Cheryl Anne Porter (? - August 25, 2004)

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Author Cheryl Anne Porter passed away August 25, 2004. An award-winning writer and much sought-after speaker, she made a difference in the lives of many with her words and her sparkling personality. Cheryl wrote historicals for Dorchester and St. Martin's Press, as well as contemporaries for Love & Laughter, Duets and Temptation. Her final Temptation, Blind Date, was published in February 2005. Cheryl leaves behind a legacy of wonderful memories and great books.

Though born in Savannah, Georgia, Cheryl Anne began her life as a citizen of the world. Her father's air force career took her and her family across the U.S., then abroad to England and Germany, before they settled in Oklahoma (for the second time). Cheryl graduated in the top 10 per cent of her high school class, earning a full academic scholarship to the University of Oklahoma. There, she graduated with a B.A. in American literature.

Following careers in teaching and in health care, Cheryl returned to school to pursue her master's in creative writing while also teaching freshman English at the University of Central Oklahoma. Her intended master's thesis turned into her first novel, Jessie's Outlaw. The 1993 book subsequently was chosen by the Library of Congress for its rare book collection.

Inspired by a true incident, Cheryl's second historical novel, Kansas Wildfire, garnered the author's first National Readers' Choice Award nomination. After a mid-'90s move to Florida, she published her third novel, Sara's Bounty, in 1995. Reflecting continued reader demand for the frontier saga, Leisure Books announced Sara's Bounty's re-release in 1999.

International reading audiences were soon introduced to another side of Cheryl's talent — writing crisp, witty, contemporary comedy. The 1997 release of A Man in Demand promptly earned the versatile novelist a nomination for Romantic Times magazine's Best Love and Laughter Romance. In the next few years, Cheryl published a successful string of comedies for Harlequin: The Great Escape (1998), From Here to Maternity and Puppy Love (1999), Drive-by Daddy and Sitting Pretty (2000) and Her Only Chance (2002).

While she was busy building a worldwide contemporary audience, Cheryl also contracted with St. Martin's Press and launched her hot-selling historical mystery series, the Lawless Women Trilogy. Hannah's Promise, Jacey's Reckless Heart and Seasons of Glory tell the suspense-laden tales of three sisters who take different paths to solve the heinous murders of their parents. Hannah's Promise won the National Readers' Choice Award for Long Historical Fiction. Jacey's Reckless Heart was nominated for Best Historical Adventure in Romantic Times magazine's 1997 Reviewers' Choice Awards and Seasons of Glory received the Romantic Times nomination for Best Western in a Series.

Greater honors followed when Cheryl penned the powerful historical mystery, Captive Angel. The riveting tale began collecting awards and winning critical acclaim even before its 1999 appearance in stores. Captive Angel earned the coveted Starred Review from prestigious Publishers Weekly, garnered multiple five-star reviews on Amazon.com and won accolades from nearly every corner of the literary world. Similarly enthusiastic reviews greeted Cheryl's subsequent historical suspense work for St. Martin's — Prairie Song (2000) — confirming the author's position as one of America's hottest literary stars.

Between writing and book-signing engagements, Cheryl managed to squeeze in personal appearances at state, regional and national conferences on writing, where her speeches and workshops gained rave reviews from overflow audiences. She was in demand as a keynote and inspirational speaker on a wide range of topics, and as a respected seminar and classroom instructor on all aspects of writing.

Cheryl was also a popular guest on top-rated television shows in central Florida, and her voice reached millions of Americans through national radio interviews. She was a featured online author on Internet literary programming. She also taught popular fiction writing classes at Hillsborough Community College near her home in Tampa, Florida.

With film and television producers looking at bringing Cheryl's work to the screen, this dynamic author and speaker's audiences continued to grow as new fans learned what legions of her loyal readers already knew: Cheryl Anne Porter's novels deliver unforgettable characters caught up in gripping, edge-of-the-seat plots. This accomplished and masterful writer will be greatly missed.

Cheryl Anne Porter’s Books on Amazon: Cheryl Anne Porter

Source: http://www.eharlequin.com/author.html?authorid=637