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Linda Lael Miller
In early 2001, New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller packed up her computer, her work-in-progress for Pocket Books and her dogs, Sadie and Bernice and took a step toward the future and into the past. Bidding farewell to her home in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale, Arizona, the author of 60 novels abandoned city life and returned to her rural, Western roots. On the horse property she purchased in the arid Arizona desert, she now immerses herself in the country living reminiscent of her early years. Rising daily with the sun, riding her horses, she has come home to the lifestyle that not only nourishes her but which has inspired numerous award-winning historical and contemporary novels set in the west.
The daughter of a U.S. marshal, Miller was born and raised in Northport, Washington, population 500, a wilderness area on the Columbia River nine miles south of the Canadian border. Her childhood remembrances include riding horses and playing cowgirl on her grandparents' nearby farm, so rustic that in the early days it lacked the conveniences of electricity and running water. As delightful as this childhood was, though, Miller longed to experience the world. After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class, she moved to the city of Spokane. Her ultimate success as an author enabled her to live a glamorous lifestyle far different from that in Northport. For years she divided her residence between a flat in London and an elegant home in the Puget Sound area. In the years since she set out to make her mark in the world, she has also indulged her joy of traveling, visiting such exotic cities as Hong Kong, Seoul, Venice, Paris, Costa Rica, Toronto and Amsterdam.
While Miller still enjoys traveling, the self-confessed "barn goddess" thrives on her rural Arizona home's year-round sunny weather. She named her spread "Springwater Station," after the fictitious Montana stagecoach stop in her bestselling, seven-book Springwater series.
"Like the characters in my books, I belong in the country, with horses," Miller explained as she was preparing to promote her latest novel, her May 2003 Pocket Books paperback, The Last Chance Café. The contemporary novel features the descendants of many beloved characters in the first four books of her historical Primrose Creek Series. "And, true to today's world, murder, theft and subterfuge invade the small Nevada town," the author revealed. "Still, the family values that I grew up with sustain the close community through its times of crisis."
Devoted to helping others, the author recently launched her third round of Linda Lael Miller Scholarships for Women. A talented speaker, she donates all the honoraria for her engagements to the foundation, which awards scholarships to women who seek to better their lot in life through education.
It's no wonder the heroines in Miller's novels are women her readers admire for their honor, courage, trustworthiness, valor and determination to succeed, despite overwhelming odds. "These timelessly admirable qualities make them excellent role models for young women," Miller explains. "My heroes possess equally noble traits that today's woman would be delighted to find in her life's mate."
The author traces the birth of her writing career to the day when a Northport teacher told her that the stories she was writing were good, that she just might have a future in writing. Later, when she decided to write novels, she endured her share of rejection before she sold her first historical romance to Pocket Books in the early 1980s. Although Miller has written successfully in other genres, she is best known for stories set in the Old West, stories like High Country Bride, My Outlaw, and that very first novel, Fletcher's Woman.
Dedicated to her craft, Miller follows a strict regimen to meet demanding deadlines and to satisfy her personal insistence on quality writing. She keeps regular office hours, five days a week, producing 10 to 15 pages daily, when she isn't on a book tour or fulfilling speaking engagements.
Miller has come a long way since leaving her sheltered life in Northport at age 18 to experience the world. "But I feel very fortunate to have grown up in that time and place," she admits, "and I'm happy to be in the country, living a life that enriches me and fuels my storytelling." Her official website is www.lindalaelmiller.com.
Photo © Charles William Bush
The Last Chance Café
In a contemporary revisit to Linda's nationally bestselling historical "Women of Primrose Creek" series, Hallie Royer and her twin daughters are on the run. Her ex-husband is involved in a murder and drug ring in Phoenix, and she's desperate to start life anew someplace else. Her borrowed truck breaks down in northern Nevada, right outside Primrose Creek. There, at the Last Chance Cafe, she meets Chance Qualtrough. The handsome descendant of one of the town's founders knows Hallie's hiding something, but he can't resist helping the lady in distress.
Linda Lael Miller's Summer Reading List
The Passion of Isis ad Osiris, A Gateway to Transcendent Love
by Jean Houston
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
by Joseph Campbell
Changing Habits
by Debbie Macomber
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phonix
by J.K Rowling
Suspicious Origin
by Patricia MacDonald
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Summer Reading Lists
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