Yosemite Romance Writers is very pleased to be able to offer so many varied online courses and is also very fortunate to have such talented authors who are willing to impart their knowledge.  Please see the mini biographies below and click on their books for purchase at Amazon.com

Lori Wilde~~

Lori Wilde has sold fifty-two novels to four major New York publishing houses.

She is an instructor for a company who provides online community education to over 1600 colleges and universities. Lori is a past RITA finalist and has four times been nominated for Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. She’s won the Colorado Award of Excellence, the Wisconsin Write Touch Award, The Lories, The More Than Maggie, the Golden Quill and The BestBooks of 2006 Book Award. Her books have been translated into 22 languages and excerpted in Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Complete Woman and Quick and Simple magazines. She’s appeared numerous times on the Waldenbook’s bestseller list and Ingram’s Top 50.

She holds a bachelors degree in nursing from Texas Christian University and a certificate in forensics. She volunteers as a sexual assault first responder for Freedom House, a shelter for battered women. She has also served as the RWA National conference workshop chair and PAN retreat chair. She lives in Texas with her husband, Bill.

Carolina Valdez~~

Carolina Valdez was multi-published and an award-winning freelance writer prior to selling her first romance to an electronic publisher. For fun, six years ago she dared herself to enter Amber Quill Press’s contest for erotic short stories. Dark Stranger was a winner, and she’s been happily writing for their Heat and Allure imprints ever since. She’s had novellas place in The Lories, and her first gay romance.

Tie ’Em Up, Hold ’Em Down, finaled in the Passionate Plume 2009 Contest–Novella Division. Smoldering Embers, her latest paperback release, is a collection of her Passionate Plume finalist, its sequel, Hangin’ With My Window Man, and Hole in One, a stand-alone.

Lure, her erotic heterosexual crime novella, was a 2007 EPPIE finalist. So far, all of her gay stories have hit Amber Quill Press’s Top Ten Best Seller lists.

Lyndi Lamont~~

Lyndi Lamont, aka Linda McLaughlin, sold her first romance novel in 1997 to Kensington Precious Gems. Since then she has written historical and Regency romance for Amber Quill Press and erotic romance, including male/male, for the erotic imprints of AQP.

When Linda started thinking about trying her hand at erotic romance, she talked to a friend who said writing it was freeing, and she was right. Since becoming Lyndi Lamont, she has discovered that writing erotic romance is a license to be naughty, and at her age, those opportunities don’t come along very often!

Finding Jason, her gay Regency short story, was a finalist in the 2008 EPPIES contest in the GLBT category.

Regan Black~~

Regan Black is the award winning author of action-packed paranormal romance novels featuring alpha female heroines. She also writes short stories and,of course, blogs.

Raised in the Midwest and California, she now lives in the South Carolina Lowcountry where the abundance of history and legend fuels her imagination.

Writing alpha female characters gives her strength to balance the unfettered bliss of writing life with a household of engineers of all ages and an impressive domestic zoo starring two retired greyhounds, two cats, and three quirky birds.

Hillary Rettig~~

Hillary Rettig is a Boston-based author, coach and workshop leader who helps people overcome procrastination, perfectionism and blocks. For many years she has taught classes on that topic, and on writing for social change, at Grub Street Writers in Boston, and has also given workshops at creative, activist and business venues throughout the U.S.

She is author of The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way (Lantern Books, 2006), a guide to living a happy and productive life that includes a strong progressive mission, and is currently working on Secrets of the Prolific: The Definitive Guide to Overcoming Procrastination, Perfectionism and Writer’s Block, which will be out in 2010. Hillary is also a member of the New England chapter of RWA, and a graduate of the Clarion science fiction writing workshop. Learn more about her work, and download free ebooks on overcoming procrastination and other topics at her website .

Kara Lennox~~

Kara Lennox, a.k.a. Karen Leabo, has been refining her goal-setting techniques for more than twenty years. She set out on this path after a chance reading of a self-help book well before she sold her first novel. Now, fifty-something published books later, she feels her techniques have proven themselves over and over again in all areas of her life. Kara has written for Harlequin, Silhouette and Bantam Loveswept.

Currently she writes mostly for Harlequin American Romance, with three books released in 2008.

Martha Engber~~

Martha Engber is a professional writer, writing coach and author of Growing Great Characters From the Ground Up. A journalist by training. Martha has fourteen years of critique group experience. She’s a Pushcart Prize nominee and has had a full-length play produced in Hollywood and fiction published in Watchword, Iconoclast, Anthology, Bookpress, Berkeley Fiction Review and other literary magazines.

Colleen Collins~~

Colleen Collins is a PI by day, a multi-published author by night. Her articles on private investigations have appeared on various sites on the Internet as well as in PI Magazine, NINK (Novelists, Inc.), and other publications. Her accomplishments as a PI include uncovering bogus identities, locating an abducted child, catching cheating spouses, and taking videos of an injury claimant throwing a burning fastball. A member of the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA), Mystery Writers of America (MWA), and Romance Writers of America (RWA), she's written 20 novels for both Harlequin and Dorchester and has spoken at conferences and workshops (Pikes Peak Writers, Colorado Gold, Left Coast Crime) about writing private eyes in fiction.

Shaun Kaufman~~

Shaun Kaufman has worked in and around the criminal justice field for over 25 years, as a former trial attorney and a current investigator. He's published articles in PI magazine, the Denver Law Review, and authored numerous briefs for the Colorado Court of Appeals, Colorado Supreme Court, and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Shaun is a popular speaker at conferences, entertaining and educating writers with his insights and expertise about investigations, crime scenes, how PIs effectively testify in trials, and more. His father always told him to be a writer, not a lawyer.

D.D. Scott~~

D. D. Scott's romantic comedies are all about sexy, sassy, smart, career-driven women and the men who complete them. They're a bit chick lit with a gone-country twist. Her series, Bootscootin' Blahniks - think Sex and The City meets Urban Cowboy - is under consideration by several NY publishers.

She writes stories with big hearts and a bunch of sass. Once a small town newspaper crime reporter and now a HarperCollins Publishing Returns Center Executive Assistant, she's learned great fiction comes from the street as well as which jacket covers meet early deaths.

She's a member of Indiana RWA as well as RWA's Chick Lit Writers of the World Chapter and ScriptScene RWA. She's been featured in both Indiana RWA's and ScriptScene's chapter newsletters and been a guest blogger on Romance Writers on the Journey.

Amy Atwell~~

2008 Golden Heart® finalist Amy Atwell has experienced every aspect of writing contests. Having entered over 60 contests over the past ten years, her manuscripts have won the Winter Rose, Great Expectations, Beacon, Golden Gateway, Heart of Outreach contests and Award of Excellence. She has over 25 contest finals to her credit, including The Maggie, The Sheila and The Daphne du Maurier contests. Amy's also judged numerous contests including Romance Through The Ages, Great Expectations, The Golden Pen, The Barclay Sterling, More Than Magic, and she coordinated the 2009 Golden Pen Contest. In addition to her writing, Amy runs the WritingGIAM community of loops to help "PRO equivalent and up" writers achieve their writing goals.

A former theater professional, Amy's had two plays commissioned and produced. During her tenure as education director at Georgia Shakespeare Festival, Amy taught workshops to middle and high school students and developed and led a state accredited program for English teachers teaching Shakespeare's plays in the classroom. Amy holds an MA in Speech Communication and has worked as a writer/editor for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the National Park Service, and Virgina Tech.

Jessica Barksdale Inclán~~

Jessica Barksdale Inclán's debut novel Her Daughter's Eyes, published in 2001, was the premier novel published under New American Library's new imprint Accent. Her Daughter's Eyes was a final nominee for the YALSA Award for the best books of 2001 and best paperbacks for 2001 and has been published in Dutch and Spanish. Her next novel The Matter of Grace was published in May 2002 and was re-released in a mass market version in May 2004. Her third, When You Go Away, came out April 1, 2003. Her fourth, One Small Thing, was published April 2004, and has been published in Dutch and Spanish. Her fifth, Walking With Her Daughter, was published in April 2005. The Instant When Everything is Perfect was published in February 2006. In June 2006, she published the first in a trilogy from Kensington Books. When You Believe was followed by Reason to Believe and Believe in Me. Being with Him--the first in a second trilogy, was published February 2008 and the second, Intimate Beings, is due out October 2008. She is a 2002 recipient of the CAC Artist's Fellowship in Literature. Inclán teaches composition, creative writing, mythology, and women's literature at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California, and on-line creative writing courses for UCLA extension. She has studied with Sharon Olds, Anne Lamott, Kate Braverman, Grace Paley, Marjorie Sandor, and Cristina Garcia. Her short stories and poems have appeared in Rockhurst Review, Hotwired, The Salt Hill Journal, Free Lunch, The West Wind Review, The Prairie Star, Gargoyle and many other journals and newspapers. Her short story Open Eyes was given first prize by Sandra Cisneros for El Andar magazine's 2000 writing contest. She co-edited a women's literature/studies textbook Diverse Voices of Women (Mayfield Publishing, 1995). Ms. Inclán has degrees in sociology and English literature from CSU Stanislaus and a Master's degree in English literature from SFSU. Ms. Inclán lives in Oakland, California and is currently at work on her next novel.

Robin Matheson~~

Award winning author Robin Matheson holds an honors specialist degree in Classical Civilization and English and a Master of Education. She's taught numerous courses at college, overseas and more recently online courses on writing. One of Robin's greatest passions is traveling. In addition to their home base, she and her family have also lived in South East Asia and South Africa.

Jacqui Jacoby~~

When Jacqui Jacoby hits a conference or function, she never “works the room. She seeks out old friends and makes new ones as she listens and learns.

An award winning writer, she has penned non fiction articles for various RWA Chapter newsletters including The Kiss of Death, The Orange Blossom and The Heartbeat of Denver, as well as RWR Magazine. She has met with such notable authors as Nora Roberts, Suzanne Brockmann and Debbie Macomber. She has done phone interviews with editors and agents and she has conducted e mail interviews with Sandra Brown and Jayne Ann Krentz, just to name a few.

A graduate of UCLA, Jacqui lives in the Arizona mountains with her husband of twenty three years and their three semi grown children.

Susan Meier~~

Susan Meier is the author of over 35 books for Harlequin and Silhouette and one of Guideposts' Grace Chapel Inn series books, The Kindness of Strangers. Her books have been finalists for Reviewers Choice Awards, National Reader's Choice Awards and Cataromance.com Reviewer's Choice Awards.

Her 2007 release Her Pregnancy Surprise an October 2007 release was both a Walden Books bestseller and a bookscan bestseller! Her 2008 releases are MILLIONAIRE DAD, NANNY NEEDED! part of the Wedding Planners Continuity and HER BABY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS, a touching Christmas story sure to warm your heart!

Kerri Nelson~~

Kerri Nelson a multi-published author in romantic suspense has a degree in Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement. Kerri has more than 15 years experience in both the public and private legal field. Including an internship with the FBI, a state prosecutor, and a Juvenile Court Judge. In addition, Kerri worked for the U.S. Marine Corps and in the private sector, Kerri has worked with both major corporations and private law firms.

Kerri has always been passionate about reading books but when she wrote her first poem in the second grade, she discovered her love of writing. At the age of sixteen, she became a columnist for her local newspaper as the high school correspondent for the weekly "Panther Tales" column. She won the Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year Award for her efforts.

After an education and career in the legal field, Kerri began to pen romantic suspense novels with a legal or law enforcement theme. She is a true southern belle and comes complete with her dashing southern gentleman husband and two little belles-in-training. When she’s not reading or writing, you’ll find her baking homemade goodies for her family, feeding her addiction to blogging online or designing custom made book trailers. Kerri is an active member of Romance Writers of America as well as numerous Chapters including Southern Magic, Futuristic Fantasy & Paranormal, Hearts Through History, and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers.

Pollyanna Williamson~~

Pollyanna Williamson w/a Bestselling author Tambra Kendall and Keelia Greer www.tambrakendall.com www.keeliagreer.com Celtic Love Knots Vol. 9, Wicked Pleasures-Red Rose Publishing-Recommended Read! and 4.5 Blue Ribbons Romance Junkies. Goin' Down Anthology Book Two Aspen Mountain Press. Sanctuary Moon: First Howl. Cowboy of the Night www.writersgonewild.blogspot.com

Kristin Hardy~~

Three-time RITA nominee Kristin Hardy started out with Harlequin Blaze and now writes for Silhouette Special Edition. Her first novel, My Sexiest Mistake, won a National Readers’ Choice Award and was subsequently made into a movie by the Oxygen Network. She is a Waldenbooks bestseller and won a 2007 career achievement award for series romance from RT Bookclub magazine. She’s written five miniseries (trilogies, duets, and sextets (for Blaze, of course)) and participated in three continuities, most recently “The Fortunes of Texas: Return to Red Rock.” Her twenty-second book, "A Fortune Wedding," hit the shelves June 2009.

Louise Ahern~~

Louise Knott Ahern is an award-winning journalist with more than 12 years of experience as a reporter, editor and publicist in some of the biggest news markets in the country. When she’s not chasing down freelance articles or working on her own novel, she coaches authors on how to master the media and promote their books. Her online classes “PR Boot Camp” and “Pitching the Press” routinely sell out through AuthorMBA.com. She’s been published in the RWR and was for many years the content editor of the Orange County Chapter’s award-winning newsletter, The Orange Blossom. Her clients have used her coaching to get media attention from large and small press alike, including The Wall Street Journal, the Florida Sun-Sentinel, and Wisconsin Public Radio.

Diane O'Connell~~

Diane O’Connell is a New York-based publishing specialist with over 25 years experience. A former editor with Random House, she is the author of five books. Diane specializes in working with first-time authors and has helped dozens of writers become published authors — including a first-time novelist who got a $500,000 two-book contract from Bantam after working with her. Diane has presented workshops throughout the country, including the Writer’s Voice in New York City and the Southwest Writers Conference in New Mexico.

Shelley Bradley~~

The author of 20+ sizzling contemporary, erotic, paranormal, and historical romances for multiple print and electronic publishers, Shelley Bradley, who also writes as Shayla Black, lives in Texas with her husband, munchkin, and one very spoiled cat. In her “free” time, she enjoys reality TV, reading and listening to an eclectic blend of music.

Shelley has won or placed in over a dozen writing contests, including Passionate Ink’s Passionate Plume, Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence, and the National Reader’s Choice Awards. Romantic Times has awarded her Top Picks, a KISS Hero Award and a nomination for Best Erotic Romance of 2007. Her latest release, TEMPT ME WITH DARKNESS, a paranormal/urban fantasy romance with Pocket, is the first of the Doomsday Brethren series and was released last month.

Beth Cornelison~~

Georgia native Beth Cornelison received her bachelor's degree in Public Relations from the University of Georgia. After working briefly in public relations, she moved with her husband to Louisiana, where she decided to pursue her love of writing fiction.

Since that time, she has won numerous honors for her work including the coveted Golden Heart for unpublished authors awarded by Romance Writers of America. She made her first sale to Silhouette Intimate Moments in June 2004 and has gone on to published many more books with Silhouette, Five Star Expressions, Samhain Publishing, and Sourcebooks.

Beth is active in her local RWA chapter, the NOLA STARS, and has presented workshops across the country to numerous chapter meetings, conferences, online classes and book clubs.

Eliza Knight~~

Eliza Knight is the author of multiple steamy Regency and erotic Highlander time travel romance novellas published by The Wild Rose Press. She is a freelance copy editor, Newsletter Editor for Hearts Through History Romance Writers, and President of the Celtic Hearts Romance Writers signature chapter of the RWA. She also volunteers her time as moderator of a critique group and contest coordinator. Eliza is the author of the award-winning blog, History Undressed and has published numerous articles in various newsletters. She presents workshops on history, researching techniques and writing craft, to writing groups online.

Renee Knowles~~

Renee Knowles is an award-winning historical and contemporary romance author with The Wild Rose Press and Siren Publishing. She is also an editor for The Wild Rose Press and a published freelance writer whose work has appeared in national consumer and trade magazines, as well as newspapers. Renee’s novellas consistently receive 5-star reviews, and she was called a “brilliant author” by Two Lips Reviews.

Renee is the author of a series of writing how-to books, Savvy Business Skills for Writers, from Wild Child Publishing. She often gives workshops and online classes to writing groups all over the country. Renee has several years of experience in public speaking and frequently presents on business topics and image. She has presented writing workshops at Colorado Romance Writers, Seattle Romance Writers’ Emerald City Conference, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and the Northern Colorado Writer’s Conference. She also teaches online writers’ classes through AuthorMBA.com and RWA chapters.

Dawna Richard~~

Dawna Richard is a founder and lead investigator of California Paranormal Research and Enlightenment. She has more than 15 years’ experience with reading Tarot, past life regression, and paranormal research.

She lives in sunny California with her husband, son, and three dogs. When she’s not working or investigating haunted locals, you can find her pursuing her goal of becoming a published author.

Tawny Weber~~

Tawny Weber is usually found dreaming up stories in her California home, surrounded by dogs, cats and kids. When she’s not writing hot, spicy stories for Harlequin Blaze, she’s shopping for the perfect pair of boots or drooling over Johnny Depp pictures (when her husband isn’t looking, of course). In September 2010, her tenth Blaze, RIDING THE WAVES hits the bookshelves. Come by and visit her on the web at www.tawnyweber.com

Annie Oortman~~

Grammar wasn’t Annie Oortman’s first love (actually, it was a cute boy in her second-grade class named Henry Talley) or even her second (avoiding barn work). However, after getting an A for content but an F for readability on a third-grade book report, she learned having great ideas was one thing, communicating them well on paper another.

Annie became a disciple of the church of Proper Grammar and card-carrying member of The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (www.spogg.org). Nowadays, she diagrams sentences for fun (yes, for fun), corrects her children when they say “I did good on the test” (I did well.), and argues with fellow grammar devotees on the acceptability of ending a sentence with a preposition (don’t do it).

BTW, Annie is hoping to see her name on the cover of a fiction novel soon… very soon. (And, if you’re wondering, Henry Talley never even noticed Annie as he had a mad crush on blonde-haired, blue-eyed Libby Boxler.)

Barri Bryan~~

Barri Bryan (AKA Billie Houston) is a retired teacher and educator. She is also a prolific author who has written and published several romance novels, a number of volumes of prize-winning poetry, numerous essays, articles, and short stories, and one how-to curriculum for creative writing. Besides pursuing a writing career, she is an avid reader, an enthusiastic knitter, crocheter and quilter, a devoted country music fan, and a passionate Texas history buff.

Candace Havens~~

Candace "Candy" Havens is a best selling and award-winning author. Her novels include "Charmed & Dangerous", "Charmed & Ready", "Charmed & Deadly", "Like A Charm" and "The Demon King and I". She is known for writing strong female characters, who save the world, but aren't exactly perfect. She is a two-time RITA, Write Touch Reader and Holt Medallion finalist. She is also the winner of the Barbara Wilson award.

Candy is a nationally syndicated entertainment columnist for FYI Television. A veteran journalist she has interviewed just about everyone in Hollywood from George Clooney and Orlando Bloom to Nicole Kidman and Kate Beckinsale. You can hear Candy weekly on 96.3 KSCS in the Dallas Fort Worth Area.

Her popular online Writer's Workshop has more than 1000 students and provides free classes to professional and aspiring writers.

Sandy Blair~~

Sandy loves writing about the past. "I find it easier to suspend my own disbelief when thoroughly immersed in a time when nobody worried about political correctness; when men were wonderfully alpha and had no idea they even had a feminine side, much less worried about getting in touch with it." She often adds a touch of the paranormal to her tales believing the very possibility expands the imagination, which in turn gives her latitude with humor.