Tami Hoag

Tami Hoag (born Tami Mikkelson on January 20, 1959) is an American novelist, best known for her work in the romance and thriller genres. More than 22 million copies of her books are in print.

Hoag was born in Cresco, Iowa and raised in the small town of Harmony, Minnesota, where her father sold insurance. From childhood, she knew she wanted to be a writer. "I had to spend a lot of time entertaining myself," she told an interviewer in 2016. "I found books at a really young age and fell in love with books."

Hoag's first job after graduating from high school was in the La Crosse Tribune circulation department. Before publishing her first novel, she also worked as a photographer's assistant, trained show horses, and sold designer bathroom accessories. She married and divorced Daniel Hoag, whom she dated in high school.

Hoag began her career as an author in 1988, writing category romances for the Bantam Books Loveswept Line. After several years of success in that field, Hoag switched her focus to single-title suspense novels. She has had thirteen consecutive New York Times bestsellers, including five in a 20-month span.Her novel Night Sins became a TV miniseries starring Valerie Bertinelli and Harry Hamlin.Hoag has been invited to do a reading at one of Barbara Bush's literacy functions.

Hoag and three other authors who made the leap from romance to thrillers at roughly the same time (Eileen Dreyer, Elizabeth Grayson, and Kimberly Cates) have formed a group they call the Divas. The group provides support and encouragement for each other, and Hoag often thanks them in the acknowledgement section of her books.

Hoag owns horses, and often goes for a ride to combat writer's block. She has competed in dressage at a national level, but stopped competing after breaking five vertebrae in her back during a fall while trying out a horse for a friend.Hoag is fully recovered from her accident, and has returned to the competition arena. She currently lives in Malibu, California, and Wellington, Florida.

• Kean, Danuta. "Tami Hoag Author Profile". Orion Publishers. Archived from the original on 2005-01-19. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
• Richards, Linda L. (April 1999). "Tami Hoag". January Magazine. Retrieved 2007-07-28.