What attorney's light burns late at night? Most likely it is that of workers' compensation insurance defense attorney Carol Stephenson as she writes romance novels. Surviving the daily legal gridiron doesn't compare, though, to Carol's accomplishment of selling her first book to Harlequin Enterprises in May 2001.
Born in Columbus, Ohio, Carol learned to love books at an early age as a result of her parents' nightly ritual of reading to her. The die was cast when she was eleven and her mother introduced her to gothic romances. Her love of reading naturally led her to writing, from her first booklet at age four —"Robbie The Robot"— to poetry and short stories in high school and college. However, it was the movie "Star Wars" that crystallized her dream to be a storyteller of novel length fiction.
In pursuit of serious writing, she joined Romance Writers of America (RWA) and Florida Romance Writers (FRW) in 1992. Then in 1996 she won her first prestigious award, The Maggie. Other writing awards followed, including the Emily. It was this award that led to Silhouette's request for her manuscript NORA'S PRIDE. On May 22, 2001 at 3:00 p.m., Carol's agent called with the news that NORA'S PRIDE would be a Silhouette Special Edition®. Since that moment, Carol has been living her dream come true.
Bitten at a young age by the community involvement bug, Carol has served as President of FRW and on numerous committees for RWA. She was RWA's 2001 Bylaws Chairperson and was thrilled and honored to receive the 2001 RWA Service Award.
Her six basic soul food groups are romances, country music (long live George Strait and JD and the Wake-Up Crew on WIRK!), movies, photography, travel and a good cup of tea. Into her nonexistent spare time she crams travel with her trusty 35mm camera in one hand and tea bags in the other. Ports of call have included Alaska, Acadia National Park, the Grand Canyon (both sides), Italy and Canada. Carol also explored her roots in college when she attended the Vanderbilt-in-England program at Leeds University, Great Britain when she joined the Youth Hosteling Society and hiked all over the countryside of her ancestors.
Carol lives in South Florida with two condescending cats that agreed to adopt her as their owner and a cranky cockatiel.
She’d love to hear from her readers. You can email her at Carol@CarolStephenson.com.
