The Greatest Lover in All England by Christina Dodd

Regencies allowed her to continue writing historicals while including fewer details on 'what the characters are wearing, what the idioms mean, and who the scions of society were.' 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.' A Well Pleasured Lady also marked Dodd's transition to writing historical romances set in the Regency period. When Dodd moved from HarperCollins to Avon, her new editor chose not to interfere in the love scenes. Her first editor was conservative, and often cut or severely trimmed the love scenes that Dodd had written. The book won many awards and has not gone out of print. The third, Candle in the Window, won the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award for unpublished authors, resulting in its publication in 1991 by HarperCollins. Her first two manuscripts were consistently rejected. By talking to customers and watching what they purchased, Dodd was able to learn more about what people like to read. For five of these years, she also worked part-time at an independent bookstore. Over the next ten years, she wrote three romance novels. 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.After her daughter was born in 1980, Dodd decided to stay at home and try to write a book.

During her lunch hour, Dodd would begin reading a romance novel. After graduation, she worked as a draftsman in an engineering firm, designing a sawmill. Despite the hard work, she still found time every day to read to her children, instilling in Dodd a love of books.ĭodd attended college in Boise, Idaho, where she met her husband, Scott. 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. 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.

The Greatest Lover in All England by Christina Dodd