Laura Eleanor Van Wormer is an American author, born in 1955 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She grew up in Darien, Connecticut, where she developed her interest in writing. After graduating from Darien High School, she attended the University of Arizona for a year before transferring to Syracuse University, from which she received a B.S. in Public Communications from the S.I. Newhouse School.\n \nVan Wormer has spent most of her adult life working in publishing and has written fourteen novels to date. Her works can be divided into different groups based on the heroine and genre. The Alexandra Chronicles series features the anchorwoman Alexandra Waring and includes the books "Riverside Drive," "West End," "Any Given Moment," and "Talk." Van Wormer is perhaps best known for this series.
In addition to the Alexandra Chronicles, Van Wormer has also written the Sally Harrington mystery series, which includes "Expose," "The Last Lover," "Trouble Becomes Her," "The Bad Witness," "The Kill Fee," and "Mr. Murder." These novels are shorter than the Alexandra Chronicles and are a mix of romance, thriller, mystery, and comedy. They are also written in the first person, making them unique within Van Wormer's body of work.
Van Wormer's other novels include "Benedict Canyon," "Jury Duty," and "Just for the Summer." These books are mainstream fiction and are longer than the Sally Harrington mysteries. "Benedict Canyon" is about TV production in LA, while "Jury Duty" ended up on mystery bestseller lists. "Just for the Summer" is a Hamptons novel that has its own following.
Van Wormer's life story is as interesting as her novels. After graduating from college, she moved to New York in search of a job in television. Instead, she landed a job as secretary to the editor-in-chief of Doubleday & Company. She rose through the editorial ranks and specialized in celebrity and mass media-related books. She left Doubleday to write a first novel and to support herself, she became "The Official Dallas Historian" and helped to create a "Dallas" board game for Lorimar. She then took on "Knots Landing" as a book project and wrote advertising copy, copy for the back of jigsaw puzzles, and even had a brief career as a board-game creator. She finally finished her first novel, "Riverside Drive," which is going into its 8th edition.
Van Wormer is a longtime member of the Authors Guild of America, the Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. In 2011, she and her partners founded Author & Company, the electronic publishing and internet marketing company, of which she is CEO. She loves hearing from readers and can be reached through her website, LauraVanWormer.com or the publisher's website, AuthorandCompany.com.