Stella Cameron was born on December 5, 1943 on the southern coast of England. As a young girl, Stella was a self-professed reading "addict", devouring all types of literature. "I grew up surrounded by a dear, but wildly dysfunctional family," Stella says. "Very early I learned to retreat from the raging, sometimes threatening demands of others into a gentler world -- my own. As a child and a young adult, books saved me because they helped free me while they entertained me. Those books were part of what I mean by 'my own world.' My love of reading always marched side-by-side with a love of writing. When the other children in my English classes watched the clock and prayed for the period to end, I wrote furiously on such grabbing topics as: A Walk In My Garden!"
Nineteenth-century author Jane Austen was a particular favorite, and Stella admits that she particularly enjoys reading and writing books set in the 1800s, as well as contemporary novels. Author Mazo de la Roche's turn-of-the-century series about the Whiteoak family is another favorite. Stella is also a fan of such modern authors as Suzanne Simms, Jayne Ann Krentz, Ann Maxwell, Anne Tyler and Anita Brookner. These authors capture Stella with their "multi-faceted characterization, with plot that never stops me, and with conflict that keeps me on the edge of my seat," she says. "I want to laugh and cry with the books I re…
