The black rose

Roberta Helmer aka Christina Skye loved the power of the written word. The New York Times bestselling author of 36 novels, 7 novellas and four non-fiction books still wrote longhand. Usually when her characters refused to behave. She came to writing late. Once she realized that she could not become the heir to a small European mountain kingdom, writing seemed like the next best thing. She was a pushover for Harris tweed, Scottish cashmere, handspun merino yarn, Shanghai street dumplings, French macarons and dark chocolate. Not necessarily in that order. After receiving her doctorate in classical Chinese literature, she traveled for five crazy years, working as a writer, translator and consultant to travel magazines, national tourist agencies, importers, apparel companies and museums, including the National Geographic Society, the Asia Society and the American Museum of Natural History, spending most of that time in Asia. Her mileage points were awesome. Then the travel got old. In 1990 she sold her first novel in six days. Since then she has written five different series for six different publishers. She has appeared on ABC Worldwide News, Travel News Network, the Arthur Frommer Show, Geraldo, Voice of America, Looking East, and Good Morning, Arizona. In 2013 her contemporary romance, The Accidental Bride, was chosen as one of the ten best romance novels of the year by prestigious Booklist Magazine. In 2015 the book was chosen one of the 100 best books of the decade by the same premier review magazine. She was beyond thrilled by both honors. The book also received a reviewer's choice award from Romantic Times Magazine. Christina loved to sew, knit lace on big needles, drink tea and uncover odd historical tidbits that she could weave into her storylines.