NTRWA December 2003 Spotlight On...

VON JOCKS
          by Juliet Burns

From the moment Yvonne Jocks could hold a crayon and print words, she’s been writing stories. Not surprisingly, she published her first story in a local newspaper at the tender age of twelve! Even less surprising, the story was about ghosts. Von has always loved stories about magic, ghosts, and witches. She grew up reading all the classic gothic authors like Phyllis Whitney and Mary Stewart.

Her father was in the Navy where he met Von’s mother, a WAVE—a woman Navy member—who worked with electric and radio repair, as well as stuffing parachutes. Von credits her mom with inspiring her own feminist tendencies.

But as a military child, she, her two brothers and two sisters moved around a lot. Sometimes this nomadic life was hard on a shy, quiet middle child. But as with all of us, her life experiences shaped her writing. Especially difficult was losing her older sister in a tragic car crash. This loss affected Von deeply.

After moving to Texas, (Von says she got here as fast as she could) her father retired from the Navy and she’s lived here for 22 years. She earned a Master's Degree at the University of Texas at Arlington (her thesis traced the history of the Romance Novel) and now teaches—what else?—English at the Southeast Campus of Tarrant County Community College.

Though she loves teaching, she loves writing even more. In 1984, while still in college, she joined RWA^® and began her first serious manuscript. When she learned Silhouette was starting a new line of romances with a paranormal bent called Silhouette Shadows, she immediately began working on a proposal and sent in a query with only the first chapter written. She sold that novel, WAITING FOR THE WOLF MOON, in 1992 and three more books followed, all under the name Evelyn Vaughn, and all featuring witches and monsters.

She went on to sell a series of historical romances called “The Rancher's Daughters” under the name Yvonne Jocks for Leisure Books. She’s also written short stories and novellas in the Science Fiction/Fantasy and Mystery genres as Von Jocks.

An unapologetic TV addict, she lives happily with her cats and her imaginary friends.

Von had 3 books released in 2003. BURIED SECRETS, an Intimate Moments, in February. THE PLAYER in August, which placed #4 on the Waldenbooks bestseller list, and THE DEVIL SHE KNEW in Silhouette’s Halloween anthology, When Darkness Falls in October. Next month, her latest historical romance, SAY GOODNIGHT, GRACIE, will be released. This is part three of the "Three Graces" series begun by Pam McCutcheon in BELLE OF THE BALL and continued by Karen Fox in A TOUCH OF CHARM.

Her first Silhouette Bombshell, A.K.A. GODDESS, is coming in August 2004. Currently she’s working on the as-yet untitled sequel, and Book 8 of Bombshell's "Athena Force" continuity, currently titled ENIGMA.

Visit Von’s website.

POSTSCRIPT, August 2005 --

Von, writing as Evelyn Vaughn, won the 2005 RITA^® for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements for A.K.A. GODDESS, Silhouette Books Natashya Wilson & Stephanie Maurer, editors.

Copyright 2004 NTRWA -- all rights reserved, please obtain written permission before use.