Sara Reyes | What Ever Happened to...?

When you've read in a genre for over five years you'll find that some of your favorite authors seem to stop writing or no longer publish books. And it makes one wonder, whatever happened to...? This month I've stumbled across that phenomena when I was entering the books for the Montana Mavericks series being re-issued by Silhouette. This was one of the last continuity series I ever collected, sorry, continuity series are not my favorite thing and as I can read out of order, collecting before reading misses the appeal with me. But for some reason, I'll blame the first Fortune family, in 1994 I collected a year's worth of the "Mavericks." But when I looked at the ones in the series I realized that nearly half of the authors are no longer publishing. And I wonder, what happened. Did they retire? Did they die? Did their books go out of style? Seriously, what happened?

Am I getting to be an "old" reader? This could be a serious problem. I always assumed reading kept me going, learning new things, going new places, learning a new lingo (which is probably a very dated term, ah well). So, let's examine the Montana Mavericks authors:

• 1  Rogue Stallion by Diana Palmer
  Return to Big Sky Country
• 2  The Widow And The Rodeo Man by Jackie Merritt
• 3  Sleeping With The Enemy by Myrna Temte
• 4  The Once And Future Wife by Laurie Paige
• 5  The Rancher Takes A Wife by Jackie Merritt
• 6  Outlaw Lovers by Pat Warren
  Man most wanted.
• 7  Way Of The Wolf by Rebecca Daniels
  The verdict.
• 8  The Law Is No Lady by Helen R. Myers
  The marriage.
• 9  Father Found by Laurie Paige
  The Search.
• 10  Baby Wanted by Cathie Linz
  He would be the father!
• 11  Man With A Past by Celeste Hamilton
  His eyes promised secrets; and so much more!
• 12  Cowboy Cop by Rachel Lee
  Partners in passion.

Diana Palmer is still writing contemporary western romances, Jackie Merritt's last published book was a 2005 Bombshell with a co-writer. What happened?

Myrna Temte wrote western romances but stopped in 2003. Did the western romance market dry up?

Laurie Paige is still writing, but at a slower pace. Pat Warren's last book was 2004, a Silhouette Special Edition. Rebecca Daniels' last book was a Silhouette Intimate Moments in 2003. Helen R. Myers moved to romantic suspense at a slower pace.

Cathie Linz does contemporary romance, series and single title. Celeste Hamilton's last book was in 2000. And Rachel Lee is still writing Conrad County.

So there you go, fifteen years may have passed, some names gone from the "new" shelves, but some old favorites are still giving great stories to follow.

So tell me, do you ever do this type of comparison? Wonder what ever happened to...?

Oh, and if you know what happened to some of the authors above, please let us know!

Until next time...
Get out there and READ a book...
Sara Reyes
DFW Tea Readers Group
Join us at Readers 'n 'ritas November 12-14, 2010!