RITA nominated author Linda Francis Lee is a native Texan now calling New York City home. Not crazy about heights, she's not sure how she ended up living on the 34th floor of a high rise in Manhattan. But there she is, diving into the brand new adventure of writing contemporary romance novels.

Lee's career truly began with the publication of the historical romance, Blue Waltz, which has been viewed as a breakthrough novel. The Atlanta Journal/Constitution called it "absolutely stunning."

Growing up, Lee created stories in her head. "That's a nice way of saying I spent too much time day dreaming," she laughs. At 20, realizing that she had done most of her living vicariously through reading, Lee took on a series of challenges. "I did things I thought I couldn't do," she recalls.

Among a laundry list of challenges, Lee began running and taking math and science courses until she ran a marathon and became a Probability and Statistics teacher. But it was writing that captured her imagination. Nineteen books later, Lee's stories have been called wildly romantic and deeply emotional, a moving combination of laughter and tears.