Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, I endured your average childhood with two brothers to annoy and parents to baffle. I planted my nose in a book very early in life and have yet to come up for air. I love to read. From Judy Blume, Trixie Beldon, Madeleine L'Engle and The Hardy Boys . . . I went on to love Phyllis Whitney, Georgette Heyer, Victoria Holt. In school, I discovered a passion for Shakespeare and Jane Austen. As for romance novels . . . there are too many favorites to name. If you'd like to talk books with me, come visit me at Goodreads or Shelfari. The writing addiction began early as well, as I was active throughout junior high and high school on school newspapers and literary magazines. Then I attended the University of Missouri-Columbia, where I earned bachelor's degrees in English literature and magazine journalism. I moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, did some technical writing and editing, married, reproduced a couple of times – and then had a real epiphany: Wouldn't it be fun to make up the stories instead of just reporting them? I spent several years shooting in the dark, writing my heart out only to face rejection after rejection. Then, after a move to lovely central Virginia, I sold my first book in July 2002 at a Romance Writers of America conference in Denver, Colorado (Forget Prince Charming, Harlequin Flipside, November 2003). In total, I published four romantic comedies with Harlequin Flipside. My fifth book, PANDORA'S BOX, is the first in a series of funny paranormal romances published by Dorchester for its Love Spell line. It was released in February 2008. Its sequel, called THE DRUID MADE ME DO IT, will hit bookstores in August 2008. The third, BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HEART PLACE, was released in March 2009. Two more books in the series -- DANCING WITH FAERIES and PLAYING WITH ELVES -- are scheduled for release in 2011. For more information on my new releases, book signings or contests, please visit my website at www.NataleStenzel.com. You can also friend me on myspace at www.myspace.com/NataleStenzel.