So, while she didn't follow in Sister John Michael's footsteps, the writing dream did stick with her. Michele typed her first romance stories when she was in high school.

Using an old green manual typewriter with a bad ribbon, Michele wrote love stories in which the girls on her street married the cute boys in the neighborhood. She still has those romance novels, in the memory box in her basement.

In 1988 Michele set a goal at her five-year high school reunion, which was to publish a romance novel by the year 2000. After the birth of her children, Michele returned to writing. While she authored three professional journal articles, and compiled the Journalism Education Association Middle/Junior High Curriculum Guide, it wasn't until August of 1999 that Michele learned she had sold her first novel to Harlequin American Romance. Writing for Harlequin has always been Michele's dream, and she made her first sale after pitching the manuscript to an editor at the RWA national convention. As Michele is fond of saying, if you work hard enough, dreams really do come true.

Michele graciously took a little time out from her busy schedule to answer a few questions for Writers Unlimited.

WU: Why did you decide to become a romance author?
MD: : I've always loved romance, and as an author I write what I love to read. In fact, on my website, there's a picture of me reading a Harlequin Presents while on the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. This occurred in 1982, right before my senior year in high school (Kirkwood High School, class of 1983). I've always said I wanted to be a published author, and I started writing romance seriously (seriously being the key word) in 1998. I sold my first book in September 1999.

WU: Do you write full time or do you have another career?
MD: I have the best of both worlds. I'm a teacher by day and a romance writer by night. I love to teach, and right now I teach high school English and drama. I'm also published professionally as a teacher, having done four professional journal articles for Communications: Journalism Education Today; I wrote portions and edited the entire Journalism Education Association's Middle/Junior High School Curriculum Guide; and I have a vignette in the 2002 National Council of Teachers of English publication, Applying NCTE/IRA Standards in Classroom Journalism Projects: Activities and Scenarios. I've been featured in local papers both as the subject of an article, and as the author of an article. While now I teach high school, the first students I ever taught were eighth graders and they graduated high school in 1993. My last group of eighth grade students graduates high school next year. All my students always knew I wanted to be a writer, and now my current students know I am a published author.

WU: Can you give us an example of a typical day in the life of Michele Dunaway?
MD: No day is typical, but I'll try. If it's during the school year, I sleep as late as I can until around 6 AM, and then the daily treadmill of life begins (including getting my children to my neighbor's house so that they can catch the bus). I am at my high school by 7:05 AM and then my life is controlled by classes and bells until 2:55 when I'm officially free. I love teaching, and have seen several of my students published in various local papers and national publications. If I don't have any teaching meetings, I'm home by 3:15 PM and then on my computer after that. Of course, though, there's girl scouts, horseback lessons, homework, kid quality time, and all sorts of other things that factor into my day besides dinner, and if I'm not on deadline, I'm asleep by 11 PM. The summer is completely different and much more relaxing. I sleep until 10 AM, and go to bed around 2-3 AM. I don't teach summer school or anything like that, and so I do a lot of writing. And to answer the unasked question, I write in spurts. I don't necessarily write every day.

WU: Readers today demand accuracy in the books they read. How much research about life styles, setting, dialect, etc. goes into one of your stories?
MD: I do a lot of research. I like to set my stories in places I've actually been. I've used Nassau, a cruise ship, New York City, and I'm currently setting a group of linked stories in St. Louis, which has been my home city all my life. Using places I know adds a lot of local color. In fact, in the beginning of Catching the Corporate Playboy, the hero gets the word for that fizzy carbonated beverage wrong—he calls it pop, but in St. Louis we call it soda. And St. Louisans are famous for asking "Where did you go to high school?" which is why I told you Kirkwood, Class of 1983 above.

WU: Tell us about any upcoming releases and works in progress.
MD: My newest release is Sweeping the Bride Away (March 2003), which is a book I set in Houston, Texas. It's the story about a girl with a dull-as-dishwater fiancé—the boy next door who happens to have a secret he's keeping from her. And when his mother messes up Cassidy's city building inspection, into her life comes Blade, the hunky handyman who also has a little secret of his own. Throw in one neighbor-from-hell, some unpredictable Houston weather, and some boy scouts, and you've got a fun read that'll warm your heart and keep you laughing. After that, it's back to the Jacobsen family whom I introduced in my July 2002 Catching the Corporate Playboy. This time it's Darci's brother Harry's story in The Playboy's Protégée (September 2003). You'll meet Darci and Harry's cousin, Shane Jacobsen, in Redeeming the Wayward Playboy which will debut in either late 2003 or early 2004. More information is on my website.

WU: How do you come up with the ideas for your books? Do you have a brainstorming session with someone or do they just kind of "pop" into your head?
MD: I'll be honest; I work totally alone. I write it, submit it, and then my editor edits it. I've learned to trust my own voice, and to listen to my editor who really is the final judge since she's the one who chooses what stories to buy. I once queried an agent only to have her tell me that the work wouldn't sell, but my editor loved it and bought it. So as an author, I've learned to trust myself and let my editor be the final judge. To get back to the main question, it's sort of weird, but all of a sudden these ideas come, the characters start talking in my head, and I have to get everything down on paper. Cassidy and Blade (Sweeping the Bride Away) came to me on the way to Houston, Texas, when I was driving through Fredericktown, Missouri. The Jacobsen family came to me when my editors asked, "Do Harry and Darci have any cousins?" And of course, I knew they did.

WU: A lot of aspiring writers suffer the agony of rejection after rejection. How hard or easy was it for you to "break in" to the published ranks?
MD: I have to admit that I didn't suffer first book rejection. I met Melissa Jeglinski at the 1999 Romance Writers of America conference, pitched her my book during an editor interview, and she bought it about six weeks later. So in that aspect I was very lucky. I was in the right place at the right time with a manuscript that she loved. My second sale, however, took longer. I sent it in three or four times and my editor sent it back about that many before she finally bought it. Then after that it got a little bit easier for the Harlequin American line. But I have been rejected for other Harlequin/Silhouette lines, but I'm still trying! I just remember that it happens to all authors—on a loop I'm on a very well known and popular Temptation author talked about her submissions being rejected by Harlequin American for not being "right." So just because an author goes from unpublished to published doesn't mean it's a piece of cake from there on out.

WU: Any words of wisdom for those that would like to follow in your footsteps?
MD: Trust in your voice, as I said above. In addition, you want to get to the editor who loves your work, or to an agent who loves your work. People are all different, so take the constructive criticism and leave the stuff that is plain bad. Also don't be afraid to join writing organizations. And certainly don't be afraid to go through the whole process of writing to submission. Enter contests. Learn all you can. The number one thing to selling your book, besides having a good manuscript, is getting that book to the right editor. I knew Melissa was the right person for my book, and when I filled out my RWA Conference registration form, I requested her and luck had it that I got to meet with her. So know what line to target, or what agent to target. Don't try to sell a sexy, hot book to a sweet, closed-bedroom door publisher, and make sure at all times you are business-like and professional. Lastly, remember dreams can come true, push through the shadow when times seem dark.

WU: Where can readers contact you?
MD: They can reach me at PO Box 45, Labadie, MO, 63055, or through email at michele@micheledunaway.com. If they write, please enclose a SASE. I answer every letter and email.

Visit http://www.MicheleDunaway.com for information on Michele's upcoming releases, contests, and more.