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• Mary Lynn Baxter
• Jo Beverley
• Shirlee Busbee
• Candace Camp
• Leslie Carroll
• Gaelen Foley
• Dorothy Garlock
• Rachel Gibson
• More Authors...
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Romance Author Roundtable
Romance is more than hearts and flowers for this group of authors. As writers of a genre responsible for more than 50 % book sales it's big business. Mary Lynn Baxter, Jo Beverley, Shirlee Busbee, Candace Camp, Leslie Carroll, Gaelen Foley, Dorothy Garlock, Rachel Gibson, Judith McNaught, Teresa Medeiros, Brenda Novak, Carly Phillips, Julia Quinn, Barbara Samuel, Christina Skye, and Kerrelyn Sparks discuss creating and sustaining ongoing characters, writing love scenes and their thoughts on the romance genre in the world of publishing.
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| Mary Lynn Baxter |
Since Mary Lynn was a young girl, books and reading have been an important part of her life. Only after she read all the "goodies" in her public library did her mother encourage her to buy Harlequin romances, then 35 cents each. Wow!
Those reading years laid the background for her decision to major in Library Science at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, and become a school librarian. After eight years of working in various school systems, she felt a need to do something different. What she wanted was to open a bookstore.
With the help of her husband and mother, Mary Lynn did just that. For over 20 years she sold books, and loved every minute of it. Then Mary Lynn decided she needed a new challenge. Following an intense amount of pushing and prodding from her husband, Leonard, she took the plunge and tried her hand at writing.
After months of agonising and chewing her nails, she finally mailed All our Tomorrows to Silhouette books in February 1981. One year later it was published as a Silhouette Special Edition. Now, over 40 books later, she's still writing. Mary Lynn can't think of anything else she'd rather do with her time and energy.
Harlequin
Browse Mary Lynn Baxter's books on Amazon.com.
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| Jo Beverley |
Jo Beverly's newest book is ST. RAVEN (Signet; February 2003; $6.99). She is a New York Times best-selling author and is widely regarded as one of the most talented romance writers today. She is a five-time winner of Romance Writers of America's cherished RITA Award and one of only a handful of members of the RWA Hall of Fame. She has also received the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award. Born in Enlgand, she now lives with her husband and two sons in Victoria, British Columbia, just a ferry away from Seattle.
Jo Beverley's Website
Penguin Putnam
Browse Jo Beverley's books on Amazon.com.
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| Shirlee Busbee |
Shirlee Busbee is the proud author of eleven novels, including seven New York Times bestsellers. Published since 1977 and with over nine million copies of her books in print, she is the recipient of numerous awards for excellence in writing, including the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award and Affaire de Coeur's Silver and Bronze Pen Awards.
Shirlee lives in California with Howard, her husband of thirty-four years, two standard schnauzers, and the Standardbred horses the couple raise for pleasure.
Warner Books
Browse Shirlee Busbee's books on Amazon.com.
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| Candace Camp |
Candace Camp cannot remember a time when she was not interested in creating stories. Born into a newspaper family — her mother had been a reporter and her father was the business manager of the Amarillo, Texas, newspaper — some of Candace's earliest memories are of making up stories which she played out on the floor of their den with whatever objects were handy. She began writing down her stories when she was about 10, and from then on writing was her favorite form of relaxation. Explains Camp, "I was always very shy and did not talk much. However, in written form, I could express all my thoughts and feelings."
Writing remained only a hobby, though, as Candace attended college at the University of Texas at Austin and West Texas State University, then became a secondary teacher in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. She later moved to North Carolina, where she worked in the trust department of a bank. It was there that she discovered the romance novel in modern form and started to write her first romance. She also began law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and while she was there, she finished her first novel, entitled Bonds of Love. Ms. Camp credits the rigorous training of law school with teaching her the discipline necessary to finish a book.
Bonds of Love was published by Jove Publishing in 1978, under the pseudonym Lisa Gregory. Ms. Camp gave up the practice of law to devote her time to writing. Two pseudonyms, 43 books, and 22 years later, Candace Camp writes under her own name for MIRA — and still loves creating stories.
She has been married for 20 years and has an 18-year-old daughter, who has started on her own career path in the field of acting.
Harlequin
Browse Candace Camp's books on Amazon.com.
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| Leslie Carroll |
Native New Yorker Leslie Carroll is a professional actress as well as a novelist. She has appeared on stage, in short films, daytime dramas, and commercials, and has done voiceovers and talking books. She is the author of Miss Match. Leslie also writes historical and New York noir detective fiction, and is the author of three stage adaptations of nineteenth century/early twentieth century English novels: Ivanhoe, The Prisoner of Zenda, and The Scarlet Pimpernel. Additionally, she is the dramatist of The Diaries of Adam and Eve, based upon the humorous writing of Mark Twain. Leslie is a member of the Dramatists Guild, both the national and New York chapters of Romance Writers of America, and is a third-generation member of The Players, the country's oldest and most prestigious theatrical and literary social club. She is a graduate of the Fieldston School in Riverdale and received her bachelor of arts from Cornell University.
Leslie Carroll's Website
Bookreporter.com -- Falling In Love for the First Time
Random House
Browse Leslie Carroll's books on Amazon.com.
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| Gaelen Foley |
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| Dorothy Garlock |
National bestselling and award-winning author of thirty-five romances that often feature the exciting backdrop of the Old West, Dorothy Garlock is one of America's-and the world's-favorite novelists. Her books, all enthusiastically reviewed, now total more than eight million copies in print with translations in 15 languages. She lives in Clear Lake, Iowa
Dorothy writes and tells us....
"It was after I retired from working as a newspaper columnist/reporter that I wrote my first book. I live in a small town in Iowa and didn't know anyone in publishing. Now I wonder where I got the nerve to plunge into this business.
"I've always been interested in pioneer men and women. For years I've collected old diaries and letters written by those who braved the hardships of the wild frontier to make a new beginning. In 1976, I finished my first historical novel. I entered it in a contest for unpublished writers. I didn't win the contest, but I met an agent who sold my book.
"Thirty-eight books later, I am still enthralled by Early American History. Although I write to entertain, not to teach a history lesson, I try to place at least one real life character in my books, preferably a little-known historical figure. Aaron Burr and Colonel J.M. Chivington of the Sand Creek Massacre, are real life villians. Zachary Taylor and Tecumseh, Chief of the Shawnee, are real life heros.
"I have been asked how my career had changed my lifestyle. I can honestly say it hasn't changed my daily life all that much, except that I can don't have to dress up to go to work. I can work in my nightgown if I want to.
"It is gratifying to know that I have given someone a few hours of enjoyment while reading my books and were able, for a while, to forget and problems troubling them.
"In case you haven't guessed--I'm enjoying my career.
Dorothy Garlock"
A proud mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, she has long resided in Clear Lake, Iowa.
Dorothy Garlock's Website
Warner Books
Browse Dorothy Garlock's books on Amazon.com.
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| Rachel Gibson |
With the publication of USA TODAY bestselling author Rachel Gibson's first book, readers discovered one of contemporary romances freshest voices. Three of her novels, Simply Irresistible, Truly Madly Yours, and True Confessions were named among the Top Ten Favorite Books of The Year by Romance Writers of America. Her fourth novel, True Confessions, was awarded the RITA, Romance Writers of America's highest honor of excellence. Rachel's other awards include The Golden Heart Award, the National Reader's Choice, and the Romantic Times Magazine Bookstores That Care Award for Best Love and Laughter.
Rachel's original voice and humorous style has earned the praise of reviewers... "first class entertainment," raves The Oakland Press. According to Publishers Weekly, "Gibson's characters are quirky and endearing and her clever snappy dialogue amuses at every turn of the page."
Photo © Craig Clark
Rachel Gibson's Website
HarperCollins
Browse Rachel Gibson's books on Amazon.com.
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