Our Authors
Judy Kay Albright was born in Coatesville and grew up in Thorndale, Pennsylvania. She has one daughter and now three grandchildren. She has two poems published with “La Pierna Tierna”, one short story with Fayrdaw, and one short story on Coca-Cola’s web page about one of their Nascar drivers – Tony Stewart. She also has eight novels finished, but need a little “TLC” before they get published.
L. A. Banks (a/k/a Leslie Esdaile and Leslie Esdaile Banks) is a native of Philadelphia and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton undergraduate program, as well as holds a Masters in Fine Arts from Temple University’s School of Film and Media Arts. After a stellar ten-year career as a corporate marketing executive for several Fortune 100 high-tech firms, Banks changed careers in 1991 to pursue a private consulting career — which ultimately led to fiction and film writing. Banks incorporates her marketing experience and creative writing talent to advocate for literacy and community development, inspiring her speaking audiences with her raw humor. Now with over 22 novels and 10 novellas in an extraordinary breadth of genres, and many awards to her credit, Banks writes full-time and resides with her husband and children in Philadelphia. www.vampirehuntress.com or www.leslieesdailebanks.com
Lee Benning, writing as Lee Edwards Benning for non-fiction; Lee Arthur for fiction. At last count, it was 14 high-paying of the former versus one great-fun-to-write of the latter: an historical published decades ago. Now, instead of cookbooks and how-to’s and exposés and handbooks, fiction has taken center stage. (Although to be truthful, she has several non-fiction proposals with her agent-just in case-and is somewhat fearful one will sell which will give her no time for fiction-writing.) A graduate of Penn State University with a major in communications, she has been an advertising fashion writer, food writer, and TV-commercial writer for such clients as Tastykake, Sealtest Ice Cream, and “Newsweek”. She has been married for 40 plus great years to an advertising genius with words–a mixed blessing when it comes to one’s ego, but he’s great with titles. For the past seven years, she has been a Granny-Nanny for her three grandchildren, ages 7½ and younger. During that same time, she and her husband, with the help of an Amish family, have renovated an 1849 Pennsylvania bank-barn using windows and doors and floors and the like, including a complete kitchen, bought at demolition sales. The two finally moved in the first of 2009.
Jen Blackwell-Yale When it comes to the English language, Jen is a jill-of-all-trades. She reads, she writes, she edits, she proofreads, she slices and dices… After working in the newspaper industry for the better part of ten years, she switched gears and moved into magazine and book publishing. She’s been a freelance copy editor and proofreader for almost ten years, working for various publishing companies on all sorts of books from gardening to travel to erotic romance to how to be a professional wrestler (don’t ask). And in 2008, she’ll be publishing Runes To Go, a how-to manual on rune interpretations, with The Lotus Circle, an imprint of Ellora’s Cave. She lives in Robesonia, PA (halfway between Reading and Lebanon) with her husband, two daughters, one barf-a-licious cat, and a puppy that’s constantly riding the ragged edge of disaster.
Laura Graham Booth is a recovering mathematician. She always wanted to be a writer but was sidetracked by a career in software development instead. When motherhood called, she left the computer realm behind (though she currently serves as VFRW’s erstwhile webmistress) and embarked on a new career as a writer. She writes contemporary romance and is a two-time Golden Heart finalist. She lives with her family near the Chesapeake Bay, where she spends too much time time staring at sailboats and daydreaming. Visit her website at www.lauragrahambooth.com.
Terri Brisbin has been writing romance fiction since 1995 and has had more than 18 historical and paranormal romances published since 1998. When not living the glamorous life of a romance author in the southern NJ suburbs, Terri spends her time being a married mom as well as a registered dental hygienist. Active in several RWA local and special interest chapters, Terri currently serves on the Board of Directors of Romance Writers of America. A two-time RWA RITA® finalist, Terri is now working on more romance novels, novellas and short online stories for release through 2011 from Harlequin Historical Romances and Kensington BRAVA. Please visit her website for more info about the author and her work or to contact her: www.terribrisbin.com
Sharyn Cerniglia has been an active member of VFRW since its inception. She has served on VFRW’s Nominating Committee, is a judge and past coordinator in the chapter’s annual “The Sheila” contest. She served two-plus terms as Treasurer of the chapter, before moving to south Florida, where she happily entertains visiting VFRW members at VFRW South. Sharyn hosted VFRW’s annual Writers’ Workshop Open House and inaugurated the chapter’s annual Booksellers’ Tea. She instituted the “List,” a database of all books (both backlist, current and upcoming) published by VFRW members. Sharyn is a proud recipient of the Susan Wiggs Award, VFRW’s annual service award, and the second Lois Winston Award, VFRW’s special service award. Sharyn has been published in non-fiction in a number of trade journals, magazines, and newsletters, and is a frequent contributor to VFRW’s “Romantic Penn’s” newsletter.
Barbie Dickens has a very vivid imagination. As a child she was always making up stories entertaining as many people as possible, and has finally found an outlet for her creativity. Writing romance! She has been writing for two years with plenty of giggles and sighs along the way as she has a tendency to get swept away into her creations.
Adele Dubois is an award-winning romance author and former newspaper and magazine columnist, features writer, and foreign correspondent published in the Caribbean, UK, and USA. When not on the beach by the ocean, or walking along the quiet shores of a Delaware bay, she and her family enjoy their rural eastern Pennsylvania home where she is working on her next novel. Please visit her website at www.adeledubois.com.
Carla Faker, writing as Carla Kempert, has been writing since the age of ten when she drafted an instruction manual on child-raising. (It was intended to be non-fiction but too many people thought it was funny.) She wrote in high school to impress the English teacher on whom she had a huge crush. Now happily married–not to the English teacher–with two pre-teen boys (ask me about autism or Pokemon), Carla writes because she can’t not write. She has eight finished manuscripts under her belt but a fried hard drive ate three of them. (She is not a computer geek either.) Carla writes single title/women’s fiction, and her passion for baseball has a tendency to bleed onto the page as well. She is not published yet, but she’s doggedly working on it. Please check out Carla’s web page, blog and contact info at www.carlakempert.com.
Judi Fennell, 2007-08 President of VFRW, has three tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted contemporary paranormal Mer stories coming from Sourcebooks in 2009. In Over Her Head will be released in 6/09, Whale of a Tail in 8/09, and Catch of a Lifetime 10/09. She has finalled in three online contests: Top 6 Finalist in the third American Title contest, Top 20 Finalist (of 2,676 entries) in the original Simon & Schuster/Gather.com First Chapters Contest, and Top 5 for the Gather.com/Pocket Books First Chapters Romance contest with her manuscripts, Beauty and The Best and In Over Her Head. Judi is represented by Jennifer Schober of Spencerhill Associates. Check out blurbs, covers, excerpts, reviews on Judi’s website, www.JudiFennell.com.
April Fusek resides with two cats and two dogs in the suburbs of Philadelphia. She has held several board positions with the VFRW and is the current president. She has been honored to receive the Susan Wiggs Volunteer of the Year Award three times. Always an avid reader of romantic fiction, April took up writing after moving into a 100 year old home and taking time off from attending college for a nursing degree. During that particularly horrible winter, the writing bug bit hard. Falling for the freedom that writing offered, she gave up any thoughts of becoming a registered nurse and instead completed schooling as a massage therapist. This gave her the ability to set her own working hours and still fulfill the need to write. Currently, she is writing Chick-Lit and Single Title Romance.
Shari Gerhart is an avid mediaevalist and can easily read Middle English. (Anglo Saxon is much harder as German is the root of English and old German is very hard). I have a Kelmscot version (book) of the Canterbury Tales. Don’t ask the cost. I have a B.S. in Accounting from Villanova University and got perfect in Calculus so forget left brain/right brain. I am also a member of The Richard III Society. I love reading history books and then lots of romances. I love music and have studied it for 20 years or more and have performed classical and operatic arias. I am writing two novels: one set in 1180 based on a true incident; the other novel is Arthurian legend, a contemporary re-telling. When my daughter goes to college next year, the computer will be mine again.
Risha Parker Gordon is an aspiring chick lit writer.
Stephanie Julian writes the erotic paranormal series, Magical Seduction, for Ellora’s Cave, including SEDUCED BY MAGIC, SEDUCED BY CHAOS and SEDUCED BY DANGER. To learn more about her world of Etruscan magic, visit www.StephanieJulian.com. A professional feature writer, Stephanie spends lots of time in the summer writing about other people’s gardens and dreaming about one day working on her own. She lives in a house filled with guys – her wonderful husband and two teenage sons – and likes when they call her Queen. When she’s not reading or writing, she likes to run (or walk, damn knees), eat Junior Mints and watch real men play hockey.
Robin Kaye was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge next door to her Sicilian grandparents. Living with an extended family that’s a cross between Gilligan’s Island and The Sopranos, minus the desert isle and illegal activities, explains both her comedic timing and the cast of quirky characters in her books. She’s lived in half a dozen states from Idaho to Florida, but the romance of Brooklyn has never left her heart. She currently resides in Maryland with her husband, three children, two dogs, and a three-legged cat with attitude. Robin’s first book, Romeo, Romeo, a 2007 Golden Heart Winner, is available now, and the second book in the Domestic Gods series will be released May, 2009 from Sourcebooks, Casablanca. Visit her Author Website: www.robinkayewrites.com
Leslie Anne Lighton is the VFRW Elected Member-At-Large, responsible for Publicity. She enjoys writing both fiction and nonfiction, including contemporary romantic suspense novels and screenplays. Her history book UPPER PROVIDENCE BICENTENNIAL, published in 2005, benefits the Royersford Free Public Library and she is currently preparing to publish an updated biography of a key Revolutionary War era figure. In 2007, one of her series contemporary manuscripts won fourth-place in the RWA Coeur de Louisiane’s “Romancing the Tome” contest. By profession, Leslie is a compliance auditor for a global pharmaceutical company. In the past she worked as a photojournalist, computer programmer/validation analyst, and training class developer/instructor.
Susan Macatee has been writing toward publication for 14 years. Her interests range from science fiction to history, particularly the American Civil War era. She has one published young adult novel set during the Civil War that has just gone out of print and two Civil War romances in the works, one a time travel contracted by The Wild Rose Press. Her interest in the time period stems from her husband getting involved with a Civil War reenactment group and pulling her right in. She and her husband are members of the 28th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment reenacting group. Her other love is the paranormal and sci-fi, which she’s incorporated into her most recent WIP. She lives with her husband of 27 years and three grown sons, as well as the family dog, a female Boxer named Kelly. She spends her free time watching her local baseball team, the Philadephia Phillies, and inhaling books. Visit her author website: www.susanmacatee.com.
Cara Marsi (aka Carolyn Matkowsky) is a Delaware native who managed to escape the state for several years to live in Canada and Pennsylvania. Sadly, they found her and brought her back. A former corporate drone and cubicle dweller, Carolyn is now happily unemployed and writing full time. Writing romance feeds her creative cravings. Carolyn has been writing stories in her head since she was a child and always dreamed of being a writer. After a lifetime in the corporate world, she decided to pursue her dream and put her stories to paper. She joined Romance Writers of America and absorbed all she could about writing romance. After ten long years of hard work and rejections, she sold her first book to Avalon, A CATERED AFFAIR, written under the name Carolyn Matkowsky. Her latest book, written under her new name Cara Marsi, is LOGAN’S REDEMPTION, a contemporary romance with suspense elements, from The Wild Rose Press, www.thewildrosepress.com. Currently she has gone to the dark side and is writing a werewolf paranormal. Carolyn is a member of RWA, NJRW, Elements RWA and VFRW and lives in Delaware with her husband and a fat black cat named Killer. Visit Carolyn at www.caramarsi.com.
Donna Michaels is an author of Romaginative Fiction who lives in North Eastern PA with her husband, four children, and three rescued cats. A multi-published author of several genres in both E-book and soon to be Print, Donna has fourteen contracts and writes short stories, novellas and novels—the first of which—MEET YOUR MATE, a Romantic Comedy Suspense, will be Print released this March through The Wild Rose Press. Two other novels: FATED HEARTS, a heartwarming contemporary, and LEGEND OF THE FOURTH MOON/THE MARK OF GOREN, a Sci-Fi romance, will both be in print 2008/2009. Donna’s short story, TEN THINGS I’D DO FOR A COWBOY was nominated Best E-Book Short Romance 2007 by LASR. To learn more about Donna, her books, and contests, visit her website www.donnamichaelsauthor.com. A member of VFRW since 2005, she also belongs to the Scriptscene RWA and a local writing group.
Joy Nash is a USA Today Bestselling Author who loves to write her dreams—and sometimes, her nightmares! Both regularly appear in the novels she pens for Dorchester Publishing. Joy’s historical fantasy, The Grail King, was a 2007 recipient of Romantic Times Bookreviews’ Reviewers’ Choice Award, and her urban fantasy adventure Immortals: The Awakening hit several national bestsellers lists, including the USA Today 150. Her 2008 releases include Deep Magic (Jan 08), and Immortals: The Crossing (Oct 08). Joy lives in eastern Pennsylvania with the hero who swept her off her feet when she was just eighteen. Their family now includes a young princess, two heroes-in-training, and a faithful hound. When not reading or writing, Joy’s hobbies include brain-numbing movie binges, staring into space, and wishing her house was clean. Or you can find her watching YouTube videos with her kids. For more info on Joy’s books, please visit www.joynash.com.
Miriam Newman published poetry for many years before turning to the romance genre, where she has published a contemporary fantasy romance and “The Chronicles of Alcinia,” a fantasy historical consisting of The King’s Daughter and Heart of the Earth. Additional fantasy historicals and science fiction/fantasy manuscripts have been accepted, keeping her almost too busy for periodic trips to Ireland, where she draws her inspiration. She is particularly fond of the West of Ireland, where Gaelic is still spoken, and Celtic myths and legends form the basis of some of her works. She has no idea where her Muse finds the others! You can view her eclectic collection at www.miriamnewman.com, and she hopes you will. Currently, Miriam resides in rural Elverson, PA with a motley crew of rescue animals.
Martha Schroeder O’Connor (writing as Martha Schroeder) is a retired lawyer and law professor and mother of two. An honors graduate of Smith College and Columbia Law School, she has practiced with a major New York law firm and a Fortune 100 company and taught at Temple and Widener law schools. She has served as president of VFRW’s predecessor chapter, and secretary of VFRW. She has traveled extensively in North and South America, Europe and the Caribbean, and particularly enjoys spending time in England, the setting of many of her books. She writes both contemporaries and historicals. Ten of her novels have been published by several different publishers, among them Harlequin-Silhouette, Ballantine and Kensington. She discovered romance novels when looking for escape while studying for the New York Bar exam, and has remained a devoted fan ever since. Writing them has been even more fun than reading them and she plans to continue doing both for a long time to come!
Cathryn Pritchard was born in England and came to the United States with her family when she was sixteen. She worked as a talent agent and actress for several years before opening a casting company with a partner in Philadelphia, where she was the casting director for numerous television and radio commercials and handled extras casting for several feature films that shot in the Philadelphia area including “Twelve Monkeys” and “Up Close and Personal.” Currently she is the Manager of Corporate Communications for a real estate investment company that acquires and develops shopping centers. Her single title romantic comedy, STEPPING STONES, was a 2004 Golden Heart finalist. Other awards include first place in the Colorado Romance Writers 2003 “Heart of the Rockies” Contest in the Single Title category and first place in the Outreach International Romance Writers Award of Excellence Contest. Her next book, IN YOUR DREAMS, a romantic suspense, took first place in the Charter Oak Romance Writers 2004 “Oak Leaf Award of Excellence” contest in the Romantic Suspense category. She has recently completed her third novel, THE END AT RIVER’S BEND, which is a combination romantic comedy/murder mystery. Cathy served on the board of Valley Forge Romance Writers for four years as Corresponding Secretary, Web mistress and Treasurer. Visit her website at www.cathrynpritchard.com.
Ann LaBar Russek has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She has published poetry and nonfiction in many national and regional publications. She has been a guest artist for colleges such as Lebanon Valley College, Lafayette College, DeSales University, Muhlenberg College, and Reading Area Community College. In addition to poetry and non-fiction, she is at work on several children’s books, a new chapbook of poems, and a historical romance novel. She currently resides in Chester County.
Victoria Wells (aka Gaye Riddick-Burden) has been a lover of romance since the age of 15. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from LaSalle University. During the day she works as an adult nurse practitioner at a large urban teaching hospital. Evenings and weekends are consumed with spending time with family and friends, reading, and writing African American romance novels. She lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband and three beautiful children. For more information, please visit her website at: www.victoria-wells.com
Kate Welsh often lost herself as a child in creating make believe worlds and happily-ever-after tales. Many years later she turned back to creating happy endings when her husband challenged her to write down the stories in her head. A lover of all things romantic, Kate has been writing romance for over twenty years now. Her first published novels hit the stands in 1998 and she´s written over twenty published novels since for Steeple Hill Love Inspired, Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense and Silhouette Special Edition. Kate is a three time finalist and two time winner of Romance Writers of America’s coveted Golden Heart. She was also a Rita finalist in 2000 for her second novel, Never Lie to an Angel. Substitute Daddy, her first Silhouette Special Edition and her second SSE, The Doctor´s Secret Child, were both WaldonBooks Series Best Sellers for multiple weeks. Kate was Valley Forge Romance Writers first President and in the past held the position of newsletter editor, member at large and chapter PAN Liaison. She is currently VFRW´s vice-president. She lives her own happily-ever-after in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband of over 30 years, her daughter, their one hundred pound Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Ecko and Kali, the family cat. Kali didn’t want a playmate when the puppy moved in seven years ago and she’s still trying to coax him into moving out which makes for a happening household.
Alice Wootson, was born and grew up in Rankin, PA, a borough outside of Pittsburgh. She came to this area to attend Cheyney University and stayed to take a teaching position in the Philadelphia School District. She retired from teaching ten years ago and began her second career, writing romance novels. Ike, her husband of more than forty years, is very supportive and says his new career is Driving Miss Alice. Alice is also a poet. (Her first novel, Snowbound with Love, was rejected by an agent as too poetic to have any commercial value. Two days later she got THE CALL from Karen Thomas, of Arabesque, offering a contract for the same book.) Alice is a member of RWA, NJRW and our own VFRW. To satisfy the poetic part of her soul, she is a member of the Mad Poets’ Society. She has been featured in many poetry venues in the area. Not to neglect her prose side, she is a member of the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference. Her published novels are as follows: To Love Again, Trust in Me, (which was nominated for an Emma Award by Romance Slam Jam), Home for Christmas, Dream Wedding and Snowbound with Love. A sixth novel, Escape to Love, will be released in June of this year. For more information, please visit her web site: www.alicewootson.net.
Daria C. Yanez is a physician, a potter, and now a writer. Wife, and mother of two daughters, she found herself at loose ends when both girls left for college. She decided to indulge in a lifelong dream to write. She’s currently revising her first attempt at a Regency romance, and in the middle of her second effort, with outlines in the works for a third and fourth.
Ruth Zavitsanos has had the desire to write since the age of twelve. After earning her journalism degree she worked as a feature writer for a daily newspaper in the Boston area. Since moving to Downingtown, PA, with her husband and two daughters eight years ago,Ruth has been writing for newsletters and school banners. This past year she has turned out guests for her own office. Ruth’s historical earned her the PRO pin and is being considered by an editor. Currently, she is completing her contemporary hen-lit.