Barbara Keiler, who also writes under the names Ariel Berk, Thea Frederick, and Judith Arnold, was born on April 7th and began telling stories before she could even write. She was 4 when her sister, Carolyn, taught her the alphabet, and she has been writing ever since. Keiler is a graduate of Smith College and received a master's degree in creative writing from Brown University. She has been married to a chemistry graduate student she met at Brown, and they have two teenage sons and a guinea pig named Wilbur.
Keiler has received writing fellowships from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. She has also taught at colleges and universities around the country and has written several plays that have been professionally staged at regional theaters in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Connecticut, and off-off-Broadway. She started her writing career in 1983 under the name Ariel Berk and has since written over 70 novels under various names, with eight million copies in print worldwide. She has also signed a contract with MIRA Books, with her first novel appearing in 2001. Keiler has received several awards from Romantic Times Magazine, including for the Best Harlequin American Romance of the Year, Best Harlequin Superromance of the Year, Best Series Romantic Novel of the Year, and a Lifetime Achievement Certificate of Merit for Innovative Series Romance. She has also been a finalist for the Golden Medallion Award and the RITA Award for Romance Writer of America.
Keiler's novel "Barefoot in the Grass" has appeared on the recommended reading lists distributed by cancer support services at several hospitals. She is a USA Today bestselling author and has received four awards from RT Book Reviews Magazine for Best Harlequin American Romance, Best Harlequin Superromance, Best Series Romance Novel, and Best Contemporary Romance Novel. She is also a three-time finalist for Romance Writers of America's RITA Award. Her novel "Love In Bloom" was named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly. Keiler is a New York native who lives in New England.