Olivia Gates has been a singer, a painter, a women's accessories designer, a wife, a mother — oh, and a doctor, too. She's still all that, even if singing, painting and designing have taken a back seat, while her wife, mother and doctor sides have been pushed to the forefront.

She can see you wondering — uhh, what about writing?

Yes, she's always written, too, admittedly more off than on as she ran around being all of the above. Somehow, she never thought a writing career was an option.

Then with the purchase of her first computer in 2001 (yeah, a bit behind, but she prefers to refer to it as her "millennium upgrade!") and her introduction to cyberspace, she found eHarlequin.com and discovered that the publisher whose books she'd grown up devouring accepted un-agented manuscripts from first-time writers.

A determined spree of submissions (95% of them clueless until she actually learned the real hard business of writing!) and two years later, she sold her first book, Doctors on the Frontline to Harlequin Medical Romance. The day she received a face-to-face call from her editor in her first ever writing conference among her writing friends and idols, the only ones who really understand what this achievement means, retains the place of honor in her life as its most exciting day!

Since July 2003, it's been a roller-coaster ride of activity and productivity, since she's now a full-time doctor and author. (DON'T ask!)

She's written several more books for the Medical line, and also for the Bombshell series, Silhouette's hot, heroine- oriented, action-adventure line!

The funny (and weird) part is that until Olivia had written the book that sold, she'd never thought of writing medical-oriented books. Now all her books have daring, dedicated medical heroes and heroines scorching up the pages in unrelenting, against-all-odds adventures, helping people in need while struggling with the turmoil of their own lives and overriding passions.

Olivia Gates lives with her alpha husband, lovely daughter and their white Angora cat. Her husband is her adviser and, with her incredible mother, her staunchest supporter. Her daughter gives her plot ideas, and they're all along the lines of a doctor trying to reach his patients on a hot rainbow barefoot. With an imagination like that, Olivia's encouraging her to write her own books. Olivia's cat curls up on her lap, cramping her and critically watching the story unfold on the screen, then tries to edit the manuscript to his liking by walking all over the keyboard.