Award-winning author Karen Rose Smith was born in Pennsylvania. Although she was an only child, she remembers the bonds of an extended family. Family is a strong theme in her books and she suspects her childhood memories are the reason. In college, Karen began writing poetry and also met her husband to be. They both began married life as teachers, but when their son was born, Karen decided to try her hand at a home-decorating business. She returned to teaching for a while but changes in her life led her to writing relationship novels. Now she writes romances as well as mysteries full time. Her first book was published in 1992; her 80th novel will be published in 2013. A winner of New Jersey's Golden Leaf Award in Short Contemporary Romance, Colorado Romance Writers Award Of Excellence for short contemporary, as well as the Phoenix Desert Rose Chapter's Golden Quill for Traditional Romance, she has also been honored with Cataromance.com's award for Best Special Edition and Washington Romance Writers Career Achievement Award. Her romances have made both the USA TODAY list and the Amazon Romance and Contemporary Romance Bestseller lists. She has written for Meteor/Kismet, Kensington, Silhouette and Harlequin. Readers can contact Karen through her website, on Facebook (Karen Rose Smith Author) and on Twitter @ Karenrosesmith. They can also follow her monthly e-zine IN TOUCH with KAREN ROSE SMITH which has the latest news about her books, recipes and contests.

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.

A native Oklahoman, Debrah Morris was born near Will Rogers' birthplace. She grew up in Claremore, Oklahoma. She comes to storytelling naturally. As a child, she was a wide-eyed and appreciative audience when her grandparents told colorful tales of their Cherokee and Irish ancestors in the old Indian Territory. Her love of the past was sparked by accounts of the Trail of Tears, outlaws and lawmen, cowboys and cattle, and the Oklahoma Land Run. A member of the Cherokee Tribe of Oklahoma today, she is still learning about tribal history and culture. Debrah has always been a reader. In fact, she can't recall ever learning how. The summer she was 12, she vowed to read every book in the local library. Starting with the A's, she plowed through the shelves, reading such varied volumes as Alcott's Little Women, Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Le May's The Searchers, and Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. It was a small library, yet it took her years to make it all the way to Frank Yerby. That early alphabetical exploration cemented her eclectic reading habits. Debrah began writing fiction in third grade. Once she cracked the penmanship code, she discovered she could actually put all those words on her spelling list to good use by stringing them together to express her own ideas. She wrote new chapters for all of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series of books and strong-armed her two younger sisters into acting out her stories. She's been writing, and some say strong-arming, ever since. Growing up in a rural farming community gives her the background she needs to write effectively about hometown America. Her country school was small — 12 of the 17 graduates in her class began first grade together—but it gave her a strong academic education and instilled a lifelong love of learning that prompted her to eventually earn a graduate degree. After earned a bachelor's degree in communications, Debrah got married, and had three children in five years. While taking an adult writing class, she collaborated with Pat Shaver and they sold their first novel to Silhouette Romance in 1983. This collaboration produced more than twenty contemporary and historical romances under four pseudonyms: Dianne Thomas, Joanna Jordan, Pepper Adams, and JoAnn Stacey. Careerwise, she has reinvented herself several times over the years, working at a variety of jobs ranging from bookkeeper to teacher to clinical therapist. But she's never found anything she likes to do more than write down daydreams for other people to read. Before staring her solo writing career, Debrah earned a post-graduate degree in speech language pathology and worked in an adult neurological rehabilitation center. Her novels have been nominated for Booksellers Best, National Readers' Choice Awards, and Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Silhouette Romance 2002. Now, she signed her novels as Debrah Williamson. She also speaks at writing workshops and teaches writing in a university program at University of Oklahoma and to adults. Debrah lives in Norman, Oklahoma with her husband. She has three children, two married stepdaughters, and four stepgrandchildren. Her pets include three cats, one dog, and five fat lily-pond goldfish.

Nicole Burnham is the RITA award-winning author of over twenty novels, including the popular Royal Scandals series. For new release announcements, audio/ebook samples, and to receive a free copy of A ROYAL SCANDALS WEDDING, visit https://nicoleburnham.com/new-events/ —- NOTE FROM NICOLE: My Goodreads library is by no means comprehensive. I have thousands of books on my real (as opposed to my Goodreads) bookshelves. However, my Goodreads library only contains those books I'd give four or five stars and would recommend to friends without hesitation (and I haven't gotten around to listing all those yet.)