Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella
aka , , , Marie Ferrarella

Marie Rydzynski was born on March 28 in West Germany to Polish parents. She moved to America at the age of four. For an entire year, Marie and her family explored the eastern half of the country before finally settling in New York.

Marie swears she was born writing, which must have made the delivery especially hard for my mother. From an early age, Maries parents would find her watching television or tucked away in some private place, writing at a furious pace. Initially, I began writing myself into my favourite shows. I was a detective on 77 Sunset Strip, the missing Cartwright sibling they never talked about on Bonanza and the Girl from U.N.C.L.E. before there was a Girl from U.N.C.L.E., not to mention an active participant in the serialized stories of The Mickey Mouse Club. Marie began to write her first romance novel when she was 11 years old, although she claims that, at the time, she didnt even realize it was a romance! She scribbled off and on, while dreaming of a career as an actress.

Marie was only 14 when she first laid eyes on the man she would marry, truly her first love, Charles Ferrarella. During her days at Queens College, New York, acting started to lose its glamour as Marie spent more and more time writing. After receiving her English degree, specialising in Shakespearean comedy, Marie and her family moved to Southern California, where she still resides today.

After an interminable seven weeks apart, Charles decided he couldnt live without her and came out to California to marry his childhood sweetheart. Ever practical, Marie was married in a wash-and-wear wedding dress that she sewed herself, appliqués and all. Be prepared has always been my motto,the author jokes. This motto has been stretched considerably by her two children, Nikky and Jessi, but basically, it still applies, she says.

In November of 1981, she sold her first novel for Harlequin. Marie, who