Rita Clay - Revision history

Amy at 21:37, 26 October 2008

2008-10-26T21:37:21Z

Snowdrop44: /* Books */

2008-07-13T16:56:31Z

Books

Amy: /* Books */

2008-03-30T02:37:56Z

Books

Robini: /* Books */ - added titles from Fantastic Fiction

2008-03-19T17:35:26Z

Books: - added titles from Fantastic Fiction

Romancewiki at 02:04, 16 March 2008

2008-03-16T02:04:10Z

Romancewiki at 18:14, 16 February 2008

2008-02-16T18:14:54Z

Romancewiki: New page: {{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Rita}} Category:Authors - C Category:Silhouette Romance Authors == Biography == Rita Clay was a founding member and served as the first president of the [[Roman...

2008-02-16T18:13:34Z

New page: {{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Rita}} Category:Authors - C Category:Silhouette Romance Authors == Biography == Rita Clay was a founding member and served as the first president of the [[Roman...

New page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Rita}} [[Category:Authors - C]] [[Category:Silhouette Romance Authors]]
== Biography ==
Rita Clay was a founding member and served as the first president of the [[Romance Writers of America]], and the prestigious [[RITA]], originally known as the [[RITA|Golden Medallion]], was renamed in honor of Clay. She received a [[Lifetime Achievement Award]] in 2000 from RWA. Clay was also the driving force behind the creation of the Golden Triangle Writers Guild[http://www.beaumontjournal.com/news/2007/1024/Columns/009.html].

The founding of the [[Romance Writers of America]] came about when [[Vivian Stephens]] met with Rita Clay Estrada and other writers in Houston[http://romancingtheblog.com/blog/?p=290]. As [[Shirley Hailstock]], via [[Monica Jackson]], notes:
<blockquote>
Vivian told me she used to get calls from writers everyday asking for her help in getting a book published. It took up so much of her time that she told Rita Clay Estrada that she was going to be in Houston at a certain time. If they wanted to meet with her, get a place and she would come. I think they got a hotel meeting room.

Eighty women showed up. Vivian spoke for several hours, telling them they needed to start their own organization since they were getting no respect from any other one. That was the founding meeting of RWA.

Five women met in Rita’s dining room and hammered out the rules of the organization and I believe sixty-three came to the first meeting when Rita Clay Estrada was president. ([http://romancingtheblog.com/blog/?p=290] - "Who Is Vivian Stephens?" at '''Romancing The Blog''')
</blockquote>

Clay famously began her career after a stint as a stay at home mother. Her then-husband bought her an IBM Selectric typewriter and challenged her to write (the couple has since divorced). After writing what she describes as "horrendously long historical romance,"[http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1995_1293554], she focused and sold the third manuscript she completed.

Her first novel, ''[[Wanderer's Dream]]'', was published by [[Silhouette]] in 1981. In their July, 2006 article "Romancing the Store" (''Publisher's Weekly''), [[Paula Eykehof]] and [[Debbie Macomber]] called out [[Rita Clay Estrada|Clay Estrada's]] novel ''[[The Ivory Key]]'' as one of the first paranormal romances read by the contemporary audience[http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6357303.html]. The novel, which featured a [[Time Travel|time traveling]] [[:Category:Ghost|ghost]] both exemplified the creative boundaries pushed by the [[Harlequin Temptation]] imprint while presaging today's multitude of [[Paranormal]] romantic elements.

She also published as [[Rita Clay Estrada]] and [[Tira Lacy]]. The Lacy name, an anagram, was adopted when Clay moved to another publisher. [[Harlequin]] "owned" the name "Rita Clay", forcing the author to choose another name for her books. Her mother, [[Rita Gallagher]], also writes.

As an author for [[Silhouette Romance]], Rita Clay published two novels.
== See Also ==
* [[Rita Clay Estrada]]
* [[Tira Lacy]]

== Books ==
* ''[[Sweet Eternity]]'' - October 1982 ([[Silhouette Romance By The Numbers|Silhouette Romance #182]])
* ''[[Wanderer's Dream]]'' - August 1981 ([[Silhouette Romance By The Numbers|Silhouette Romance #97]])

=== Non-Fiction ===
* ''[[You Can Write A Romance]]'' - Rita Clay Estrada and [[Rita Gallagher]]

== On the Web ==
* [http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1995_1293554 "Romancing the word/The ordinary and not-so-ordinary life of a romance writer] (Houston Chronicle, 08/26/1995)

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Rita}} [[Category:Authors - C]] [[Category:Silhouette Romance Authors]] [[Category:Harlequin Temptation Authors]]
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Rita}} [[Category:Authors - C]] [[Category:Silhouette Romance Authors]] [[Category:Harlequin Temptation Authors]][[Category:Silhouette Desire Authors]]
 == Biography ==
 Rita Clay was a founding member and served as the first president of the [[Romance Writers of America]], and the prestigious [[RITA]], originally known as the [[RITA|Golden Medallion]], was renamed in honor of Clay. She received a [[Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award|Lifetime Achievement Award]] in 2000 from RWA. Clay was also the driving force behind the creation of the Golden Triangle Writers Guild[http://www.beaumontjournal.com/news/2007/1024/Columns/009.html].

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 == Books ==
 * ''[[Wanderer's Dream]]'' -  August  1981 ([[Silhouette Romance By The Numbers|Silhouette Romance #97]])
-* ''[[Wise Folly]]'' (1982)
+* ''[[Wise Folly]]'' (1982) ([[Silhouette Desire #3]])
-* ''[[Yesterday's Dreams - Rita Clay|Yesterday's Dreams]]'' (1982)
+* ''[[Yesterday's Dreams - Rita Clay|Yesterday's Dreams]]'' (1982) ([[Silhouette Desire #32]])
-* ''[[Experiment In Love]]'' (1983)
+* ''[[Experiment In Love]]'' (1983) ([[Silhouette Desire #45]])
-* ''[[Summer Song]]'' (1983)
+* ''[[Summer Song]]'' (1983) ([[Silhouette Desire #82]])
-* ''[[Recapture The Love]]'' (1984)
+* ''[[Recapture The Love]]'' (1984) ([[Silhouette Desire #120]])
 * ''[[Sweet Eternity]]'' -  October  1982 ([[Silhouette Romance By The Numbers|Silhouette Romance #182]])

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 * ''[[Wanderer's Dream]]'' -  August  1981 ([[Silhouette Romance By The Numbers|Silhouette Romance #97]])
 * ''[[Wise Folly]]'' (1982)
-* ''[[Yesterday's Dreams]]'' (1982)
+* ''[[Yesterday's Dreams - Rita Clay|Yesterday's Dreams]]'' (1982)
 * ''[[Experiment In Love]]'' (1983)
 * ''[[Summer Song]]'' (1983)

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Rita}} [[Category:Authors - C]] [[Category:Silhouette Romance Authors]] [[Category:Harlequin Temptation Authors]]
 == Biography ==
-Rita Clay was a founding member and served as the first president of the [[Romance Writers of America]], and the prestigious [[RITA]], originally known as the [[RITA|Golden Medallion]], was renamed in honor of Clay. She received a [[Lifetime Achievement Award]] in 2000 from RWA. Clay was also the driving force behind the creation of the Golden Triangle Writers Guild[http://www.beaumontjournal.com/news/2007/1024/Columns/009.html].
+Rita Clay was a founding member and served as the first president of the [[Romance Writers of America]], and the prestigious [[RITA]], originally known as the [[RITA|Golden Medallion]], was renamed in honor of Clay. She received a [[Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award|Lifetime Achievement Award]] in 2000 from RWA. Clay was also the driving force behind the creation of the Golden Triangle Writers Guild[http://www.beaumontjournal.com/news/2007/1024/Columns/009.html].
 The founding of the [[Romance Writers of America]] came about when [[Vivian Stephens]] met with Rita Clay Estrada and other writers in Houston[http://romancingtheblog.com/blog/?p=290]. As [[Shirley Hailstock]], via [[Monica Jackson]], notes:
@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 Her first novel, ''[[Wanderer's Dream]]'', was published by [[Silhouette]] in 1981. In their July, 2006 article "Romancing the Store" (''Publisher's Weekly''), [[Paula Eykehof]] and [[Debbie Macomber]] called out [[Rita Clay Estrada|Clay Estrada's]] novel ''[[The Ivory Key]]'' as one of the first paranormal romances read by the contemporary audience[http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6357303.html]. The novel, which featured a [[Time Travel|time traveling]] [[:Category:Ghost|ghost]] both exemplified the creative boundaries pushed by the [[Harlequin Temptation]] imprint while presaging today's multitude of [[Paranormal]] romantic elements.
-She also published as [[Rita Clay Estrada]] and [[Tira Lacy]]. The Lacy name, an anagram, was adopted when Clay moved to another publisher. [[Harlequin]] "owned" the name "Rita Clay", forcing the author to choose another name for her books. Her mother, [[Rita Gallagher]], also writes.
+She also published as [[Rita Clay Estrada]] and [[Tira Lacy]]. The Lacy name, an anagram, was adopted when Clay moved to another publisher. [[Harlequin]] "owned" the name "Rita Clay", forcing the author to choose another name for her books. Her mother, [[Rita Gallagher]], also wrote romance.
 As an author for [[Silhouette Romance]], Rita Clay published two novels.
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 === Non-Fiction ===
 * ''[[You Can Write A Romance]]'' - Rita Clay Estrada and [[Rita Gallagher]]
 == On the Web ==
 * [http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1995_1293554 "Romancing the word/The ordinary and not-so-ordinary life of a romance writer] (Houston Chronicle, 08/26/1995)