My guest today obtained a degree in English Literature from the University of Queensland, which is where I did my undergraduate degree in speech pathology. However, we didn’t meet until 2005. We were both seated at the same table because we were among the four finalists in the Romance Writer’s of Australia Emma Darcy Award for best unpublished manuscript. I’d heard from someone who’d been a judge that this author’s was the one tipped to win. She’d described it as a superlative manuscript, so, it was no surprise when Anna Campbell placed first in the competition! I looked forward to Anna’s manuscript going into print so I could buy it and read it myself. From first place in the Emma Darcy Award, Anna was a finalist in the RWA (America) Golden Heart Award with the same story, then Anna experienced something most of us can only d ream about—a bidding war between three major publishing houses. The rights were sold to Avon HarperCollins and Anna Campbell’s CLAIMING THE COURTESAN lau...