Ever wonder where authors are who seemed to have disappeared? I do. Especially when I’m procrastinating, like now, like when I have an eHarlequin online read due in 17 days and I’m waiting for the deadline to get a little closer so that I can feel adequately insane while I’m writing it. Sometimes, it’s easy to figure out where authors went. LaVyrle Spencer famously retired some years ago. Recently, Maggie Osborne announced her retirement. Then there are others where you are just left wondering……..
I sold my first book to Meteor Kismet Romance and there was a prolific Kismet author at the time named Lacey Dancer. Later, she published some Precious Gems, also under the name Lacey Dancer, then that was the last I heard of her. I found this site, and if you’re a book collector, they have extensive book collecting tips and some really cool old covers that lost me in nostalgia for awhile checking them out.
Back in the 80s when I was dreaming of writing romance someday these were some of lines I loved to read–Candlelight, Second Chance at Love, Tapestry….. According to this site, Lacey Dancer used to write under the name Sara Chance for Silhouette in the 80’s, and also wrote as Sydney Ann Clary. No clue to what she’s doing now, though.
Fayrene Preston wrote dozens of Loveswepts. I remember how awed I was to “meet” her on the Loveswept authors email list after I sold to Loveswept. After Loveswept went under, she did some Desires. She hasn’t had anything out in several years, though, so I have no clue where she is now–but I did come across this old cover of hers. The Loveswept authors called these the “Kleenex box” covers. I was thrilled that they dropped that look before my Loveswept came out. All the Kleenex box books looked the same, which may have contributed to the line’s demise.
Then the other day, I was wondering–where did Dara Joy go? Remember Knight of a Trillion Stars? Ahhh. I loved that book. So, what happened to her? I may be the last to know, but if you’re like me and haven’t heard, this is Dara’s side, and to be fair, this is Dorchester’s side.
And all I have to say is— :shocked:
Margery Scott says:
I’m very happy that the authors I love are still going strong!! :bananadance:
On June 3, 2005 at 7:00 am
Patricia says:
You know, was Rachel Ryan a pen name for Sandra Brown? For some reason, that just sorta popped in my head but I may totally wrong. I loved Janet Louise Roberts who wrote as Janette Radcliff too back in the early 80’s. She passed away years ago. 🙁
On June 3, 2005 at 8:04 am
Suzanne says:
Yes! Rachel Ryan was one of Sandra Brown’s pen names. She also wrote as Erin St. Claire and Laura Jordan. And that Second Chance at Love book by Johanna Phillips was a pen name for Dorothy Garlock! It’s always fascinating to me to look back on the early careers of star authors. It’s absolutely amazing how many category romances Sandra Brown wrote. (Not as many as Nora, but still.. A lot!)
On June 3, 2005 at 8:10 am
Lynn says:
Thanks for the link to the Dorchester side of the Dara Joy thing. I knew about the lawsuit, and had read the story on Dara’s site, but had never seen Dorchester’s response. The whole situation has always made me wonder about submitting to them.
On June 3, 2005 at 9:16 am
Rene says:
Oh, I remember the Tapestries so well. I had a ton of them. I had original Jude Devearaux’s in my collection.
Sometimes I find the author hasn’t disappeared so much as my tastes have changed.
On June 3, 2005 at 9:22 am
mary beth says:
Whoa and Yikes on the Dara Joy/Dorchester lawsuit. I wonder if it’s something like the Dixie Chicks and Sony?
One of my favorite Super authors is Margot Early. I miss her stories so much! But I’ve heard she’ll be back in 2006. My fingers are crossed.
On June 3, 2005 at 9:33 am
Mary says:
It’s fun to look at all the covers. I always hate to hear about publishers that aren’t fair with writers. We always get screwed!:sad:
On June 3, 2005 at 9:47 am
Jill says:
I didn’t know Maggie Osborne had retired.
On June 3, 2005 at 10:18 am
Sharon says:
I LOVED Tapestry and Loveswept.
On June 3, 2005 at 10:20 am
Kelly says:
Wow, I didn’t know about this stuff with Dorchestor. How awful for the author.
On June 3, 2005 at 10:59 am
Robyn says:
It’s always fair to hear both sides of the story; it is too bad that it has come down to this, though.
On June 3, 2005 at 11:08 am
Suzanne says:
The Maggie Osborne retirement is really recent. It’s reported in the July RT.
On June 3, 2005 at 11:16 am
Jorie says:
Suzanne, your blog has become difficult to read on safari. Has someone made some changes? (I often read it on my lj list, but I’m thinking for others who come by and can’t see the posts all that well.) I have Mac O/S X using safari. It’s fine if I use internet explorer though.
I just thought you should know since you have such a nice page here! But right now the print is on the dark background. Funnily enough, the comments show up fine.
On June 3, 2005 at 11:19 am
Suzanne says:
Jorie, thanks for telling me! I’ll check this out with my designer guru and see what I can do!
On June 3, 2005 at 11:22 am
Tori says:
Jorie, I use Safari exclusively and I’m not having that problem. Strange.
On June 3, 2005 at 11:46 am
Jorie says:
Yes, strange. Well, if it’s just me, it’s not serious, as I read Suzanne’s posts elsewhere and the comments here. I’m thinking of others who stop by.
What’s odd is the posts were on a light background when the new design first came on.
On June 3, 2005 at 12:22 pm
Suzanne says:
Jorie, I’ve emailed my designer to have her look into it! I appreciate you telling me about it–anytime anyone has a problem with my site, I want to know! I can’t think of anything that’s changed since the design went up, but I don’t know anything about this techy stuff.
On June 3, 2005 at 12:28 pm
Amy K. says:
Thanks for the links to Dara Joy’s story and Dorchester’s version. I’ve heard a lot of talk but had never read both sides. Scary.
On June 3, 2005 at 12:51 pm
Danni says:
Suzanne~ check out Barb Deane’s website, where she has a great ‘where are they now?” page. According to her “Lacey Dancer, aka S.A. Cook, Sherry Carr, Sara Chance, and Sydney Ann Clary – I recently received word that Ms. Dancer has started her own publishing company, Clear Ice Publishing. She has published “The Many Faces of Love” a story abou the father of the triplet heroes in her 3 previous books which apparently was scheduled to be published by Kismet but the company folded before publishing it. She plans to publish more books in the future.”
Also,
“Fayrene Preston, aka Jaelyn Conlee, most recently published a Silhouette Desire, #1342 in January 2001 entitled THE BARONS OF TEXAS: KIT. I just got an email from her: “Unfortunately, over the past few years, I have had health problems that have slowed me down. I assure you, though, that I’m still here and am under contract with Silhouette Desire. I’m hoping my next book with them will be done and published next year. No title as yet.” You can email her yourself for more information.”
On June 3, 2005 at 2:20 pm
Suzanne says:
Wow, Danni! You are full of cool information!! Thanks!!
On June 3, 2005 at 2:41 pm
Jordan says:
I miss Dara so much. I loved her books. She’s still on my keeper shelf. I wish they could get something worked out, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Too much water under the bridge.:fryingpan:
On June 3, 2005 at 3:15 pm
Anna Lucia says:
It’s certainly very scary – and to be honest, it’s hard to say who comes out looking worst.
On June 3, 2005 at 5:11 pm
Sasha says:
OMG! I had that WILLOW book by LLM! LOl
Another author I wonder about is Catherine Hart. I still have her series about Native indians, and a Pirate series too. I loved them!
On June 3, 2005 at 5:12 pm
Steph T. says:
Yeesh – lawyer stuff. *shudders* Thanks for giving both sides of the story.:wave:
On June 3, 2005 at 9:13 pm
Mechele Armstrong says:
Thanks for the link to Dorchester’s side. Scary stuff. And sad because I really love Dara’s books. And neat on the “where are they now.”
On June 4, 2005 at 7:20 pm
ruby55 says:
I don’t know if you people who went to Dara’s website saw that she’s in the process of putting out her second self-published book. You others probably don’t know that. “That Familiar Touch” was published July 2004 by House of Sages. I don’t know if that’s her own house or a group publisher. Another is being released next month. The orders for it had to be in by the end of April. Though the main story and novella were good as stories, the grammar, spelling and form left quite a lot to be desired. That sometimes spoiled things for me as an English teacher. I was itching to get at the manuscript and correct all the mistakes. Dara herself said that she had been ill and hadn’t had the time to go over it before it had to be published. In “Kirkpatrick’s Woods” she spells forest “forrest” throughout the whole novella. She uses a lot of double-dashes, but sometimes in an odd way and visually it is very strange.
I can’t understand the “whys” and “wherefores” of legalese but it’s really too bad that she’s sort of in limbo. 🙁
The book also contains quite a number of letters that readers had written her.
On June 6, 2005 at 8:57 pm
Suzanne says:
Oh, Sigrun, that’s just so sad! 😥
On June 6, 2005 at 9:05 pm
Teresa says:
I’m a big fan of Margot Early’s as well. I’ve never been able to find anything about why there hasn’t been anything new. Also I would love to know what happened to Wynema McGowan. Her last book left me hanging on to what the next book could have been.
On June 6, 2005 at 9:38 pm
Christy K. says:
Anyone know what happened to Judith McNaught?
On June 8, 2005 at 7:56 am