Cheryl Anne Porter

Writer

  • Born: Unknown
  • Birthplace: Savannah, Georgia
  • Died: August 25, 2004
  • Place of death: Tampa, Florida

Biography

Cheryl Anne Porter was born in Savannah, Georgia, and lived in Germany, England, and many cities in the United States before settling in Tampa, Florida, in 1998. She earned a B.A. in American literature from the University of Oklahoma and attended graduate school at the University of Central Oklahoma, where she also was a teacher.

Porter’s first book, Jessie’s Outlaw, was published 1993. The Library of Congress selected this romance novel for its prestigious rare book collection. More awards were soon to follow. Porter was a finalist in the National Reader’s Choice Awards for both Kansas Wildfire (1994) and Hannah’s Promise (1997). In 1999 she received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly for Captive Angel (1999). Porter was a popular speaker, appearing on television, radio, and the Internet and delivering the keynote address at the Chautauqua Writers’ Center.

Although her first books were historical romances, Porter went on to write popular romantic comedies. In 2001, her novel Her Only Chance, published in Harlequin’s Temptation line, made a strong debut with a four-and-a-half-star rating from Romantic Times magazine. Her comedies also were selected by the Doubleday Rhapsody Book Club. Porter died on August 25, 2004, after a long battle with cancer.