Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
Personal Information
Description
Kathleen Erin Hogg was born on June 3, 1939 in Alexandria, Louisiana, USA. She was the youngest of eight children of Charles Wingrove Hogg, a disabled World War I veteran, and his wife, Gladys Coker. As a child, she devoured fairy tales, later she relished creating her own stories, and by age six was telling herself stories at night to help fall asleep. When she was only twelve, her father died suddenly, leaving her to be raised by her mother and older sisters. Kathleen would later remark that, "every single one of us had minds of our own even then; I was no exception. I suppose that carried over into my creations of heroines who weren't weak-willed." At the age of sixteen, Kathleen met twenty-one years old U.S. Air Force Second Lieutenant Ross Eugene Woodiwiss at a dance for servicemen. They eloped a year later, and married on July 20, 1956. She continued in the school locally and graduated in 1957. In 1960, they had their first son Sean Alan, who was born in Alexandria. Her husband's military career led them to live in Japan, where they had their second and middle son, Dorren James in Tachikawa on August 8, 1962. Kathleen worked part-time as a fashion model for an American-owned modeling agency. She enjoyed fashion modeling, and later designing and creating many of her own gowns and costumes for numerous officer’s club functions that she attended with her husband. After three and a half years in Japan, the family moved to Topeka, Kansas. During these years, she attempted to begin a novel several times, but each time stopped in frustration at the slow pace of writing a novel longhand. In 1968, finally the family instaled in Minnesota, where they had a large home on 55 acres (220,000 m2). They had their three and late son Heath Alexander, on 1970 in Minneapolis. Kathleen was an accomplished horse rider, who was the first rider/driver to have won both Amateur Pleasure Grand Championships with the same horse in the history of the Morgan Grand National Horse Show. After buying her husband an electric typewriter for a Christmas present, she appropriated the machine to begin her novel in earnest. Kathleen's first manuscript, was rejected by agents and hardcover publishers as being too long at 600 pages. Rather than follow the advice of the rejection letters and rewrite the novel, she instead submitted it to paperback publishers. The first publisher on her list, Avon, quickly purchased the novel. Legendary editor Nancy Coffey provided a $1500 advance and arranged for an initial 500,000 print run. "The Flame and the Flower" was revolutionary, featuring an epic historical romance with a strong heroine and actual sex scenes. This novel, published in 1972, sold over 2.3 million copies in its first four years of publication and is credited with spawning the modern romance genre, becoming the first romance novel "to follow the principals into the bedroom." The success of this novel prompted a new style of writing romance, concentrating primarily on historical fiction tracking the monogamous relationship between helpless heroines and the hero who rescued her, even if he had been the one to place her in danger. Kathleen sayd whose heroines always stay faithful to their seducers: "We like to fantasize about what we believe in, and I do believe in commitment." The romance novels which followed in her example featured longer plots, more controversial situations and characters, and more intimate and steamy sex scenes. Kathleen published only twelve romance novels and two novellas in thirty-three years, but her books are best-sellers with over thirty-six million copies in print. She often took four to five years to write a single novel. In some cases, she attributed the lag in publication time to personal and health issues, while in others she confessed to having suffered burnout and needing a rest to recover her interest in writing. Kathleen had a direct impact on the career of fellow novelist LaVyrle Spencer. Soon after finding her own success, she read a manuscript written by LaVyrle, who had yet to earn a publishing contract. Kathleen promptly mailed LaVyrle's novel to her own editor at Avon, and the editor purchased the novel, The Fulfillment. In addition, many modern romance novelists cite Kathleen E. Woodiwiss's books as their inspiration to write, like Virginia Henley, Betina Krahn, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Kate Hoffmann and Julia Quinn. After her husband's death in 1996, Kathleen moved back to Louisiana, visiting frecuently her family in Minessota. On June 17, 2007, her son Dorren James Woodiwiss died unexpectedly, few days before her, who died at 68, on July 6, 2007 after a long and courageous battle with cancer at Fairview Northland Regional Hospital in Princeton.
Books
The Wolf and the Dove
The Searing, Turbulent Romance of a Beautiful High-born Saxon Maiden and the Bold Foreign Invader who Came to Conquer Her! As hordes of Norman invaders sweep Saxonv in 1066, the lovely 18 year old Aislinn of Darkenwald is torn between loyalty to her own Saxon people and her tempestuous romance with 33 year old Wulfgar -- the Iron Wolf of Normandy. Can her consuming passion for him wipe out the memory of her father's murder -- her mother's shame -- her own savage violation --all at the hands of Wulfgar's conquering forces?
Married at Midnight
Hitched in the Nick of Time! Four brides, four beginnings... Four stories of romance from the incomparable Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, and Jo Beverley, Tanya Anne Crosby, and Samantha James. Jo Beverley - The Determined Bride A women abandoned on the battlefield discovers that dreams can cone true when an honorable commanding officer gallantly offers his name... Tanya Anne Crosby - A Kiss After Midnight A rebellious heiress who must wed by the stroke of midnight learns that a twist of fate has fulfilled her heart's deepest desire... Samantha James - Scandal's Bride A young womans reckless scheme to defy her fathers ultimatum leads to a hasty union and unexpected passion... Kathleen E. Woodiwiss - Beyond The Kiss (Birmingham #1.2) The wedding of jeff birmingham of the flame and the flower and his new bride raelynn inflames the jealous ire of a determined rival... Celebrate the glorious, magical moment of new beginnings with for uncertain couples joined by a passionate promise - and surprised by unforeseen love.
The Reluctant Suitor
Adriana Sutton has always loved Colton Wyndham -- even when the proud boy fled from his betrothed to the British army. Now the decorated officer is back, and an older, sensuous, spirited Adriana tries to win his heart before a sinister rival can claim his life.
Ashes in the Wind
Documented record by a survivor of the step-by-step isolation and extermination of Amsterdam's Jews during the Nazi occupation of Holland.
The Flame and the Flower
The extraordinary Birmingham Family Saga commences in The Flame and the Flower -- it continues in The Elusive Flame and concludes in A Season Beyond a Kiss. (All Kathleen E. Woodiwiss titles are available from PerfectBound.) The FlowerDoomed to a life of unending toil, Heather Simmons fears for her innocence--until a shocking, desperate act forces her to flee. . . and to seek refuge in the arms of a virile and dangerous stranger.The FlameA lusty adventurer married to the sea, Captain Brandon Birmingham courts scorn and peril when he abducts the beautiful fugitive from the tumultuous London dockside. But no power on Earth can compel him to relinquish his exquisite prize. For he is determined to make the sapphire-eyed prize. For he is determined to make the sapphire-eyed lovely his woman. . .and to carry her off to far, uncharted realms of sensuous, passionate love.
Forever in Your Embrace
On a dark and dangerous road, a daring British adventurer saves the life of a countess of royal blood. In all his travels, Colonel Tyrone Rycroft has never encountered a woman as breathtaking, alluring, and inscrutably mysterious as the bewitching Synnovea. But his selfless bravery has drawn him into peril -- and into an inescapable web of intrigue and seduction. In an opulent and treacherous imperial court, the proud, headstrong lady's dashing champion has become a pawn in a dangerous game of power and influence -- and only his great courage and wits will enable him to survive it. But Rycroft's enflamed desire will not let him escape to the safety of his own world -- not until his dream is realized, and the enigmatic, highborn beauty has given herself to him freely, honestly, and forever.
Shanna
Sensuous free spirit Shanna Trahern takes flight to a lush Caribbean paradise -- leaving the dashing condemned Ruark Beauchamp to the gallows of Newgate Prison. But no hangman's noose will deny Ruark the ecstasy of his true love. An exquisite beauty in desperate need . . . A condemned man with nothing left to lose . . . A magnificent tale of freedom and passionate destiny from the incomparable storyteller-- Kathleen E. Woodiwiss SHANNA Behind the foreboding walls of Newgate Prison, a pact is sealed in secret--as a dashing and doomed criminal consents to wed a beautiful heiress . . . in return for one night of unparalleled pleasure. In the fading echoes of hollow wedding vows, a promise is broken--as a sensuous free-spirit flees to a lush Caribbean paradise, abandoning the handsome stranger she married to the gallows. But Ruark Beauchamp's destiny is now eternally intertwined with his exquisite, tempestuous Shanna's. And no iron ever forged can imprison his magnificent passion . . . and no hangman's noose will deny him the ecstasy that is rightfully his.
Petals on the River
A proud and spirited woman whose life was stolen from her. . .A man of secrets accused of a terrible crime. . .In a place of new beginnings their destinies are joined—in a gloriously romantic new work from the incomparable storyteller. The fiery and outspoken adopted daughter of one of England's most formidable a women, Shemaine O'Hearn has made powerful enemies. And now her adversaries have found a way to remove the hot-blooded beauty from her life of privilege: by falsely convicting Shemaine of thievery and sending her in shackles to America, where she is to be sold in indentured servitude to the highest bidder. In a bustling port city in the colony of Virginia, she becomes the servant of Gage Thornton—a shipbuilder with a young child in need of a nanny. And despite whispered rumors condemning the handsome widower for the untimely death of his wife, Shemaine cannot ignore her desire for this caring, generous and enigmatic stranger who silently aches with his growing need for her—even as grave peril reaches out from across a vast ocean to threaten their flowering love
Come Love A Stranger
A woman with no name and no memory...The two men who claim her:one with love, the other with fear...A dazzling tale of secret passions--and a love tragically lost and miraculously reborn--by the incomparable storyteller.Mere days after Ashton Wingate's wedding to the enchanting Lierin, capricious Fate stole the Mississippi plantation owner's beloved from him. Now, three years later, his carriage has collided with a cloaked rider on horseback: a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to the young bride who was swallowed up by the merciless river.She awakens from unconsciousness in his magnificent home with no memory of who she is. Yet the tenderness of this noble, caring stranger who lovingly calls her "Lierin" soon captures her heart and enflames her with wanting. Then another enters their lives, threatening to destroy the happiness they have rediscovered in each other's arms--the dark and dangerous Malcolm Sinclair, who claims the enigmatic beauty is, in fact, his own wife, Lenore. But Ashton has sworn that he will not lose his adored one a second time, and he will risk any peril to preserve their newfound joy--no matter what the unremembered secrets of his lady's past ultimately reveal.LIERINWith no name and no memory, she awakens from a nightmare of madness into the lives of two stranger. One she desires, one she fears--but both have claimed her heart.To handsome plantation owner Ashton Wingate, she is Lierin--the cherished bride cruelly stolen from him by capricious Fate. The other calls her Lenore--entangling the lost, tormented beauty in his sinister web of perilous deceit. But it is in the adoring arms of noble Ashton that her true destiny awaits--as they join together to unlock the mysteries of a shadowed past. . .and to rekindle the flames of a glorious love once vanished but never forgotten.
The Elusive Flame
The extraordinary Birmingham Family Saga continues in The Elusive Flame -- it commences in The Flame and the Flower and concludes in A Season Beyond a Kiss. (All Kathleen E. Woodiwiss titles are available from PerfectBound.)A sweeping tale of passion, romance and adventure, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss' groundbreaking classic The Flame and the Flower remains as beloved today as when it first appeared in print. Now, at long last, the story that has enchanted the world for decades continues.The Elusive FlameA woman in desperate straits ... A fearless man ...A marriage of convenience on turbulent waters ...Cerynise Kendall has been left destitute and in dire need following the death of her doting patron and protectress.A brilliant young artist tossed from her home with only theclothes on her back, Cerynise must now turn to a childhoodcompanion for assistance-the dashing sea captain BeauregardBirmingham-and beg him to provide her with passage to theCarolinas. She seeks a new home and a new life across the waters,but all depends upon the kindness of a charming adventurerwho was once the object of her youthful infatuation.Beneath Birmingham's rugged exterior beats a heart as large and wild as the Atlantic, and Beau readily agrees to aid Cerynise--even offering her his name in marriage, albeit temporarily, to protect his longtime friend from scandal. But perilous secrets, determined enemies and tempests of the sea and soul threaten their future and safe passage even as bonds of camaraderie are miraculously reforged as bonds of desire ... and affection becomes passion and love.The long-awaited sequel to one of the most cherished love stories of our time!
Everlasting [large print]
Follows the relationship between Berengaria, who is forced into marriage with a nefarious squire, and her beloved Raven, a Scottish soldier determined to save her from an evil fate.
So worthy my love
Elise, a beautiful young woman searching for her missing father, is kidnapped by an arch-enemy of her uncle and held hostage in a German castle.
A Season Beyond a Kiss
The stunning conclusion to the Birmingham Family Saga, begun in The Flame and the Flower and continued in The Elusive Flame. (All Kathleen E. Woodiwiss titles are available from PerfectBound.)At last life can begin again for Raelynn Barrett. In the loving embrace of her new husband, the dashing American shipping magnate Jeff Birmingham, she can forget her painful past and the tragic, undeserved disgrace of her family. Jeff has brought passion into her heart once agin -- and each sweet, lingering kiss is a promise of a future rich in joy and sensual fulfillment.But Raelynn can hear the whispered rumors that damn the man she loves. And what her own eyes have witnessed seem to brand her adored and adoring Jeff as the worst sort of criminal. Yet even as she flees his desire and his love, Raelynn cannot escape the memory of his tender touch and the heated nights they shared. But in the face of the devastating treacheries of ruthless, hidden enemies, how can Jeff ever hope to win back the trust of the woman he cherishes...and secure his place eternally in his beloved Raelynn's betrayed heart?