Okay . . . maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. But she was one of the honorees in a complete-the-story contest conducted by a national children’s magazine. And she likes to think of that as her “official” fiction-writing debut!
Since then, she has written more than forty-five contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels. Irene has twice won the RITA award—the “Oscar” of romantic fiction—from Romance Writers of America, and her books have also been honored with a National Readers’ Choice award, two HOLT medallions, a Daphne du Maurier award, a Retailers Choice award, and two Reviewers’ Choice awards from RT Book Reviews magazine. In 2011, Booklist included one of her novels in its Top 10 Inspirational Fiction list for the year. She is also a Christy award finalist.
Irene, who holds a BA in psychology and an MA in journalism, juggled two careers for many years until she gave up her executive corporate communications position with a Fortune 500 company to write full-time. She is happy to say she has no regrets! As she points out, leaving behind the rush-hour commute, corporate politics, and a relentless BlackBerry that never slept was no sacrifice.
A trained vocalist, Irene has sung the leading role in numerous community theater productions and is also a soloist at her church.
When not otherwise occupied, she and her husband enjoy traveling, Saturday mornings at their favorite coffee shop, and spending time with family. They make their home in Missouri.
To learn more about Irene and her books, visit www.irenehannon.com.