This author also writes as Heather Allison. Heather MacAllister lives in Texas and is married to her high-school sweetheart. Following the instructions in How to Get a Teen-Age Boy, and What to Do with Him When You Get Him by Ellen Peck, one of her all-time favorite books, she expressed an interest in his hobby—ham radio. He challenged her—learn Morse code and get her license, and he’d take her to the senior prom. She did, and currently sports her call sign, WB5RMA, on her car license plate. Heather became addicted to romance novels in college, yet still managed to graduate and become a music teacher. And then her sons were born. Within seven months, nine baby-sitters quit, so she took pity on the childcare industry, quit teaching, and began avoiding housework by writing during her sons’ nap time. Heather has published over 40 books with Harlequin. Her award-winning romantic comedies have been translated into 25 languages and published in dozens of countries. Before she was published, Heather won the Romance Writer's of America Golden Heart Award. Her published novels have been nominated for the RWA RITA award three times, and eHarlequin.com readers voted LONE STAR SANTA favorite Laugh-Out-Loud book of 2006. In addition to awards for best Harlequin Romance and best Harlequin Temptation, Romantic Times Book Reviews has twice nominated Heather for a Career Achievement Award in Series Love and Laughter. When she's not writing, Heather spends her time collecting vintage jewelry, watching fireworks displays, and killing plants.

Kristine Rolofson, author of over forty books for Harlequin, began writing in 1987. Since then her novels have appeared on bestseller lists and won numerous awards. She and her husband divide their time between Rhode Island, Idaho and Texas. Her new series, "Willing To Wed", begins in September with THE HUSBAND SCHOOL, set in a small town in Montana. Kristine spends her spare time fiddling, quilting and shopping for cowboy boots. THE HUSBAND SCHOOL is available as a FREE e-book for a limited time, beginning September 1st. http://www.amazon.com/The-Husband-Sch...

Mary Jane Schultz was a writer since childhood. She was thrilled to sell her first young adult romance novel in 1986 as Mary Schultz. Since that time she has written a great number of books for both teenage and adult audiences. Under the pseudonym of Leandra Logan has enjoyed both success and fulfillment writing for Harlequin. Her books routinely make the B. Dalton and Waldenbooks lists. As well, she has been nominated for numerous awards within the industry. A lifelong resident of Minnesota, she and her family recently moved to the historic town of Stillwater. She looks forward to strolling along the main street, and mingling with the artists and book lovers who frequent the area's quaint shops and eateries. But there are countless tasks to take care of around the new place—the biggest being the yard work! There are rocks to haul, dirt to grade, and seeds to sow! Optimistically, it will give her a lot of time to work out her plots.

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."

Kristin Eckhardt aka Kristin Gabriel

aka Samantha Beckett Jolie Kramer began her career in 1975 as a reader in the Comedy Development department for 20th-Century Fox. She left Fox in 1977 to go on location with THE DEER HUNTER. She then worked as an auditor, associate producer and producer on such projects as WHEN SHE SAYS NO for CBS, BEULAH LAND for NBC, GREAT AMERICAN TRAFFIC JAM for NBC and CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR for Jozak Productions. In 1987 she became head of development for the McCarran Film Corp., overseeing a roster of twelve feature films. As a screen writer, she’s had a series idea purchased by Cinemax, and has worked as a script consultant on more than 50 screenplays. Currently, her screenplay APACHE TEARS was optioned by Northern Lights Productions in Canada. Jo Leigh's first Silhouette novel, SUSPECT, was awarded BEST FIRST SERIES BOOK by Romantic Times Magazine, garnered the 1994 ROMANCE WRITER OF THE YEAR award from Pike’s Peak RWA, and was a finalist for BEST ROMANTIC SUSPENSE NOVEL OF 1994 by Romance Writers of America. Her first Temptation novel, ONE WICKED NIGHT was a finalist for BEST SHORT CONTEMPORARY NOVEL OF 1998 by Romance Writers of America. She was invited to write one of the launch books for the Harlequin imprint, Blaze, with her book GOING FOR IT! Her 2006 Blaze RELENTLESS was a RITA finalist for BEST ROMANTIC SUSPENSE. She also ghost-wrote GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL DOLL – THE ANNA NICOLE SMITH STORY for Barricade Books. Jo teaches writing at workshops across the country and on-line, and is a frequent guest speaker at writing conferences. Her tape on Advanced Plotting from the Dallas Romance Writers of America conference is the best selling tape in RWA’s history. Jo lives in an incredibly rural area of Utah where her many rescue dogs have room to run and play and her rescue cats are determined to win the International Shedding Award. She spends an inordinate amount of time reading about how the brain works, listening to music and trying not to kill the basil. Jo's husband died of cancer on 13 June 2008, three years after they married, and whose medical bills are astronomical. Authors, editors, and bloggers have all donated a mess of items, from books to critiques to mentoring sessions to offer an item for the auction to benefit author Jo Leigh.

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.

Virginia Ellis, aka Lyn Ellis, was a professional photographer who had traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and the world. With her camera she learned how to tell a visual story. In her Harlequin books, she was translating the visual into words, creating memorable characters, vivid settings and compelling romances. Her first book, Dear John, won a Maggie Award for Best Short Contemporary, the Waldenbooks award for Bestselling Series book from Harlequin in 1994, and was nominated in two categories for the prestigious RITA award. Her second book, In Praise of Younger Men, was also nominated for a RITA. Gin also wrote two women’s mainstream fiction novels under her own name, Virginia Ellis. Her novel The Wedding Dress was optioned by Dolly Parton Productions for Sony Pictures Entertainment. Gin was one of the five founding partners of Belle Books, along with authors Deborah Smith, Deb Dixon, Sandra Chastain, and Donna Ball. Gin Ellis, the versatile and award-winning writer, passed away 18 January 2006.