Patricia Gaffney http://www.PatriciaGaffney.com

Patricia Gaffney joined Washington Romance Writers in 1987. She won RWA's Golden Heart Award in 1988 for her first novel, Sweet Treason (1989), a historical romance. A six-time Rita Award finalist, Pat moved from romance to women's fiction in 1999 with her breakout novel, The Saving Graces. Since then her books regularly appear on national bestseller lists, including New York Times and USA Today. In 2002, Pat was thrilled to be the recipient of WRW's Lifetime Achievement Award. Her newest book is Mad Dash, a 2007 release. She lives in southern Pennsylvania with her husband Jon and their two dogs, Finney and Jolene.  #

Jenny Gardiner http://www.jennygardiner.net

Jenny Gardiner’s work has been found in Ladies Home Journal, the Washington Post and on NPR’s Day to Day. She likes to say she honed her fiction writing skills while working as a publicist for a US Senator. Other jobs have included: an orthodontic assistant (learning quite readily that she was not cut out for a career in polyester), a waitress (probably her highest-paying job), a TV reporter, a pre-obituary writer, and a photographer (claim to fame: being hired to shoot Prince Charles–with a camera, silly!). Her debut novel, Sleeping with Ward Cleaver, won Dorchester Publishing/RT's American Title III contest, and this and three other novels she's written have won or finaled in several RWA chapter contests. She lives in Virginia with her husband, three kids, two dogs, one cat and a gregarious parrot. In her free time she studies Italian, dreams of traveling to exotic locales, and feels very guilty for rarely attempting to clean the house.  #

Darelene Gardner http://www.darlenegardner.com

Darlene Gardner worked as a newspaper sportswriter for years before realizing she'd rather make up quotes than hope some athlete would say something interesting. Since then, she’s sold nineteen books, most of them romantic comedies, to three different publishers: Harlequin/Silhouette, Dorchester Love Spell and Avalon. Within the Harlequin/Silhouette family, she's written for Temptation, Duets and Intimate Moments and will be writing for Superromance. Darlene, a Penn State graduate, lives in Burke with her journalist husband and two children.   #

Glenda Garland http://www.glendagarland.com

At 14, Glenda Garland started writing what she had learned at her engineer father’s knee: science fiction. Her first space opera still brings tears to her eyes. It’s the nostalgia as much as how bad it is, you see. Fortunately she also discovered Jane Austen and Agatha Christie, and is now the author of five Zebra Regency romances with mystery and intrigue, including the most recent, A Delightful Folly (3/05), which earned a Romantic Times’ Top Pick. Her next Regency, In Pursuit of a Proper Husband, is out in July, 2005. Since Glenda and her family have lived all over the country, she has belonged to many RWA chapters; you can believe her when she says WRW has a wonderful focus on craft and professionalism.   #

Dara Girard http://www.daragirard.com

Dara Girard is the author of three novels for BET Books: Table for Two, Gaining Interest and Carefree. As a member of WRW she has judged the Marlene Contest and has contributed articles to the Update Newsletter. On a national level, she has served on the Agent Relations Committe for RWA.  #

Shirley Hailstock http://www.geocities.com/shailstock

Shirley Hailstock is the author of seventeen novels and novellas. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Holt Medallion, the Barclay Gold Award and the Waldenbooks Best-selling Romance Award. Romantic Times awarded her a Career Achievement Award and one of her books made the Top 100 Romances of the 20th Century list. Shirley's books have appeared on Blackboard and the Library Journal Best Seller Lists. Shirley is a past president of Romance Writers of America.   #