Kathleen Woodiwiss

Kathleen Woodiwiss (June 3, 1939-July 6, 2007) was a romance novelist born in Alexandria, Louisiana, the youngest of eight siblings. Her father died when she was twelve. As a child, Woodiwiss developed a passion for reading and writing stories centered around romance. Her own life took a romantic turn when, at age sixteen, she fell in love with Lieutenant Ross Woodiwiss at a dance. After the couple eloped the next year, they lived in Japan and Kansas before settling in Minnesota with their three children. Woodiwiss had written a novel in longhand while in Japan, but she preferred typing. She did not, however, want her husband to know about her writing, so, for Christmas one year, she gave him a typewriter, which she commandeered for her own writing.

Woodiwiss is credited with the invention of the modern historical romance novel due to the release of her controversial 1972 book The Flame and the Flower. While the novel was at first thought to be too long by publishers at 600 pages, it sold over 2 million copies within the first few years of its publication. This novel’s success allowed for the emergence of a new literary genre and changed the landscape for future romance novelists. Other novels by Woodiwiss include Shanna and Everlasting.