Romance novels are now the top-performing category on the best-seller lists, generating nearly $1.5 billion dollars in profits for the publishing industry each year. Almost every state has a Romance Writers of American chapter, including Iowa.
Clear Lake resident Dorothy Garlock is considered the "queen" of romance writers in Iowa and maybe the nation. She's written well over 50 books since she started penning her first romance novel in the 1970s. She's now 94 and has a new title out this summer, "Take Me Home." (Grand Central Publishing). This hour, Charity speaks with Garlock and also with three other Iowa romance writers: Maggie Rivers of Des Moines, Barbara Barrett of Waukee and Heidi Cullinan of Ames.