Judith McNaught (born May 10, 1944) is a bestselling author of over a dozen historical and contemporary romance novels, with 30 million copies of her works in print.
McNaught's first manuscript was Whitney, My Love, which she wrote between 1978 and 1982. After having difficulty selling that novel, she wrote and sold Tender Triumph in early 1982. She received the book cover for Tender Triumph on June 20, 1983—the day after her husband was killed in an accident.
Success
Whitney, My Love, the first manuscript, was finally published in 1985, after McNaught had proven herself with two successful published novels.
At the beginning of McNaught's writing career, she was one of a very few authors writing for the historical romance market. By 1985, however, the genre had exploded, and over 50 new historical romances were being published each month, many of them full-length historicals set in the Regency period like McNaught's. Despite her years of success in the historical romance genre, in 1990 McNaught switched genres to write contemporary romances, hopeful that she would have a better opportunity to distinguish her work in a less-saturated market. As her career has continued to mature, McNaught has gradually introduced elements of suspense into her writing.
McNaught was one of the first romance authors to receive a multimillion-dollar contract and have her novels published in hardcover, better positioning them for review by major publications. and all of her subsequent books have also placed on the NYT Bestseller List.
After one of her novels placed on the New York Times Best Seller List for the first time, McNaught asked her publisher to change the covers of all future releases. Instead of the common bodice-ripping cover, McNaught wished her books to be packaged with "classy" covers. She has also been awarded a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and had a Number 1 New York Times Bestseller with the romantic suspense Night Whispers.
Personal life
While McNaught at one time lived in Saint Louis, Missouri, she moved to Texas after falling in love with Dallas while on a book tour.