Sacramento Valley Rose's Published Authors

 

Allison Brennan

From the time she was able to hold a pen, Allison Brennan started hundreds of stories she never finished until she was thirtysomething and finally committed herself to writing. Two years later, she sold a romantic suspense trilogy (/The Prey, The Hunt/ and /The Kill/) to Ballantine. Now a /New York Times/ and /USA Today/ bestselling author with another back-to-back trilogy (/Speak No Evil, See No Evil, Fear No Evil/) coming out in early 2007, Allison was dubbed one of the "hottest writing talents" by /Romantic Times Book Reviews/. A former consultant for the California State Legislature, Allison lives in Northern California with her husband and five children.

Genres: Romantic Suspense, Paranormal

"Brennan's powerful, gut-wrenching thrillers show a talent for plotting that's evident from page one. Gritty and intense, these suspense stories are not for the faint of heart." -- Romantic Times Book Reviews

"Sexy and spellbinding." -- Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine

"Ms. Brennan's fluid style of writing, her remarkable talent for pacing suspense and her intriguing characters combine for a killer thriller. The dynamite romance in this story is just icing on the cake." -- Romance Reader at Heart

Susan Crosby

Susan Crosby has written more than 20 romance and women’s fiction novels since her writing career started in 1993, and is the winner of several writing awards.

Susan enjoys writing about people who take a chance on love, sometimes against all odds. She loves warm, strong heroes; good-hearted, self-reliant heroines . . . and happy endings.

 

Melinda Curtis

Award winning author Melinda Curtis has always been an avid reader of just about anything – romance, mystery, suspense, fantasy, biographies – and always loved to write. She wrote her first romance in the seventh grade, featuring her girlfriend and then heartthrob, Leif Garrett. She lost track of Leif (he didn’t marry her girl friend), Melinda did, however, end up with her own hero, a man who makes her tremendously happy while simultaneously driving her crazy - although he has help from their three kids, two rambunctous labs and their bevy of relatives. Since 2003, writing for Harlequin's Superromance line has been an enjoyable escape - although you'll often find a spunky kid, beloved relative or ball-crazy dog in her novels...she can't quite get away from her loved ones completely.

Bobbie Fite

Almost every novel begins in the author¹s imagination with a question: "what if...?" Bobbie¹s first "what if" came while she was watching a movie about a man who claimed to be psychic in order to avoid suspicion for a murder he had committed. She asked herself, what if a person really did witness a crime in a psychic vision? With that question, a dream was born. While working full-time for the State of California, she studied books on writing, subscribed to "Writer's Digest", went to workshops, took college classes, and joined Romance Writers of America and the Sacramento Valley Rose RWA chapter. NIGHTMARES was e-published in 2002 and was a finalist for the Best Mystery of the Year EPPIE, an award sponsored by EPIC, the Electronically Published Internet Connection. Bobbie is currently putting the final touches on an historical romance set in Laramie, Wyoming in 1871, and marketing a suspense story about a group of people trapped in a fallen-down building during a stormy Christmas eve.

Caroline Fyffe

As an equine photographer, Caroline has worked throughout the United States and in Germany. Long days in the middle of a horseshow arena have given her plenty of opportunity to dream up stories filled with love, heartbreak, joy, sorrow, triumph, and twisting-turning plots. Her feisty heroines and bold, hot-blooded heroes will charm you as they fall for each other in the darndest ways. Her love for horses and the old West inspired her debut book, Where The Wind Blows, which won Romance Writer's of America's prestigious Golden Heart Award under the title Chasing Jessie.

Terry McLaughlin

Terry McLaughlin never wanted to be a writer, even after a college professor suggested she give it a try (her response contained the words “root canal”). But after reading her first romance novel, she got hooked on the genre. She still can’t explain exactly what happened during that first flush of her romance with romance, but she realized she’d found a way to please her professor while indulging her new obsession with happily-ever-after stories.

After finaling in the Golden Heart in 2003 and 2004, Terry sold her 2005 Golden Heart finalist, Learning Curve, to one of the contest judges. Her three-book Bright Lights, Big Sky series for Harlequin Superromance quickly followed.

Terry lives with her husband on a tiny ranch on the northern California coast, tucked amid the redwoods.

Brenda Novak

When Brenda Novak caught her daycare provider drugging her children with cough medicine to make them sleep, she quit her job as a loan officer to stay home with them. She felt she could no longer trust others with their care. But she still had to work. Her husband’s business was failing. That was when Brenda picked up one of her favorite books. She was looking for a brief escape from the stress and worry—and found the inspiration to become a writer.

Since her first novel came out in November of 1999, Brenda has managed to write 24 more books--in between helping her five children with homework, running them to guitar lessons, drum lessons, baseball, soccer, softball, and basketball and helping her youngest son manage his diabetes. Other than watching one of her sons pitch a perfect inning or one of her daughters hit another homerun, writing, reading and traveling are Brenda's favorite hobbies. She also sponsors an on-line auction to benefit diabetes research on her website each May (www.brendanovak.com), which grows bigger each year and has become a real labor of love.

Winner of the Booksellers Best and nominated for RT BOOKclub Magazine's Storyteller of the Year in 2005, Brenda continues to write dramatic, sophisticated, unforgettable stories.

Eileen Rendahl

I grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. Okay, so I wasn't born there. I was born in Dayton, Ohio, but moved when I was four, and who remembers anything from before they were four? Except I do remember I was born at the Good Samartian Hospital across the street from Baskin Robbins because they sent me a coupon for a free ice cream cone every year until I was twelve. I make a point of remembering anything that has to do with ice cream. Or chocolate. Or champagne.

After many moves (St. Louis, Boston, Madison, Chicago, Phoenix) and many jobs (art gallery assisant, editorial assistant, copywriter, communications manager, graphic designer, ceramics studio slave), I now write and live in Davis, California, with my two lovely children, two annoying cats, and one lovely man. Please also visit Eileen Carr's website.

Christine Rimmer

Since the publication of her first book, a Harlequin Temptation, in 1987, Christine Rimmer has written over sixty contemporary romances for Harlequin/Silhouette. She has more than eight million copies of her books in print—in more than twenty languages worldwide—and those books consistently appear on national bestseller lists, including the NEW YORK TIMES extended list, the USA TODAY list and frequent first-place listings on the WALDENBOOKS series romance list.

Christine has written for a number of imprints including Silhouette Special Edition, Silhouette Desire, Silhouette Single Title, Signature Select and now, HQN. She has won the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Silhouette Special Edition. She has been nominated twice for the RITA and four times for Romantic Times Series Storyteller of the Year.

Before settling down to write about the magic of romance, Christine received her degree in Theater Arts from California State University at Sacramento. She studied acting at Herbert Berghoff Studios in New York and playwriting under Oliver Hailey at the Back Alley Theater in Southern California. Her poems and short stories have been published in a number of small literary journals. Her plays were produced at The Back Alley and Group Theaters in Southern California and have been published by Dramatists Play Service and West Coast Plays.

A fifth-generation California native, Christine now lives in Norman, Oklahoma with her husband, younger son and two very contented cats named Tom and Ed. Visit her blog at http://christinerimmer.blogspot.com/

Debra Salonen

Karen Sandler

Karen Sandler fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a full-time writer when she moved with her husband and two sons from the congestion of Los Angeles to the beautiful Sierra Nevada foothills in Northern California. After four years of submissions and rejections, she finally sold her first book in 1997. She's sold more than a dozen since then. In addition to writing novels, Karen is also a screenwriter and filmmaker, and has written and produced two short films.