Leigh Michaels is the author of more than 100 contemporary romance novels published by Harlequin Books, Sourcebooks, Montlake Romance, Writers' Digest Books, and Arcadia Publishing. More than 35 million copies of her books are in print in 25 languages. Six of her books have been finalists in the annual Romance Writers of America competition for Best Traditional Romance (the RITA contest). She is also the author of Creating Romantic Characters (PBL Limited), Writing Between the Sexes (PBL Limited), and On Writing Romance (Writers' Digest Books). She has taught at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, sponsored by the University of Iowa, and seminars and workshops sponsored by the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Ball State University. She holds a BA from Drake University.