Deborah Barnhart

Deborah Barnhart is an avowed romantic, who discovered romance and suspense reading her first Victoria Holt novel. Mary Stewart soon followed, then she turned to the wonderful Jane Austen and George Eliot. All were great influences when she penned her first short story in high school, though she wrote several screen plays for Bononza before that. Alas, they never found their way to the small screen. While unpublished, she is currently working on a Regency Historical Suspense and plans to write both historical and contemporary suspenses in the future. She became a WRW member and attended her first Retreat in 1989. A few years later she became a WRW volunteer and discovered wonderful friends who continue to support her writing goals. Deborah has held chapter offices of Secretary and President and chaired the Program and Retreat committees. She is also the proud recipient of the WRW Magic Crystal for service to the chapter and the RWA Service Award for her year as President.  #

Gail Barrett http://www.gailbarrett.com/

Gail Barrett always knew she’d be a writer, and after living everywhere from Spain to the Bahamas, earning a graduate degree in linguistics, and teaching high school Spanish for years, she finally fulfilled that lifelong goal. Her books have won numerous awards, including RWA’s prestigious Golden Heart. Her current miniseries with Silhouette Romantic Suspense — The Crusaders: Chasing legends, capturing hearts — launches in May 2008 with HEART OF A THIEF. The second book, TO PROTECT A PRINCESS, comes out in the fall.  #

Carole Bellacera http://www.CaroleBellacera.com

Carole Bellacera's work has appeared in magazines such as Woman's World, The Star, Endless Vacation and The Washington Post. She is the author of four acclaimed novels published by Tor/Forge Books, the most recent titled Understudy. Her new novel, Chocolate on a Stick, a quirky book about an elderly Appalachian couple on the run from a nursing home in a red Corvette, will be released in trade paperback by Baycrest Books in September 2005. Carole’s first novel, Border Crossings, a hardcover published by Forge Books in May of 1999, was a 2000 RITA Award nominee for Best Romantic Suspense and Best First Book, a nominee for the 2000 Virginia Literary Award in Fiction. It was also a 2000 finalist in the Golden Quill award and in the Aspen Gold Award and won 1st Place in the Volusia County 2000 Laurel Wreath Award. Her work has appeared in various anthologies such as Kay Allenbaugh's Chocolate for a Woman's Heart, Chocolate for a Couples' Heart, and Chicken Soup for Couples.  #

Heidi Betts http://www.HeidiBetts.com

Three-time Golden Heart finalist Heidi Betts began her career writing award-winning historical romances for Leisure Books. Recently, she made the switch to contemporary with Silhouette Desire, the first of which—Bought by a Millionaire—hit #1 on the Waldenbooks Series Romance Bestseller List. For news and information about upcoming releases, please visit http://www.HeidiBetts.com.  #

Karna Small Bodman http://www.karnabodman.com

Karna's first novel, Checkmate, a political thriller with a strong romantic element, was released in hardback in early 2007. The sequel, Gambit, will be out in early 2008. These stories involve The White House where she served for six years, first as Deputy Press Secretary and later as Senior Director of the National Security Council. Karna was also on the air for 15 years as a TV news anchor and reporter in San Fracisco, Los Angeles, Washington, DC and then did political commentary for ABC in New York. There are detail's on Karna's writing, her experiences, book tours and events on her website.   #

Meredith Bond http://www.meredithbond.com

Merry has loved reading historical romances ever since her mother placed a Georgette Heyer into her hands when she was a teenager. With nothing else to do after moving to the beautiful Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts, Merry figured it would be an interesting way to spend her time, trying to write a Heyer-like book. Her efforts were rewarded with many wonderful rejection letters. Two kids later, she began her efforts at writing once again. This time she was one of the winners of the Royal Ascot contest and offered a two-book contract with Zebra books. The first two books of her Merry Men Quartet were published in 2004, the second two, Love of My Life and Dame Fortune will be published in the summer of 2005. Her first book, Miss Seton’s Sonata was a winner of the New Jersey Romance Writer’s Golden Leaf award. And she still manages to find time to read as many historical romances as she can!   #