Laura GaleLaura Gale believes she has been training to write a romance novel since she first became acquainted with the written word-approximately when her mother started reading fairy tales to her. However, she never actually tried writing until she moved fro Arizona to Australia in 1998.

Partly, this was because the open-minded, pioneering spirit involved in changing countries made it seem perfectly natural to try something as 'different' as writing a book. However, from the practical side, this was also because her visa status restricted her employment opportunities-meaning that she had time to fill. Time, time, time and lots of it. For the first time in her life, she wasn't working and all her children were in school. She knew what this meant: she'd always said she'd write a book if she ever had time, so it was definitely time to try writing a book.

Laura researched the romance genre and the publishing industry. Then, she decided to approach writing her book like it was a regular part-time job: she wrote every day from 9 to 1, stopping to have lunch. If the writing was going especially well, she'd return to it after lunch. If not, she took care of other aspects of her life. Following numerous false starts, considerable re-writing and editing, she eventually ended up with a manuscript. That manuscript became the 2001 winner of the Emma Darcy Award, and was published by Silhouette as The Tie That Binds.

Laura Gale lives in Sydney with her husband and four sons, as well as a very busy dog, who prefers to be considered another human. Laura is currently working on her next romance novel, and continues to pursue her academic career as well. Soon, she hopes to wear the title 'doctor' and, more importantly, to be a bona fide expert in the field of women writers of early French and English novels. Laura's web address is www.laura-gale.com and she may be contacted via email at laura@laura-gale.com. Read More Read Less