Monette Cummings
Monette Cummings was an American romance novelist born in 1914 in Kansas City, Missouri. She began her career in the mid-1940s as an accounts clerk with the Inter-Collegiate Press and later held a similar position at Colyear Motor Sales in Los Angeles for over a dozen years. In the early 1960s, Cummings transitioned to the magazine industry, becoming involved with Exhaust magazine as an assistant editor and later as a full editor. By 1973, she shifted her focus again, working as a bookkeeper before ultimately committing to freelance writing, which she pursued alongside her earlier career while contributing to Exhaust. Cummings is perhaps best known for her romance novels, including titles like "Guardian Devil" and "The Scandalous Widow." In 1986, she received the RITA Award from the Romance Writers of America for her regency novel "The Beauty's Daughter." Over her decade-long writing career, she published more than a dozen novels before passing away in 1999 in Lawrence, Kansas. Her work continues to be recognized within the romance genre, marking her influence and contribution to the field.
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Monette Cummings
Writer
- Born: June 30, 1914
- Birthplace: Kansas City, Missouri
- Died: December 22, 1999
- Place of death: Lawrence, Kansas
Biography
A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Monette Cummings was born in 1914 and attended a local high school. She then joined the Inter-Collegiate Press in her hometown as an accounts clerk in the mid-1940’s. In 1948, Cummings moved west and got a similar position at the Colyear Motor Sales Company in Los Angeles, a job she held for more than twelve years. In the early 1960’s, she became a part of Exhaust magazine, first as an assistant editor but later as a full editor and as a customer service representative. In 1973, Cummings switched professions a final time, taking a job as a bookkeeper for TrophyCraft Company in L.A.
Shortly thereafter, she abandoned all career plans in the business world and settled on freelance writing as her vocation. Her transition was not an immediate one, but rather a prolonged journey. She wrote on her own while at Exhaust and continued it as a hobby before entering the publishing world head-on.
Romance writer Monette Cummings, author of such titles as Guardian Devil and The Scandalous Widow, won the RITA Award from the Romance Writers of America in 1986 for her regency novel The Beauty’s Daughter after many years of building success. In 1999, Cummings passed away in her home of Lawrence, Kansas, having written over a dozen romance novels in her career that lasted little more than a decade.