Celebrate Romance! 1999

Catherine has been imagining stories her entire life. When she was small, the tales were all about small girls and their cats saving the universe from nebulous evil plots. So she populated the universe with intrepid tots and felines zipping around in space ships. Heaven only knows what the universe thought of this phenomenon. As she grew older, the cats gave way to handsome young fellows. The stories matured over the years, layering on depth and complexity, until she had a large universe with many worlds, a starfaring dynasty of passionate men and women, a history encompassing millennia, and Byzantine intrigues. These stories became the Skolian Empire books from Tor.

Her next Skolia novel, a science fiction romance called THE QUANTUM ROSE,will be serialized in ANALOG magazine, starting with the May 1999 ANALOG. In Fall 1999, Bantam Spectra will publish her first contemporary, THE WORLD WEB, a romantic suspense novel that moves from the sundrenched streets of Italy to the High Atlas Mountains of exotic Morocco.

Her Skolia novels are CATCH THE LIGHTNING, PRIMARY INVERSION, THE LAST HAWK, THE RADIANT SEAS, ASCENDANT SUN (due in March 2000), THE QUANTUM ROSE (which together with its sequel will be coming as one book, probably Fall 2000), and SPHERICAL HARMONIC (2001).

CATCH THE LIGHTNING won the 1997 Sapphire Award for best science fiction romance of 1997 and the on-line UTC Award for best science fiction novel of 1997. PRIMARY INVERSION has been described as "Romeo and Juliet in space" and THE RADIANT SEAS continues their story (this Romeo and Juliet had a happier ending than Shakespeare's ill-fated lovers). One of her most popular recent books, THE LAST HAWK, is role reversal romance, a switch around of the Helen of Troy story--the hunk who launched a thousand ships!

Catherine Asaro was born in Oakland, California and grew up in El Cerrito, just north of Berkeley. She received her Phd in Chemical Physics and MA in Physics, both from Harvard, and a BS with Highest Honors in Chemistry from UCLA. She currently runs Molecudyne Research. Her husband John is the proverbial rocket scientist at NASA, and they have one daughter, an exuberant eight year old.

After being a voracious reader all of her life and a writer for most of it, Terri Brisbin found romance novels (again) when she read Julie Garwood's THE PRIZE in 1991. Then, in late 1994, she began writing romance fiction. Her first novel remains in place in the bottom of her closet waiting for a good time to come out. However, it's her second novel, A LOVE THROUGH TIME, that made its debut in November 1998 from Jove Time Passages.

In real life, Terri is a wife to Chris, a mom to Matt,17, Dru,12, and Mike,7. They live in Berlin,NJ, a small town not far from Philadelphia,PA. She's been a registered dental hygienist for over 20 years and currently works in 2 offices part-time.

Terri is a member of RWA, the NJRW chapter and the FF&P chapter. She's been the NJRW Put Your Heart in a Book Contest coordinator for 2 years. She's also one of the organizers of the ToBeez -- an email loop/support net for authors who have sold their first book and are yet-TO-BE-published.

Terri is now working on her next romance novels some of which involve characters from A LOVE THROUGH TIME. A MATTER OF TIME will be a late 1999 release from Jove Time Passages.

Christine Bush Mattera, who writes fiction as Christine Bush, is the author of 6 books of romance/mystery published by Avalon Books. Her latest novel, titled "Whisper a Warning" was an October 98 release. Christine is also the author of numerous newspaper and magazine articles about writing, family relationships, self esteem, and motivation, writing as Christine Bush Mattera.

Christine believes that romance literature is one of the strongest women's voices in our society today, promoting strong heroines, commitment, and the amazing ability of love to conquer even the most challenging life problems.

Christine is a frequent speaker and workshop leader for writing conferences and women's organizations, including RWA, the International Women's Writer's Guild, Skidmore College and Princeton University, as well as many local schools and libraries. Retired from many years of teaching, she now provides writing workshops for children through her company "Cricketbush Writing Workshops".

She is a past president of Bucks County Romance Writers (Pennsylvania) and the current Vice President of New Jersey Romance Writers, and a member of the International Women's Writer's Guild, Mystery Writers of America, the Author's Guild, RWA, and Novelists Inc. Christine may be reached via email at CBMattera@prodigy.com.

A resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Judy DiCanio loves anything to do with writing and teaching romance!

Her short mystery story, MISS BUTTERWORTH DOES IT AGAIN, was recently published in the Delaware Valley Mystery Writer's DEATH KNELL III anthology which was sold at the 1998 International Mystery Writer's convention - Bouchercon.

Judy recently sold her first book, a time travel romance, to Leisure Books. BELOVED WARRIOR will be published in August 1999. It will be one of the new Perfect Heroes books that are being launched in the spring of 1999.

A past RITA Division Coordinator, Golden Heart category coordinator, Judy has also been in charge of the VFRW chapter's contest. She has been president of the FF&P chapter twice and is currently president of the VFRW chapter.

When she isn't busy writing or teaching, Judy enjoys spending time with her husband, three Golden Retrievers and Maine Coon cat. She works full time as an accountant and also reviews books for the Online Speaking Tree Magazine.

Tracy Fobes read her first Barbara Cartland romance when she was twelve and hasn't stopped reading romance since. She loves to explore the conflict and passion between men and women, and enjoys adding a touch of mystery to her stories.

Her debut romance, TOUCH NOT THE CAT, was released by Pocket Books in Oct. 1998 and received critical acclaim. Her next romance, HEART OF THE DOVE, is due for release mid-July, from Pocket Books.

Lori Foster married her high school sweetheart one year after graduating, and the honeymoon is still going strong, which makes the romance genre a natural inclination for her. Lori's husband is the funniest, and most supportive man she knows, and her three sons (just like their father!) keep her happily on the brink of insanity.

Luckily, Lori likes being a little zany -- and a little risque, as her books prove. Since 1996, Lori has sold over 20 novels to three publishers, including category, novellas, single title, and special promotion books for Harlequin.

Dorothy Garlock is a former Texas native who now writes from her home in Clear Lake, Iowa. She has published 38 novels, which have been translated into 18 different languages and sold in 35 countries around the world. Currently she has over 12 million books in print. Dorothy has been written about in almost every major newspaper, interviewed on radio and television shows, and she has been feted numerous times in New York by her publisher, Warner Books. She is listed in the WHO'S WHO of Women's Fiction Writers and in the Romance Writers Hall of Fame.

It was while working as a newspaper reporter/columnist that Dorothy, at age forty-nine, wrote her first book. She decided to give up the security of her retirement fund and begin a career as a full-time writer. All her life she has been interested in the pioneer men and women who braved the hardships of the wild frontier to make a new beginning. Her writing is still inspired by the world of wagon trains rolling across tall-grassed prairies and dust-covered trails...toward adventure in the Old West.

Dorothy, always an avid reader, is a firm believer that as you get older, the body may go downhill, but not the mind if you exercise it. She has no doubts about older women starting a second, third, or even fourth career. At first meeting, this warm, folksy woman-the mother of two and grandmother of two-looks as though she would be more at home seated upon a Conestoga wagon behind a team of mules than in the study where she writes her bestselling novels.

Dorothy doesn't have a prairie schooner, but she does have the same pertinacious spirit that belonged to the pioneers. Her indomitable spirit is an inspiration to all. It's no wonder that, to her friends and readers, Dorothy Garlock is known as the "grand mistress of the frontier novel".

To find characters to illustrate my first family saga, I cut out models from the Sears catalogue. I was in fourth grade, but it was a start. In seventh grade I wrote a melodrama about two orphan sisters, one of whom was pregnant. There was also a story about a runaway girl with the unlikely name of Strawberry and one about mistaken identities and an evil blind date. My supportive, but vaguely concerned parents, sighed with relief when I announced I was going to write children's books. They bought me an electric typewriter and crossed their fingers, but somehow PASSION'S BRIDE came out. No one was really surprised.

I graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry and some notion that I would do marine research. Years of competitive swimming didn't help me anticipate seasickness. A career change seemed in order. I began working with adolescents and families, first as a childcare worker and later, after graduating from West Virginia University with a master's degree in counseling, as a therapist. I am currently the executive director of a child caring/mental health agency and find my work and my writing often complement each other. One grounds me in reality and the other offers a break from it.

I chose my pen name because none of my college friends ever called me Joanne and Goodman is simply a loose translation of Dobrzanski. Two careers. Two names. One makes the other possible. When both sides of my brain are talking, it's a party!

Shirley T. Hailstock is the author of both contemporary and historical novels. Her books have appeared on the Library Journal Best Seller List and the Glamour Magazine List. She is the recipient of the HOLT Medallion, the Heart of the West Award and the Waldenbooks Bestselling Romance Award.

Shirley is also the winner of the Career Achievement Award by Romantic Times Magazine. Her most recent release, OPPOSITES ATTRACT, is available now.

Shirley is a past president of the New Jersey Romance Writers and currently serves as Regional Director on the National Board of Romance Writers of America. She lives in Central New Jersey with her two teenage children.

Sandra Hill is the author of eight romance novels and three anthologies, including time-travels, historicals and contemporaries. All of them are heavy on humor and sizzle. One of her books, FRANKLY, MY DEAR, was a Rita finalist in 1997. Her first book, THE RELUCTANT VIKING, won the Holt Medallion for best first book. Most recently, THE LAST VIKING won New Jersey Romance Writer's Golden Leaf Award in the single title romance category.

Her other titles include: THE OUTLAW VIKING, THE TARNISHED LADY, SWEETER SAVAGE LOVE, DESPERADO and LOVE ME TENDER. Her upcoming May book, THE BEWITCHED VIKING, will be the launch book for a new humor line at Dorchester Publishing.

Ann Lawrence writes both paranormal and historical romance. Her debut novel, VIRTUAL HEAVEN, to be released in May 1999, is one of the launch books for the Perfect Heroes series by Dorchester Publishing. Also look for Ann in PARADISE coming in August of 1999.

Ann, who married her own perfect hero, lives in the Philadelphia area with her two children.

Gail lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania, is single, and has known that she wanted to be a writer when she was a child and read LITTLE WOMEN, identifying with the character of Jo March.

Gail has written 3 Silhouette Special Editions and 6 historicals for Leisure, WOLF'S EMBRACE being her debut book. She has another contemporary from Silhouette coming out next summer.

She loves to read (when she can find the time); is a definite movie buff (anything from the classic era of Hollywood to the present day); Harrison Ford is her favorite leading man; loves the theatre (especially musicals); and has a weakness for TV westerns and all things Victorian. You can write to her at P.O. Box 7l7, Concordville, PA l9331-07l7. SASE please.

One day, while standing up to her knees in mud and swinging a pick ax, Michelle Jerott had a revelation: despite her classical archaeology degree from the University of Michigan, archaeology just wasn't her calling in life. So she had a baby instead and started writing fiction--not just any fiction, but romance fiction, where girls get to have all the fun.

When not writing books, Michelle disguises herself as a mild-mannered working mom. She and her husband live near Madison with their children, and she toils away at the University of Wisconsin, spending lots of government money. Her first book, ABSOLUTE TROUBLE, won the Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart Award. Her second book, ALL NIGHT LONG, will be available from Avon in October 1999.

With her acclaimed debut novel, PORTRAIT OF DREAMS, Victoria Malvey entered the fascinating world of publishing. Her second novel, ENCHANTED, a lead title for Pocket's new line, Sonnet Books, is a March release.

She is currently working on her third novel which is currently scheduled for release in December '99.

Nikoo McGoldrick, a recently retired engineering manager, and Jim McGoldrick, an Associate Professor of English with a Ph.D. in 16th Century British Literature, write under the pen name May McGoldrick. Together, they are the award-winning authors of six Historical Romance Novels published by Penguin Putnam. They have three more scheduled for release over the next two years, and their first non-fiction book, titled A MARRIAGE OF MINDS: Collaborative Fiction Writing, is scheduled to be released by Heinemann next year.

In 1995, Jim and Nikoo's debut novel, THE THISTLE AND THE ROSE, was the Romantic Times Magazine Reviewer's Choice nominee for Best First Historical Romance, and the winner of two NJRW Golden Leaf awards and the Florida RWA Laurel Wreath for Best Historical Novel. Since then, their novels have garnered numerous national awards, including the 1997 Colorado RWA Award of Excellence Finalist for Best Historical Novel (ANGEL OF SKYE), the 1997 Virginia RWA Holt Medallion Winner for Best Long Historical (ANGEL OF SKYE), and winner of the 1998 RWA Southern Heat Contest for Best Paranormal (...MADE IN HEAVEN). Their latest book, FLAME, has been chosen as a December 1998 Doubleday Book Club Alternate Selection.

Jim and Nikoo currently live in Bucks County, PA with their two sons and their affable Golden Retriever, Max.

A New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Mary Jo Putney was born in Upstate New York with a reading addiction, a condition for which there is no known cure. Her entire romance writing career is an accidental byproduct of buying a computer for her freelance graphic design business.

Eighteen novels later, she says solemnly that not least among the blessings of a full-time writing career is that one almost never has to wear pantyhose.

The winner of numerous writing awards, including two Ritas, her most recent books are THE RAKE and ONE PERFECT ROSE. Since one features an alcoholic hero and the other has a death and dying theme, it's safe to say that romance isn't what it used to be!

Katie Rose is thrilled to be part of Bantam's Fanfare program. Her first book, A HINT OF MISCHIEF, won RomCom's Reviewer's Choice Award and achieved a 5 star rating on Amazon.com! Her second book, A CASE  FOR ROMANCE, received a glowing review in Publisher's Weekly, and is a Romantic Times Top Pick!

A lifetime resident of New Jersey, Katie lives with her daughter in Marlton, and spends much of her free time horseback riding, exploring Cape May, and researching American history. She is fascinated with the Victorian Period, and sees and distinct parallel in the Industrial Revolution and today's Technology Revolution. Katie is a computer sales representative for a Fortune 40 company, and has a degree in Journalism from Temple University. She has published eight other books under a different pen name, as well as magazine and newspaper articles.

Barbara Sheridan has always loved books and creating stories in her head, but it wasn't until she read Anne Rice's classic INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, that the writing bug bit, infecting her with the urge to rework Ms. Rice's ending.

Almost 20 years and a million or so words later, Ms. Sheridan received The Call. Her debut novel TIMELESS WISH is the April 1999 release in the Jove Time Passages line and her second SILVER RAIN is scheduled to be the May 2000 release in the Jove Magical Love line.

Deborah Simmons is the author of more than a dozen historical romances and novellas. A former journalist, she turned to fiction after the birth of her first child when a longtime love of historical romance prompted her to write her own.