About Brenda Coulter Okay, the fireworks are meant to be a joke. I'm really not all that exciting. But on the outside chance that somebody other than my mom is interested in reading this page, here goes: I'm not a glamorous author by any stretch. I'm not rich or gorgeous and I'm certainly not on anybody's "A" list for parties. And just like you, I don't floss my teeth nearly as often as I should. (Sorry, Dr. Kraft, but there it is.) I've been married to a wonderful man for 33 years. (I was 19.  Do the math, if these things interest you. I forgot my age years ago and can't be bothered to work it out for you now.) We have two boys, ages 26 and 21, and they're not in jail or anything, and they're still speaking to us and buying us Christmas presents, so we like to think we've done a pretty good job as parents. I started writing at the tail end of 2000, just for the fun of it, and I'm still amazed that Steeple Hill Books, an otherwise reputable publisher, offered to put my name on the cover of one of their Love Inspired novels.  Until that late-November day in 2000, I would have laughed at any suggestion that I would write a romance novel, let alone sell one to a publisher. But maybe what I've done is not so surprising, because I've always had trouble controlling my crazy impulses.  (Like that day I decided to jump out of an airplane. Of course I was wearing a parachute at the time, but my poor husband still shudders whenever he thinks about it.) After high school (and my wedding) I worked for two banks and two oil companies before deciding that what I really wanted was to chuck the office routine and go to college. I studied astronomy for just over a year, then my husband suggested it might be fun to have children. (Or did he say it would be fun to get children?  After all these years I'm a little fuzzy on the details.) I was always proud of being a fulltime homemaker, but after almost two decades I was ready for a mid-life career change. After I sold my first book, an identity crisis was inevitable. Was I a homemaker who wrote , or had I crossed the line and become a writer? The crisis came to a head in April of 2002 when I was called for jury duty--just one month after I sold my first novel. I was asked, during voir dire , my occupation. I stuttered and stumbled. The judge, the attorneys, and even the court reporter leaned forward, eyebrows elevated, waiting. "I'm...uh...I'm sort of a...well, actually..."  In that moment I decided to jump in with both feet. I took a deep breath. "I'm a writer." From the looks on their faces, it was pretty clear what they were all thinking:  What on earth does that woman write, that she's so ashamed to admit it? I was eager to tell them all about inspirational romance, but the attorney who was interviewing me had apparently decided not to risk any further questions. And maybe it was just my imagination, but after we jury rejects were dismissed and we all shuffled out to the elevator lobby, nobody seemed willing to make eye contact with me. But from that moment there was a new spring in my step. I was a writer, and I was ready for the world to know it.   Back to the home page of Brenda Coulter, Inspirational Romance Novelist