Hooper, Kay 1957–

(Kay Robbins)

PERSONAL: Born October 30, 1957, in Atwater (some sources say Merced), CA; daughter of James Henry (a builder) and Martha Raye (a personnel manager) Hooper. Education: Attended Isothermal Community College, 1976–79.

ADDRESSES: Home—P.O. Box 370, Bostic, NC 28018. E-mail—kay@kayhooper.com.

CAREER: Writer and novelist, 1980–.

MEMBER: National Association for the Self-Employed, Romance Writers of America (charter member), American Crime Writers League, Private Eye Writers of America, Novelists Inc., North Carolina Romance Writers (charter member).

AWARDS, HONORS: Romantic Times, Love and Laughter Award, 1984, for "body of work," Best Ecstasy Award, Reviewers Choice Awards, 1984, for On Wings of Magic, Best Loveswept Award, Reviewers Choice Awards, 1986, for Time after Time; Silver Certificate, Affaire de Coeur, 1988, for Unmasking Kelsey; Romantic Times, Special Achievement Award in Historical Series, Reviewers Choice Awards, 1988, for Golden Flame, and Contemporary Romantic Mystery Award, Reviewers Choice Awards, 1991, for Crime of Passion; Career Achievement Award, Contemporary Romance, 1991; Maggie Award, best short contemporary category, Georgia Romance Writers, 1993, for The Touch of Max; Maggie Award, best mainstream category, and Best Futuristic Award, Reviewers Choice Awards, Romantic Times, both 1993, both for The Wizard of Seattle.

WRITINGS:

ROMANCE NOVELS

Lady Thief, Dell (New York, NY), 1981.

Mask of Passion, Dell (New York, NY), 1982.

Breathless Surrender, Dell (New York, NY), 1982.

Breathless Summer, Dell (New York, NY), 1982.

On Wings of Magic, Dell (New York, NY), 1983.

CJ's Fate, Bantam (New York, NY), 1984.

Something Different, Bantam (New York, NY), 1984.

Pepper's Way, Bantam (New York, NY), 1984.

If There Be Dragons, Bantam (New York, NY), 1984.

Illegal Possession, Bantam (New York, NY), 1985.

Rebel Waltz, Bantam (New York, NY), 1986.

Time after Time, Bantam (New York, NY), 1986.

Rafe: The Maverick, Bantam (New York, NY), 1986.

Larger than Life, Bantam (New York, NY), 1986.

Adelaide: The Enchantress, Bantam (New York, NY), 1987.

(With Iris Johansen) Matilda, the Adventuress, Bantam (New York, NY), 1987.

(With Johansen) Sydney, the Temptress, Bantam (New York, NY), 1987.

(With Johansen) Copper Fire, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

Summer of the Unicorn, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

Velvet Lightning, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

(With Johansen) Golden Flame, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

Enemy Mine, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1989.

House of Cards, Avon (New York, NY), 1991.

The Haviland Touch, Jove (New York, NY), 1991.

Crime of Passion, Avon (New York, NY), 1991.

Holiday Spirit, Avon (New York, NY),1991.

(With Johansen and Fayrene Preston) The Delaney Christmas Carol (trilogy of novellas; includes "Christmas Future" by Hooper), Doubleday (New York, NY), 1992.

The Wizard of Seattle, Bantam (New York, NY), 1993.

Masquerade, Jove (New York, NY), 1994.

The Haunting of Josie, Loveswept (New York, NY), 1994.

Amanda, Bantam (New York, NY), 1995.

After Caroline, Bantam (New York, NY), 1996.

Finding Laura, Bantam (New York, NY), 1997.

Haunting Rachel, Bantam (New York, NY), 1998.

Once a Thief, Bantam (New York, NY), 2002.

Always a Thief, Bantam (New York, NY), 2003.

Enchanted, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Elusive, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2004.

The Real Thing, Berkley Sensation (New York, NY), 2004.

Lady Thief, Berkley Sensation (New York, NY), 2004.

(With Lisa Kleypas) Girls of Love, Avon (New York, NY), 2006.

Golden Threads, Bantam (New York, NY), 2006.

"ONCE UPON A TIME" SERIES

Golden Threads, Loveswept (New York, NY), 1989.

The Glass Shoe, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1989.

What Dreams May Come, Loveswept (New York, NY), 1990.

Through the Looking Glass, Loveswept (New York, NY), 1990.

The Lady and the Lion, Loveswept (New York, NY), 1990.

Star-crossed Lovers, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1990.

The Matchmaker, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1991.

"BISHOP SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT" SERIES

Out of the Shadows, Bantam (New York, NY), 2000.

Hiding in the Shadows, Bantam (New York, NY), 2000.

Stealing Shadows, Bantam (New York, NY), 2000.

Touching Evil, Bantam (New York, NY), 2001.

Whisper of Evil (second in a series), Bantam, (New York, NY), 2002.

Sense of Evil (third in a series), Bantam (New York, NY), 2003.

Hunting Fear, Bantam (New York, NY), 2004.

Chill of Fear, Bantam (New York, NY), 2005.

Sleeping with Fear, Bantam (New York, NY), 2006.

"HAGEN" SERIES

In Serena's Web, Bantam (New York, NY), 1987.

Raven on the Wing, Bantam (New York, NY), 1987.

Rafferty's Wife, Bantam (New York, NY), 1987.

Zach's Law, Bantam (New York, NY), 1987.

The Fall of Lucas Kendrick, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

Unmasking Kelsey, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

Outlaw Derek, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

Shades of Gray, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

Captain's Paradise, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

It Takes a Thief, Bantam (New York, NY), 1989.

Aces High, Bantam (New York, NY), 1989.

"MEN OF MYSTERIES PAST" SERIES

The Touch of Max, Bantam (New York, NY), 1993.

All for Quinn, Harlequin (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1993.

The Trouble with Jared, Harlequin (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1993.

Hunting the Wolfe, Bantam (New York, NY), 1993.

ROMANCE NOVELS; UNDER PSEUDONYM KAY ROBBINS

Return Engagement, Second Chance (Sag Harbor, NY), 1982.

Taken by Storm, Second Chance (Sag Harbor, NY), 1983.

Elusive Dawn, Second Chance (Sag Harbor, NY), 1983.

Kissed by Magic, Second Chance (Sag Harbor, NY), 1983.

Moonlight Rhapsody, Second Chance (Sag Harbor, NY), 1984.

Eye of the Beholder, Second Chance (Sag Harbor, NY), 1985.

Belonging to Taylor, Second Chance (Sag Harbor, NY), 1986.

On Her Doorstep, Second Chance (Sag Harbor, NY), 1986.

SIDELIGHTS: Kay Hooper is a prolific novelist who has been publishing since 1981. Her works include mysteries and science fiction fantasies, but her most popular works are romance novels. According to Barbara E. Kemp in Twentieth-Century Romance and Historical Writers, Hooper is "one of the best of the contemporary romance writers now at work. She has created some memorable characters and placed them in intriguing circumstances. She has also shown a willingness to expand the limits of romance fiction."

One of Hooper's popular series features Hagen, the mysterious leader of a group of undercover agents. According to Kemp, "Hagen himself remains very much in the background," but his directives spin a series of agents into one romantic adventure after another. Another series, "Men of Mysteries Past," explores the romantic encounters of men and women linked by their desire to protect a valuable collection of gem stones. The four novels in this series, Kemp reported, "all display Hooper's standard of great characters, intriguing plots and just the right amount of humour." The author sustains the suspense throughout the series, Kemp suggested, by waiting "until the last of these titles to explain fully the plot and characters linking the stories."

In some of Hooper's novels, romance plays a secondary role in the development of the plot. Crime of Passion is a murder mystery featuring private investigator Lane Montana, who has a special talent for locating missing people and lost items. Like many of Hooper's tales, this one takes place in America's South. Amanda is a darker mystery about a young woman who returns to the family plantation to claim her heritage (and inheritance) after a twenty-year hiatus. Amanda struggles to document her identity by recalling the circumstances that prompted her sudden flight, as a child in the company of her panicked mother. As her memory of the past improves, a series of bizarre and dangerous accidents ensue, leading to a suspenseful climax and an ending that caught some critics by surprise. Amanda was a mainstream success, featured as an alternate selection of both the Literary Guild and the Doubleday Book Club.

After Caroline propels Hooper's mysteries into the realm of the supernatural. The protagonist, Joanna Flynn, begins to experience nightmares and voices that seem to be overpowering her own personality. In order to free herself from the frightening dreams, she must solve the mystery of a murder that occurred thousands of miles from her native Atlanta. As with previous novels, reviewers praised Hooper's talent for developing realistic characters, irresistible suspense, and clever puzzles that engage the reader's attention right to the surprising end.

Hooper has also ventured into science fiction and fantasy. The novel Summer of the Unicorn is, according to Kemp, "the story of a quest for a myth and dreams." Set in a future time and place, the hero searches for a unicorn that will make him a king, while the heroine must defend all the mythical creatures in the Valley of the Unicorns. Together they fight the forces of evil, personified by the hero's brother, and search for a way to find happiness forever. In The Wizard of Seattle, a master wizard and his would-be apprentice challenge two ancient taboos of the trade: women cannot become magicians, and wizards cannot live in harmony with women. The star-crossed lovers must travel through time to ancient Atlantis to solve their dilemma. Only by changing the past can they find happiness and fulfillment in the present.

Rachel Grant, the heroine of Haunting Rachel, encounters the ghost of her long-dead fiancé, a pilot who disappeared in South America when Rachel was still a teenager. While straightening up some family business in Virginia, Rachel meets Adam Delafield, who is a dead ringer for her late fiancé. Adam insists on repaying a three-million-dollar debt he owed her father, but she is not sure whether she can trust him. Advised in turn by her lawyer and a business associate, both of whom appear to have their own agendas, Rachel finds herself doubting everything and trusting no one, especially when her life is repeatedly endangered. "Death is a permeable membrane, not a brick wall" for Hooper, wrote a reviewer for Publishers Weekly, who noted that the book features "CIA escapades, South American dictatorships, and judge-fixing." Reviewer Kid Uden Rutter, writing in the Library Journal, noted that "the touches of the supernatural here are not as integral to the plot" as in Hooper's previous mystery, Finding Laura, but Patty Engelmann of Booklist recommended the book as one that "keeps you on your toes with plenty of suspects and motives to choose from as well as a ghostly intervention or two."

Stealing Shadows, the first book in a trilogy of suspense novels that form the beginning of the "Bishop Special Crimes Unit" series, features Cassie Neill, a psychic with the perhaps unenviable ability to see into the minds of serial killers and rapists. She moves to a remote area in North Carolina after resigning from the Los Angeles Police Department, but her disturbing visions prompt her to consult the town's prosecuting attorney, who finds Cassie irresistible. Whitney Scott, writing in Booklist, called Stealing Shadows a "tale charged with deeply felt dread and romance that will steal readers' hearts." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly complimented "the story's complicated and intriguing twists and turns [that] keep the reader guessing until the chilling ending."

Hooper's "Evil" trilogy, also part of the "Bishop" series, kicks off with Touching Evil, a novel that melds elements of the police procedural and the paranormal. Maggie Barnes is a Seattle woman with the ability to feel others' pain. As an "empath," as she is called, she uses her powers in her work as a police sketch artist. She is stumped, however, when she is drawn into a case in which the rapist wears a mask and blinds his victims. FBI agents who also have psychic abilities are assigned to the case, but their work is frequently at odds with Maggie's. The series continues with Whisper of Evil and Sense of Evil.

In Sense of Evil, FBI profiler Isabel Adams travels to Hastings, South Carolina, to help local sheriff Rafe Sullivan investigate the work of a serial killer. The killer preys on successful, professional blonde women—Isabel's involvement in the case is no less ironic for the fact that she is herself a successful blonde woman. The fact that she could also be a potential target for the killer does not escape her notice, nor Sullivan's. As the two pursue the investigation, an attraction forms between them, which helps the pragmatic lawman to overcome his initial disbelief in Isabel's FBI unit of psychics. The serial killer is not the only obstacle the investigators must overcome, as small-town secrets and those desperate to keep them complicate matters. Hooper "has a good handle on bringing truly evil events to the reader," commented S.A. Gorden in Reviewer's Bookwatch, who concluded that the novel is a "good mystery and a great paranormal tale."

The third trilogy in the "Bishop" series opens with Hunting Fear. An especially sadistic serial killer is stalking the area around Golden, North Carolina. The killer sometimes demands ransom, but fails to bother to pick it up. Instead, he leaves his tortured victims alive in brutally painful situations that they might be able to escape—if the police or rescuers arrive in time. Efforts to save the multiple victims have been unsuccessful. When local law enforcement reaches the limits of its abilities, the FBI's Special Crimes Unit is called in to investigate. Headed by agent Lucas Jordan, the SCU is a group of psychics and others with paranormal abilities who put their talents to use solving difficult crimes. Jordan receives unexpected assistance from psychic Samantha Burke, a former lover who is in town as part of a traveling sideshow act. Despite the SCU's assistance, other victims are targeted, including members of the police force. When the killer sets his diabolical sights on Samantha, Jordan must control his reactions and manage to engage his own latent psychic talents to solve the case. Hooper "bases this thriller on an unusual premise that is credible and intriguing," remarked Kliatt reviewer Carol Kellerman. A Publishers Weekly contributor stated: "This is a solid entry in the annals of paranormal crime-solving."

The second book in the trilogy, Chill of Fear, brings the Special Crimes Unit to a remote, foreboding Tennessee hotel, the Lodge, where evil forces are on the prowl. Well known as an establishment that caters to the special needs of the rich and famous, the Lodge is a local landmark where detox sessions and sexual liaisons are all treated with the same discreet silence. The disappearance of a young girl, the sixth in the previous few decades, brings SCU chief Noah Bishop and new recruit, telepath Quentin Hayes, into the search. The two manage to locate the girl unharmed, but decide that they should work to rid the place of the evil influence. Quentin has a secondary reason to stay: rich and beautiful Diana Brisco, a guest at the Lodge who is undergoing a doctor-ordered course of art therapy. Diana has spent much of her life in an overmedicated haze, but Hayes realizes that she is a powerful psychic whose abilities have been dampened by the endless succession of psychotropic drugs. Slowly, Hayes helps her recognize her abilities and assists her in getting away from the drugs—just in time, as her talents will be needed in the upcoming struggle against the Lodge's evil resident. Booklist reviewer Jenny McLarin concluded that "the novel is well worth reading for the scary ride it provides."

Even though she writes often in the supernatural suspense genre, Hooper manages frequent returns to the romance field. In Always a Thief, she revisits the characters from her "Men of Mysteries Past" series. This novel is the first of a series of "reimagined" novels featuring characters and concepts from her previous works with the addition of paranormal elements. At the beginning of the novel, notorious cat burglar Quinn has been shot, and he seeks help from exhibition director Morgan West. West engages the services Max Bannister, a wealthy, straightforward individual who inexplicably hurries to Quinn's aid. As the story progresses, Quinn and West discover that Bannister is an Interpol agent trailing a thief and murderer known as Nightshade—and in some way, Bannister believes that Quinn can help him uncover the villain before he kills again. A Publishers Weekly reviewer found the mystery to be "tame" and wondered if new readers would be confused without having read the earlier "Men of Mysteries Past" stories. However, the reviewer concluded that "fans of Hooper's paranormal thrillers will turn out in droves for this slim offering."

Hooper has won awards in all of the genres she employs: romance, fantasy, and mystery. Kemp summarized that "Hooper writes with humor and passion, develops her characters well, and is adept at creating intriguing plots. Her continued willingness to experiment and expand the limits of the genre contribute to her status and importance in the field."

Hooper once told CA: "I have a file drawer full of quotations and a study full of books. It seems obvious that my strongest motivation for beginning my professional career was a simple love of words. I wrote bad poetry as a teenager, read voraciously, and continually marveled at the (to me) mysterious abilities of the people who strung words together—which were, in print, compelling. Now that I have written many books myself, I know that writing is difficult, frustrating, exhilarating, and a lonely business altogether.

"Due to my writing, I have traveled to several major cities across this country, met hundreds of fellow writers and thousands of readers. I have known the quiet joy of good reviews and the depression of bad ones. An innately reticent person, I have learned to overcome intimidation while meeting and conversing with strangers, speaking before groups, and dealing with editors, publishers, agents, and booksellers.

"When I began my career, I knew no other writers, had never traveled, and knew nothing of the business into which I had the great good fortune to be accepted. Several years and a considerable number of books later, I have learned a great deal. I have learned to pay close attention to comments and letters from fans and booksellers, to keep a watch on the market in general and my own field in particular, and never to forget that I must please myself with my work before it will please others.

"The restrictions within my own field of romance fiction were many when I began writing. There were guidelines to be observed, a 'formula' to follow, and innumerable rules intended never to be broken. Romance was not 'serious' fiction and could not, therefore, deal with 'serious' topics or conflicts. References to religion, race, and current social issues were strongly discouraged. Yet a heroine could not be 'merely a housewife' or have no career, due to the influence of the women's movement. Our characters were not allowed to curse, except mildly; never engaged in sexual intercourse, except behind closed doors (and only after marriage); and lived their fictional lives in the 'everlasting present.' There was little, if any, humor because romance was considered a sober—if not serious—business.

"However, things were changing, slowly, even as I began my career at the beginning of the 1980s. Perhaps the women's movement was the initial catalyst, or perhaps the 'consumer' was simply becoming more sophisticated. As publisher after publisher leaped happily onto the bandwagon to take advantage of the booming romance market, it became obvious that a wide variety of supply was necessary to satisfy a growing demand.

"First came the sensual romance, and writers were encouraged to supply 'hot' love scenes in their stories. The pendulum swung widely on that issue, from the previous chaste kiss at the end of the final chapter to the new demand for 'spicy' love scenes throughout a story, written with the bedroom (or kitchen, or living room, or …) door standing open. Authors strained to supply 'new and fresh' ideas to satisfy a demanding audience, and some inevitably wound up contorting their characters in wild positions in the effort to find a new and fresh means of conducting what was, after all, an ancient and widely described activity.

"The sensual romance has never died, but a knowledgeable audience did complain about ridiculous positions and gratuitous sex. Other elements began creeping into category romance as, one after one—and sometimes with protest—strictures fell away. Heroines became stronger, without approaching Superwoman status, and their reactions to problems and conflicts became believable. Heroes were freed from their bastard-in-residence bondage and were allowed to show some sensitivity; they often fell in love before the heroine, and they fought their way compassionately through her problems or hang-ups to find the happy ending they desired.

"Though the traditional 'formula' of boy-meets-girl-and-they-struggle-for-a-happy-ending remained true, innumerable variations on the theme began to emerge. Outdated and worn-out devices such as the 'other woman' and 'other man' became less common; marriages of convenience were set aside as overworked; and the traditionally 'perfect' hero and heroine began to show very human flaws. Misunderstandings as plot devices all but disappeared; communication between characters became the order of the day.

"Humor emerged as readers discovered that love could laugh while continuing to take itself seriously. Offbeat characters and plots; fast, witty dialogue; and elements of mystery, intrigue, and adventure crept into the genre.

"The impossible became possible, even inevitable. Strong special issues began to appear, to be dealt with within the context of a romance. Some experiments fell by the wayside, as some always do. Readers were not prepared to accept totally realistic romances, and disliked those stories in which other elements proved stronger than romance. They protested adultery and infidelity within a committed relationship. Yet they approved explorations of a less precise nature, embracing stories containing ESP, ghosts, and reincarnation. They continued to enjoy humor and passion and characters with strong and well-developed personalities."

Hooper added, "An editor of mine once told me that she had often seen two submissions arrive, containing similar material. Her remark was that all writers were exposed to certain influences which colored their work. We read, watch television, see movies. We watch the news and subscribe to magazines. Inevitably, we are all made aware of the world around us. Because we are writers, continually in search of material, we sow our minds with the seeds of everything we encounter. With generations of writing behind us, we find little that is original, except our own individual manner of telling what is—after all—a very ancient story. Men and women have always struggled to find one another, despite the roadblocks between them, and writers have tried in various ways to tell their stories.

"Though I was legally an adult when my first book was published, I came of age writing romances. I absorbed the changes—the growth—of the world around me, and much of that found its way into my books. As my ability to write grew, so, thankfully, did the genre in which I wrote. There are fewer rules now, fewer restrictions. The basic story of romance remains, but the variations are infinite. I could not have chosen a better genre in which to learn my craft, and I have no regrets."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Twentieth-Century Romance and Historical Writers, 3rd edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1994.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 1996, Melanie Duncan, review of After Caroline, p. 570; November 1, 1998, Patty Engelmann, review of Haunting Rachel, p. 477; September 1, 2000, Whitney Scott, review of Stealing Shadows, p. 70; July, 2005, Jenny McLarin, review of Chill of Fear, p. 1905.

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2005, review of Chill of Fear, p. 605.

Kliatt, March, 2004, Nola Theiss, review of Sense of Evil, p. 54; January, 2005, Carol Kellerman, review of Hunting Fear, p. 44.

Library Journal, October 15, 1995, Marion Hanscom, review of Amanda, p. 88; November 1, 1998, Kim Uden Rutter, review of Haunting Rachel, p. 125; May 15, 2004, Kristin Ramsdell, review of Enchanted, p. 72; November 15, 2004, Kristin Ramsdell, review of The Real Thing, p. 48.

Publishers Weekly, May 17, 1993, review of The Wizard of Seattle, p. 73; October 2, 1995, review of Amanda, pp. 56-57; October 14, 1996, p. 63; November 16, 1998, review of Haunting Rachel, p. 56; August 14, 2000, review of Stealing Shadows, p. 333; June 18, 2001, review of Touching Evil, p. 66; May 12, 2003, review of Always a Thief, p. 50; August 2, 2004, review of Hunting Fear, p. 54; June 20, 2005, review of Chill of Fear, p. 55.

Reviewer's Bookwatch, January, 2005, S.A. Gorden, review of Sense of Evil.

School Library Journal, February, 1997, Anita B. Short, review of After Caroline, p. 134.

ONLINE

Kay Hooper Home Page, http://www.kayhooper.com (March 25, 2006).