Lynsey Stevens

I have always loved books. I was fortunate enough to have a mother who read to me and my grandfather was a storyteller of some repute.My first conscious thoughts of wanting to be a writer came while I was at school in North Queensland. It all sounded so exciting... travel to exotic places and become famous. Back then I didn't know about typist backache, lost words and the time it takes to find them, leaving little time for jaunting anywhere, and, of course, the taxman.With school behind me, in 1965 I began work as an assistant librarian with the Brisbane City Council. I really enjoyed my job and five years later I became the Librarian-in-charge of my library.Quite by chance, in 1979, one of my borrowers mentioned she had a friend who wrote for Mills & Boon. Ah, I thought, why not try romantic fiction?It wasn't easy. And still isn't. It took ages to write my first Mills & Boon, only it didn't turn out to be my first. I remember someone telling me that rejection was good for the soul. But whose soul? The rejector or the rejectee? I soldiered steadfastly onwards. Thus, my second Mills & Boon became my first published one.In those early days I led a very full life. I had a job in the library, I was building my first house and I was writing in every spare moment.In 1986, after 21 years of service, I resigned from my job and moved to a new house by the beach. I now live in an historical inner suburb of Brisbane. I remain unmarried, but all is not lost. There is someone special in my life apart from a cockatiel called Pepper who refuses to say, "Lynsey Stevens is my favourite author" and Paddy, my neighbours' Burmese cat, who assures me Lynsey Stevens is his favourite author.My one aim is to keep on writing in the hope that my stories will entertain and leave readers with a warm feeling of happily ever after.