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Members
| Writer | Bio |
| Sharon Calvin is currently targeting three category lines, making use of her twenty-years in product marketing to plan, execute, and deliver manuscripts on time and under budget! Heart of the Storm, a short contemporary story about a female US Coast Guard rescue swimmer is a 2004 Golden Heart finalist. In addition to her time spent in the corporate communication world, she's studied psychology, jewelry design, rode horses competitively for over ten years, and earned her advanced open water SCUBA certificate by diving to 131 feet on the Santa Rosa reef in Cozumel, Mexico. Married over twenty years to a true renaissance man, she has instant access to information on such diverse subjects as rock climbing, road racing, ski patrol duties, and General Aviation. |
| Laurie Cooper writes paranormal and historical romances, screenplays, children's books, and poetry. She credits STAR, RWA, and her terrific critique partners over the years for helping her earn PRO status, finish 5 manuscripts and win and final in numerous writing contests. Laurie is a past President of STAR and has served as Contest Coordinator and Conference Co-chair. On the home front she wears a dozen or so hats. Life is never dull with two grown children and three granddaughters to keep her laughing. She's worked with children for more than thirty years as a reading teacher, a coach for state champion baton twirling and dance teams, and as a Special Olympic softball, basketball and cycling coach. Her husband, Quentin, is her rock, her hero, and the guy who taught her how to water-ski. She recently earned a Bachelors of Arts in English. And although she can't wait for ??the call???she's totally enjoying the journey. |
| Patricia Giagiacumo Clay (Pat) grew up in Schenectady, New York. Her parents, Italian immigrants, raised a family of seven daughters of which she was last. After a B.S. in Speech from SUNY at Geneseo, she taught English on Long Island. Later she moved to Dayton, Ohio, received an M.A. from the University of Cincinnati and spent the next twenty-five years as Speech Pathologist in the public school system, wrote research and design units for the state, and pushed all those story ideas to the back of her brain. Then -- retirement and paradise! She moved to Merritt Island with her husband of thirty-seven years. Her son and daughter are nearby - they found paradise earlier in life than she. A life-long baseball fan, and not to be outdone by Heather Harper, she's been kissed by Johnny Bench and hugged by Pete Rose and would like to give Derek Jeter a shot. She's been on stage with clown Emmett Kelly Jr. and delivered a birthday cake to jazz-man Woody Herman. Pat has completed five contemporary novels (with a few false starts thrown in), some with elements of suspense, some without. Currently she is a free-lance correspondent for Communities Section of Florida Today. At STAR she's worked on hospitality, been contest coordinator and secretary. Currently she has dusted off her high school cheerleading pom-poms to serve as STAR ??rewarder-for-good-member-deeds. |
| JoMarie DeGioia has been making up stories for as long as she can remember and has spent years giving voice to the characters in her head. She's known Mickey Mouse from the "inside" at Walt Disney World, has been a copyeditor for her town's newspaper, and is currently a Lead Bookseller at the Melbourne Barnes & Noble where she leads the Romance Readers Circle book group. She also offers professional critique services to fellow writers. She writes sexy Historicals with a touch of mystery and sassy Contemporaries. Her most recent release is PRIDE AND FIRE, a Regency-set Historical from Sinful Moments Press. She is currently the Workshop Chair for the RWA Annual Conference in Orlando in July 2010 and is running for Region 3 Director on the RWA Board. |
| Marian H. Griffin worked in television for many years. Her first publishing credit was a short historical, The Rules of Being a Lady, in the online newsletter, A Hint of Seduction. Her paranormal novel, Larkfield House, won second place in the Ignite the Flame contest. She is a member of RWA and FL STAR, as well as the Washington Romance Writers and From the Heart, an online romance writers' group. She received her RWA PRO status and looks forward to (dreams of, hopes for, pines to, drools over) becoming a member of PAN. |
| Rachel Hauckÿis a best selling, award-winning author. A RITA finalist, she has won the Maggie Award of Excellence and the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year. She is past president of ACFW and currently serves as an advisor. A graduated from Ohio State University, Rachel is a huge Buckeyes football fan. Visit her blog and web site at www.rachelhauck.com. |
| Since selling her first book to Harlequin in 1999, Leslie Kelly has quickly become known for writing sassy, sexy, and sometimes irreverent stories filled with strong heroines and playful heroes. But when she set out to combine that sexy irreverence with her love of horror novels and scary movies, she really found her niche writing slightly twisted contemporary single title romances full of heat, humor and the occasional murder victim. A National Reader's Choice Award winning author, Leslie has twice been nominated for the highest award in romance, the RWA Rita Award, and is a six-time nominee for the RT Bookclub Award. A former government worker in Maryland, Kelly now resides in Florida with her husband, three daughters, and a fuzzy little dog who hasn't yet been informed she's not a human. Leslie loves to hear from readers and can be easily reached through her website: www.lesliekelly.com or at PO Box 410787, Melbourne, FL 32941-0787 |
| In 1996, Julie Elizabeth Leto retired from teaching, joined her family's manufacturing business and gave herself more time to write. "The call" from Harlequin came in March of 1997 with an offer to publish SEDUCING SULLIVAN, her fourth completed novel. Julie discovered her niche with Temptation's sensuous, sexy tone and character-driven stories. Her desire to "push the envelope" worked even better when Harlequin launched the new Blaze series, longer books that gave her the freedom to explore sensual stories with a more intricate plot. She now writes for both lines, with most of her releases in Blaze. |
| Sixteen years after she made that first sale, Debbie Macomber finds her name is recognized not only in households across the country but in countries around the world. Sixty million copies of her books are in print. Because of her success, Debbie's husband was able to retire to pursue his love of flying. They live in a lovely Tudor-style home overlooking Puget Sound, a house paid for with her writing dollars. In the spacious basement of that home, Wayne is building an airplane. In the past few years, Debbie has traveled to places she could only dream about 16 years ago ?? Hawaii, Alaska, England, Italy, France, Bangkok, Hong Kong. Debbie earned her faithful readership by writing heartwarming, wholesome stories of love and commitment. Today, however, her literary focus has broadened to the emerging field of women's fiction, which includes stories of all kinds that bear universal appeal for women. |
| Kristen Painter resides on the Spacecoast of FL with her retired Air Force hubby and 3 feline dependents. A two-time Golden Heart finalist, she's also the co-founder of the award winning site, Romance Divas, the past vice president and webmaster of two RWA chapters and the current President of ESPAN. She's represented by The Knight Agency and writes paranormal romance for Samhain and Quartet Press and will have an urban fantasy series, BLOOD RIGHTS, coming from Orbit in late 2011. |
| Rachel McNeely has wanted to write for as long as she can remember. Her first career was Nursing. During her mid-life crisis, she went back to school and earned her Master's degree in Social Work. These were good choices, but in the back of her mind, those characters kept knocking on the door and reminding her of her dream job, writing. Her first two books will be out with BookStrand Publishing in 2009. |
| Sandy Moffett Parks love of geology, science, the outdoors, and adventure drew her into an eclectic list of jobs ranging from a government computer project to designing hydraulic structures. She found her creative side while attempting to keep university students interested in her classes. From teenage days when she took creative writing and wrote high school sports news for the county paper, she knew a book lay in her future. Sandy lives a romantic life in Florida with her test pilot husband, Scott (yes, discussion of material stress/strain and aerodynamics can be sexy), a keyboard lounging cat, and two active teenagers. Attempting to keep up with her boys, she has learned to fly, dive and has been surviving bodily torture in karate for the last six years. Writing is a family affair for the Moffetts. Sandy and her sister Julie have been critique partners for years and they finally decided to write a series together. Brother, Brad, heard about it and challenged them to do one in Salem, Massachusetts. Sandy and Julie decided to add a touch of paranormal and the MacInness Legacy was born. |
| Lara Santiago is the bestselling author of over fifteen books. She's an Ecataromance award winner, a 2007 Passionate Plume finalist for The Lawman's Wife, and has garnered a coveted four and half stars from Romantic Times Book Reviews for her novel, The Blonde Bomb Tech. From her futuristic novels to her contemporary romantic suspense, she's known for her independent heroines and those compelling alpha males we all adore. After turning in her twelfth manuscript, she came to the realization that this writing gig might just work out after all. She continues to dream up stories, keeping no less than ten book ideas circulating at any given time. |
| Roxanne St. Claire is a bestselling, RITA-Award winning author of more than twenty novels for Pocket Books, Silhouette Desire and HQN. She currently writes a popular romantic suspense series called ??The Bullet Catchers? that features a cadre of elite, fearless bodyguards and security professionals. In addition to the RITA, her books have won numerous industry awards, including the National Reader's Choice Award, the Daphne du Maurier, the HOLT Medallion, the Maggie, Booksellers Best, Book Buyers Best, several Awards of Excellence, the Aspen Gold and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. In addition, one of her novels, The Sins of His Past, was selected by Borders Group buyers as the overall ??Borders Top Pick? in the Book Buyers contest. Her titles have been selected by Doubleday and Rhapsody Book Clubs as featured selections, and routinely reside on the Waldenbooks Top Ten lists, including two weeks at number one. In 2008, readers are enjoying the first ??Bullet Catcher Trilogy? featuring three connected stories titled First You Run, Then You Hide and Now You Die. Next year, Bullet Catcher fans can enjoy back-to-back excitement when Hunt Her Down and Make Her Pay are released in September and October, 2009. Prior to launching a full time career as a romance novelist with her first release from Pocket Books in 2003, Roxanne spent nearly two decades as a marketing executive and public relations consultant. She is a graduate of UCLA, an active member of RWA, and lives in Florida with her husband and two children. Visit her web site at www.roxannestclaire.com |
| Erica Ridley learned to read when she was four, which was about the same time she decided to be a writer when she grew up. Over the course of her school years, she graduated from self-illustrated stories written in crayon to dramatic sagas filling reams of spiral notebooks. Now, Erica writes gothic Regency-set historical romances, often with a touch of paranormal. Her debut novel TOO WICKED TO KISS hits stores March 2010. TOO SINFUL TO DENY will be available the following spring. When not reading or writing romances, Erica can be found riding camels in Africa, zip-lining through rainforests in Costa Rica, or getting hopelessly lost in the middle of Budapest. For more information on Erica and her books, please visit http://www.ericaridley.com. |
| Judy Keim, a member of RWA, SWFRW, GRW and SCBWI, is fairly new to STARS, having moved here in 2008. But she's not new to Florida and is glad to be back among the palm trees and sunny skies. She writes both middle-grade children's novels and women's fiction, which may seem an odd combination but she feels it keeps her writing fresh. Her adult novels are filled with strong heroines who conquer their problems and have a little, sexy fun along the way. She has a story published in Belle Books' Mossy Creek Series??A Summer in Mossy Creek, and a story published in Chicken Soup to Inspire a Woman's Soul. Her stories have finaled in contests. Next year, she'll be taking over the Launching a Star contest for the group. She lives in Viera with her husband and Winston, the long-haired Dachshund who rules the household with an iron paw and lots of loving licks. Visit her website at www.judykeim.com. |
| Priscilla Horn is a national-and-Florida state-certified trial paralegal. She joined the STAR chapter of RWA in June of 2004, and participated in the 2004 Summer Workshop, 2004 Annual October Retreat, and the 2005 BBA Workshop to improve and enhance her romance novel-writing skills. She was elected STAR Treasurer/Membership Director from 2005-2007, earned her PRO Pin from RWA in 2007, and continues to stay active with the STAR Chapter. |
| Harlequin American author Leigh Duncan believes solid relationships lay the foundation for true happiness.ÿ This belief shows up in her books?ones where home, family and community are key to the happy endings we all deserve.ÿ Her debut book, The Officer?s Girl, was released in April 2010, and her second Harlequin American is slated for release in early 2011.ÿ In addition to her membership in STAR, Leigh is also active in the Washington Romance Writers and is a charter member of RWA?s on-line women?s fiction chapter.ÿ She coordinated the wildly successful Launching A Star contest for 4 years and, hosted the first Online Romance Reader?s Circle with Michelle Buonfiglio at www.barnesandnoble.com.ÿ When she isn?t busy writing or helping aspiring authors, Leigh enjoys curling up in her favorite chair with a cup of hot coffee and a great read. To learn more about her, visit www.leighduncan.com. |
| Patrick Alan. Need we say more? Can we say more? |
| Kara Wills was born and raised in Montville, New Jersey. She relocated to Central Florida in 2005, where she continues to pursue her childhood dream of writing. Developing an intrigue for paranormal events at the tender age of eleven, she remains fascinated by the thin line between mythology and reality. She delights incorporating faeries, dragons, vampires and the unexplained into imaginative stories, often leading readers into an unknown time and place. Kara is the author of steamy paranormal/fantasy romances published with Siren-BookStrand and Pink Petal Books.ÿÿÿwww.karawills.com |
| Linda C. Wright developed her passion for writing during a turning point in her life labeled 'turning fifty'. Her first novel, One Clown Short was published by Cold Tree Press in 2008. It won the 2009 National Indie Excellence Award in the humor category. Her personal essay Love and Obey will appear in Chicken Soup For the Soul: A Dog's Life in April 2011. Linda is currently working on a memoir, The Story Behind The Story and writes a blog by the same title. Linda is serving as Co Chairman of the Launching a Star Contest for 2010. She lives in Viera with her husband, Richard and dog, Ginger. |
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