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Shirley T. Hailstock

P.O. Box 513

Plainsboro, NJ 08536-0513

e-mail: Shailstock@aol.com

SHIRLEY HAILSTOCK DELIVERS

THE NAME TO KNOW

Plainsboro, NJ--Shirley Hailstock, best-selling, award-winning author is quietly revolutionizing the publishing industry with her novels of suspense, some of which circumvent mass destruction of the world as we know it. "...her plots...are over the edge of the world" quotes the New York Times. Hailstock's latest release, Mirror Image, available this month, takes on the glamourous, high-risk and often illusionary world of the talk show host.

Marsha Chambers is the hottest talk show host in the country--savvy, beautiful, sophisticated. She can get everyday people and celebrities to reveal their deepest, most hidden secrets. But Marsha isn't who she seems to be--she's being impersonated by celebrity look-alike Aurora Alexander. Aurora has agreed to help the show's producer, Duncan West, discover who is trying to kill the real hostess. As the deception deepens the deadly game of chase tightens the noose until Aurora is caught inside it and only Duncan can save her.

In the revolutionary days of the 1960's when guns blared and fires wiped out entire neighborhoods, it was obvious that change was taking place. Shirley Hailstock's revolution is quieter, but one that is making massive changes nonetheless. The change is in publishing and Shirley Hailstock delivers. Following in the footsteps of Terri McMillan and Walter Mosley, Hailstock weaves a story about real people, real relationships and shows the world that color isn't the focus of the plot. Her books are not written because the characters are Black, they just happen to be the people the story happened to. "Even if they were green," she quotes. "The story would still stand."

Hailstock is one of the inauguaral authors in a line of romantic fiction published by world- wide publisher, Kensington Publishing in New York City. Her previous novels, such as White Diamonds and Whispers of Love, have topped best seller lists and been the recipient of awards such as the HOLT Medallion and the Heart of the West Award. Romantic Times Magazine, a trade publication, awarded her their Career Achievement Award for 1997-1998. Glamour Magazine readers picked three of her novels as books that "made them fall in love again" and she's currently nominated for the Colorado Award of Excellence in Fiction Writing.

A speaker at many conferences and workshops, Hailstock is a Director on the Board of the Romance Writers of America, an 10,000 member organization of genre writers and a former office of Women Writers of Color. Her inital wish upon graduating with a degree in Chemistry from Howard University in Washington, DC and obtaining her MBA in Marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson, was to join the space program.

Whispers of Love, her debut novel, was published in September, 1994. The romantic suspense received critical acclaim from the Gothic Journal, Romantic Times Magazine, Affaire de Couer, Rendezvous and Booklist. Whispers of Love, winner of the HOLT Medallion from the Virginia Romance Writers, is now in its 4^th printing and recently sold to television as a movie of the week. Clara's Promise, Shirley's first historical romance, won the Utah Romance Writers Heart of the West Award. White Diamonds, her August 1996 release is a romantic suspense set in Washington, D.C. was nominated for a Romantic Times Award as the Best Multicultural Romance of 1996. Glamour Magazine readers chose three of her titles (Whispers of Love, White Diamonds and Legacy) as books that made them "fall in love again," putting her in the prestigious company of Jo Beverley, Danielle Steel, Tami Hoag, Nicholas Sparks, and Laura Kinsale. In addition, Romancing the Web readers picked her book, Legacy, as the Best Multicultural Romance of 1997. And crowning the list is the Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times Magazine .

Shirley is a past president of the New Jersey Romance Writers. She has been a member of the Romance Writers of America since 1988 and currently serves as Regional Director on the National Board, holding the position of RITA Contest and Co-Ceremony ChairPerson. She is also an officer of Women Writers of Color. Shirley writes contemporary and historical romance and mainstream women's fiction.

Living in Central New Jersey with her two teenage children, Shirley has been an Adjunct Professor of Accounting at Rutgers University, New Brunswick campus and an Adjunct Professor of Novel Writing at Middlesex County College. She continues to teach writing seminars and speak at conferences.

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