Kara Lennox is the bestselling author of more than fifty published novels of romance and romantic suspense. She has been published by Silhouette and Bantam Books as Karen Leabo, and currently writes for the Harlequin American Romance, Silhouette Desire and Signature Select lines as Kara Lennox. Some of her more popular series for the American Romance line are How to Marry a Hardison and Blond Justice.
Prior to writing romance, Kara was a freelance writer with hundreds of magazine articles published, as well as brochures, press releases, advertisements and business plans. She has also earned a paycheck at various times as a magazine art director, a typesetter, an exercise instructor, a sales clerk for a boutique that was a front for laundering Mafia money (she found out later), a telephone survey-taker, and a blackjack dealer. But she's happiest now, living her dream as an author.
Kara's books are often cited for their groundbreaking, quirky or otherwise unusual subject matter. She has written about ostrich ranching, Mayan archeology, brain tumors, child abandonment, jewel theft, witchcraft and storm chasing--in addition to a full complement of cowboys, brides and babies.
Kara is a member of Romance Writers of America, Dallas Area Romance Authors and Chick Lit Writers of the World. She is a popular speaker and workshop presenter at writers' conferences around the country. She loves reader mail and answers all she can.
Barbara penned--well penciled, actually--her first major work of fiction at the age of eight. It was entitled How the Giraffe Got His Long Neck and was released to rave reviews. Unfortunately, the print run of one copy hindered distribution. But the experience whet her appetite for celebrity and acclaim.
Three years later she became a reporter for the venerated publication The Berry Street Times. With a circulation of 11, this forum allowed Barbara to reach even more faithful readers.
After writing her first romance manuscript, she discovered the efficiency of word processing and email distribution. Her beleaguered friends and relatives courageously plowed through each and every story, continuing to provide encouraging feedback.
When Harlequin offered to publish Barbara's stories under the Duets and Temptation imprints, it was a dream come true. Not only are her friends and relatives still compelled to read her stories, but they now enjoy the privilege of paying for them and placing them in prominent positions in their homes. Barbara knows this, because she routinely checks their bookcases while listening to their effusive compliments and wondering what could possibly have caused all those peculiar facial tics.
If you'd like to visit Barbara's web site, please go to www.barbaradunlop.com. She loves to receive email. The address is bdunlop@yknet.yk.ca.
Roxanne started writing stories during eighth grade algebra class to escape x. She didn't know what x equaled. She didn't believe x actually equaled anything. Letters belong in words and words belong in sentences and sentences belong in the most magnificent place of all...books.
Books have been her passion since she galloped through Black Beauty at nine, breezed through Gone with the Wind at 11, soared with The Moonspinners at 13, and then wallowed in the Valley of the Dolls right around the time her braces came off and she discovered...boys.
Although she reads anything and everything--including four newspapers a day--Roxanne has never left the comfort of romance novels for very long. While attending UCLA, she worked at a Los Angeles TV station where the news producer convinced her to legally change her last name from Zink to St. Claire so he could do a segment on how to change your name, complete with cameras in the courtroom when the decree was pronounced official. Only in L.A.!
After graduating with a degree in mass communications, Roxanne appeared on the sitcoms Laverne & Shirley and Bosom Buddies and hosted a talk show called Between the Piers. Since it soon became evident she didn't have a future as Loni Anderson or Jane Pauley, she took her glamorous, legal name into the world of public relations and immediately found her niche. By day she promoted products and people, but at night...she still read and scribbled tales of love and adventure.
For the next 18 years as an executive with the world's largest PR firm, Roxanne's exposure to a wide range of businesses, clients and crisis situations fed her imagination with characters and storylines. During that time, she wrote lengthy business proposals, press kits and speeches for CEOs. When she would finish a particularly stirring marketing strategy, she would sigh and think...what a waste. I should be writing romance novels. Her need to touch a reader's emotions was evident when she once sent a product rollout plan to a client with a cover note that read: "Read it and weep."
In 1999 she wrote her first manuscript and seriously began the pursuit of publication in early 2000. Two years later, she sold her first single title romantic suspense novel, and today Roxanne writes full-time. Having experienced every aspect of big-city life in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Boston and Miami, Roxanne is happily settled in a quiet beachfront community in Florida with her husband and two children. When not writing, she is a hard-working mother of two elementary school-age children who, unfortunately, will soon be starting algebra.
You can write to her at P.O. Box 372909, Satellite Beach, Florida, 32937.
Emilie lives in North Carolina with her college sweetheart husband and four sons. Her love for romance novels developed when she was 12 years old and her mother hid them under sofa cushions each time Emilie entered the room.
Emilie grew up riding and showing horses and chasing after her older brothers. More often than not, she had to bribe her way into being included.
She's a devoted baseball mom during the season and can usually be found in the bleachers watching one of her sons play, or at a Durham Bulls game. If there's a rodeo in town or on T.V., you'll find her watching.
Emilie's hobbies include quilting, cooking (especially baking cheesecake), and anything cowboy. Emilie's a country music fan because there's an entire book in nearly every song. Her favorite T.V. shows include ER, CSI, Boston Public, and the Discovery Channel's medical and nature programs.
A sucker for any stray, Emilie has been known to bring home orphaned squirrels, bunnies, and kittens, much to her sons' delight. She is also a lover of anything cute and fuzzy, which explains the incredible variety of pets her children have had. Thanks to her older brothers, she's also not quite intolerant of the not so cute and fuzzy reptile pets.
Letters can be mailed to Emilie at P.O. Box 20145, Raleigh, NC, 27619, or via email to EmilieRoseC@aol.com.
Kathie often sets her alarm for 2:00 a.m. so she can get in a few hours of writing before the rest of the house is up and about. With country tunes playing from a local radio station, Kathie crafts her stories with a unique style of sensuality, interspersed with a little humor.
Her first book, a 1999 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart finalist (awarded for best unpublished book), was published as Did You Say Married?! by Silhouette Desire in May 2000 and was listed on the Waldenbooks category romance bestseller list. The Rough and Ready Rancher (March 2001) was also a Golden Heart finalist in 1996.
Kathie and her husband have three children and live in the Illinois area her family settled in the early 1800s when they moved from North Carolina. Besides writing, Kathie loves to read romances, travel to historic locales, and delights in trying to rid the world of chocolate--one bite at a time! She also enjoys meeting readers and writers at the numerous conferences and workshops she attends.
You can visit Kathie's web site at http://www.kathiedenosky.com or write to her at P.O. Box 2064, Herrin, IL 62948-5264.
