GREENWOOD, Leigh 1942-

PERSONAL:

Born September 16, 1942, in NC; father (an educator) and mother (an educator); married, 1972; wife's name, Anne (a nurse); children: Heather, Chris, Cameron. Education: University of North Carolina, B.A., M.A. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening.

ADDRESSES:

Office—P.O. Box 470761, Charlotte, NC 28226. E-mail—leighgwood@aol.com.

CAREER:

Writer. Worked for more than thirty years as a music teacher; also worked as a church organist and choir director. Guest on television programs, including Entertainment Tonight.

MEMBER:

Romance Writers of America (past member of board of directors; past president), Novelists Inc., PASIC.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Two Maggie Awards; twice named author of the year by Carolina Romance Writers; Bookstores that Care Network Award for best sequel; Romantic Times, six K.I.S.S. Awards and career achievement award.

WRITINGS:

ROMANCE NOVELS

Wyoming Wildfire, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1987.

Wicked Wyoming Nights, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1989.

Colorado Bride, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Seductive Wager, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Sweet Temptation, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1991.

Rebel Enchantress (also known as Bold Enchantress), Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1992.

Scarlet Sunset, Silver Nights, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1992.

Arizona Embrace, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Peg Sutherland) Only You, Harlequin Enterprises (Buffalo, NY), 1997.

Just What the Doctor Ordered, Silhouette Books (Buffalo, NY), 1998.

Married by High Noon, Silhouette Books (Buffalo, NY), 1999.

Winner's Circle, Volume 1, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Love on the Run, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Texas Bride, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Texas Homecoming, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Undercover Honeymoon, Silhouette Books (Buffalo, NY), 2002.

Born to Love, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Family Merger, Silhouette Books (Buffalo, NY), 2003.

Independent Bride, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 2004.

ROMANCE NOVELS; "THE COWBOYS" SERIES

Jake, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Ward, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Chet, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Buck, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Jake, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Pete, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Sean, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Drew, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Luke, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Matt, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 2001.

ROMANCE NOVELS; "SEVEN BRIDES" SERIES

Fern, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1994.

Iris, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1994.

Daisy, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Laurel, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Rose, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Lily, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Violet, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Also author of The Captain's Caress, Harlequin Enterprises (Buffalo, NY). Work represented in anthologies, including Old-Fashioned Southern Christmas, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1994; Their First Noel, Leisure Books (New York, NY), 1995; Christmas Spirit, Loveswept (New York, NY), 1997; and Winter Wonderland, Loveswept (New York, NY), 1999.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

The Reluctant Bride, a historical western romance novel.

SIDELIGHTS:

Leigh Greenwood told CA: "Okay, let's get the hard stuff out of the way right up front. I am a man. I know men aren't supposed to write romance, but I do, and I don't intend to quit. It's fun.

"If you're still mad, you can blame it on my wife. I wouldn't have known what romance was if, after I got married in 1972, romances hadn't started collecting all over the house. They were everywhere I looked, in the den, on the kitchen table, in the living room, stacked along one whole wall in the bedroom, even in the bathroom. When my wife wasn't cooking or taking care of the children, she was reading a romance. I admit I was a little supercilious about her choice of reading material. After all, I was reading Dickens, Hemingway, Austen, the classics! I started calling them her 'sin, lust, and passion' books. I said it so often that my daughter started calling them Mommy's 'celeste' passion books. I thought it was riotously funny. My wife didn't. One day, after what I'm certain was a typically rude remark (you have to understand I'd never read a romance, just looked at the covers and made a snap judgment), she threw a book at me and told me to read it or shut up.

"Being an obedient husband (my wife's expletive deleted!), I read the book. It was Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades. I loved it. To this day it's one of my favorite books. Being thoroughly hooked, I searched new and used bookstores until I'd collected every book Georgette Heyer ever wrote. After reading them all several times, I asked my wife to suggest some other books. Since I have a minor in history, she started me on a diet of the icons of early historical romance: Kathleen Woodiwiss, Rosemary Rogers, Jennifer Blake, Bertrice Small, and Johanna Lindsey. By now, I was completely addicted.

"Somewhere along the line, I read that women could make decent money (more than I could as a music teacher) writing historicals, so I tried to get my wife to write one. She told me she couldn't write, that I ought to write one. I said I couldn't think of a plot. This went back and forth for some time until I said if she'd give me a plot, I'd write a book. She said, 'I've lost everything.' It wasn't a plot, but it must have been enough. I sat down and started writing; 889 pages later, I had finished my first romance.

"I didn't know much about writing, and nothing at all about the romance market, so I had to write two more books and join the Romance Writers of America before I knew enough to sell my first book. Wyoming Wildfire was published in 1987. Since then I've written more than thirty other books and some novellas.

"I'm older than sixty now, so I call writing my mid-life crisis career. I taught music and worked as an organist and choir director for more than thirty years before retiring to write full-time. I've been married for more than thirty years. My wife is a nurse, but after years of working in a hospital on weekends to help make ends meet, she took a full-time job with a health maintenance organization. She said she was too old to be a hospital nurse any longer. I think having three children and being married to me just wore the poor lady down! We have three grown children, who are momentarily occupying distant parts of these United States. I enjoy gardening when I can find time off from writing and my duties as husband, father-at-a-distance, and slave to the family cat."