Sandy Steen

As a youngster growing up in the wide-open spaces of the Texas Panhandle, Sandy Steen loved storytelling - everything from tales about her family's pioneer history, to movies and, of course, books, books, and more books.

"My earliest memoris are of reading. I would absorb the characters, and replay the stories over and over in my mind." And even though she often got into trouble for daydreaming instead of doing homework, she credits teachers who stressed the benefits of reading for the foundation of her writing success.

From that early beginning her love of storytelling found its way into almost every corner of her life including such jobs as writing descriptions of new houses, speeches, and advertising copy. It was through one of those jobs that she met a published writer who suggested she try her hand at writing a romance novel. She's been writing ever since.

Even her hobbies reflect her career choice. Sandy collects Gone with the Wind memorabilia and has an extensive film noir collection. She's also an avid Jeopardy buff, putting to use all of those bits and pieces of information from all the wonderful books she's read.

Those early years also gave Sandy a love and appreciation for the people and traditions of Texas. She likes nothing better than tapping into the rich heritage of the cowboy mystique for her heroes and setting her books in her home state.

Texans are known for being larger than life, and she loves creating sexy, macho bad boys looking for good women. Sandy claims Texans have a reputation to protect, after all, so why settle for plain old happily-ever-after when her heroines can ride off into the sunset with a cross between John Wayne and Tom Cruise.

"If you're going to daydream," Sandy says, "might as well do it right."