Muriel Jensen

I always wanted to be a writer. I grew up in an industrial town in southeastern Massachusetts populated with wonderful and interesting people. They fill my head now as I create characters for romance novels. We moved to Los Angeles when I was ten.

I went right to work after high school, first for Pacific Telephone then, as the need to write became stronger, I joined the secretarial pool at the Los Angeles Times while taking a correspondence course in fiction writing.

I met Ron at the Xerox machine. (There were two in a nine story building. That tells you how long ago that was.)

We married in 1968. In the first few years of our marriage, he edited several small newspapers that were always understaffed. I sometimes helped out as a reporter and soon learned that journalism was not for me—editors get really upset when you make up stuff. I decided to stick with fiction.

We adopted three children in 1973 after moving to Oregon. Suddenly I had many new priorities, but I couldn't shake the need to write down the scenarios in my head. I worked on them at night while the children watched television.

In early 1983, word was out that Harlequin was opening a New York office and looking for manuscripts about American women written by American authors. I was managing a bookstore at the time and had written an entire novel between customers during a long and rainy winter. I buffed it up and sent it in.

And here we are.

We have three adult children, a growing army of grandchildren, four cats and a Lab/Retriever mix named Amber.

We live in an old Victorian home on a hill overlooking the Columbia River. When we first moved here I thought I might one day grow used to the beauty of my surroundings and not notice them anymore. But I haven't. This has to be one of the most beautiful spots in our country.

I've sold 70 books and novellas, and have has such a great time it's almost embarrassing.