Carol Steward never dreamed of becoming a writer. In fact, her career exploration choices in seventh grade were airline stewardess and forester. Well, she's far from either, but she's tried just about everything in between, whether in real life or in her books. She met her future husband in seventh-grade math class. He is five years older and was dating someone else at the time, but Dave was from that day on the one man to whom she compared all other suitors. So when their paths crossed in youth group at their church several years later, her dream of true love came to life. From there came love, then marriage, and then the babies in the baby carriage. His geology career took them to Carol's home state of Wyoming for a short stay, then to North Dakota to ride out the oil boom of the early 80's, then back home to Northern Colorado where Carol convinced him to pursue his true love, teaching. Back to school he went while she spent the next twenty years in family child care. Raising over a hundred and fifteen children, changing diapers and singing childish ditties for two decades may seem slightly insane to many, but Carol felt blessed to do what she loved for as long as possible -- be a mother. Everyone knows what teenagers think about being mothered, so the distraction of preschoolers in the house worked wonders for everyone. Now that her own children are grown and flying the nest, she has filled the house with dogs, cats and writing books, and working at the University of Northern Colorado helping young adults reach for their own dreams. As if raising a family wasn't enough, she and her family spent years delivering newspapers in the middle of the night, which is far more entertaining than anyone in their right mind can imagine! They're proof that anything can be fun if you choose the right attitude. Again, most people thought not only Carol had lost her mind, but so had her husband. (Some insist he has, he's now a principal of a middle school.) Carol used that time listening to conference workshop tapes and plotting future novels. The opening scene in her second book was inspired from an experience on their route, where Carol came face-to-face with a car burglar, and thanks to her intervention, the police were able to arrest him for breaking into ten cars. Carol's law enforcement instincts are inherited from her father, who was a sheriff all of her growing years, so research for police books comes naturally. Creativity has always been Carol's gift. Whether it be needlework, sewing or writing, there isn't much she hasn't dabbled in. When God called her to write, she moved from president to newsletter editor of the child-care association and even retired from her lucrative cake-decorating business to devote herself to His calling. Quietly, in the back of her mind, though, He weaved the plot of her first novel, There Comes a Season, the story of a child-care provider who must find God's plan for her life after her young husband passes away. After losing revisions made to that book not once, or twice, but three times during the process of learning to use a computer, Carol's persistence and patience paid off. The editor called April 15, 1997 and launched Carol's writing career. Selling a book is much like riding a roller-coaster -- every step of the process, every sale brings that exhilarating high. During the less exciting times, she's busy gathering ideas and refilling her cup. Carol's second book, Her Kind of Hero, contains a lot of information gathered while delivering newspapers, and was a finalist in the Holt Medallion Contest. While writing her series of the MacIntyre Brides, Carol lost her father, father-in-law and grandmother, but welcomed a daughter-in-law to the family. The same month as her son's wedding, Carol was involved in an auto accident, (sure to be a scene in a future book) and nearly lost her mother. Throughout all of the different seasons, God has continued to teach Carol to turn to Hi