Eileen Goudge was born on the Fourth of July, 1950.  She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of six children.  Her father, Robert James, served in the air force during World War II and her mother, Mary Louise, was a talented cook, from whom Eileen inherited her love of baking.  She began her writing career, back in the early seventies, as a freelance journalist.  She sold to such publications as McCall’s magazine, Reader’s Digest, The San Francisco Chronicle, National Geographic’s Explorer, and Highlights for Children. 

In the early eighties, while raising two children, she devoted her time to writing novels for young adults.   She wrote for the successful Sweet Valley High series before creating several series of her own: Seniors, Swept Away, and Who Killed Peggy Sue? In all, she has published thirty-two young adult novels.

Her first novel for adults, Garden of Lies, published in 1986, went on to become a New York Times bestseller, both in hardcover and paperback, selling over a million copies in paperback alone.  She followed up with another New York Times bestseller, Such Devoted Sisters.  She has published a total of twelve novels of women’s fiction, including her most recent, Woman in Red.  She has also published one cookbook, Something Warm from the Oven: Baking Memories, Making Memories.  According to Eileen, “What goes better with a good book than a cup of tea and something sweet to nibble on?” 

There are more than five million copies of her books in print, world-wide. 

She lives in New York City with her husband, TV and radio reporter Sandy Kenyon.  They met on the air when he was interviewing her for his then-talk show, in Arizona.  As Eileen says, “We just kept talking.”  Twelve years later the honeymoon continues.  Currently, they are building a house in the Pacific Northwest, where they will eventually move, though Eileen has no intention of ever retiring.  “While there’s breath in me, there will always be a book,” she says. 

Her website is: www.eileengoudge.com