M

I am Lover of romance, who indulges in the romantic adventures of literature

My name is Renee, and I am the host of this site. I am a 34 year old woman, on the prowl for her mate, searching out the best of books, exploring the wilds of the imagination and delving into the heart of a beautiful love story.

 

In Memory of Janet Chapman

by | Nov 4, 2017 | Uncategorized | 15 comments

“The magic is real, people; as real as the sunrise, the ebb and flow of the tides, the haunted call of a loon, that unseen fish tugging on the end of a line, the birth of a baby, the death of a loved one. The problem, in my opinion, is that these things seem so everyday ordinary that we forget how extraordinary they are

-Janet Chapman

I was saddened once again to learn a favorite author of mine had passed away,.,,I swear this “CANCER” thing needs to leave forever because its everywhere. Janet Chapman is the author of over twenty full length novels, of Contemporary and Paranormal romance themes. She writes a setting in her books that she very much knows, which she had resided in Maine with her husband.

I never got the chance to meet this lovely lady in person, and it really saddens me so much but after reading her personally written bio I just can’t wait to meet her “when we meet in heaven”. What I truly have come to appreciate about her is her strong connection to family and I just love that. Her primary focus was family and writing. She lived in Maine, with a quaint town and wasn’t a city girl in any way but from what I heard from others, she was down to earth charming lady.

From her website, a personal bio: Here is the link for full information  It is kinda long but I wanted to share this so you can  see why I loved her wit and personality so much.

I’ve never much cared for writing.  When I was in my teens and twenties and even my thirties, if someone had told me I would one day be a WRITER, I would have thought them insane.  I hated writing papers in high school and college, and I very rarely wrote letters.  (I am of the pre-email era.  Although come to think of it, I don’t much care for writing emails now, either.)

No, I was born to READ.  Cereal boxes, magazines, instructions manuals, brochures, and of course books; if it had words strung together, I read it.  I haunted my public library and tortured the librarian in the children’s section to please find me books without pictures because I wanted to read novels.

But around the time I was closing in on forty years old, it suddenly dawned on me that I should probably put one the stories rattling around in my own head down on paper just so I could READ it.  So, despite not having a clue how one actually went about writing a book, I locked myself in a tiny room and spent the next six weeks writing a romance novel.  I immediately read it, then stuck it in the closet and said, “Well, that was fun,” and wondered if I might enjoy writing another one.  Several closet-books later, having discovered that I really LIKED writing, it then dawned on me (I tend to have a lot of light bulb moments) that I should probably see if I could get published in order to justify all the time I spent locked in a tiny room away from my family.  Because while I was indulging in something that made me deliriously happy, my husband and sons were eating anything they could cook themselves and pawing through their hampers for semi-clean socks.  (Everyone thought I was a stay-at-home mom, but I was really on a continual vacation in some imaginary world.  But nobody really missed me, because they were used to me gazing into a book instead of the washing machine.)

Here’s what I learned when I tried to get published: A big-time New York City editor was not going to come knocking on my door and say, “Hey, I heard you wrote a book.  Can I read it?  Because I would really like to give you a three-book contract for a million dollars.”  Nope, not gonna happen.  So I went to them, and attended a Romance Writers Of America conference in New York City.  Talk about leaving my comfort zone; I’m from Maine.  (At the conference at the Marriot Marquis—right on Times Square, no less—I remember thinking, I’m going to die on this escalator, because the only one I had ever seen in real life was at the airport and I never flew anywhere.)

But I really wanted to keep writing my stories, and that meant I really had to get published before my husband and sons mutinied.  Several conferences and writing retreats later, I sent Charming the Highlander  to a New York City agent who loved it so much that she sold it two weeks later as part of a three-book contract—NOT for a million dollars.  Nope, not even close.

Charming The Highlander came out in January of 2003, and the rest, as they say, is history.  My sons somehow managed to grow into rather amazing men despite my neglect, my husband miraculously didn’t divorce me, and I went from being an invisible stay-at-home mom to a New York Times bestselling author!

And I now spend my days—and sometimes half the night—deliriously happy furiously WRITING.

To be honest, this is one of those authors I think of the most fondly. Her earlier books from her Highlander series is probably one of the main reasons I started reading more Contemporary romance when I was more than fine with just reading historical and paranormal. Janet Chapman builds some wonderful stories that captivates her readers. Now I will say that out of all of her books that I have read from her Highlander series is my favorite. I really love of unique and charming her books always turn out to be. And boy those books can make you laugh more than you can imagine. I have read the whole Highlander series at least twice. In fact I am planning on re reading this series at the beginning of 2018 and I will host some giveaways and I am going to make this a huge event, so if y’all would love to join please do because I promise you will love them so much!!

I do know that she was working on her next book this past year, but since she has been fighting cancer and hoping to “win”, I am not sure what will happen with that. I am crossing my fingers that she completed it and that it can be her final testament of how much she enjoyed life. She is the type of person that looked at the simple things we all take for granted and considered them precious. The world is a sad place without her in it. I do know that she was able to leave this world being surrounded by the people she loved the most.

My heart goes out to her loving husband (who always supported her in her writing) and her two sons and their families, you will be in my prayers and thoughts.

Here is the link to her obituary HERE

Rest in Peace Janet Chapman, thank you for sharing your beautiful gift with us!!!

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15 Comments

  1. Karen

    I didn’t know of this author but it seems we lost several romance writer icons recently.

    For What It’s Worth

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      We really have lost quite a few and its pretty sad to see.

      Reply
  2. Michele H

    Lovely job with this post, Renee. I was so sad to hear of Janet’s passing…especially since she was a “Mainah” like myself. I totally agree that her books had wonderful humor and I just adored so many of the characters she created. She believed completely in the magic of books and that telling stories can enhance our lives. She will definitely be missed. (Crossing my fingers as well for her final book to have been completed…)

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Thank you Michele. For some reason I had totally forgotten that you live in Maine…that is so neat. Her humor was so fabulous right? I love how passionate she was about books that even most authors feel like she did. I really really want her book to be published.

      Reply
  3. Blodeuedd

    Lovely post. So sad when a fav author passes

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Thank you. It is pretty heartbreaking.

      Reply
  4. Lily B

    no, what, no oh no.. I’m seriously broken up about this now 🙁 we lost Janet Chapman now as well ? :*( this.. I’m speechless and heartbroken

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Oh I know that is how I feel as well. Its just so heartbreaking. I mean really??? And seriously I was sobbing because I was so saddened. I just love her books and loved her as a person too.

      Reply
  5. Geybie's Book Blog

    Oh I’m so sorry to hear this. I haven’t read any of books but I will soon. I’m so emotional right now. I’ve been watching terminal cancer youtubers who sharing about their battles with cancer. A lot of people I know have been battling cancer so this is so personal. This makes me sad giving a book a bad review (even though we are expected to do so as reviewers).

    Thank you for writing about the news, Renee. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh Geybie, this is an author for you because she is amazing. I think it would break my heart to watch those videos on youtube. My grandfather battles multiple types of cancer through his life so he was a trooper and a fighter and I have no idea how he did it.

      But yeah she has been a favorite author for me for a long time and it just breaks my heart especially since she saw such magic in books and romance.

      Reply
  6. Lorna

    I am not familiar with this author and from what I just read, I should have been. Very sad. It sounds like there are other authors that we’ve recently lost as well. Who were they if you don’t mind telling me? I am definitely going to look up her Highlander series.

    Reply
    • Lorna

      I just bought the first book on Kindle for 1.99. The second book on Kindle is priced at 12.99. The publisher is trying to cash in it would seem and that is just sad.

      Reply
      • Lover Of Romance

        Well I know for sure a couple of weeks ago we lost Miranda Neville, who also lost the battle to cancer. I don’t know why the publisher priced book 2 as 12.99….it really should be the original price 7.99. However I do have an alternative option for you. If you go on openlibrary.org there is an available ebook you can borrow to read and it will be free. or if you want a copy of your own, I would say buy it used on amazon or better world books and I know better world books you normally get free shipping and those copies are only a couple of dollars.

        Reply
        • Lorna

          Thank you!

  7. Vellum Voyages

    Ohhhh I had no idea 🙁 I’m so sad to hear this….I have so many of her novels just begging to be read on my TBR. This will inspire me to read some. Thanks for sharing Renee.

    Reply

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