Heather Graham Pozzessere (born March 15, 1953) is a best-selling American writer, who writes primarily romance novels. She also writes under her maiden name Heather Graham as well as the pen name Shannon Drake. She has written over 150 novels and novellas, has been published in approximately 25 languages, and has had over 75 million copies printed. Biography Born Heather Graham on March 15, 1953, she grew up in Miami-Dade County, Florida. She married Dennis Pozzessere shortly after her high school graduation. After high school, she went on and earned a degree in theater arts from the University of South Florida. She spent several years after that working in dinner theater, singing backup vocals, and bartending. After the birth of her third child, Pozzessere decided she could not afford to go to work anymore. She chose to stay at home, and, to fill her time, began to write horror stories and romances. After two years, in 1982, she sold her first novel, When Next We Love. In the years since then, she has written more than 100 novels and novellas. These novels run the gamut of the romance genre, from historical fiction to category, from romantic suspense to time travel, and from vampire fiction to Christmas stories. She has been the launch author for Dell's Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette's Shadows line, and for Harlequin's mainstream brand, Mira Books. Her books have been published in 20-plus languages. Romance Writers of America presented her with the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and Novelists Inc, the Horror Writers Association (of which she is a former Vice President), and has received the Thriller Writer's Silver Bullet for charitable enterprises. Pozzessere is a founder of the Florida chapter of the Romance Writers of America, and since 1999 has hosted the annual Romantic Times Vampire Ball for charity. In 2006, she hosted the first Writers for New Orleans on Labor Day, with workshops and a dinner theater event to benefit the city and the libraries. Labor Day of 2007 made it an annual event. She is the founder of the Slushpile players and Slushpile band. In November 2016, it was announced that Pozzessere would co-author Chad Michael Murray in writing his second novel titled American Drifter. It is due to be released in November 2017. Family She and her husband have five children. Bibliography As