M.J. was one of those lucky children whose mother read to her every night, filling her imagination with the magic of brave heroes and smart heroines overcoming adversity to ensure their own happy endings. From as early as she can remember she wanted to be a writer so she could give readers that same kind of pleasure that had been given to her by the creators of those wonderful stories. But M.J. is very practical. She knew how few struggling writers were ever published—and how few of the published could support themselves by writing alone. She also understood that the best writers had extensive life experience that made their stories rich with meaning. So she set aside her dream of becoming a writer and focused instead on working hard to get the kind of education that would lead to a good job and lots of that important life experience. She attended Pepperdine University at Malibu, California, graduating summa cum laude with degrees in psychology and journalism. She received her MBA from St. Mary's college in Moraga, California. She held managerial positions in several corporations and traveled extensively throughout the world. The work was exciting and demanding; the people she met were intelligent and stimulating; the life experiences were invaluable. Yet despite all the years that had passed and the outward trappings of success that had been achieved, the dream of being a writer had never left her. And no wonder. The most important message in all those wonderful books her mother had read to her as a child—and she had continued to enjoy as an adult—was that happiness meant going for your dreams. She was now ready to go for hers. She gave up her high-powered job in the corporate world and turned her attention to writing romantic mysteries for Harlequin. But she was glad she'd waited until the timing was just right. Because to have tried to write before she could give it her best would have been a mistake. M.J. is the winner of the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for romantic mysteries, twice winner of their Best Intrigue award and a recipient of their Reviewers Choice Award for Best Miniseries Romance. She is also a winner of B. Dalton Bookseller's top-selling intrigue award. She lives with her wonderful husband, adorable cat and two loving dogs in a tiny community in the terrific Pacific Northwest until the winter, when they realize it isn't so terrific and relocate to sunny southern Nevada. M.J. loves to hear from readers. During the winter, she gets her mail at P.O. Box 786, Overton, NV, 89040. Come spring, she can be reached at P.O. Box 284, Seabeck, WA, 98380. Or email her year-round at mjuniverse@yahoo.com.

As a youngster growing up in the wide-open spaces of the Texas Panhandle, Sandy Steen loved storytelling—everything from tales about her family’s pioneer history, to movies and, of course, books, books, and more books. "My earliest memories are of reading. I would absorb the characters, and replay the stories over and over in my mind." And even though she often got into trouble for daydreaming instead of doing homework, she credits teachers who stressed the benefits of reading for the foundation of her writing success. From that early beginning her love of storytelling found its way into almost every corner of her life including such jobs as writing descriptions of new houses, speeches, and advertising copy. It was through one of those jobs that she met a published writer who suggested she try her hand at writing a romance novel. She’s been writing ever since. Even her hobbies reflect her career choice. Sandy collects Gone with the Wind memorabilia and has an extensive film noir collection. She’s also an avid Jeopardy buff, putting to use all of those bits and pieces of information from all the wonderful books she’s read. Those early years also gave Sandy a love and appreciation for the people and traditions of Texas. She likes nothing better than tapping into the rich heritage of the cowboy mystique for her heroes and setting her books in her home state. Texans are known for being larger than life, and she loves creating sexy, macho bad boys looking for good women. Sandy claims Texans have a reputation to protect, after all, so why settle for plain old happily-ever-after when her heroines can ride off into the sunset with a cross between John Wayne and Tom Cruise. "If you’re going to daydream," Sandy says, "might as well do it up right."

Aka Rhonda Pollero Rhonda Harding Pollero aka Kelsey Roberts is a sought-after lecturer and workshop presenter as well as a muchrequestedmedia guest. She has been featured in COSMOPOLITIANMagazine, The New York Times and The Washington Post, among others andmakes frequent appearances on both radio and television. She founded TheWriters Workshop at Anne Arundel College in Maryland and was the leadinstructor in the areas of craft and genre writing courses for three years.She is considered an expert in why women read and write crime fiction aswell as an excellent authority on plotting and structuring the novel.

Candace Schuler is a writer with a multiple personalities. In her 30+ year career, she has written software user guides, various types of instruction manuals, marketing collateral, grant proposals, case statements, case studies, business profiles, newsletters, press releases, white papers, speeches, scripts, short stories, a cookbook—and 26 (to date) romance novels. Candace credits her husband Joe and her love of travel with starting her career as a romance writer. It was his comments on a letter describing a trip to New Orleans that prompted her to try writing romance fiction. She wrote her first novel Desire’s Child by hand on 12 yellow legal pads. It was published by Harlequin in September, 1984 (after she typed it into a computer, of course). Her second book A Cherished Account was published by New American Library under the pen name Jeanette Darwin just one month later. She is also published under the name Candace Spencer. Her books have appeared on the B. Dalton’s and Waldenbooks bestseller lists and have twice been nominated by the Romance Writers of America for a RITA award in the Best Short Contemporary Romance category—in 1996 for Passion and Scandal and in 2003 for Good Time Girl. Good Time Girl also received the 2003 Scarlett Letter Award, presented by the Tampa Bay Romance Writers for excellence in sensual romance writing. Candace’s books have also received three Reviewers’ Choice Awards from Romantic Times magazine. In 1992, she was awarded the Career Achievement Award as Series Story Teller of the Year by RT. Because romance is truly universal, most of her books have been published in at least 20 languages, including Mandarin, Japanese, Greek, and most recently, Russian. She is currently in the process of digitizing her backlist for e-book publication. Other stuff: •Married almost 40 years to Joe, who recently retired from the IT industry to become a golf bum •“Mom” to two 75-pound Dobermans who think they are lap dogs •Plants a garden every year in hopes of producing the perfect tomato •Bakes a to-die-for chocolate cheesecake •Is a Big Brother Big Sister volunteer •Buys way too many shoes •Holds the Grant Professional Certified credential •Is a member of Novelists, Inc.

Born in England, Jasmine Cresswell now divides her time between her winter home in Sarasota, Florida and her summer home in Evergreen, Colorado. Jasmine has been writing since 1975 and has published over 50 novels, with 9 million copies of her books in print. Jasmine served for two years as the editor of the Romance Writer's Report. She also served as president of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and is a founder and former president of Novelists, Inc. She received the Colorado Authors' League Award for Best Paperback Novel of the Year and the Romance Writers of America Golden Rose Award. Her books also have received numerous Romantic Times certificates of excellence. Experienced as a public speaker, Jasmine has conducted college seminars and addressed many writers' conferences. Interviews and profiles have appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and Jasmine considers herself a veteran of talk shows and news broadcasts. Married to Malcolm Candlish, whom she met while she was working for the British Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Jasmine and her husband have lived all over the world. She has a Bachelor's Degree with a double major in history and philosophy from Melbourne University, a second degree in history from Macquarie University, as well as a Masters Degree in history and archival administration from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

Barbara Keiler aka Ariel Berk, Thea Frederick, Judith Arnold Barbara Keiler was born on April 7th. She started telling stories before shecould write. She was four when her sister, Carolyn, stuffed a crayon intoher hand and taught her the alphabet, and she's been writing ever since. Barbara is a graduate of Smith College, where she learned to aim for thestars, and she received a master's degree in creative writing from BrownUniversity, where she took aim at a good-looking graduate student in thechemistry department and wound up marrying him. She says: "Before myhusband and I were married, I had a job in California and he was working onhis Ph.D. in Rhode Island. I became ill, and he hopped on a plane and flewacross the country to be with me. Neither of us had any money, but he saidhe simply couldn't concentrate on his research, knowing I was three thousandmiles away and facing a serious health problem all by myself. He stayed fortwo weeks, until I was pretty well recovered. That he would just drop whathe was doing, put his life on hold and race to my side told me how much heloved me. After that, I knew this was the man I wanted to marry." Barbara has received writing fellowships from the Shubert Foundation and theNational Endowment for the Arts, and has taught at colleges and universitiesaround the country. She has also written several plays that have beenprofessionally staged at regional theaters in San Francisco, Washington, D.C.,Connecticut and off-off-Broadway. Since her first romance novel's publication in 1983 as Ariel Berk. Shewrote one novel as Thea Frederick, and since 1985 she writes asJudith Arnold. Barbara has sold more than 70 novels, with eight millioncopies in print worldwide. She has recently signed a contract with MIRABooks. Her first MIRA novel will appear in 2001. She has received severalawards from Romantic Times Magazine, including awards for the Best HarlequinAmerican Romance of the Year, Best Harlequin Superromance of the Year, BestSeries Romantic Novel of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Certificate ofMerit for Innovative Series Romance. She has also been a finalist for theGolden Medallion Award and the RITA Award for Romance Writer of America. Hernovel Barefoot in the Grass has appeared on the recommended reading listsdistributed by cancer support services at several hospitals. Barbara lives in a small town not far from Boston, Massachusetts, New England with her husband, two teenage sons, and a guinea pig named Wilbur. Her sister Carolyn died of breast cancer in 1998.