Joan Van Nuys (April 13, 1929 - May 20, 2000)

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Joan van Nuys was born Joan Carol Atkinson in Tarentum, Pennsylvania on April 13, 1929. Her father, an itinerant salesman and alcoholic, was convinced that music was the key to getting his family out from under the weight of poverty. Her older sister, Betty, was already considered a violin prodigy when Joan started learning the violin at age six. Although not a prodigy like her sister, she continued her studies and became an accomplished classical violinist.

She married Robert van Nuys in 1950. They settled in western Pennsylvania and had three daughters. In the 1960s and 1970s, she performed with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra.

Joan began writing late in life after her daughter Carol moved to Norway in 1973; she compiled Carol’s many adventures into short story form. Although not a fan of the romance genre (she never read a romance novel before deciding to write one), she thought it might be an easy way to begin a writing career. In the early-1980s, she wrote a traditional romance featuring a Norwegian hero that got her an agent; however, the story was rejected by major publishers. She persisted and wrote two more romances under the pseudonym “Marianna Essex” that were published by Signet Books. Joan found the format for the boilerplate romance novels to be too restrictive so she turned to writing the more challenging historical romances. Over a period of seven years, she wrote seven critically successful and popular historical romance novels published by Leisure Romance and Avon Books. Some of these books were translated into other languages, and she attained a worldwide following.

Joan had three daughters, four granddaughters (two of them Norwegian), three cats, and she lived in the same old ivy-covered house in northwestern Pennsylvania for many years. She was an avid fan of Star Trek Second Generation, Star Trek Voyager, The Young and the Restless, and she loved reading, gardening, pingpong and exploring old towns in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

She died on May 20, 2000, after a brief battle with colon cancer. Her novels are still widely available on the Internet.

Joan van Nuys was author, musician, wife, mother, grandmother and friend. There are a few special people who touch people with friendship, laughter, and unforgetable stories: Joan van Nuys was one of them.

"My husband, my fortress for 45 years, was a part of every hero I ever created. I lost him to cancer in 1994, and my heart went with him. But he lives on in my daughters and granddaughters, in my memories and in the books I've written." ~ Joan van Nuys

First Book - Torrent of Love (1983) as Marianna Essex

Last Book - Forever Beloved (1996)

Source : http://www.eclectics.com/joan/index.html