Sandra Brown (edit name/settings)

Sandra Brown is the author of fifty-eight New York Times bestsellers, including SMASH CUT (2009), SMOKE SCREEN (2008), PLAY DIRTY (2007), RICOCHET (2006), CHILL FACTOR (2005), WHITE HOT (2004), HELLO, DARKNESS (2003), THE CRUSH (2002), ENVY (2001), THE SWITCH (2000), THE ALIBI (1999), UNSPEAKABLE (1998) and FAT TUESDAY (1997), all of which have jumped onto the Times bestseller list in the number one to five spot.

Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published seventy-two novels, most of which remain in print. As of 1990, when Mirror Image made The New York Times bestseller list, each subsequent novel has become a Times bestsellers. In 1992 her novel French Silk was made into an ABC-TV movie. Brown now has seventy million copies of her books in print worldwide, and her work has been translated into thirty-three languages.

A lifelong Texan, Sandra Brown was born in Waco, grew up in Fort Worth and attended Texas Christian University, majoring in English. Before embarking on her writing career, she worked as a model at the Dallas Apparel Mart, and in television, including weathercasting for WFAA-TV in Dallas, and feature reporting on the nationally syndicated program “PM Magazine.” She is much in demand as a speaker and has appeared at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. and the Texas Book Festival in Austin, TX, as well as charity functions throughout the year. TruTV (formerly Court TV) also sought Brown to host the 2007 premier of its popular series “Murder by the Book.”

Brown was recently given an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Texas Christian University. Other awards and commendations include the 2007 Texas Medal of Arts Award for Literature, the American Business Women’s Association’s Distinguished Circle of Success, B’nai B’rith’s Distinguished Literary Achievement Award, the A.C. Greene Award and the Romance Writers of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Sandra was also named Thriller Master for 2008, the top award given by the International Thriller Writer’s Association. In addition, Sandra is a member of Author’s Guild, Mystery Writers of America, Novelists, Inc., Literacy Partners, and a founding member of International Thriller Writers.

Sandra and her husband Michael Brown live in Arlington, Texas.

Sandra was born on March 12, 1948 in Waco, Texas and raised in Ft. Worth. She is nothing if not serious when it comes to her work. As the oldest of five daughters, she was a responsible and mature girl, and always chose to read a book rather than play with dolls. Her responsible nature stayed with Sandra as she graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in English, and in her job as a contributing feature reporter at the nationally syndicated PM Magazine in Dallas. When the show experienced mass layoffs, however, Sandra found herself out of work.

She married Michael Brown, former television anchorman and award-winning documentarian of Dust to Dust, and returned to Ft. Worth. They had two children, Rachel and Ryan. Though she continued in her occasional position as a showroom model in Dallas, her husband encouraged her to try fiction writing while their children were at school. He had just left a career as a news anchor and talk-show host to form his own production company, so why shouldn't she take a creative risk, too?

Within a year Sandra sold her first novel, Love's Encore, under the name Rachel Ryan (taken from the first names of her two children). Soon thereafter, she was producing a succession of books for six different publishers, culling ideas from briefs in USA Today, television shows, and her own active imagination. She wrote two books as Laura Jordan and several books for Harlequin under the name Erin St. Claire.

Since the publication of her first novel in 1981, she has penned well over sixty books. Sandra has over fifty million copies of her books in print, and has achieved some major feats on what is perhaps the most highly regarded bestseller list of all--that of the New York Times. Since 1990, every one of Sandra's novels has appeared on the list. In total, her books have appeared on the prestigious list over thirty times.