More than you probably wanted to know about Shirley Jump. Shirley Jump didn't have the willpower to diet nor the talent to master under-eye concealer, so she bowed out of a career in television and opted instead for a career where she could be paid to eat at her desk—writing. She started out in journalism, selling her first article at the age of eleven and dreaming of being the next Jane Pauley. She hosted two of her own shows on the local cable channel and was the co-host of a late-night comedy show for two years. After writing 3000 articles and two non-fiction books, Shirley grew too dependent on her robe and fuzzy slippers, though, and decided a career as a freelance writer suited her better.
Then she got married. And had two kids. Humor became the only thing that got her through the mashed potato flingfests and toilet paper decorating sprees. At first, seeking revenge on her children for their grocery store tantrums, she sold embarrassing essays about her children to anthologies such as Chicken Soup for the Working Woman's Soul and Chocolate for Women II. However, it wasn't enough to feed her growing addiction to writing funny. So she turned to the world of romance novels, where messes are (usually) cleaned up before The End and no one is calling anyone a doodoo head. In the worlds Shirley gets to create and control, the children listen to their parents, the husbands always remember holidays and the housework is magically done by elves. She sold her first book to Silhouette Romance in 2001. That novel, THE VIRGIN'S PROPOSAL, won the Booksellers' Best Award for Best Traditional Romance of 2003. Two of her subsequent books were finalists in the Golden Quill Awards and two others were finalists in the Madcap Awards for best romantic comedy. She is also a Reviewers' Choice Award winner. In 2007, she won the Holt Medallion for RESCUED BY MR. RIGHT and the More than Magic Award for "Twelve Days" in SUGAR AND SPICE. Shirley has sold twenty-five novels and now writes stories for Harlequin/Silhouette and Kensington Books about love, family and food—the three most important things in her life (though, there are many days when the order is reversed), using that English degree everyone said would be so useless. She found a way to combine all her favorite things in her recipes with her own romantic comedy series from Zebra Books, which launched in September 2004 with THE BRIDE WORE CHOCOLATE.The fourth, THE BACHELOR PREFERRED PASTRY, is a February 2006 release, followed by PRETTY BAD in 2007. Her next Romance will be RESCUED BY MR. RIGHT in October 2006. She will debut in Harlequin's NeXt line with THE OTHER WIFE in November 2006. Though she's thrilled to see her books in stores around the world, Shirley mostly writes because it gives her an excuse to avoid cleaning the toilets and helps feed her shoe habit. Read excerpts, see reviews or learn more about Shirley at: www.shirleyjump.com. Award Nominations for 2007 HOLT Medallion, WINNER: Traditional: Rescued by Mr. Right     Finalist. Romantic Comedy: The Bachelor Preferred Pastry More than Magic, WINNER:Novella: "Twelve Days" in Sugar and Spice Finalist: Traditional: Rescued by Mr. Right      Romantic Comedy: The Bachelor Preferred Pastry      Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence Finalist     Single Title: The Bachelor Preferred Pastry National Readers Choice Award Finalist:     Traditional: Rescued by Mr. Right
Media/Reporters: Click here for the link to Shirley's Online Press Kit.