Joan Donaldson
Reading and writing summarize how I spent most of my childhood, and then I married a farmer. I still love both activities, but now I must braid together reading, writing and caring for a farm, a large garden, and all the other various activities that sustain our homestead. Yet, those jobs precipitate stories that flow into both my personal essays and novels.
When I am not working, I play my harp and piece quilts for the love of color.
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Simone Beaudelaire
Hello, I am Simone Beaudelaire, romance enthusiast, freelance proofreader, and novice author.
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In real life, I'm a wife, mother, and full time high school French teacher, which doesn't leave me a lot of time for my hobby. Of course, that hasn't stopped me yet.
I hope I can connect with other readers of romance (and other genres. I love to read, and through my beta reading group, I have recommendations in all different categories.) -
V.R. Christensen
V.R. Christensen writes classically inspired romantic historical fiction and steampunk dystopian novels of depth and sensitivity. V.R.’s historical romances have been multiple-time bestsellers and have been compared to Jane Austen and Charles Dickens (a literary lovechild, perhaps?) V.R. is half English and resides in the United States, though she spends a majority of her time immersed in late-Victorian classic literature and costume dramas. Her work has been described as “masterful for its genre” and “gorgeous”—“like a river flowing through a beautiful landscape that is sometimes light, sometimes dark and threatening.”
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Nora Roberts
Nora Roberts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels, including Hideaway, Under Currents, Come Sundown, The Awakening, Legacy, and coming in November 2021 -- The Becoming -- the second book in The Dragon Heart Legacy. She is also the author of the futuristic suspense In Death series written under the pen name J.D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.
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Fannie Flagg
Fannie Flagg began writing and producing television specials at age nineteen and went on to distinguish herself as an actress and writer in television, films, and the theater. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (which was produced by Universal Pictures as "Fried Green Tomatoes"), Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!, Standing in the Rainbow, and A Redbird Christmas.
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Flagg’s film script for "Fried Green Tomatoes" was nominated for both the Academy Award and the Writers Guild of America Award and won the highly regarded Scripters Award. She lives in California and Alabama. -
Sandra Brown
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Sandra Brown is the author of more than sixty New York Times bestsellers, including STING (2016), FRICTION (2015), MEAN STREAK (2014), DEADLINE(2013), & LOW PRESSURE (2012), LETHAL (2011).
Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published over seventy novels, bringing the number of copies of her books in print worldwide to upwards of eighty million. Her work has been translated into over thirty languages.
In 2009 Brown detoured from romantic suspense to write, Rainwater, a much acclaimed, powerfully moving historical fiction story about honor and sacrifice during the Great Depression.
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Kim Edwards
Kim Edwards grew up in Skaneateles, New York, in the heart of the Finger Lakes region. The oldest of four children, she graduated from Colgate University and the University of Iowa, where she received an MFA in Fiction and an MA in Linguistics. After completing her graduate work, she went with her husband to Asia, where they spent the next five years teaching, first on the rural east coast of Malaysia, then in a small city an hour south of Tokyo, and finally in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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During her time in Asia, Kim began to publish short fiction, and in 1990 her story “Sky Juice” won the Nelson Algren Award. Her stories and essays have since appeared in a wide range of periodicals, including Ploughshares, Zoetrope, Anteaus, Story, and The Paris -
Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-eight novels, including Wish You Were Here, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, and My Sister’s Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Picoult lives in New Hampshire.
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MAD HONEY, her new novel co-authored with Jennifer Finney Boylan, is available in hardcover, ebook, and audio on October 4, 2022.
Website: http://www.jodipicoult.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jodipicoult
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Helen Keller
Blind and deaf since infancy, American memoirist and lecturer Helen Adams Keller learned to read, to write, and to speak from her teacher Anne Sullivan, graduated from Radcliffe in 1904, and lectured widely on behalf of sightless people; her books include Out of the Dark (1913).
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Conditions bound not Keller. Scarlet fever rendered her deaf and blind at 19 months; she in several languages and as a student wrote The Story of My Life . In this age, few women then attended college, and people often relegated the disabled to the background and spoke of the disabled only in hushed tones, when she so remarkably accomplished. Nevertheless, alongside many other impressive achievements, Keller authored 13 books, wrote countless articles, and de -
Jonathan Eig
Jonathan Eig is the author of six books, four of them New York Times best sellers, as well as four books for children. He is a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal. His works have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
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His most recent book is "King: A Life." His previous book, Ali: A Life," was the winner of the PEN Award and hailed as an "epic" by Joyce Carol Oates in her New York Times review.
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Barbara Delinsky
I was born and raised in suburban Boston. My mother’s death, when I was eight, was the defining event of a childhood that was otherwise ordinary. I took piano lessons and flute lessons. I took ballroom dancing lessons. I went to summer camp through my fifteenth year (in Maine, which explains the setting of so many of my stories), then spent my sixteenth summer learning to type and to drive (two skills that have served me better than all of my other high school courses combined). I earned a B.A. in Psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in Sociology at Boston College. The motivation behind the M.A. was sheer greed. My husband was just starting law school. We needed the money.
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Following graduate school, I worked as a researcher with the M -
Kristin Hannah
Kristin Hannah is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbuster, The Nightingale, which was named Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the coveted People's Choice award for best fiction in the same year. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, iTunes, Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, and The Week. In 2018,
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The Great Alone became an instant New York Times #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads.
The Four Winds was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie bookstore's bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by -
Barbara Pronin
Barbara Pronin, whose work has been praised by best-selling authors Mary Higgins Clark and Tony Hillerman, and Faye Kellerman, s the author of eight mysteries, including three as Barbara Nickolae, and a WW II novel, Winter's End, which won the 2025 Gold Medal for Best Adult Novel (IPPY Award) from the Independent Publishers Book Awards. A former actress, probation officer, journalist and substitute teacher, she is a fan of dark chocolate, the Dodgers, Greek sunsets and African elephants. When she isn't writing, which isn't often, she can probably be found struggling painfully at the piano.
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Julianne MacLean
Julianne MacLean is a USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the contemporary women’s fiction Color of Heaven Series. Readers have described her books as “breathtaking,” “soulful” and “uplifting.” MacLean is a four-time RITA finalist and has won numerous awards, including the Booksellers’ Best Award and a Reviewers’ Choice Award from Romantic Times. Her novels have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been published in over a dozen languages.
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MacLean has a degree in English literature from the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a degree in business administration from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. She loves to travel and has lived in New Zealand, Canada, and England. Mac -
Jacqueline Kelly
Jacqueline Kelly was born in New Zealand and moved with her parents to western Canada at an early age. She grew up in the dense rain forests of Vancouver Island, so you can imagine her shock some years later when her family moved to the desert of El Paso, Texas. She attended university in El Paso and medical school in Galveston (lovingly known as “Galvatraz” among the inmates). She practiced medicine for many years and then attended the University of Texas School of Law. She practiced law for several more years before realizing that what would really make her happy is to write fiction. Her first published short story appeared in 2001 in the Mississippi Review (one of her proudest accomplishments). Her debut novel, The Evolution of Calpurnia
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Stephanie Dray
STEPHANIE DRAY is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author of historical women’s fiction. Her award-winning work has been translated into eight languages and tops lists for the most anticipated reads of the year. She lives with her husband, cats, and history books.
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Shanna Hatfield
A hopeless romantic with a bit of sarcasm thrown in for good measure, Shanna Hatfield is a best-selling author of clean romantic fiction written with a healthy dose of humor.
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In addition to blogging and eating too much chocolate, she is completely smitten with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller.
Shanna creates character-driven romances with realistic heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”
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Rachel Joyce
Rachel Joyce has written over 20 original afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, and major adaptations for both the Classic Series, Woman's Hour and also a TV drama adaptation for BBC 2. In 2007 she won the Tinniswood Award for best radio play. She moved to writing after a twenty-year career in theatre and television, performing leading roles for the RSC, the Royal National Theatre, The Royal Court, and Cheek by Jowl, winning a Time Out Best Actress award and the Sony Silver.
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S.M. Stevens
S.M. Stevens is the author of contemporary novels including Beautiful and Terrible Things, which was named Indies Today Best Literary Book of 2024, and Horseshoes and Hand Grenades. She is also author of a YA series set in a high school drama program, and a Middle Grade adventure for animal-lovers.
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A lifelong business writer who dabbled in creative writing on the side, Stevens found her opportunity to write fiction in earnest when she broke her pelvis in three places in a horseback riding fall. On crutches for three months and unable to commute to work, cook, clean or shuttle kids to activities, she turned to writing. The result was Shannon’s Odyssey, a middle-grade novel written for her younger daughter.
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Taryn Quinn
USA Today bestselling author, Taryn Quinn, is the bestie combo of bestselling authors Taryn Elliott and Cari Quinn.
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We've been writing together for years and decided to combine forces under one name.
Do you like…
✓ Ultra sexy romance with a side of sweet and funny.
✓ Quirky characters.
✓ RomCom shenanigans that usually involve crazy families.
✓ A crazy baby town that has exploded into a few side series.
✓ Office romance.
✓ Rockstar romance.
✓ And one BIG promise. If you love found families, you’re guaranteed to find ones you wish were your own by the end of our books.
☕️ Pour a cup of coffee and join us. We’re glad you’re here.
For more information about us…
tarynquinn.com
[email protected]
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Melanie Lageschulte
Melanie Lageschulte is the author of the "Growing Season" women's fiction series. She grew up on an acreage in northern Iowa with a menagerie of four-footed friends. She’s spent much of her professional life telling the stories of Iowa and its residents, including several years as a features reporter and editor for the Des Moines Register. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in American history from the University of Iowa.
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Niki Mackay
I am a writer and a bookworm. I studied Performing Arts at the BRIT School. It turned out I wasn’t very good at acting but quite liked writing scripts. I went on to take a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Drama. I later won a full scholarship for an MA in Journalism.
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Rachel Beanland
Rachel Beanland is the author of two novels, THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE (Simon & Schuster, 2023) and FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER (Simon & Schuster, 2020). She earned her MFA in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University and lives in Richmond, Virginia.
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Kelly Mustian
Kelly Mustian is the USA Today bestselling author of The Girls in the Stilt House and The River Knows Your Name. She is the recipient of the Mississippi Library Association's 2023 Author Award for Fiction, and The Girls in the Stilt House was shortlisted for the 2022 Crook's Corner Book Prize for best debut novel set in the American South. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and commercial magazines. Originally from Mississippi, she currently lives in North Carolina.
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Ruth F. Stevens
Ruth F. Stevens likes to create stories that will make you laugh and cry, as she did with her debut novel, Stage Seven. She has a duology of funny-sad contemporary novels from Black Rose Writing: My Year of Casual Acquaintances (Sept. 2024) and The Unexpected Guests (Dec. 2024).
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Ruth says: “I find myself motivated to write about the topics that worry me the most. Since I worry about a great many things, there is never a shortage of material. I’m also a big believer in the power of laughter to ease our pain and anxiety. Humor is a component in anything I write, no matter how serious the subject matter.”
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Kay Smith-Blum
Kay Smith-Blum is a former business owner and Seattle School Board President. A lover of the natural world and an avid gardener, Smith-Blum founded Environmental Endeavors, the first greenhouse program in Seattle Public Schools. A fan of mid-20th-century history, Smith-Blum has penned two other manuscripts set in Texas, but the recent upheaval over leaking waste tanks at the Hanford site drew her in. A meticulous researcher, Smith-Blum felt compelled to write the Hanford story in a way that would educate and entertain readers, redefining historical fiction. The result is her debut novel, TANGLES, coming December 3, 2024. Smith-Blum’s published short works may be found in multiple literary journals. A companion short story to TANGLES is incl
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N.J. Mastro
N.J. Mastro is a historical fiction author and writes Herstory Revisited, a blog that reviews biographical novels about audacious women from the past.
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Mastro has a master’s degree and a doctorate in educational leadership. She's an avid reader, master cook, and wine enthusiast.
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Ralph Ellis
Ralph Ellis is a veteran journalist who has written his first novel, "The Accident Report," and plans to publish sequels. He was born in Waynesville, NC, and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. He has worked for newspapers across the Southeast as well as for CNN and WebMD. He now lives in Decatur, GA, with his wife, Susan Puckett, and their greyhound, Zena.
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Jann Alexander
Jann Alexander writes characters who face down their fears. Her novels are as close-to-true as fiction can get.
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Jann is the author of the historical novel, UNSPOKEN, set in the Texas Panhandle during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression eras, and her first book in The Dust Series. With ten years of research into Texas, she's also a speaker on its hidden histories.
Jann writes on all things creative in her blog, Pairings. She's a 20-year resident of central Texas and creator of the Vanishing Austin photography series. As a former art director for ad agencies and magazines in the D.C. area, and a painter, photographer, and art gallery owner, creativity is her practice and passion.
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Diana Davis
Diana Davis was born and raised in North Carolina. She has been writing fiction since she was a teenager. She is also the author of the Dusky Cove cozy mystery series under the name, Dixie Davis.
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Diana holds a Bachelor's degree in American Studies and taught a course on constitutional history as an undergraduate teaching assistant. She is a candidate for the Master of Fine Art from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She makes her home in the Rocky Mountains with her husband and children. -
Ralph Ellis
Ralph Ellis is a veteran journalist who has written his first novel, "The Accident Report," and plans to publish sequels. He was born in Waynesville, NC, and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. He has worked for newspapers across the Southeast as well as for CNN and WebMD. He now lives in Decatur, GA, with his wife, Susan Puckett, and their greyhound, Zena.
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