It’s hard for me to imagine that I’ve been writing romances for over twenty years now! I started at the young age of 21, just after I got married. Reading romances, and then writing them, came about as a result of having too much time on my hands. When I first married my husband Don, I was working a regular nine to five job and he worked swing shift, from four in the afternoon until midnight. It wasn’t an ideal schedule for newlyweds, and in order to pass those hours when I was alone I started reading romances, and eventually tried my hand at writing them. The road to publication wasn’t an easy one. It took me five years and dozens of rejections to make my first sale, which was to Harlequin for their “Stolen Moments” line. THE FAMILY MAN, written under the pseudonym Danielle Kelly, was one of the twelve novellas published in 1993 for this promotional line. It took me another two and a half years (and more rejections!) to sell my second book. HEAVEN’S GIFT (written under my own name) was published in October 1995 by Leisure Love Spell for their “An Angel’s Touch” series. Another two years passed of collecting even more rejections before I finally sold to Harlequin Romance and Harlequin Temptation. At the time, writing for both Temptation and Harlequin Romance provided me with a wonderful creative outlet for both my modern, ultra-sexy stories, and my warmer, traditional romances. But as the years passed, I realized how much I enjoyed writing the sexier stories and streamlined my career accordingly so that I was no longer writing the sweet traditional romances, and instead focused on the hotter, sexier stories for Temptation and Blaze. After writing over two dozen books for Harlequin, I decided to branch out. I wanted to write anthologies and single titles, and came up with an idea about three sexy brothers with the last name of “Wilde”. Little did I know that those Wilde brothers would become such a sensation with readers. In the second Wilde book, WILDE THING, four Wilde cousins were introduced, and readers started writing in for their stories, too. It’s been a joy and pleasure to write each of the Wilde stories, and I want to thank everyone for purchasing those books and putting them on the USA Today Bestseller list! I’ve been a full-time writer for years, which consists of being deep in deadlines, writing proposals (growling at the husband to fix a glitch in the computer so I can get back to work!), perusing contracts, line-edits (stressing over a scene that won’t work or characters that just won’t talk or cooperate with my plans for them!), galleys, art-fact sheets, promotion, and other publishing paperwork. Admittedly, I wouldn’t trade all the craziness in for pantyhose, rush hour traffic, and a nine-to-five job again. Writing is hard work, but I find the rewards are well worth the effort. Fan letters are one of those priceless rewards, and can keep me on a high for days! I’ve met the most wonderful people through my books, some of which I now consider good friends.

MaryJanice Davidson is an American author and motivational speaker who writes mostly paranormal romance, but also young adult and non-fiction. She is the creator of the popular UNDEAD series and the time-traveling historical fiction A CONTEMPORARY ASSHAT AT THE COURT OF HENRY VIII. MaryJanice is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author who writes a bi-weekly column for USA Today and lives in St. Paul with her family. You can reach her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. www.maryjanicedavidson.org @MaryJaniceD MaryJanice's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/maryjanicedav... http://us.macmillan.com/author/maryja...

Talk about misspent youth. What did I do during those lazy summer days of childhood when I could’ve been honing my writing skills? Nothing. Okay, so I spent a lot of time dreaming I was a cowgirl with a trusty black stallion. Oh, and I read every Walter Farley horse novel. I was an only child so I relied on my imagination to supply the excitement in my life. By high school, I’d decided to trade in my lariat for a trench coat. I was into dark and dangerous. As an intrepid foreign correspondent, I’d stalk the mean streets of the world. Did I actually write anything? No, but I did read all of Agatha Christie’s mysteries. I worked at a department store during college. My short stint in the accounting department taught me a lot about math. Three hundred-dollar shortages plus hysterical tears equaled instant move to gift-wrap. A career in math was not in my future. I didn’t care because I’d discovered “real” literature. I plowed through James Joyce’s Ulysses and Tolstoy’s War and Peace. If it didn’t make my eyes cross then it wasn’t worth reading. Yes, I admit it, I was a literary snob. Nina and best buddy, Barbara Joyce. Folk singers extraordinaire. But there’s just so much “real” literature one person can take. I graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in English Literature and a determination to avoid books that induced eye crossing or had tragic endings. The only things I managed to write during those years were research papers. I taught second grade for several years then spent two years in Dublin, Ireland. A friend and I supported ourselves by singing folk songs in Irish pubs. We weren’t great, but we were young, enthusiastic, and wore short skirts. It was obviously my destiny to be the next Judy Collins. I spent a lot of time poring through music books. Returning to New Jersey and reality, I taught elementary school until I grew restless again. My cross-country odyssey included stays in Arizona, California, and Texas. Along the way, I indulged my love of horses. No black stallions, but I did have several beautiful Arabian mares. I read tons of books on breeding and showing. Somewhere between California and Texas I grew addicted to romance novels and cats. The cat’s independent attitude was exactly the quality I admired in my romance heroes. And once I decided to try writing my own romances, I made sure a cat crept into each story. Texas is my permanent home. I’ve come full circle. Born in San Antonio, I spent most of my life in New Jersey. Maybe the Texas in my blood accounts for my attachment to strong men, fast horses, and wide-open spaces. My love of cats? Haven’t a clue.