She had never read a romance. She bought a couple, read them, and knew she’d found her calling. She sat down at the Smith Corona typewriter and began her own romance. The first one never left her house. It is buried deep in a trunk and Nan says it will never be shown to anyone. Her second book sold and she’s been writing since.

She still enjoys writing and realizes she’s been blessed to have found what she loves to do. Fortunately, writing is something that can be done anywhere — and Nan should know. She’s been married for many years to Joe Ryan, a television executive. His occupation has taken them from border to border and coast to coast.

The Ryans have lived in Washington, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and their own home state of Texas. Nan says it was fun to move around the country and honestly believes that it has helped her writing. The library and the Internet offer a great deal of information on any given place, but there is nothing quite like actually living in a locale where a book is set.

The winner of numerous awards, Nan says one of the nicest things ever written about her was printed in the St. Petersburg Times. Correspondent Ann V. Hull wrote: “Romance novelist Nan Ryan could step right into the pages of one of her paperbacks. Tall and slender, with smokey eyes and pearly skin, Nan Ryan looks like movie star Jessica Lange’s older sister. Ryan writes the most imaginative and bold love scenes, some of which would surely shock her former teachers at Abilene Christian University.”

Pseudonym/s: Nancy Henderson Ryan