Catherine Spencer fell into writing by happy accident. Approaching menopause and ready for a change of career while she could still walk and chew gum at the same time, she eavesdropped on a conversation about writing for Harlequin and decided this was too good a challenge to pass up.
With the blithe ignorance of a non-swimmer leaping into a shark-infested pool, she resigned from her job as a high school English teacher and fired off her first submission to Harlequin Mills & Boon's editorial staff. Although her first two submissions were rejected, the third effort made the grade.
Since then, she's sold over 25 books; 24 of them to Harlequin and most of them selected for the Presents Line. The Loving Touch, her third novel, was a short contemporary finalist for the Romance Writers' of America's prestigious RITA Award.
Her March '99 release, Dante's Twins, was the number one Presents' seller in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Her books have been translated into more than 17 languages and distributed in nearly 30 foreign markets.
In between deadlines, she has taught courses on writing series romance at both the college and continuing education level, as well as presenting workshops at the RWA's national conference in St. Louis and New York, to various affiliated chapters throughout the Pacific Northwest, and at the Surrey Writers' Conference in British Columbia. With friend and fellow writer Judith Bowen, she is a co-sponsor of the biennial Singletree Workshop, an acclaimed weekend retreat for romance writers drawing participants from all over North America.
In May 1997, Catherine was one of the two British Columbia authors invited to represent Harlequin for the gala opening of Chapters' flagship bookstore in Calgary, Alberta. The following month, she flew to Long Island, New York, the only Canadian among a lineup of 20 well-known Harlequin writers, to take part in the television series special, Harlequin Goes Prime Time. In 1999, she represented Harlequin in its cross-Canada touring exhibit celebrating five decades of romance and was in Calgary again for Valentine's Day 2000, as part of the company's ongoing promotion of romance in the new millennium.
Catherine is married and lives with her husband in White Rock, a small seaside community south of Vancouver, British Columbia. She has four grown children, five grandchildren, two dogs and a cat, all of which are perfect! She has yet to find the perfect house, though, and despite repeated promises never to do so again, continues to persuade her husband to undertake renovations which always turn out to be more extensive and costly than she envisaged.
In her limited spare time, she enjoys swimming, walking, reading, playing the piano, collecting antiques, and growing tropical plants. She once drove from B.C. to North Dakota and spent a week cruising small-town auctions there and in South Dakota and Minnesota, looking for small antique items to bring home. She ended up renting the biggest U-Haul trailer her car could tow, and had it stuffed to the roof with furniture. Ever since, her husband refuses to let her leave town unless he's along for the ride!
Catherine loves to hear from her readers and can be contacted through her website at: www.catherinespencer.com; or via regular mail at P.O. Box 45068, Ocean Park R.P.O., Surrey, BC, V4A 9L1, Canada, or P.O. Box 1713, Blaine, WA 98231, U.S.A.
