About Cindy Hiday

My career as a novelist began in 1986, when I joined the Professional Novel and Memoir Writing Workshop at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon. Dorothy (Dee) Burke Lopez, course instructor and published author, became my mentor and was instrumental in the publication of my first contemporary romance, A Bed of Roses, released under the pseudonym Elyn Day, from Silhouette Books.

While I worked on the next romance, self-publishing grew into a viable option for authors who wanted more control over the fate of their books. Two unsold manuscripts later, I made the decision to write the stories I wanted to write and self-publish.

Dee Lopez retired in 1999, and I took over as the instructor for her workshops. I devoted my time and attention to the formidable task of filling my mentor's shoes, and soon realized my writing had stalled. So I took the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, and out poured my literary adventure Father, Son & Grace (republished as Destination Stardust). Switching genres reignited my passion to write.

I'm drawn to stories about people who face insurmountable odds and emerge stronger for the experience. If I can give a reader courage through one of my characters, then the research and long hours of molding words on the page have been worth it. And a story must have a satisfying ending. What's the point of following characters through hardship, only to see them fail? They may not end up with what they had been striving for, but they end up with something that makes them a better, happier person.