the new millennium, I first came out in the Black Lace
line with Devil's Fire in 2000. I'd published in other genres but breaking
into erotica--bringing on the body heat for all to see and read--took more
nerve than I needed for my previous books! Readers believe you are your
characters when you write any kind of fiction, so now my husband's friends
think they know all my deep, cheap secrets. And they believe he's one lucky
stud.
Along with four books for the Black Lace line, I've published a couple of
serialized novels at WickedVelvet.com--all with a historical voice I called
"Victoria Holt writing as Fanny Hill." I've now moved into Kensington's
Aphrodisia line with a fresh, feisty contemporary voice, featuring
adventurous girls and guys very much into real-time pleasures and the
technology that goes with them. All Night Long is a cruise ship romp with an
international cast of players, and Hot For It is a private island/pirate
fantasy that goes awry--but everyone gets lucky in the end! I've also
written two novellas for Aphrodisia, and am looking forward to many more
stories for this line!
When I'm not writing, I love to travel (can you say "cruise ship"?),
cook,crochet, speak at conferences, and yes...watch dirty movies. I live in
the Midwest--the buckle of the Bible Belt, matter of fact--but I spend most
of my time in imaginary situations and places.
Please visit Melissa at
www.melissamacneal.com
Deborah Hull
Megan Kelly
Megan Kelly read her
first Harlequin Romance as a teenager and became an avid reader. She
dreamed of writing those exciting and moving stories she loved. After years
(and years) of writing, she finally sold to Harlequin American Romance in
2007. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and two children and is
well-known at her local bookstore and library. Her website is
www.MeganKellyBooks.com
Kimberly Killion
Kimberly
Killion found her
love for all things tragic, passionate, and historic
after taking a mythology course in college. The book wasn't Romeo and
Juliet, as you might suspect, but Dante's Inferno, Oedipus, The Iliad, and a
few other Greek tragedies. An artist by profession, she traded her
paintbrush for a pen, and began to explore the realm of romance. In addition
to writing Medieval romance, she teaches graphic design part-time in St.
Louis where she brings her passion for words and the arts into the grueling
boredom of lecture. A member of Romance Writers of America and the Heartland
Writers Guild, Kimberly has won numerous awards for her writing. She is
married to her high school sweetheart and lives in Illinois with two
children, a dog, three cats, and two dozen chickens. Visit her
website at
www.kimberlykillion.com
Kim's debut novel, Her One Desire, has
been nominated for the 2009 Romance Writers of America RITA award for Best
First Book.
Annamarie McKenna
Annmarie McKenna lives with her husband and four kids just outside of St.
Louis, MO. She spent years reading romances before deciding to try out the
other side-writing. After joining RWA and MORWA, she discovered all the
things she'd done wrong with her first story. Then she tackled her second,
Blackmailed, which she very happily sold to Samhain Publishing. During naps
and shuffling kids to various activities, she is working hard on her next
project.
Learn more about Annmarie McKenna at:
www.annmariemckenna.com
Carol Monk (writing as Carol Carson)
Mary Paine
After
spending years as a researcher, medical writer and avid romance
reader, Mary decided to try her hand at writing a novel. A
dedicated horsewoman, she chose the world of Grand Prix show jumping
as the setting for her first book, a romantic suspense entitled A
Dangerous Dream. Two years later, she is delighted that A
Dangerous Dream will be published in January, 2008. Mary is now
enthusiastically working on her second novel, a paranormal romance
about a beautiful witch who is being hunted by a murderer and needs
to decide if she will be honest about her legacy with the man
determined to help her.With
degrees in nursing from Georgetown University and epidemiology from
Yale University, Mary Paine is a professional in the public health
and medical communications fields. She lives in Missouri with her
husband and three children.
Please visit Mary at
www.marypaine.com.
Patricia Rice
With several million books in print and New York Times
and USA Today's bestseller lists under her belt, former CPA
Patricia Rice has won numerous awards for her emotionally-charged
contemporary and historical romances, including the Romantic Times Reviewers
Choice and Career Achievement Awards and the Bookrak Bestselling Paperback
award. Her books have also been honored as Romance Writers of America RITA
finalists in the historical, regency and contemporary categories. She was
nominated in two categories by Romantic Times Book Club for 2002 Career
Achievement awards and a Reviewers Choice Award for her bestselling romance,
MUST BE MAGIC.
A firm believer in happily-ever-after, Patricia Rice is
married to her high school sweetheart and has two children. A native of
Kentucky, she resides in St. Louis, Missouri, and now does accounting only
for herself. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Authors
Guild, and Novelists, Inc., as well as numerous professional accounting
organizations and local charities.
Her personal
website is
www.patriciarice.com and her blog group is
www.wordwenches.com
Barbara Scott
Barbara
Scott has always believed the Blarney Stone is in Ireland for good reason
and she thanks her strong Irish heritage for her own story-telling
abilities. her first two books, Golden Heart winner, TUG OF WAR, and HAUNTS
OF THE HEART, a reader's choice winner, are in the collection of the State
Historical Society Library in Columbia, Missouri. Before retiring after 29
years in a special education classroom, Barbara found teaching and writing
to be compatible careers. But there were days when both students and
characters refused to cooperate. Now she can pursue her dream as a fulltime
writer as long as she can avoid distraction and procrastination!
Come visit my websites:
http://www.barbarascottink.com
http://home.earthlink.net/~pageturners
Karen Witmer-Gow (also writing as Elizabeth Grayson)
Karyn/Elizabeth was published for the first time when she was in the
fourth grade. She finished a historical novel at fifteen. After a successful
career teaching art in elementary schools and at the St. Louis Art Museum,
she began to dabble in writing again. In 1986 her Waldenbook Award-winning
novel LOVE, HONOR AND BETRAY was published under the name Elizabeth
Kary.
In 1995 she began to write stories set on the advancing American frontier
under the name Elizabeth Grayson. Her eleventh book, MOON IN THE WATER,
was set on aboard a riverboat and garnered recognition as both a finalist
for the Romance Writers RITA award and for the prestigious Willa Cather
Literary Award.
A SIMPLE GIFT, her first contemporary novel written as Karyn
Witmer, was a Literary Guild exclusive in 2005. The paperback will be in
bookstores in September 2006.
Karyn/Elizabeth still enjoys teaching. She occasionally teaches a course
on Popular Fiction at a local college, and is a frequent speaker at writers'
conferences around the country. She collects miniature English cottages,
enjoys needlework, and has a weakness for antique jewelry. She is happily
married to a former advertising executive and devotes much of her time to
playing "Auntie Mame" to two her nieces.
Visit Karyn at http://elizabethgrayson.com and
http://karynwitmer.com
After
an exciting life as a CPA, Amanda Berry took up writing when her husband
swept the family off to England to live for a year. Now she's hooked, and
since returning to the states spends her writing days concocting spicy
contemporaries and dark paranormal romances while her cats try in vain to
pry her hands off the keyboard. Her