Joan Elliott Pickart is the author of over 80 novels, including long and short contemporary romance, historicals, and mainstream women's fiction. She also writes under the pen name Robin Elliott. She received the Best New Series Author of the Year award from Romantic Times Magazine in 1985, and is a two-time Golden Medallion (RITA) Award finalist of the Romance Writers of America. The Society of Southwestern Writers awarded Joan a Certificate of Award for Outstanding Achievement and a Certificate of Recognition for Notable Attainment as an Author. Joan's books consistently make the Waldenbooks top-ten bestseller list and often enjoy the number one spot. She has been on the USA Today top 150 bestseller list twice for cross-line series. Joan is the cofounder of the Professional Writers of Prescott, a member of the national Romance Writers of America, the Phoenix Desert Rose Chapter of RWA, and a charter member and copresident of the Northern Arizona RWA. A single mom, Joan has three grown daughters and two fantastic little grandsons. In 1995 she traveled to China and adopted her fourth daughter, three-month-old Autumn. Joan and Autumn live in the high-pine country of Arizona.