Meet TJ

TJ Bennett has been writing romance since 2000, but she’s been interested in it a lot longer than that. It wasn’t the best of romance that got her writing, however; it was the worst. After slamming one particularly awful novel against the wall and complaining to her husband, “I can do better than that,” he challenged her to “just do it.” That was all the encouragement she needed. She joined RWA® and never looked back. Since then, TJ has placed in a number of RWA® contests, including the Daphne du Maurier contest, the Lone Star, the Lauries, the Heart to Heart, the Emerald City Opener, and many others. In 2005, she received a nomination in the Golden Heart paranormal category for her novel, Dreamweaver. In 2006, The Justice Seeker, a paranormal romance about an alien cop, received first, second, and third place, respectively, in the three well-known and highly respected contests in which it was entered. Her first published novel, The Legacy, a historical romance set in Early Reformation Germany about the destructive nature of secrets, will be released in April 2008 (Medallion Press).

TJ has been a judge for several contests, including the Golden Heart, and has led plotting workshops and spoken on the literary “black moment.” She served as the editor for the Los Angeles Romance Authors award-winning newsletter, The LARA Confidential, as well as contributing several articles.

Her varied background includes extensive travel in her youth as a military dependent in Europe; being president of her own consulting business for several years, where she used the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to help CEOs and managers develop successful work teams; and working thirteen years as a civilian contract negotiator for the US Air Force, buying multi-million dollar satellite and weapons systems.

She returned to her first love of writing in 2000. Armed with a BA and an MA in English, she also began teaching college writing in 2002.

TJ knows a lot about the black moments of life, and uses that knowledge to enhance her writing. She believes that nothing is ever lost, and no painful experience is in vain: it’s all research.

Visit with TJ at her blog: http://tjbsopinion.blogspot.com

Contact TJ at tjb@tjbennett.com