Jo Ann Ferguson

Jo Ann Ferguson, also known by her pen names J.A. Ferguson, Jocelyn Kelley, Joanna Hampton, and Rebecca North, is a renowned author who has been bringing characters and stories to life for several decades. Growing up, Ferguson spent many hours telling stories to her sisters and friends, and by high school, she had already written her first novel. This early interest in storytelling would eventually develop into a successful career as a romance novelist.

Ferguson's love for writing is matched by her enthusiasm for research and attention to detail. She enjoys traveling to the locations of her books and learning about the people and cultures she writes about. Her dedication to accuracy and authenticity is evident in her work, which often includes elements of history, language, and culture. Ferguson's meticulous attention to detail has earned her several award nominations, including from Pearl, ROMY, Romantic Times, Rom/Con, and Affaire de Coeur magazine. Her novels have also been showcased by Amazon Books and honored with the ARTemis Awards for her Zebra Regencies: The Counterfeit Count and A Christmas Bride.

In addition to her work as a novelist, Ferguson is also an accomplished nonfiction writer. She contributed to an encyclopedia of the English Regency period published by Garland Press and has served as co-editor for the New England Chapter's Now That You've Sold Your Book…What Next? for all three editions. Ferguson has also been an active member of the Romance Writers of America, serving on both the local and national levels, including as president, director, and vice president. Her contributions to the organization have been recognized with the Emma Merritt National Service Award, the highest honor bestowed by RWA.

Ferguson is also a dedicated teacher and mentor, having taught creative writing at Brown University and established several creative writing courses for the university. She has been awarded a Massachusetts Art Grant to teach creative writing and has seen many of her students go on to publishing careers of their own. Ferguson currently lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Bill, and their children and cats. She continues to write and teach, sharing her love of storytelling and her dedication to craft with readers and students alike.