Judith Arnold

Barbara Keiler (born April 7), well-known as Judith Arnold

Keiler can't remember a time when she did not have stories percolating in her brain. Even before she was old enough to write, she would tell herself stories when there were no adults nearby to tell one to her. When she was six years old, she wrote down a story for the first time, telling the story of a lonely bear who made a friend and lived happily ever after.

Keiler continued writing when she entered school. She was the author of her fourth grade class's play, and in sixth grade won an award for a poem she composed for National Dental Week. In high school she was published in the school's creative writing magazine and edited the school newspaper. After winning a contest in college for writing a play, Keiler decided to become a playwright.She graduated from Smith College in 1974 and earned an A.M. in creative writing from Brown University in 1976.She then spent the next ten years writing plays for production in regional theaters around the country. Because this did not provide a large enough salary to make a living, she also taught English at several local colleges. The dual workload and frequent travel caused Keiler to burn out on theater work.

Keiler's husband challenged her to take a year off of teaching to try to write and sell a novel. She accepted his dare and began to write non-stop. By the end of the year she had sold a romance novel, Silent Beginnings, to Silhouette Books. This novel was published in October 1983, a month made even more special with the arrival of her first child.

Since then, Keiler has written over 85 romance novels. These have been published in category romance lines such as Silhouette (writing as Ariel Berk),Second Chance at Love (writing as Thea Frederick),and the Harlequin lines of Temptation, American, and Superromance, as well as single-title books published by Mira (writing as Judith Arnold). She is a three-time Romantic Times award-winner and has been nominated an additional four times, including for Career Achievement. Keiler has been a finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA Award and the Golden Medallion Award, and was nominated for the RWA's Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also a past president of Novelists, Inc..

Keiler married after her husband obtained his Ph.D. in Rhode Island, now they have two sons. She and her family live near Boston, Massachusetts.