Valerie Parv (1951–2021)

Valerie Parv is married to her own romantic hero, Paul, a former crocodile hunter in Australia’s tropical north turned cartoonist. With no children of her own, Valerie is happy to play surrogate mother to her "rent-a-kids," Amelia and Nicholas, and to her agent's delightful twins, Kate and Eliza. "There I go again with the best of both worlds," she says. "I get all the fun of having children without any of the hard bits, a bit like the babies in my books!"

After many years of living in Sydney, the marriage moved to Australia's capital city, Canberra, where they are surrounded by over half a million trees, making it the most beautiful city in the country. "I wanted the best of both worlds," says Valerie. "I love the cultural and intellectual stimulation of living in a city, but I also want the beauty and tranquility of the country where I can imagine my love stories and bring them to life on paper." Canberra has a thriving writing community and Valerie is well-known there, currently conducting writing courses and having lectured on romance writing at the University of Canberra and given workshops at the Canberra Writers' Center.

With over 60 novels since 1982, and 25 million copies of her books sold internationally, including many Waldenbooks bestsellers, Valerie Parv is known as one of the Australia’s queens of romance and is recognized as their media spokesperson for all things romantic. Already a successful writer of nonfiction, Valerie has made love and romance a career. A qualified trainer and counselor, she conducts seminars and workshops on creativity and all aspects of the writing craft based on her two bestselling guides for writers: The Art of Romance Writing and The Idea Factory, adapted as an online course for writers in 2005. Also her short fiction is also regularly featured in national magazines. Valerie continues to write her page-turning novels because they affirm her belief in love and happy endings. As she says says, "Love gives you wings, romance helps you fly".