This mostly truthful biography is longer than most of my books. But the older you become, the more there is to say…and frankly, I’d rather have it that way than the alternative!

I was born in New York but raised in Winthrop, Massachusetts, a small isthmus that juts into the Atlantic Ocean five miles north of Boston. When you fly into Logan Airport, you can reach down and touch our town. I believe airplane wing tips graze the beach on a regular basis. During the long cold winters – read REALLY COLD! – I read and wrote. My early favorite authors were Bronte and Austin before they became required reading. I wrote stories to amuse myself which led to writing the 6th grade school play. When I discovered drama classes in the ninth grade, I gave up writing for a few years. Yes, I was the cheerleader who played Emily in Our Town.

Following my high school graduation my family moved to the warmer climate of South Florida - just when I was getting acclimated to the constant cold.

At the University of Miami, I majored in Radio/TV/Film. (As it was called in those days, one of the first departments of its kind in the nation.) I minored in drama. For three of my four years in college I acted in thirty- minute radio dramas almost on a weekly basis. Inevitably these live broadcasts of Theater X were love stories in which I played the heroine. Usually, the tragic heroine. I credit this experience as having set me on a course of no return. Romance and fantasy became my fate.

But first I experienced a short-lived career as a broadcast journalist. I was too far ahead of my time to fight the slings and arrows of the newsmens’ contempt, so I switched. I became a broadcast copy/promotional writer and worked in the Miami and Los Angeles markets. But my most rewarding work was as a writer/producer/host for a Miami PBS station. (Due to the public broadcasting budget each person is expected to fill a variety of roles for one salary. One small salary.) I focused on How-To series, public affairs – of the political kind - and women’s issues. During this time I met many inspiring women who shared their stories with me, women whose remarkable achievements, great spirits and strength influenced my work as I started to write. First, I became a published poet. It didn’t take much time for me to write verses. I wanted more but needed time. I found it.

As with most writers, I wrote my first historical novels in the evenings after my day job. A second wind is required to do this and it magically appears with the passion for writing. During most of this time I was also a single mother. Despite my parenting, Alexandra and Ted have become intelligent, productive, fun adults. I am so proud of them, and so grateful as well for giving me four beautiful granddaughters; Cailyn, Paloma, Maddy and Savanna Grace. A decade ago, I married a man who I’d dated in college. Dave Madden is a retired actor best known for his role as Reuben Kincaid on The Partridge Family television show, but his stand-up comic and television careers include so much more!

Not long after being published I discovered that a writer’s life is not all about the voices in your head demanding release to a page – frequently at an inopportune time. And it’s not all about three figure contracts, champagne tours and as much chocolate as you can consume. Oh. No. A writer’s life includes thundering deadlines, dry spells, assorted blocks, carpel tunnel syndrome and frozen shoulders. Occasionally, the green-eyed monster rears her head and wraps grown women in knots. But most of all, writing romance is a wonderful love story in itself. There is nothing else a romance writer would rather be doing. She is totally in love with romance and with the ability to share her stories with gracious readers. Thank You.