Susan Elizabeth Phillips (born December 11, 1944 in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

) is a

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

novelist from the United States. She is the creator of the sports romance and has been called the “Queen of Romantic Comedy.”

Biography

Phillips was born on December 11 in

to John Aller Titus and Louesa Coate Titus. After receiving a B.F.A. in theater arts from

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...

, Phillips taught drama, speech, and English at a local high school until her first child was born, then became a stay-at-home mother. In 1976, the family moved from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. There Phillips and her neighbor, Claire Lefkowitz, often discussed the books they liked to read. Together they wrote a historical romance, ''The Copeland Bride'', which was published in 1983 under the pen name Justine Cole. After Claire and her family moved, Phillips began writing by herself. Her subsequent novels, were published under her own name. Phillips and her husband, Bill, met on a blind date while in college. They have two grown sons, and live in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Honors

Phillips is the only five-time winner 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 ...

Favorite Book of the Year Award. In 2001, she was inducted into the Romance Writers Hall of Fame and in 2006 was a recipient of the Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award. * ''Natural Born Charmer'' - Quill nominee for best romance of 2007 * '' It Had to Be You'': 1995 Rita Awards Best Novel winner * '' Nobody's Baby But Mine'': 1998 Rita Awards Best Novel winner * ''Dream a Little Dream'': 1999 Rita Awards Best Novel winner * ''First Lady'': 2001 Rita Awards Best Novel winner * ''Call Me Irresistible'': Named by Library Journal as one of the best romance books of 2011, Top 10 Romance Fiction 2011 Booklist Online, RT Reviewers Choice Best Book Awards 2011 Contemporary Romance Nominee

Bibliography

Stand-alone novels

* ''The Copeland Bride'' (1983) (with Claire Kiehl, as Justine Cole) * ''Risen, Glory'' (1984) * ''Hot Shot'' (1991) * ''Honey Moon'' (1993) * ''Kiss an Angel'' (1996) * ''Just Imagine'' (2001) (revised and retitled version of ''Risen, Glory'') * ''Breathing Room'' (2002) * ''Ain't She Sweet?'' (2005) * ''Heroes Are My Weakness'' (2014) * ''Dance Away with Me'' (2020)

Chicago Stars series

# '' It Had To Be You'' (1994) # ''Heaven, Texas'' (1995) # '' Nobody's Baby But Mine'' (1997) # ''Dream a Little Dream'' (1998) # ''This Heart of Mine'' (2001) # ''Match Me if You Can'' (2005) # ''Natural Born Charmer'' (2007) # ''First Star I See Tonight'' (2016) # ''When Stars Collide'' (2021)

Wynette, Texas books

* ''Glitter Baby'' (original 1987; revised rewrite 2009) * ''Fancy Pants'' (1989) * ''Lady Be Good'' (1999) * ''First Lady'' (2000) * ''What I Did For Love'' (2009) * ''Call Me Irresistible'' (2010) * ''The Great Escape'' (2012)

Omnibus

* ''Honey Moon / Hot Shot'' (2005) * ''Nobody's Baby But Mine / This Heart of Mine'' (2006)

Footnotes

External links

Susan Elizabeth Phillips Official WebsiteBarnes and Noble Profile of Susan E. PhillipsSusan Elizabeth Phillips in FantasticFiction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Susan Elizabeth 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American romantic fiction writers American women novelists Living people RITA Award winners Novelists from Ohio 1948 births Women romantic fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers