Charlotte Elkins (

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 ...

, Emily Spenser; born July 4, 1948) is an American author who teamed with her husband, writer

Aaron Elkins Aaron Elkins (born July 24, 1935 in Brooklyn) is an American mystery writer. He is best known for his series of novels featuring forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver—the 'skeleton detective'. Biography Elkins's father was a machinist, his ...

, to write a series of mystery novels about Lee Ofsted, a struggling female professional golfer.

Biography

Elkins was born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, but her father was an itinerant carpenter and the family moved frequently, living mostly in the

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

and

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. After graduating from Orange High School in 1966, she worked her way through college getting her B.A. in art in 1972 and a secondary teaching credential in 1974 from

California State University, Hayward California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 post-baccala ...

, and a M.L.S. in 1979 from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

. She married Aaron Elkins December 29, 1972. Before becoming a full-time writer, she was a self-employed artist, secondary school teacher, and the librarian of American art at the M.H. de Young Museum in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1980-81.

Writing career

Elkins started her career in 1981 writing five mass-market romance novels for

Mills & Boon Mills & Boon is a romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin UK Ltd. It was founded in 1908 by Gerald Rusgrove Mills and Charles Boon as a general publisher. The company moved towards escapist fiction for women in the 1930s. In 1971, the ...

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under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

''Emily Spenser'', which were translated and sold in over a dozen countries. But she had always wanted to collaborate on a mystery with her husband, an established mystery writer. At first she had difficulty creating a character they would both find engaging. The inspiration came by chance. They were living near a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

base in Germany while Aaron was teaching in the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

's overseas program for the American military, when they had an opportunity to take golfing lessons on the base. Charlotte, who loved the golf-themed stories by P.G. Wodehouse, suddenly realized a novice pro golfer would make an interesting protagonist in an amateur detective novel and Lee Ofsted was born. ''A Wicked Slice'' was published in 1989, Publishers Weekly called it an "engagingly humorous thriller." Encouraged, over the years, the Elkins wrote four more Lee Ofsteds: ''Rotten Lies'' (1995), ''Nasty Breaks'' (1997), ''Where have all the Birdies Gone?'' (2004), and ''On the Fringe'' (2005). In between they wrote short stories, one of which, "Nice Gorilla," won the

Agatha Award The Agatha Awards, named for Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short ...

for best short story of the year in 1992. In 1996, they co-authored the "Cumberland Cup Mystery Game," the first plot for Time Warner Electronic Publishing's Modus Operandi.

References

*''Contemporary Authors'', Volume 167. *''The Armchair Detective'', summer, 1991, p. 377. *''Library Journal'', November 1, 1995, p. 110 *''Publishers Weekly'', May 19, 1989, p. 71; September 11, 1995, p. 77; November 27, 1995; September 1, 1997, p. 99. {{DEFAULTSORT:Elkins, Charlotte 1948 births Living people American mystery writers 20th-century American novelists Agatha Award winners California State University, East Bay alumni San Jose State University alumni Writers from Sequim, Washington Writers from Houston American women mystery writers American women novelists 20th-century American women writers Novelists from Texas Novelists from Washington (state) 21st-century American women