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NTRWA February 2005 Spotlight On...

JULIET BURNS
by Sheniqua Waters

Juliet Ione Laue was born just up the road in Hurst, TX. She’s lived in Texas all of her life. Her early years were spent playing with paper dolls and board games with her sisters. Being the good girl she was, she attended church and directed the church choir. Attending church paid off because it was through her church singles group that she met her husband.

Juliet has always been a huge reader. As a young girl, she went to the library often and before she was ten she’d read all of the Nancy Drew and Barbara Cartland books. Then, she started reading suspense and gothic books. She didn’t pick up another romance until ’97. She liked Amanda Quick because the stories had mystery in them. After that Juliet was hooked and read romances voraciously. At one point, while pregnant and on bed rest, she read a book a day and eventually a story began to form in her head that she just had to write. She admits at first she let everything go to write her story, and after 10 months, she had what she terms a very, very bad first draft. That first draft was titled BET ON LOVE. In 2001, she joined NT, learned the craft of writing, and entered her manuscript in the Great Expectations contest. After getting feedback from the judges she found critique partners and spent the next two and half years revising the story.

In August of 2002, she entered BET ON LOVE in the Golden Rose Contest with the Rose City Romance Writers and won first place in the short contemporary category. The judging editor gave suggestions for revisions and Juliet changed everything the editor wanted. Then, she sent in a query letter and synopsis with her thank you note saying she had made the changes. The editor requested the full in Jan. 2003. The story sold a year later, and is now is set to be released in March 2005 under the title HIGH STAKES PASSION.

Juliet Burns is a stay at home mom -- or more accurately a domestic goddess -- who manages to find time to write. She’s a proud mother of three lovely children and admits the most satisfying moment of her life was when her oldest daughter was born.

Juliet’s next challenge is to sell a second book. Her second manuscript is a romantic suspense titled, UNDERCOVER ANGEL. It was recently rejected by Harlequin and is now on the desk of Kate Duffy for the Kensington Brava line. Juliet has submitted a proposal for a second Desire to her Silhouette editor last month. When asked what gave her the most satisfaction, Juliet said, "When my kids do something right or tell me they love me. And seeing my book in print, that’s not bad either..."

Visit Juliet's Website.