- Viviane Romance
Viviane Romance was a French actress. Born Pauline Ronacher Ortmanns in Roubaix, France, Romance began her career as a dancer at the Moulin Rouge in Paris and was also elected Miss Paris of 1930 before she made her film debut in 1931 with a cameo role in "La Chienne." Viviane endured a small scandal winning Miss Paris due to the fact that she had a child.
- Julia Quinn
Julia Pottinger (born Julie Cotler in 1970), is a best-selling American historical romance author, who says she chose the name "Julia Quinn" so her Regency romances would be on bookshelves next to those of the successful romance writer Amanda Quick. Her novels have been translated into eight foreign languages, and she has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List four times.
- John Wayne
John Wayne (May 26, 1907 - June 11, 1979) was an iconic, Academy Award-winning, American film actor. He epitomized ruggedly individualistic masculinity, and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Wayne thirteenth among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time. A Harris Poll released in 2007 placed Wayne third among America's favorite film stars, …
- Maggie Gyllenhaal
Maggie Ruth Gyllenhaal (born November 16, 1977) is an American actress. She is the older sister of Jake Gyllenhaal and the daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner. Gyllenhaal began her acting career in a film directed by her father, and later achieved recognition in her own right playing her real-life brother's on-screen sister in the cult hit "Donnie Darko". Gyllenhaal made her breakthrough in the sadomasochistic romance, …
- Laurell K. Hamilton
Laurell Kaye Hamilton (born February 19, 1963) is an American horror, magic, fantasy, erotica and romance writer. She was born in Heber Springs, Arkansas but grew up in Sims, Indiana with her grandmother Laura Gentry (her mother died in 1969). Her education includes degrees in English and biology from Marion (now Indiana Wesleyan University), a Christian college in Indiana. Today Hamilton resides in St. Louis County, Missouri.
- Christine Feehan
Christine King Feehan, née Christine King is an American romance-paranormal writer. She has published more than 26 novels, including five series, and numerous novellas since 1999.
- Linda Howard
Linda S. Howington (b. August 3, 1950 in Alabama, U.S.A.) is an American romance/suspense author. Under her pseudonym Linda Howard is a New York Times best-selling author. Before she became a writer she was an avid reader herself and was fond of Margaret Mitchell novels. After 21 years of penning stories for her own enjoyment, she submitted a novel for publication, which was very successful. She currently lives in Alabama with her husband and two golden retrievers.
- Catherine Breillat
Catherine Breillat (born July 13, 1948) is a French filmmaker and director. She is known not only for her films focusing on themes of sexuality, gender conflict and sibling rivalry, but also for her best-selling novels. Ms. Breillat has been the subject of controversy for her explicit depictions of sexuality and violence. She cast the pornstar Rocco Siffredi in her films "Romance" ("Romance X", 1999) and "Anatomie de l'enfer" ("Anatomy of Hell", …
- Georgette Heyer
Georgette Heyer (16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English historical romance and detective fiction novelist.
- Anne Stuart
Anne Stuart is an enormously prolific and best-selling romance novelist with a career spanning over 30 years. She has written over 40 novels and was the recipient of the Romance Writers of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award.. Her first book was published in 1974 by Ballantine Press when she was 25 years old. Since then, her books have been published by numerous publishers such as Dell, Doubleday, St. Martin's Press and currently Harlequin.
- Barbara Delinsky
Barbara Ruth Greenberg Delinsky (born August 9, 1945, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) is a best-selling U.S.American writer of more than sixty-five romance and mainstream fiction novels. She has also been published under the pen names Bonnie Drake, Billie Douglass and her real name Barbara Delinsky.
- Alice Hoffman
Alice Hoffman (born March 16 1952) is an American novelist and young-adult and children's writer, best known for her 1995 novel "Practical Magic", which was made into a 1998 film of the same name. Many of her works fall into the genre of magic realism and contain elements of magic, irony, and non-standard romances and relationships.
- Jo Beverley
Jo Beverley , widely regarded as one of the most talented writers of Regency and Historical fiction today, was born and raised in England where she received a degree in English history from Keele University in Staffordshire. She and her husband emigrated to Victoria B.C, just a ferry ride away from Seattle, WA, where they now live with their two sons.
- Fern Michaels
Fern Michaels (born Mary Ruth Kuczkir) is an American author of romance and thriller novels, including nearly 50 best selling books with more than 70 million copies in print. Her USA Today and New York Times best selling books include "Family Blessings", "Pretty Woman", and "Crown Jewel", as well as the Texas quartet and the Captive series.
- Sherryl Woods
Sherryl Woods (b. July 23, 1944 in Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A.) is a popular U.S.American writer of over 110 romance and mystery novels since 1982. She also signed her novels as Alexandra Kirk and Suzanne Sherrill. She owns and operates her own bookstore in Colonial Beach, Virginia. She is a member of Novelists, Inc., Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, …
- C. J. Cherryh
Carolyn Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942), better known by the pseudonym C. J. Cherryh, is a United States science fiction and fantasy author. She has written more than 60 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award winning novels "Downbelow Station" (1981) and "Cyteen" (1988), both set in her Alliance-Union universe. She is the sister of science fiction and fantasy artist David A. Cherry.
- Richard Thomas
Richard Thomas (born June 13 1951) is an American actor, best known as "John-Boy" on the TV series, "The Waltons".
- Carrie Vaughn
Carrie Vaughn is an American author who writes the urban fantasy "Kitty Norville" series. She has published more than 30 short stories in science fiction and fantasy magazines as well as short story anthologies and internet magazines. She is on the list of authors for the upcoming Wild Cards books. She currently lives in Boulder, Colorado. While the Kitty Norville books are published as fantasy, they have been popular with romance readers as well.
- Sharon Shinn
Sharon Shinn (born 1957) is an American novelist who writes combining aspects of fantasy, science fiction and romance. She works as a journalist in St. Louis, Missouri.
- L. J. Smith
L.J. (Lisa Jane) Smith is an American author. Her books are aimed at Young adult literature and combine a myriad of genres including horror, science fiction/fantasy and romance. So far, she has written three trilogies, one series, one quartet and two companion novels. Her books are characteristically populated with unusually beautiful people, human and supernatural; most of them young, or at least appear youthful.
- Caroline Ducey
Caroline Ducey (born Caroline Trousselard in 1977, Paris) is a French actress. Outside of her home country, she is best known for her controversial role in Catherine Breillat's 1999 film "Romance", in which she performs several explicit sexual acts, including, apparently, coitus with former pornstar Rocco Siffredi.
- Kathleen Woodiwiss
Kathleen Erin Hogg Woodiwiss (born June 3, 1939 in Alexandria, Louisiana; died July 6, 2007 at Fairview Northland Regional Hospital in Princeton, Minnesota) created the historical romance genre as Kathleen E. Woodiwiss with the 1972 publication of her novel "The Flame and the Flower".
- Emma Holly
Emma Holly (born in New Jersey) is an American author and raised, who specializes in writing erotica-romance novels and often with a focus on BDSM. She has written over twenty books and was a finalist for the Romance Writers of America 2004 RITA award for Best Paranormal Romance.
- Richard Johnson
Richard Johnson (1573-1659?), English romance writer, was baptized in London on May 4, 1573. His most famous romance is "The Famous Historie of the Seaven Champions of Christendom" (1596?). The success of this book was so great that the author added a second and a third part in 1608 and 1616. His other stories include: "Nine Worthies of London" (1592); "The Pleasant Walks of Moorefields" (1607); "The Pleasant Conceites of Old Hobson" (1607), …
- Judith Krantz
Judith Krantz (born Judith Tarcher on January 9 1928 in New York City), is an American novelist who writes in the romance genre. Her works include "Princess Daisy" and "Till We Meet Again".
- Robyn Donald
Robyn Donald (b. 1940 in New Zealand) is a prolific writer of romance novels from New Zealand. She writes for the English Mills and Boon romance series. All her books have also been published under Harlequin Enterprises Limited series. Her first romance titled 'Bride at Whangatapu' was published under the exegesis of Mills and Boon in 1977.
- Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Kristine Kathryn Rusch (born June 1960) is an American writer. She writes under varoius pseudonyms in multiple genres, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, and mainstream. Rusch won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2001 for her story "Millennium Babies". Received the 2003 Endeavour Award for "The Disappeared" 2002. She is married to fellow writer Dean Wesley Smith; they have collaborated on several works.
- Christie Ridgway
Christie Ridgway is an American romance author. Ridgway has written for many publishing houses, including Silhouette and Avon.
- Ian Roberts
Ian G. Roberts (born October 23, 1957 in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England) is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Cambridge. He received his PhD from the University of Southern California in 1985 and taught at the Universities of Geneva (1985-1993), Bangor (1991-1996) and Stuttgart (1996-2000) before taking up his present position at Cambridge in 2000. He is a fellow of Downing College.
- Emma
"Emma" is a comic novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1816, about the perils of misconstrued romance. The main character, Emma Woodhouse, is described in the opening paragraph as "handsome, clever, and rich" but is also rather spoiled. Prior to starting the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like."
- Terry Bisson
Terry Ballantine Bisson (born February 12, 1942, Owensboro, Kentucky) is an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for his short stories, including "Bears Discover Fire" (1990), which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. Bisson has also written several novels, including "Fire on the Mountain" (Avon, 1988), "Voyage to the Red Planet" (Morrow, 1990), "Pirates of the Universe" (Tor, 1996), and "The Pickup Artist" (Tor, 2001).
- Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian Romantic author who is considered to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. Pushkin pioneered the use of vernacular speech in his poems and plays, creating a style of storytelling-mixing drama, romance, and satire-associated with Russian literature ever since and greatly influencing later Russian writers. Born in Moscow, Pushkin published his first poem at the age of fourteen, …
- Linda O. Johnston
Linda O. Johnston is an American author of mystery and romance novels. Johnston’s first published fiction appeared in "Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine" and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the Year. Since then, she has had several more short stories published as well as numerous romance novels. Johnston is a practicing attorney who splits her time between legal work and writing fiction.
- Jessica Andersen
Jessica S. Andersen is an American writer of romances with mystery and medicine. She has a PhD in Genetics.
- Emilie Richards
Emilie Richards is an American author of over 50 contemporary romance and mystery novels.
- Rafael Sabatini
Rafael Sabatini (April 29, 1875 - February 13, 1950) was an Italian/British writer of novels of romance and adventure.
- Barbara McCauley
Barbara McCauley (b. Southern California, USA) is a popular romance writer. She has written over 35 romance novels for Harlequin Enterprises since 1991.
- Joanna Trollope
Joanna Trollope OBE (born December 9, 1943, in Gloucestershire), is an English novelist. Joanna Trollope was educated at Reigate County School for Girls followed by St Hugh's College, Oxford. From 1965 to 1967 she worked at the Foreign Office. Then from 1967 to 1979 she was employed in a number of teaching posts before she became a writer full-time in 1980. Trollope was formerly married to the television dramatist Ian Curteis.
- Fredric Jameson
Fredric Jameson (born April 14, 1934) is a literary critic and Marxist political theorist. He is best known for the analysis of contemporary cultural trends; he described postmodernism as the spatialization of culture under the pressure of organized capitalism. Jameson's best-known books include "Postmodernism: The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism", "The Political Unconscious", and "Marxism and Form".
- Elizabeth Haydon
Elizabeth Haydon is a fantasy author, whose 1999 debut, "Rhapsody: Child of Blood", garnered comparisons with Goodkind, Jordan, and even Tolkien. She has written two fantasy series, The fantasy/romance/whodunit fusion called The Symphony of Ages and the young adult series The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme. An herbalist, harpist, and madrigal singer, Elizabeth Haydon also enjoys anthropology and folklore. She lives on the East Coast of the United States.