Joan Elliott Pickart (d. November 13, 2018) was an American writer of over 100

romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...

s, who also wrote under the pen name Robin Elliott.

Biography

Pickart was one of three daughters of Robert G. Elliott, an Episcopal pastor in Detroit, Michigan and

Douglas, Arizona Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States that lies in the north-west to south-east running Sulpher Springs Valley. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico at Agua Prieta and a history of mining. The population was 16,531 in ...

. She graduated from Douglas High School before attending

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. In 1982, she was employed as a secretary at

Amphitheater High School Amphitheater High School, also known as Amphi High, is a public high school, located in northwest Tucson, Arizona, United States. Amphi is the flagship high school of Amphitheater Public Schools of Tucson, and serves grades 9–12. The school mas ...

, Tucson, Arizona, when she began writing romance novels after taking a course at

Pima Community College Pima Community College (PCC) is a public community college in Pima County, Arizona. It serves the Tucson metropolitan area with a community college district consisting of five campuses, four education centers, and several adult education learnin ...

. Her first published novel, ''Breaking All the Rules'', was bought by

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

in winter 1983-84 for their Loveswept range, and appeared in summer 1984. Pickart then became a full-time writer, with Bantam immediately buying six more of her novels. By late 1985, a reviewer wrote that Pickart was "fast becoming one of Loveswept's most consistent and popular authors hobrings an extra dimension of humanity to the characters she creates ... n ''Midnight Ryder'' sheemploys humor and honest emotion to keep readers involved. ... Pickart's sensual writing is ... all the more romantic for being understated." In ''Waiting for Prince Charming'', she used "many original touches na modern rendering of an old fairy tale". Elliott was the co-founder of the Professional Writers of Prescott, a member of the national Romance Writers of America, the Phoenix Desert Rose Chapter of RWA, and a charter member and co-president of the Northern Arizona RWA. Elliott was a single mother of four daughters. She lived in

Prescott, Arizona Prescott ( ) is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827. The city is the county seat of Yavapai County. In 1864, Prescott was designated as the capital of the Arizona T ...

Awards

* 1985: Best New Series Author of the Year from '' Romantic Times Magazine'' * Outstanding Achievement and Certificate of Recognition for Notable Attainment as an Author from the Society of Southwestern Writers * Two-time award finalist of ''Golden Medallion'' (RITA) of the Romance Writers of America

Bibliography

References

External links

Joan Elliott Pickart's Webpage
in Fantastic Fiction's Website

in Harlequin Enterprises Ltd's Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Pickart, Joan Elliott 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American romantic fiction writers American women novelists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers