Martha Shields

Martha Shields grew up telling stories. As the daughter of displaced Floridians and a preacher to boot, she and her sister spent many long hours in the back seat of the family Rambler traveling either "home" to Florida or to revivals in far-off places. Since boredom is the other mother of invention, Martha quickly tired of asking "how many more miles?" and made up stories to entertain herself and her sister.

A way to pass the time turned into a love of words, which led to an education in journalism. Fresh out of college, Martha discovered romance novels and finally found a focus for her writing. She freely admits that she is a hopeless romantic and will expound on the social, biological, and chemical aspects of love to anyone who'll listen.

Martha lives in Memphis, Tennessee with her husband of over 20 years, a college-age daughter, and a Cairn "terror" (picture Toto with a bleach job). During the day, she tries to make college courses sound exciting and at night, she escapes the pressures of the day by weaving tales of romantic worlds, hoping readers can do the same.

Martha also teaches novel writing courses with Debra Dixon at the University of Memphis and speaks at writing conferences all over the country.