Niki Burnham

Niki Burnham is the author of several romance novels and books for teens. She writes young adult novels under the name Niki Burnham and romances under the name Nicole Burnham.

Biography

Niki Burnham is originally from Colorado, but was born in Key West, Florida, while her father was briefly stationed there with the military. She graduated from Mannheim American High School in 1988, then obtained her B.A. in political science magna cum laude in 1991 from Colorado State University, where she was Phi Beta Kappa. She went on to earn both an M.A. in political science from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1994. She clerked for a federal magistrate in Colorado and practiced law in St. Louis, Missouri before turning to writing full-time.

Burnham was a double finalist for the Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart in 2000. One of those two finalist manuscripts was Going to the Castle, which went on to become her first published novel the following year. She won the 2004 RITA in the Best Short Contemporary Series category for The Knight's Kiss, her third published novel.

Burnham is a member of the Romance Writers of America and served on the Board of Directors for four years, first as Region One Director, then as the PAN Liaison.

An Army brat, Burnham has lived in eight U.S. states as well as in Germany. She currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts with her husband and black miniature poodle, Tipper. She is an avid baseball fan and maintains a blog called The Go-Ahead in which she frequently discusses her two favorite teams, the Boston Red Sox and the Colorado Rockies.

Young Adult Novels

The Valerie Winslow series

To date, there are three books in the Valerie Winslow series:

• 2004 — Royally Jacked — Simon Pulse (UK title: Royally Crushed )
• 2005 — Spin Control — Simon Pulse
• 2006 — Do-Over — Simon Pulse

This series of romantic comedies centers on high school sophomore Valerie Winslow, whose parents are getting a divorce because her mother has fallen in love with another woman. Valerie's father works as the chief of protocol in a very conservative White House. Since his divorce is taking place during an election year, he is offered a temporary job with the royal family of fictional Schwerinborg, a German-speaking nation in western Europe, to keep any tinge of scandal from the President, who is up for re-election. Valerie must choose whether to live with her mother and her mother's new girlfriend across town (which means attending a new high school), or move to Europe with her father. Valerie opts to go to Europe, where she ends up falling for the royal family's teenage son, Prince Georg.

Other young adult fiction

• 2005 — Sticky Fingers — Simon Pulse
• 2006 — Scary Beautiful — Simon Pulse
• 2007 — Goddess Games — Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Romance Novels

The San Rimini series

1. Going to the Castle (Silhouette Romance) - December 2001
2. The Prince's Tutor (Silhouette Romance) - January 2003
3. The Knight's Kiss (Silhouette Romance) - May 2003
4. Falling for Prince Federico (Silhouette Romance) - August 2004

These romances follow four royal siblings in the fictional Italian-speaking country of San Rimini.

Other romance fiction

• One Bachelor to Go (Silhouette Romance) - February 2004
• The Bowen Bride (Silhouette Romance) - November 2004

Shorter Works

• "Night Swimming" in the young adult anthology Fireworks: Four Summer Stories with Erin Haft, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle (Scholastic Point) - April 2007
• "Last Stand" in the young adult anthology Breaking Up (Is Hard To Do) with Terri Clark, Ellen Hopkins, and Lynda Sandoval (Houghton Mifflin Graphia) - May 2008

Honors and awards

• 2004 RITA Winner - Best Short Contemporary Series category romance for The Knight's Kiss ^[1]
• 2005 RITA Finalist- Best Traditional Series category romance for The Bowen Bride
• American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers for Royally Jacked ^[2]
• New York Public Library's 2005 Books for the Teen Age for Royally Jacked ^[3]
• Teen People Pick for Royally Jacked

Trivia

• In the same class section at Michigan Law School as Cynthia Leitich Smith and Pat DeWine. Burnham and Leitich Smith were bridesmaids in each other's weddings.^[4]

• Appeared on Jeopardy! in July 2000, losing to eventual Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions runner-up Tad Carithers.

References

1. ^ http://www.rwanational.org/cs/contests_and_awards/rita_awards/past_winners RWA RITA Award Winners
2. ^ http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/quickpicks/05quickpicks.cfm 2005 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers List
3. ^ http://teenlink.nypl.org/booksfortheteenage.pdf NYPL's 2005 Books for the Teen Age (PDF File)
4. ^ Children's and YA Author Cynthia Leitich Smith

See also

Children's literature portal

• Niki Burnham Official Website
• Niki Burnham Official MySpace
• A Home Run First Time at Bat? - All About Romance Interview
• Interview with Nicole Burnham - The Romance Reader
• Spotlight on Nicole Burnham - Interview at RBL
• September 2006 Interview with Funny Author Niki Burnham - YA Books Central Interview
• Interview with Niki Burnham - Interview by Sara Webb-Quest at The Authors Den
• What's Fresh With Niki Burnham's Do-Over - Interview by Kelly Parra of YA Fresh

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