Triplets Found

Judy always loved reading romances, but never thought of herself as a writer.

"English was my least favorite subject in school, but I was always a storyteller," she admits. "Growing up, I was the kid in the neighborhood who decided what roles we would play and the pretend situation were in."

As a single mom with four children, Judy returned to school and graduated from the University of California at Irvine with a degree in social ecology. The new direction helped her confidence grow, and when a hero she could believe in came into her real life, she was even more inspired. Determined to do something about her love of writing, Judy joined Romance Writers of America and met her two critique partners. The trio have worked together and encouraged each other ever since.

Judy likes to take ordinary characters and put them in emotionally compelling situations that make them grow. "It takes some of the stubborn and hurting characters a while to learn there is always a way out," Judy maintains, "but when they realize their options, there's no stopping them."

Her unpublished stories won not only the coveted Emily and Orange Rose Awards, but also earned her the status of a double Golden Heart finalist in 2001. Her first book, Cowboy Courage, sold to the Silhouette Special Edition line, where she seems to have found her niche. "I credit a large part of my success to my critique partners, Crystal Green and Sheri WhiteFeather, who also write for Silhouette," she says.

On those days when a stubborn hero and a headstrong heroine claim her undivided attention, she and her family are thankful for fast food, pizza delivery, and video games. When she's not at the keyboard or in a Walter-Mitty-type world, she enjoys traveling, romantic evenings with her personal hero, and playing board games with her kids.

Write to Judy at P.O. Box 498, San Luis Rey, CA 92068.

Karen Rose Smith was born in Pennsylvania. Although she was an only child, she remembers the bonds of an extended family. She and her parents lived with her grandfather and aunt until she was five, when her parents built a house next door. Since her father came from a family of ten and her mother, a family of seven, there were always aunts, uncles, and cousins visiting on weekends. Family is a strong theme in her books and she suspects her childhood memories are the reason.

As a teenager, music became as important to Karen Rose as reading. The Beatles were her favourite group. But she and her cousin took their first sojourn into writing by collaborating on a script for The Monkees television program. They sent that script to every concert venue where the group appeared that summer!

In college, Karen Rose began writing poetry and also met her husband-to-be. They both began married life as teachers, but when their son was born, Karen Rose 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 romance fiction. Now she writes full-time. She has had over 30 novels published since 1992. Married to her college sweetheart for almost 30 years, believing in the power of love and commitment, she envisions herself writing romance for a long time to come!

Lynda Sandoval is a former police officer-turned fiction writer with twenty-two published (or soon to be published) books to her credit. She lives (and writes) in Denver with a gigantic, rollicking family of mostly beasts who regularly trash the house. Included in the brood are Lynda's partner (who is not a beast), three silly dogs-Ditto, Mojo, and Levi-and two perfectly behaved and housetrained-when-they-wanna-be bunnies, Coco and Georgie. click to enlarge Never the type to pick one thing and stick to it (just ask her mom about the jazz, tap, cello, drums, soccer, gymnastics, and theater phases) Lynda blissfully writes across the board. She's done women's fiction and nonfiction for HarperCollins Rayo; romance for Silhouette Special Edition; a fun novella for Avon A; and young adult novels for Simon & Schuster. She launched her career with five award-winning books for Kensington Bouquet and Pinnacle Encanto, and her popular nonfiction text published by Gryphon Books for Writers, True Blue: An Insider's Guide to Street Cops-For Writers, is still selling strong. She is thrilled to have recently signed with Houghton Mifflin for young adult novels and novellas which will hit bookstores in 2008, 2009, and 2010. In her spare time (HA!), she works more than half-time as an emergency 9-1-1 dispatcher for the Fire/EMS Department, just for some relaxation time. (KIDDING!) She also teaches writing for Long Ridge Writer's Group and volunteers at a GLBTQ youth center. Lynda's books have won numerous awards, which you can read about on the FUN! page if you're so inclined. Prior to selling, she was a two time Romance Writers of America Golden Heart award finalist for best unpublished manuscripts. click to enlarge Some career highlights? Lynda's first novel for teens, Who's Your Daddy?, was selected by the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities as a Colorado Book Award finalist in Young Adult Literature. It was also named to the prestigious New York Public Library's "Books for the Teen Age" list, selected by the American Library Association as a Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, and nominated for the King County Library System's Evergreen Young Adult Book Award. Who's Your Daddy? has gone into multiple printings and will be re-released (in fancy new packaging!) in spring 2008. Lynda's second teen novel, Chicks Ahoy also made the cut as a Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers, but more importantly? It was named to the coveted (by Lynda, at least!) list of "Books Teens Love and Parents Hate." In October 2000, Lynda was profiled in People en Espanol, the Spanish language version of People Magazine (click here to read article), and in August 2002, the Sunday Denver Post Book Section ran a profile of Lynda which led directly to her first sale with HarperCollins-two days after her agent submitted the proposal. (Thanks, DP!) In 2004, Lynda was featured in both Writer's Digest magazine and Romantic Times BOOKCLUB (click here to read article). She's also been profiled in Catalina magazine, numerous local papers, and has been interviewed on nationally syndicated radio shows from Pasadena, California to New York City and beyond. When Lynda is procrastinating (a "slacktivity" she has raised to an art form, incidentally), she loves to quilt, knit, make purses, watch reality TV and reality crime shows, bid obsessively on eBay, laugh at dumb dog videos on YouTube, nap (hey, it's an activity), and read everything she can get her hands on.