Jo Leigh
aka Samantha Beckett
Jolie Kramer began her career in 1975 as a reader in the Comedy Development department for 20th-Century Fox. She left Fox in 1977 to go on location with THE DEER HUNTER. She then worked as an auditor, associate producer and producer on such projects as WHEN SHE SAYS NO for CBS, BEULAH LAND for NBC, GREAT AMERICAN TRAFFIC JAM for NBC and CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR for Jozak Productions. In 1987 she became head of development for the McCarran Film Corp., overseeing a roster of twelve feature films. As a screen writer, she’s had a series idea purchased by Cinemax, and has worked as a script consultant on more than 50 screenplays. Currently, her screenplay APACHE TEARS was optioned by Northern Lights Productions in Canada.
Jo Leigh's first Silhouette novel, SUSPECT, was awarded BEST FIRST SERIES BOOK by Romantic Times Magazine, garnered the 1994 ROMANCE WRITER OF THE YEAR award from Pike’s Peak RWA, and was a finalist for BEST ROMANTIC SUSPENSE NOVEL OF 1994 by Romance Writers of America. Her first Temptation novel, ONE WICKED NIGHT was a finalist for BEST SHORT CONTEMPORARY NOVEL OF 1998 by Romance Writers of America. She was invited to write one of the launch books for the Harlequin imprint, Blaze, with her book GOING FOR IT! Her 2006 Blaze RELENTLESS was a RITA finalist for BEST ROMANTIC SUSPENSE.
She also ghost-wrote GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL DOLL – THE ANNA NICOLE SMITH STORY for Barricade Books.
Jo teaches writing at workshops across the country and on-line, and is a frequent guest speaker at writing conferences. Her tape on Advanced Plotting from the Dallas Romance Writers of America conference is the best selling tape in RWA’s history.
Jo lives in an incredibly rural area of Utah where her many rescue dogs have room to run and play and her rescue cats are determined to win the International Shedding Award. She spends an inordinate amount of time reading about how the brain works, listening to music and trying not to kill the basil.
Jo's husband died of cancer on 13 June 2008, three years after they married, and whose medical bills are astronomical. Authors, editors, and bloggers have all donated a mess of items, from books to critiques to mentoring sessions to offer an item for the auction to benefit author Jo Leigh.
“Here's what we're gonna do. You're going to give me that doubt. You're just going to hand it to me, and I'm going to hold it for you. I'm going to keep it for as long as you need me to. For the rest of our lives. I will be your safe place. The place you get to be soft. Right here, just like this. When you leave my arms, you leave whole. Because you already are.You're not broken sweetie, you're human. You're incredibly strong. You're a wonder. You'll return to your team as the warrior you've always been. And you'll know that at any time, you can come to me, and you'll know my arms are strong enough." Sigh”
“That's what got her, of course. That everyone thought it so unbelievable that she could possibly attract a man like him. It shouldn't upset her because it was true. She couldn't. Not in this world, in this lifetime. Yet she didn't appreciated everyone else acting as if they were the most improbable twosome since Quasimodo hit on Esmeralda.”
“Gwen: It's not going to work.Paul: Pardon me?Gwen: Cinderella's not going to sleep with you because you're taking the ugly stepsister to the ball. She'll still make you wait.”