Rita Clay Estrada (born July 31, 1941, in
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, US) is a US writer of
romance novels
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 ...
as Rita Clay, Tira Lacy and Rita Clay Estrada, she has also written non-fiction books about writing romance novels. She was the first president of the
Romance Writers of America
Romance Writers of America (RWA) is an American non-profit writers' association founded in 1980. Its mission is to "advance the professional and common business interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by incr ...
, and founding member with her mother
Rita Gallagher.
Biography
Born Rita Clay on July 31, 1941, in
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, US. Her mother,
Rita Gallagher, was a former Miss Michigan, a romance novelist and a noted writing instructor, while her father was a pilot with the
U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
. She spent much of her early years living in Europe. She married her high school sweetheart when she was very young and stayed at home to raise their four children. In 1977, when she had been married about 20 years, her husband brought her a typewriter and said, "'You said you always wanted to write. Now write.'"
Her first attempt was a long historical romance which was promptly rejected. Her next manuscript, a contemporary romance, was likewise rejected. Her third manuscript, ''Wanderer's Dream,'' sold to
Silhouette Books. She used her maiden name, Rita Clay for that and an additional seven titles for Silhouette. In 1982, she moved to Dell to write for their Candlelight Ecstasy line. Harlequin owned her pen name, so she wrote as Tira Lacy, an anagram of Rita Clay. In 1985 she re-signed with Harlequin and asked to use her full name, Rita Clay Estrada, on all future books.
She generally takes 4.5 months to write a novel. Except for punctuation and fact-checking, she does very little rewriting, as "that's why there are editors."
Generally, she writes five pages each night and more on the weekends. Her novels have been translated in 23 languages.
Estrada was a founding member and the first president of the
Romance Writers of America
Romance Writers of America (RWA) is an American non-profit writers' association founded in 1980. Its mission is to "advance the professional and common business interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by incr ...
(RWA). Their signature award, the RITA, which is the highest award of excellence given in the genre of
romantic fiction
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 ...
, is named for her.
The RWA also awarded Estrada their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.
She and her husband are divorced.
Works
Novels
As Rita Clay
=Single novels
=
*''Wanderer's Dream'' (1981)
*''Sweet Eternity'' (1982)
*''Yesterday's Dreams'' (1982)
*''Experiment in Love'' (1983)
*''Summer Song'' (1983)
=Wise Folly Series
=
#''Wise Folly'' (1982)
#''Recapture the Love'' (1984)
=Omnibus in collaboration
=
*''Visible Heart / Handyman Special / Wanderer's Dream'' (1992) (with
Dixie Browning
Dixie Browning, née Burrus (born September 9, 1930 in North Carolina) is an American artist and writer of over 100 romance novels. She also has published under the pen name Zoe Dozier, and with her sister Mary Burrus Williams, she writes histor ...
,
Pamela Browning
Pamela may refer to:
*''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740
*Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname
* Pamela Spence, a Turkish pop-rock singer. Known as her stage name "Pamela"
* MSC ''Pamela'', ...
)
As Tira Lacy
=Single novels
=
*''With time and tenderness'' (1983)
*''Only for love'' (1984)
As Rita Clay Estrada
=Will and the Way Series
=
#''Will and the Way'' (1985)
#''A Woman's Choice'' (1985)
#''Something to Treasure'' (1986)
=Western Lovers: Ranchin' Dads Series Multi-Author
=
:15. ''The Best Things in Life'' (1986)
=Montclair Emeralds Multi-Author
=
:3. ''Trust'' (1988)
=Bartholomew Family Saga
=
#''Second to None'' (1989)
#''The Lady Says No'' (1991)
=Lost Loves Series Multi-Author
=
:3. ''Forms of Love'' (1994)
=The Wrong Bed Series Multi-Author
=
:4. ''Love Me, Love My Bed'' (1996)
=Rebels & Rogues Multi-Author
=
*''The Stormchaser'' (1996)
=Gallagher Sisters Saga
=
#''Wishes'' (1997)
#''Dreams'' (1998)
#''Everything About Him'' (1998)
=Bachelor Auction Series Multi-Author
=
*''One Wild Weekend'' (1999)
=Single novels
=
*''The Ivory Key'' (1987)
*''A Little Magic'' (1987)
*''To Buy a Groom'' (1990)
*''Twice Loved'' (1991)
*''One More Time'' (1993)
*''The Colonel's Daughter'' (1993)
*''Interlude in Time'' (1994)
*''The Twelve Gifts of Christmas'' (1994)
*''Million Dollar Valentine'' (2000)
*''Blissful'' (2000)
*''Too Wicked to Love'' (2001)
=Omnibus in collaboration
=
*''To Have and to Hold'' (1992) (with
Sandra James
Sandra James is a Zimbabwean former athlete, who won eleven medals across four different sports at the Paralympic Games.
1972: representing Rhodesia
James initially represented Rhodesia at the 1972 Summer Paralympics, competing in athletics and ...
,
Debbie Macomber
Debbie Macomber (born October 22, 1948) is an American author of romance novels and contemporary women's fiction. Six of her novels have become made-for-TV movies and her ''Cedar Cove'' series of novels was adapted into a television series of the ...
and Barbara Bretton)
*''Conveniently Yours'' (1994) (with Sally Bradford and Bobby Hutchinson)
*''Expecting!'' (1996) (with
Barbara Delinsky and Michelle Reid)
*''Bedazzled'' (2002) (with
Jayne Ann Krentz and
Vicki Lewis Thompson
Vicki Lewis Thompson (born 11 October 1950 in United States) is a best-selling American writer of over seventy romance novels. She has also been published under the pseudonyms Cory Kenyon and Corey Keaton with Mary Tate Engels.
Biography
Vic ...
)
=Non fiction
=
*''Writing Romances'' (1997) (with
Rita Gallagher)
*''You Can Write a Romance'' (1999) (with
Rita Gallagher)
See also
*
List of romantic novelists
Notable novelists who specialise or specialised in writing romance novels include:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
V
W
X-Z
See also
* Lists of writers
The following are lists of writers ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estrada, Rita Clay
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American romantic fiction writers
Writers of books about writing fiction
Living people
1941 births
American women novelists
Women romantic fiction writers
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers