Christina Dodd

Christina Dodd (born July 14?) is the best-selling American author of suspense and regency historical romance. She is a recipient of the RITA Award.

Biography Dodd is the youngest of three daughters (her sisters are 8 and 10 years older than she is) whose father died before she was born. Although her mother had been a housewife with few job skills, after Dodd's birth she found a job and worked diligently to support her children. Despite the hard work, she still found time every day to read to her children, instilling in Dodd a love of books.

Dodd attended college in Boise, Idaho, where she met her husband, Scott. After graduation, she worked as a draftsman in an engineering firm, designing a sawmill. During her lunch hour, Dodd would begin reading a romance novel. While working during the afternoon, she would often plot an ending for the story, and almost always eventually discovered that she liked her endings better than the ones the author intended. Her first two manuscripts were consistently rejected. resulting in its publication in 1991 by HarperCollins. The book won many awards and has not gone out of print.

Her first editor was conservative, and often cut or severely trimmed the love scenes that Dodd had written. When Dodd moved from HarperCollins to Avon, her new editor chose not to interfere in the love scenes. Her first novel for Avon, A Well Pleasured Lady, was the first of her novels to include love scenes written in Dodd's "normal, unedited frankness."

The heroines of Dodd's historical romance novels are based on her mother, an "impoverished yet determined woman who, in spite of adversity, fights to take control of her life and always wins."

Writing process Dodd normally begins her writing process with a 10-20 page outline of the story. Every morning, she revises the pages that she wrote the day before. After refamiliarizing herself with the storyline, she then continues writing. She will also usually lightly outline the next few chapters that she is intending to write. When she reaches the midpoint of the manuscript, she often does a larger-scale revision. By the time she reaches the conclusion of the story, it is ready to be sent to the editors. Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award, Candle in the Window Library Journal Top 5 Romances of 1997, A Well Pleasured Lady 1999 Romance Writers of America RITA Award finalist, A Well Favored Gentleman