Her future lay in a romance writer's hands
Shelby had rejected a manuscript only to have it top the New York Times Best Seller list for another publisher. And now her star author wanted to quit. Just like that!
There was only one thing to do -- beg her reluctant romance author to write again. But how? All Shelby had to go on was a pen name, a Midwest town post-office box and the helping hand of an outrageously handsome local author, Mark Buchanan.
There was so little time to unearth her reclusive romance author -- even less time for real-life romance. Or so it seemed.
LeAnn was born on July 27, 1954 in Iowa, USA, and raised on a farm in Guthrie County. She received a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, after three years of study and maintained a 3.93 grade-point average. She received the Robert Bliss Award as top-ranking senior in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and won a national William Randolph Hearst Award for feature-writing as an undergraduate.
When she was fifteen, LeAnn wrote her first romance novel and burned it. She burned five more complete manuscripts before submitting to a publisher on Friday the Thirteenth. In 1984, the first submission was accepted by Harlequin, the only publisher to look at it, and was published. She writes using the name Leigh Michaels, a combination of her own name and that of her husband Michael W. Lemberger, an artist/photographer. Now, she is the author of more than 85 contemporary romances for Harlequin. She writes sweet, traditional romances, set in Midwestern cities or small towns, and emphasising family values.
More than 27 million copies of her books have been printed, worldwide, in 650 editions. Her work has been translated and published in 120 countries in more than 20 languages, including Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, German, Finnish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Bulgarian, Turkish, Hebrew, Chinese, Korean and Japanese. She was the guest of honour at an autograph party sponsored by Mills & Boons' Japanese division, for readers who chose her as their favourite author, and was recipient of the 1994 Pioneer Award presented by Iowa Romance Novelists. Fifteen of her books have appeared on the Waldenbooks Romance Bestsellers List. Five of her books (Ties That Bind, The Lake Effect, Travelling Man, The Unlikely Santa, and The Daddy Trap) have been finalists for Best Traditional Romance novel of the year in the RITA contest, sponsored by Romance Writers of America and Family Secrets, received a reviewer's choice award from Romantic Times magazine.
She is the author of, Writing the Romance Novel with Leigh Michaels, a how-to-guide for romance writers, in addition to a series of audio tapes on writing and the romance genre. She teaches an annual seminar on the romance novel at the University of Iowa and has written articles for, Writer's Digest, and, The Writer. LeAnn also authored, Dear Leigh Michaels... A Novelist Answers the Most-Asked Questions about Getting Published; wherein, she addresses topics such as finding a publisher, contracts, rejection letters, pen names and writing query letters. She also wrote a cookbook entitled, A Taste of Love, featuring family recipes coupled with stories about the significance of each dish. Here, she reveals a long line of tradition in her family.
LeAnn and her husband reside in her native Iowa. They have been featured on Iowa Public Television. They have collaborated in "A Richer Dust Concealed" by Loren N. Horton, and co-authored some books: "Buxton Roots" with LeeAnn Dickey, "Mars Hill: A Living Legacy" and "Pilgrimage: The Mass of Pope John Paul II in Rural America".
