ROMANCE WRITER TO SIGN HER BOOKS.

PALMDALE - Writing for the romance novel industry's largest publisher isn't an easy task and no one knows that better than Rosamond author Dorothy Howell.

With 13 romance novels published and one more coming out later this year, Howell has experienced the ups and downs of the industry but still loves every minute of it.

``I'm compelled to write,'' said Howell, a former mortgage broker who took up writing full time after she raised two children and her husband retired from the Air Force. ``It's just something inside me that I have to get out. I'd write even if nothing ever got published again.''

Howell, who writes under the pen name Judith Stacy, will be signing her two most recent Harlequin Historical books, ``The Widow's Little Secret'' and ``The Nanny'' today from 1 to 2 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 39228 10th St. W., Palmdale.

Her novels are typically based in a western frontier setting, like 1880s Nebraska for ``The Widow's Little Secret.'' She said she spends many hours of research prior to each book to get clothing, objects and speech as accurate as possible.

The books' underlying theme often deals with people gaining a family, she said.

``The Nanny,'' for example, is about a frontier widower who hires a young woman to look after his unruly children.

Although her first book ``Defiant Enchantress'' was published in 1988 by Zebra it took seven years to complete the second book.

``I sold my first book when I didn't know anything about writing so I had to go back and see what I did by accident,'' Howell said.

With no formal training in writing, Howell has spent much of her time attending workshops and writer's conferences all over the country. While attending a critique session at the annual San Diego State University writers conference she even sold one of her books to a publisher.

Howell knew she wanted to write since participating in a creative writing assignment in the eighth grade and had been working toward being a published author since.

Although the time-consuming task of raising and caring for a family slowed the creative process, Howell pushed on and published her first book in 1988.

By 1995 she sold her second book but the work was still slow going with about one book completed per year. Now, as her 14th book nears publication, she's writing as much as four hours a day and completing as many as three books a year.

Her book ``The Last Bride in Texas'' earned her a 2001 nomination for the industry's highest honor, the Rita Award.

``I didn't win but I had the best time,'' Howell said. ``I was just really honored that I was nominated and in the company of so many fine authors.''

For more information on Howell's work, visit www.eclectics.com/judithstacy.

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Photo:

(color) Dorothy Howell of Rosamond holds a copy of her latest historical romance, ``The Widow's Little Secret.''

Charles F. Bostwick/Staff Photographer