It all came to a head with the The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards, which Mrs. Tang read to our third grade class. Sure, I'd been a voracious reader beforehand, but those Whangdoodles made an impression on me that lasted forever. The story was sheer magic, and it was the start of my life revolving around how often my mom could drive me to the library. My role changed from reading other people's creations to weaving my own whimsical stories when I became a camp counselor. I spent hours telling stories to the kids, making them up as I went along. I doubt they were up to Harlequin/Silhouette standards with proper GMC (goal-motivation-conflict), but I was in high demand on rainy days to entertain large groups of kids. The logical step of turning my stories to paper took a few more years, as I became distracted by college, law school, dabbling as a corporate lawyer and then working in the footwear industry. At first, I used my computer at work, pounding away until late at night (got lots of kudos for being at work so late - little did they know...heh heh heh). Once I got through my first couple of books and determined that yes, this was my passion, I bought a computer and set up shop in our bedroom. It took over 100 rejections and 18 completed manuscripts, but my dream finally came true! The day I sold, my husband came home from work with a rubber tree as a present. He said the reason I'd made it was because I'd kept bouncing back all those times when the rejections piled up and frustration seemed overwhelming. Unfortunately, my Labrador ate the tree the next day while I was at the day job, but the thought of that rubber tree still warms my heart. Can you see why I write romance? Because I live with my own hero every day. (Did I mention we met when I picked him up in a bar almost 10 years ago? That's a whole other story....) We share our home and our king-size bed with two Labradors and two cats, who graciously entertain each other while I'm working at the computer. You can email me at stephanie@stephanierowe.com.
