Rebecca Winters, an American writer and mother of four, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. When she was 17, she went to boarding school in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she learned to speak French and met girls from all over the world. Upon returning to the U.S., Rebecca developed her love of languages when she earned her B.A. in secondary education, history, French, and Spanish from the University of Utah and did postgraduate work in Arabic. Because of her studies overseas, Rebecca decided to become a teacher and studied French and history at her alma mater in Utah. For the past 15 years, she's taught junior-high and high-school French and history, and says she got into serious writing almost by accident. "I went through a back door to begin my writing career," she says. "In the first place, I never liked to write anything—I only wrote mandatory papers for school. If anyone had told me I would become a writer, let alone love it, I would have laughed and dismissed the notion as absolutely absurd and preposterous. "Having said that, I did write letters to my parents while I was away at boarding school when I was 17. My mother kept them and one day, after I had become a mother for the second time, she sent me all my old letters and asked me to write my memories from them for posterity. At the time I thought she was insane, but because I adore my mother I did as she asked. "By the time I’d finished sorting through all those teenage thoughts, observations and opinions, the seeds of a story had begun to form in my mind. The seed eventually became a novel and was published in 1979. It was called The Loving Season, published under the name Rebecca Burton. Naturally, it takes place in Switzerland and France. "As soon as I finished that novel, I found myself wanting to start another novel entitled By Love Divided, a World War II romance. A few years later, Harlequin bought a novel, Blind to Love, a story that takes place in Kenya. It’s been a love affair ever since. "I guess the moral of the story is, never underestimate a mother’s intuition!" As Rebecca has kept writing, her talents have not gone unrecognized. She has won the National Readers' Choice Award, the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, and has been named Utah Writer of the Year. Right now, Rebecca is working her way toward her 50th novel for Harlequin.

Shirley Jump is a writing instructor and an award-winning, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Amazon, and USA Today bestselling author who has published more than 80 books in 24 countries. She has spoken all over the world about the power of narrative and how to create compelling books. A former reporter and communications director for a marketing agency, she uses her diverse background to help clients create impactful books that readers can’t down. She knows the path to publication isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, so to help writers write their best possible book, she offers monthly Manuscript Masterminds through her website, www.WritingCompellingFiction.com. On her channel, https://YouTube.com/@WritingCompellin..., she unlocks the secrets behind compelling novels and delves into the psychological aspect of overcoming creativity-stoppers like doubt and perfectionism. Follow her channel for more writing exercises, classes, and behind-the-scenes writing lessons or join her Manuscript Mastermind to build your tribe of like-minded writers and receive crucial feedback on your pages.

Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella aka Marie Charles, Marie Michael, Marie Nicole, Marie Ferrarella Marie Rydzynski was born on March 28 in West Germany to Polish parents. She moved to America at the age of four. For an entire year, Marie and her family explored the eastern half of the country before finally settling in New York. Marie swears she was born writing, "which must have made the delivery especially hard for my mother." From an early age, Marie's parents would find her watching television or tucked away in some private place, writing at a furious pace. "Initially, I began writing myself into my favourite shows. I was a detective on '77 Sunset Strip,' the missing Cartwright sibling they never talked about on 'Bonanza' and the 'Girl from U.N.C.L.E.' before there was a 'Girl from U.N.C.L.E.,' not to mention an active participant in the serialized stories of 'The Mickey Mouse Club.'" Marie began to write her first romance novel when she was 11 years old, although she claims that, at the time, she didn't even realize it was a romance! She scribbled off and on, while dreaming of a career as an actress. Marie was only 14 when she first laid eyes on the man she would marry, truly her first love, Charles Ferrarella. During her days at Queens College, New York, acting started to lose its glamour as Marie spent more and more time writing. After receiving her English degree, specialising in Shakespearean comedy, Marie and her family moved to Southern California, where she still resides today. After an interminable seven weeks apart, Charles decided he couldn't live without her and came out to California to marry his childhood sweetheart. Ever practical, Marie was married in a wash-and-wear wedding dress that she sewed herself, appliqués and all. "'Be prepared' has always been my motto,"the author jokes. This motto has been stretched considerably by her two children, Nikky and Jessi, "but basically, it still applies," she says. In November of 1981, she sold her first novel for Harlequin. Marie, who now has written over 150 novels, has one goal: to entertain, to make people laugh and feel good. "That's what makes me happy," she confesses. "That, and a really good romantic evening with my husband." She's keeping her fingers crossed that her reader's enjoy reading her books as much as she enjoyed writing them.