Linda Lael Miller

Each morning shortly after the sun rises over Spokane, Washington, New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller pulls on her cowboy boots and heads for the stables for a few quiet moments with her horses before she settles in to write her pages for the day.

As the daughter of a town marshal, Linda has come home to the western lifestyle that gave birth to one of today’s most successful authors. With more than 80 novels to her credit, the self-confessed barn goddess left Washington years ago and pursued her wanderlust, living in Arizona and London and traveling the world. But now the “First Lady of the West” is glad to be back home, writing contemporary and historical novels that have earned her awards and placements on all the national bestsellers lists.

Linda traces the birth of her writing career to the day when a Northport teacher told her that the stories she was writing were good, that she just might have a future in writing. Later, when she decided to write novels, she endured her share of rejection before she made her first sale in 1983. Since then, Linda has successfully published historicals, contemporaries, paranormals, and thrillers before coming home, in a literal sense, and concentrating on novels with a Western flavor. For her devotion to her craft, the Romance Writers of America awarded her their prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.

Linda’s latest New York Times bestseller is A McKettrick Christmas,a November 2008 novel that treats her readers to another heartwarming story about a family that put down roots in Arizona in the nineteenth century. Next year, the McKettricks spawn a new branch of the family in Linda’s contemporary Montana Creeds trilogy. Montana Creeds: Logan, the February series launch, introduces readers to three former rodeo cowboys who, like Linda, come home. Known for hell-raising in their younger days, Logan, Dylan and Tyler aim to restore the family’s neglected ranch outside Stillwater Springs, restore dignity to the Creed name, mend fences and have kids that bear their name. Of course, they need help in that endeavor and find honorable equals in women struggling to build lives for themselves and their families.

Once a struggling young mother, Linda is devoted to helping women who long to improve their lot in life through education.  Each year she sponsors a round of competition for her Linda Lael Miller Scholarships for Women. The stipends, which she funds from her writing and speaking earnings, go to women 25 years and older who have a difficult time qualifying for traditional scholarships. Linda’s grants may be used for childcare, transportation, or any other expense that stands between a woman’s dreams and fulfillment. The rules and application form are available on http://www.lindalaelmiller.com.

Linda is excited about her association with The Humane Society of the United States, for whom she has become an advocate for the group’s Pets for Life program. Once someone finds a furry friend to bring into their home, Linda and The HSUS want to help them learn how to keep the critter for life.

Linda has come a long way since leaving Washington to experience the world. "But growing up in that time and place, in a family grounded in Western values, served me well," she allows. "And I'm happy to be back home."