Summer is a lazy time for me. It shouldn’t be, goodness knows I have enough books to write, but it is. Especially this week with the holiday! So I begged, cajoled, misled, imposed on a few authors to send me their images and a little bio so I could be lazy and not think about lists of 13 things throughout the summer. And they came through! All they needed to do was provide me with a bio and a picture. And the picture was key! I wanted to SEE who they were. Well, there’s some pretty creative SHY authors out there. I love these pictures! So here’s my first list (in no particular order) of 13 authors I know …
1. Mima
Mima rearranges her perennial garden in a small village on the Erie Canal. She is a teacher-librarian to one thousand delightful children, and string partner to a wee black cat. Visit her website (MimaWithin.com) for excerpts of her 10 erotic romances.
2. Ashlyn Chase
Ashlyn Chase describes herself as an Almond Joy bar. A little nutty, a little flaky, but basically sweet, wanting only to give her reader’s a scrumptious reading experience. She writes hot romantic comedy and lives in beautiful NH with her real-life hero and a spoiled brat cat.
3. Pat Brown
Born in one of the coldest cities in Canada Pat escaped at 22, fleeing to Los Angeles. Her adventures there led to L.A. Heat (2006) which Mark Richard Zubro said “This is the best gay mystery I have read in years. It is a first-rate thriller with heart-stopping action.
Ever since she can remember, Michelle had a strange fascination with anything historical or supernatural–ghosts, magical powers, and oh! vampires. What could be more alluring than being immortal, all-powerful, and eternally beautiful? Michelle M Pillow, Author of All Things Romance, is a multi-published, award winning author writing in many romance fiction genres.
Dorothy McFalls resides in an artsy beach community in South Carolina with her sexy sculptor husband and their cat-like dog (Abu) and not so new puppy (Iona) and new kitten (Suki). An environmental urban planner by profession and wildlife biologist by education, she gave up her day job to devote her time to writing in 2001. When not boogie boarding or walking her dogs on the beach, she writes romantic adventure fiction, Regency romances, and short stories.
6. Kate George
Having worked at a number of jobs ranging from Senior Assistant to the Dean of a Medical School to Actor/Booking Agent in outdoor theatre troop, Ms George has plenty of experience to give authenticity to her characters. In fact, the idea for Moonlighting began formulating while she was working as a evening turndown maid at an exclusive resort for people with more money than sense. The layout was perfect for a crime of passion, but as she didn’t want to spend life in prison, she decided writing about murder would be a wiser choice than committing one.
7. Susan Vaughan
Award-winning author Susan Vaughan loves writing romantic suspense because it throws the hero and heroine together under extraordinary circumstances and pits them against a clever villain. Reviewers have called her books fast-paced, thrilling, action-packed, sizzling, and highly emotional. She lives on the coast of Maine with her husband and dog.
8. Robie Madison
Award-winning author Robie Madison pursues her own adventures traveling around the world. When at home, she writes about men and women who aren’t afraid to take risks for love. When she’s not traveling or writing, she can be found teaching writing courses online.
9. Kris Eton
Kris lives in the middle of nowhere with 2 kids, 1 dog, and 1 cat. In order to combat the isolation, she must create hot sexy books. Her other interests include baking and eating her baking, watching movies & tv, and reading too much historical romance.
10. Sandra Sookoo
Sandra Sookoo is an author of romance. Her portfolio includes historical, contemporary, and paranormal romance.
11. Margay Leah Justice
Margay Leah Justice is the author of Nora’s Soul, the first in a series of books called The Dante Chronicles. She lives in Massachusetts with her two daughters and two cats – five females under one roof!
12. Shelley Munro
Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand with her husband and a bossy dog. She writes hot and spicy adventures, usually set in her home country of New Zealand.
13. Kelley Heckart
Kelley writes Celtic romances for Awe-Struck and Freya’s Bower. Her lifelong passion for Celtic mythology and storytelling inspired her to write novels with fierce warriors, bold women and otherworldly creatures.
And what would a Thursday Thirteen be at Around the Writer’s Block without a couple of wet men to keep these authors company?
So my post a couple of days ago made me think of impressions and what we all imagine an author looks like. Does the romance author conjur up a certain image? Do you think mystery writers or historical authors have a certain look? How about authors of erotica? Not that they “should”, but I think it’s human nature to visualize people a certain way.
Today, I’ve suckered rounded up 13 very brave authors who’ve agreed to let me post their pictures … and I added little bios in there! (Most of the info came from their websites, but in some cases I ad libbed … forgive me authors!) So in no particular order, here they are … ENJOY!
1.
By day, Shayla Kersten is a mild-mannered accountant. By night, she’s a writer of sexy romances. Torn between genres, Shayla writes erotic stories about hot heroes and their sexy women, as well as hot men and their passionate heroes. She writes for several publishers including Ellora’s Cave, Liquid Silver Books, and The Wild Rose Press.
2.
Susan Vaughan is a romantic suspense author from Maine who is multi-published with Silhouette Intimate Moments. Her books have been both a Romantic Times Magazine Reviewer’s Choice Nominee and a finalist in the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence in Mystery and Suspense in 2006! Her newest release, Primal Obsession is a fall 2008 release with The Wild Rose Press.
3.
Marisa Chenery is a very busy mother of 4 who first started writing historical romances, but now finds herself drawn more to the paranormal romance genre. She is published with Liquid Silver Books and New Concepts Publishing. When she’s not on school field trips (like the one above) with her children you can find her at home in Canada working on her next novel.
4.
Michelle Hoppe is one of those authors who is as old as dirt. (That’s straight from her web bio … I don’t know Michelle well enough to say she’s younger than me.) It’s true, she has grandchildren and everything. Can you believe she still wears a boa like the one in her picture? Naked sometimes even…It’s true, she does. (Again … this is not a fact I know from personal experience … it’s in her bio … really!) She’s published through Liquid Silver Books and Changeling Press.
5.
Mima writes the sexy “Within” series, which have consistently garnered four and five star reviews. She’s multi-published with Liquid Silver Books, Loose-Id, and Samhain Publishing. (Even after hanging around Liquid Silver for 9 months and visiting her website and reading her books … like her picture, Mima remains an enigma to me.)
6.
Rae Morgan writes sensual romantic suspense stories (translation … hawt erotic novels that’ll melt your socks off!) for Liquid Silver Books. She also has several books published under “Monette Michaels”.
7.
Jennifer Linforth is my critique partner, my slave driver, and shoulder to cry on. Oddly enough we have shared this parallel life that finally brought us together a couple of years ago. She writes historical fiction and historical romance. (And she had a hard time writing her first love scene … editing erotica has been an interesting exercise for her!) Her debut novel Madrigal: A novel of Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera is due out from Highland Press in fall 2008.
8.
Shara Lanel obviously enjoys hamming it up with sexy men at writing conventions. She writes erotic stories of love and romance for Liquid Silver Books and Loose-Id. Her newest release “Finding Mr. Right Can be Murder” received a 5 star review from Just Erotic Romance!
9.
Pam Champagne lives on 50 rural acres in Maine with her husband, two Siamese cats, a black Lab and a new addition, Percy, a dog rescued from death row in Florida. She writes romantic suspense and paranormals for The Wild Rose Press and Samhain publishing. One of her many books, Bed of Lies, won a 2008 Eppie Award.
10.
Celia Kyle is everything her picture indicates! She’s a crazy woman with her fingers in all kinds of things. Besides writing hot stories of love and romance, she also does cover art and web design. Celia is one of the two authors who agreed to let me be part of a “shifter” anthology… yay us! Celia writes erotic romance for Liquid Silver Books, Changeling Press, and Cobblestone Press.
11.
Michelle Libby is a Maine author whose other jobs include being a mom, wife (to a sexy cop), and working as a reporter for a local weekly paper. She writes romance for Wings E-Press and Champagne books. (Michelle was my roomie at the recent writer’s convention where we promised to keep all the naughty stories under lock and key … nuff said. )
12
Judi Phillips is a proud grammie and multi-published Maine author who writes paranormal stories and is published with Wings E-press. Her newest novel, Ghost of a Chance will be a fall 2008 release through The Wild Rose Press.
13.
Lina Gardiner is a Canadian author writing dark fantasy. The first book in her Jess Vandermire vampire series, Grave Illusions, was released in 2007 through ImaJinn Books and has received many stellar reviews. The second book in the series, Beyond the Grave, will be out in late 2008.
Oh … look at that! We ran out of space. Sorry folks, there’s no room for a picture of me! This is Thursday 13 after all and it just wouldn’t do for me to take up more of your time… guess you’ll have to wait until next time to find out what I look like! Mwahahaha…
Happy TT13!!
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