Anne Stuart is a grandmaster of the genre, winner of Romance Writers of America's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, survivor of more than thirty-five years in the romance business, and still just keeps getting better. Her first novel was Barrett's Hill, a gothic romance published by Ballantine in 1974 when Anne had just turned 25. Since then she's written more gothics, regencies, romantic suspense, romantic adventure, series romance, suspense, historical romance, paranormal and mainstream contemporary romance for publishers such as Doubleday, Harlequin, Silhouette, Avon, Zebra, St. Martins Press, Berkley, Dell, Pocket Books and Fawcett. She’s won numerous awards, appeared on most bestseller lists, and speaks all over the country. Her general outrageousness has gotten her on Entertainment Tonight, as well as in Vogue, People, USA Today, Women’s Day and countless other national newspapers and magazines. When she’s not traveling, she’s at home in Northern Vermont with her luscious husband of thirty-six years, an empty nest, three cats, four sewing machines, and one Springer Spaniel, and when she’s not working she’s watching movies, listening to rock and roll (preferably Japanese) and spending far too much time quilting. Anne Stuart also writes as Kristina Douglas.

Barbara Bretton is the USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of more than 40 books. She currently has over ten million copies in print around the world. Her works have been translated into twelve languages in over twenty countries. Barbara has been featured in articles in The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Romantic Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Herald News, Home News, Somerset Gazette,among others, and has been interviewed by Independent Network News Television, appeared on the Susan Stamberg Show on NPR, and been featured in an interview with Charles Osgood of WCBS, among others. Her awards include both Reviewer's Choice and Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times; Gold and Silver certificates from Affaire de Coeur; the RWA Region 1 Golden Leaf; and several sales awards from Bookrak. Ms. Bretton was included in a recent edition of Contemporary Authors. Barbara loves to spend as much time as possible in Maine with her husband, walking the rocky beaches and dreaming up plots for upcoming books.

I've been a reader all my life, starting out with fairy tales and graduating to reading everything in the house when I grew older, including my parents' romances, mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, and action/adventure.If a writer can combine romance and humor with a fantasy, science fiction, or paranormal element, I'm hooked. Add action/adventure, and it's even better! Since I couldn't find quite enough books that combine these elements, I sat down to write some of my own. The result is the books you'll see on my website. I now live in Colorado with my three dogs: Mo, Daisy and Trixie. Pseudonyms: Pamela Luzier (Fantasy genre) and Parker Blue (Young Adult urban fantasy genre).

The granddaughter of two coal miners, Anne Marie Duquette was raised all over the nation, including Alaska and Hawaii, with a healthy appreciation for the richness of the land, wildlife, and its beauty. Her love of the earth’s treasures grew during her many travels as the daughter of a U.S. Air force pilot and Air Force nurse, the wife of a career Navy Chief Petty Officer, and as a Navy veteran herself. Different landscapes and people sparked her interest in the arts, especially writing and photography, as a way of keeping track of her varied experiences as a “military brat.” She obtained a degree in Mass Communications (Journalism, TV, Film) from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and set out for Hollywood. But apart from an un-produced treatment sale to Paramount Studios for Star Trek – The Next Generation, her fate seemed to lie in the books she so loved to read. In 1987 she made her first sale to Harlequin Romances, her primary publisher of 25 books, and has ventured into the self-publishing world of non-fiction as well. She has an adult education teaching certificate in writing from the state of California, and has taught religious education for fifteen years at her church. An animal lover, a partner to a retired black German shepherd service dog, and owner of a rescued dachshund, she tries to bring together all the varied experiences of her life to her stories for her readers and family. Anne Marie is married with two children and two grandchildren, all residing in Southern California.

Julie Kistler is the author of 30 romance novels and five shorter works, including one Cat Crime, two chapters for charity projects, an online serial and a novella. Julie won the Madcap Award for the best romantic comedy of 2001 for JUST A LITTLE FLING, a Harlequin Temptation, and she was nominated for Romance Writers of America's Rita Award for BLACK JACK BROGAN, a Harlequin American Romance. Several of her books have hit the Waldenbooks Best-Seller Lists. She and her husband, Scott Johnson, co-authored ONCE THERE WERE GIANTS, the story of how tiny Hebron High School won the Illinois High School basketball tournament in 1952. That book came out in 2002 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hebron's amazing run to the state championship. Julie was born and raised in Peoria, Illinois (yes, she "played in Peoria") but moved to the Chicago area for high school, where she met her husband Scott in 10th grade. (He sat in front of her in math class and she was attracted to his tall, dark, handsome and very smart ways.) Scott and Julie both attended the University of Illinois, and Julie graduated with a BA in history (Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude) in 1978. She married Scott in 1980, and then 1) got a law degree (cum laude) from the University of Illinois, 2) passed the Minnesota bar exam, 3) ran off with Scott for a two-month trip to Europe, and 4) moved to Minnesota to be a lawyer (in that order). But law didn't suit her very well, and Julie left the legal world to be a full-time writer in 1985. She also sold her first book in 1985 (nine days after quitting her job.) That book was THE VAN RENN LEGACY, a madcap treasure hunt with a quote-acrostic for readers to solve, and it also earned Julie her second Golden Heart nomination. Julie and Scott moved back home to Illinois in 1989, and have lived in Central Illinois ever since. A lifetime movie and theater lover, Julie began a side career as a theater critic for the Champaign News-Gazette in 1990. She has now joined the Board of Directors of Heartland Theatre, in Bloomington, Illinois, and she initiated an annual ten-minute play contest there which has proved to be very popular. Julie's play, "Hopeless Romantics," was performed in the first year of Heartland's Ten-Minute Playfest. In her life, Julie has been a student, front desk clerk, room service waiter, switchboard operator, pizza chef, criminal prosecutor, singing and dancing law book (see photo below), prose reader, legal research expert, member of the Board of Directors of Romance Writers of America, president of Novelists Inc, marketing manager, romance writer, sportswriter, reporter, critic, Fred Astaire fanatic, cat lover, White Sox fan, daughter, sister, wife and friend.

Mindy Neff is the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling, award-winning author of over thirty novels and novellas. Her contemporary romances touch the heart, tug at the reader’s emotions, and always, without fail, have a happy ending. Mindy is the recipient of the National Reader’s Choice Award, the Orange Rose Award of Excellence, the Romantic Times Career Achievement award and the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award, as well as W.I.S.H. awards for outstanding heroes, and two prestigious RITA nominations. Originally from Louisiana, Mindy moved to Southern California where she met and married a very romantic guy many, many years ago. They blended their families, his three kids and her two, and have been living happily (if a little insanely) ever after. Mindy loves to hear from readers. You can email her at mindy@mindyneff.com