Catherine Coulter

Jean Catherine Coulter (born December 26, 1942) is an American author of romantic suspense thrillers and historical romances who currently resides in northern California.^[1]

Biography

Early years

Coulter grew up on a horse ranch in Cameron County, Texas.^[2] Her grandmother, who died at the young age of 37, was also a writer. Her father was a painter and singer, and her mother is a retired concert pianist. Coulter wrote her first two novels, fifteen pages each, when she was fourteen. While a freshman at the University of Texas, Coulter wrote poetry. After earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas, Coulter attended Boston College and earned a Master's degree in early 19th-century European history.^[2]

She took a job as a speech writer for a Wall Street executive. As her own husband was then a medical student, she spent many of her evenings alone, reading romance novels. One night when they were home together, she found herself in the middle of a particularly bad book and threw it across room, asserting that even she could do better. Her husband challenged her to prove herself, and the two spent the weekend plotting out a storyline for a gothic romance. She wrote the novel in the evenings. ^{[citation needed]}

Writing career

When Coulter finished writing her novel she sent it to an editor at Signet. Three days later Signet offered her a three-book contract. That first novel, The Autumn Countess, was published by Penguin Books in 1978. By 1982, she was earning enough to quit her job and become a full-time writer.^[3] Since then she has written over fifty books and has had forty-two consecutive New York Times Bestsellers since 1988. Her thriller The Maze was her first book to place on the New York Times Hardcover Bestseller list, while The Cove spent nine weeks on the New York Times Paperback Bestseller list and sold over one million copies.^[2] Coulter generally publishes one historical romance and one suspense novel each year, and has been busily rewriting many of her earlier Regency romances to turn them into longer historical romances.^[4]

Personal life

Coulter sits down at her computer every morning at 6:30 a.m. to review her email before beginning writing at 7:30 a.m. She normally finishes writing by 11 a.m. Coulter lives in Marin County, California with her husband.^[2]

Bibliography

Regency

Baron Series

1. The Wild Baron (1981/1997)
2. The Offer (1981/1997)
3. The Deception (1983/1999)

The Bride Series (Sherbrooke)

1. The Rebel Bride (1979/1993)
2. The Sherbrooke Bride (1992)
3. The Hellion Bride (1992)
4. The Heiress Bride (1993)
5. Mad Jack (1999)
6. The Courtship (2000)
7. The Scottish Bride (2001)
8. Pendragon (2002)
9. The Sherbrooke Twins (2004)
10. Lyon's Gate (2005)
11. Wizards Daughter (2007)
12. The Prince of Ravenscar (2011)

Night Trilogy

1. Night Fire (1989)
2. Night Shadow (1989)
3. Night Storm (1990)

The Legacy Series

1. The Wyndham Legacy (1994)
2. The Nightingale Legacy (1995)
3. The Valentine Legacy (1995)

The Magic Trilogy

1. Midsummer Magic (1987)
2. Calypso Magic (1988)
3. Moonspun Magic (1988)

Single Novels

1. The Countess (1978/1999)
2. The Rebel Bride (1997)
3. The Heir (1980)
4. The Duke (1997)
5. Lord Harry (1993/1997)

Georgian

1. Devil's Embrace Penguin/Signet (re-issued, re-written version 5/2000)
2. Devil's Daughter Penguin/Signet (re-release 9/12/2000)

Victorian/Early San Francisco

1. Evening Star Penguin/Topaz (original title Sweet Surrender)
2. Midnight Star Penguin/Topaz, (reissued 10/96)
3. Wild Star Penguin/Topaz
4. Jade Star Penguin/Topaz

Medieval

1. Warrior's Song (rewritten version of Chandra) Penguin/Signet
2. Fire Song Penguin/Signet
3. Earth Song Penguin/Signet
4. Secret Song Penguin/Signet
5. Rosehaven Berkley/Jove
6. The Penwyth Curse (new release Jan. 2003) Berkley/Jove
7. The Valcourt Heiress Putnam Adult (October 2010)

Viking Series

1. Season of the Sun Penguin/NAL/Onyx
2. Lord of Hawkfell Island Berkley/Jove
3. Lord of Raven’s Peak Berkley/Jove
4. Lord of Falcon Ridge Berkley/Jove

Contemporary romance

• Aftershocks Silhouette/Harlequin
• Afterglow Silhouette/Harlequin
• The Aristocrat Silhouette/Harlequin

Contemporary romantic thrillers

1. False Pretenses (1988)
2. Impulse (1990)
3. Beyond Eden (1992)
4. Born to Be Wild

FBI suspense thrillers Series

1. The Cove. 1996. 
2. The Maze. 1997. 
3. The Target. 1998. 
4. The Edge. 1999. 
5. Riptide. 2000. 
6. Hemlock Bay. 2001. 
7. Eleventh Hour. 2002. 
8. Blindside. 2003. 
9. Blowout. 2004. 
10. Point Blank. 2005. 
11. Double Take. 2007. 
12. TailSpin. 2008. 
13. Knock Out. 2009. 
14. Whiplash. 2010. 
15. Split Second. 2011. 
16. Backfire. 2012. 
17. Bombshell. 2013. 

Omnibus editions

1. The Beginning. 2005.  (containing The Cove & The Maze)
2. Double Jeopardy. 2008.  (containing The Target & The Edge)
3. Twice Dead. 2011.  (containing Riptide & Hemlock Bay)

A Brit in the FBI

1. The Final Cut. 2013.  written with J.T. Ellison
2. The Lost Key. 2014. ^[5] written with J.T. Ellison

References

External links

• "Catherine Coulter". Official website. 
• Catherine Coulter at the Internet Book List
• Catherine Coulter at Goodreads