Yes, we can!

Francis Ray hit a double whammy this week.  Her newest release, , reached 144 on the USA Today Top 150 Books List for the week of March 12, 2009 for sales ending March 8.  If you don’t see her on the list, just put her name in the search box and her name will come up. If that wasn’t news enough, she also made the NY Times Extended List at #32 for the week of March 13, 2009 for sales through March 7.

As a someone who started writing around the same time Francis did and someone who has known her for quite a while, I celebrate this victory with her.  As I told her on the phone, while I am happy for her, I’m also encouraged for what her victory means to authors like me.  

I remember back in the day when we started writing, we would often dream of the day we’d make the Times list.  It was a dream we shared — not just me and Francis – but a bunch of us romance writers who started writing for Pinnacle Arabesque back in the mid-nineties.  It is refreshing and inspiring to see those dreams come true for Francis. It begs the question:  Who’s next?

It’s important to note that Francis is the second author of our generation to make the Times list. Brenda Jackson’s Irresistible Forces made the list in May 2008, reaching #34. Brenda also made the USA Today list with another book, Slow Burn, which reached #117 in November 2007.

So today is a great day for romance writers, especially those of my generation.  To those ladies, I ask, who’s next?