Carolyn Pizzuti is an American author of

romance novels A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed to the developme ...

under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Carolyn Zane. She has also been published as Suzy Pizzuti.

Biography

Carolyn was born to Douglas Owen Tope and Mary Patricia Willis and raised in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. When she was five, her family, including younger sister, Judy, moved to

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. Carolyn graduated from high school in 1976 in

Silverton, Oregon Silverton is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. The city is situated along the 45th parallel north, 45th parallel about northeast of Salem, Oregon, Salem, in the eastern margins of the broad alluvial plain of the Willamette Valley. ...

and enrolled at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

, where she majored in broadcast/speech communications. In 1978, she married her college sweetheart, Matt, and, in 1981, she graduated from OSU and moved to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. She worked as a producer/director for local television commercials.

Family

On their sixteenth wedding anniversary, Carolyn and her husband welcomed their first daughter, Madeline Alexa. A second daughter, Olivia RoseAnne, followed four years later. In 2003, they added an infant son of Guatemalan descent, Silas Matthew, through adoption. When he was 18 months, an African American sibling set, Grace Elizabeth and Gabriel Robert were added to the family, adopted through foster care. While her five children were small, Zane wanted to find a career that she could follow from home.

Writing career

In March 1993 she finished her first romance novel, ''The Wife Next Door'', which was soon purchased by Silhouette. Since then, she has had more than 30 novels published by four publishers, with several million copies in print worldwide. Her work has been selected as Top Pick by ''Romantic Times'', where Cheryl Hanson described her latest work ''Beyond the Storm'' by saying, "The writing is so riveting and real that you'll feel the storm and the pain of the aftermath." Reviewer Pamela Cohen says Zane's genre books are "strong on humor, snappy repartee and passionate moments." Two of her novels have been inspirational romances, written under the pen name Suzy Pizzuti. These were released in 1998 and 1999. After what Zane refers to as the world's longest maternity leave, she went back to work as the launch author for Abingdon Press's ''Quilts of Love'' series. Her book, ''Beyond the Storm'', inspired by the Joplin/Tuscaloosa tornadoes, debuted October 2012.

Works

Brubaker Brides Series

*''Miss Prim's Untamable Cowboy'' (1997) *''His Brother's Intended Bride'' (1997) *''Cinderella's Secret Baby'' (1998) *''The Rich Gal's Rented Groom'' (1998) *''Johnny's Pregnant Bride'' (1999) *''The Millionaire's Waitress Wife'' (2000) *''Montana's Feisty Cowgirl'' (2000) *''Tex's Exasperating Heiress'' (2001) *''Carolina's Gone a Courting'' (2004) *''Georgia Gets Her Groom!'' (2004) *''Virginia's Getting Hitched'' (2004)

Novels

*''Wife in Name Only'' (1994) *''The Wife Next Door'' (1994) *''The Baby Factor'' (1995) *''Unwilling Wife'' (1995) *''Weekend Wife'' (1995) *''Bachelor Blues'' (1995) *''How to Hook a Husband'' (And a Baby) (1996) *''Marriage in a Bottle'' (1996) *''Single in Seattle'' (1996) *''It's Raining Grooms'' (1997) *''Of Royal Blood'' (2002) *''Taking on Twins'' (2002) *''The Cinderella Inheritance'' (2003)

Quilts of Love Series

*''Beyond the Storm'' (2012)

Omnibus

*''The Family Factor'' (2002) (with

Marie Ferrarella Marie Ferrarella, née Rydzynski (born March 28, 1948, in West Germany) is an American writer of over 272 romance novels as Marie Ferrarella, which have been translated into at least seven languages. She has also written under the names Marie N ...

) *''The Bluest Eyes in Texas / Wife in Name Only'' (2002) (with

Joan Johnston Joan Johnston (born Little Rock, Arkansas) is an American author of over forty contemporary and historical romance novels. Biography Johnston was the third of seven children born to an Air Force sergeant and his music-teacher wife. She received ...

) *''A Colton Family Christmas'' (2002) (with Judy Christenberry, Linda Turner) *''Of Royal Blood / In Pursuit of a Princess'' (2003) (with Donna Clayton) *''The Coltons: Brides of Privilege'' (2004) (with Ruth Langan, Kasey Michaels) *''Stuck on You'' (2004) (with Cait London, Wendy Rosnau) *''Three Weddings and a Giggle'' (2006) (with Karen Ball, Liz Curtis Higgs)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zane, Carolyn 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American romantic fiction writers American women novelists Living people Oregon State University alumni People from Silverton, Oregon Writers from Portland, Oregon 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Oregon Year of birth missing (living people)