Judith Arnold

Barbara Keiler (born April 7, 1953 in New York City, United States), known more widely by her pseudonym Judith Arnold, is a best-selling American author of crime fiction and over eighty-five romance novels. She has been writing since 1983, and has also been published under the pen names Ariel Berk and Thea Frederick.

Personal life

In high school Keiler was published in the school's creative writing magazine and edited the school newspaper. After winning a contest in college for writing a play, Keiler decided to become a playwright. She graduated from Smith College in 1974 and earned an A.M. in creative writing from Brown University in 1976. She then spent the next ten years writing plays for production in regional theaters around the country.

Keiler married after her husband obtained his Ph.D. in Rhode Island, now they have two sons. She and her family live near Boston, Massachusetts.

Writing career

After taking a year off teaching to try to write a novel, she sold a romance novel, Silent Beginnings, to Silhouette Books, in October 1983.

Since then, Keiler has written over 85 romance novels. These have been published in category romance lines such as Silhouette (writing as Ariel Berk), Second Chance at Love (writing as Thea Frederick), and the Harlequin lines of Temptation, American, and Superromance, as well as single-title books published by Mira (writing as Judith Arnold). She is a three-time Romantic Times award-winner and has been nominated an additional four times, including for Career Achievement. Keiler has been a finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA Award and the Golden Medallion Award, and was nominated for the RWA's Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also a past president of Novelists, Inc..

Mrs. Keiler recently filed suit against HQ Enterprises alleging miss-payment of e-book royalty claims. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-19/romance-novelists-sue-harlequin-over-e-book-royalty-claims