Background

Marie Sullivan Force was born on June 10, 1966, in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, the daughter of George Brown and Barbara Jean (Lopes) Sullivan.

Education

Marie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1988 where she double majored in journalism and political science. She then received her Master of Arts in public administration from the University of Maryland in 1995.

Career

After obtaining a Master of Arts degree, Force settled in Maryland, where her husband Dan was stationed at the National Security Agency. She was offered a job there in 2011, as the communications director for a nonprofit in Alexandria, Virginia. Marie served as editor-in-chief of a national trade magazine and supervised many other publications throughout the year. When her husband was transferred to the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, an aircraft carrier stationed in Jacksonville, Florida, on November 1998, her company retained her as a full-time telecommuter. After her husband retired from the Navy in December 2001, they decided to move back to Rhode Island where they reside today in Portsmouth, the town right next door to Middletown.

After they moved to Rhode Island in August 2002, Marie started to get more serious about writing the book but still wasn’t able to get very far. A year later, in November 2003, her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The next nine months were a roller coaster ride, during which she turned to the book more and more often, seeking an escape from the nightmare of her mother’s illness. By early August 2004, she had four solid chapters that her mother was the first to read before she died on August 31, 2004.

Marie Force finished Jack’s book, Treading Water, on May 18, 2005, and published it along with its two sequels, Marking Time and Starting Over, in late 2011. She has written more than 50 books since then, including Line of Scrimmage, which was the first to be published in September 2008.

Line of Scrimmage was her first published book in September of 2008. Love at First Flight followed in July of 2009. In early 2010, she sold Fatal Affair to Harlequin’s new Carina Press digital-first imprint. Fatal Affair was released in July 2010, followed soon after by Fatal Justice, Fatal Consequences, Fatal Destiny, Fatal Flaw, Fatal Deception, Fatal Mistake, Fatal Jeopardy, Fatal Scandal, Fatal Frenzy, Fatal Identity and Fatal Threat out in 2017, with much more to come in Sam and Nick’s incredible journey. In late 2015, the Fatal Series moved to Harlequin’s HQN line in a major new deal that will take the series to book 13.

Going back to 2010, authors were getting more and more excited about the opportunity to publish directly to readers via Kindle Direct Publishing. She decided to test the waters and published True North in November 2010 and The Fall in December 2010. Everyone Loves a Hero was released in February 2011, and it followed with the release of the following books in 2011: The Wreck, Maid for Love, Fool for Love, Ready for Love, Georgia on My Mind, Treading Water, Marking Time and Starting Over. At the end of 2012, she wrote another book in the Treading Water series called Coming Home, which picked up Reid and Kate’s story from Marking Time ten years later.

The McCarthys of Gansett Island Series now also includes Falling for Love, Hoping for Love, Season for Love, Longing for Love, Waiting for Love, Time for Love, Meant for Love, Chance for Love, Gansett After Dark, Kisses After Dark, Love After Dark, Celebration After Dark, Desire After Dark and Light After Dark with much more to come from the island including the start of Gansett Island Episodes in 2017. With more than 2.5 million sales of the McCarthy Series, it’s safe to say that Mac, Maddie, and the Gansett Island gang helped her find my readers. Waiting for Love, Book 8 in the series and her 25th published book, was the first to hit the New York Times list, at no. 6 on the ebook list and also hitting the combined e-book and print list - with only an e-book. That was the first time she has ever seen her name on the New York Times list.

All You Need Is Love, Book 1 in her new Green Mountain Series from Berkley, was released on February 4, 2014, and was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller. I Want to Hold Your Hand, I Saw Her Standing There, And I Love Her, You’ll Be Mine, It’s Only Love and Ain’t She Sweet have all been New York Times bestsellers. In 2017, she launched the Butler, Vermont Series with the release of Every Little Thing that picks up right where Ain’t She Sweet left off and Can’t Buy Me Love released in 2018 and with 10 Abbott siblings and lots of cousins nearby in Vermont, she expect to write the Butler, Vermont Series for a long time to come.

In April of 2015, she ventured into the erotic romance genre with her Quantum Trilogy Virtuous, Valorous, and Victorious. All three books were New York Times bestsellers and the trilogy became a series with the release of Rapturous in January 2016 and Ravenous in August 2016 with Delirious released in 2017.

Achievements

• Marie Force is the New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance, including the indie-published Gansett Island Series and the Fatal Series from Harlequin Books. In addition, she is the author of the Butler, Vermont Series, the Green Mountain Series, and the erotic romance Quantum Series.
  
  Her books have sold more than 9 million copies worldwide, have been translated into more than a dozen languages and have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list 30 times. She is also a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller, a Speigel bestseller in Germany, a frequent speaker and publishing workshop presenter.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Fatal Reckoning

    (When tragedy strikes, a cold case suddenly turns hot - an...)

    2019
  • Mine After Dark

    (He barely knew her, and he can’t forget her… It’s the dea...)

    2018
  • Famous

    (Bringing someone new into my private life is not somethin...)

    2019
  • Fatal Accusation

    (A deadly serious affair… The story breaks as Metro PD lie...)

    2019
  • A Gansett Island Christmas

    (It’s Christmas on Gansett Island, but a blizzard is ruini...)

    2018
  • Deceived by Desire

    (Wealthy American industrialist Aubrey Nelson has invited ...)

    2019
  • Fatal Threat

    (It's just another day at the office for Washington Metro ...)

    2017
  • Every Little Thing

    (Grayson Coleman has just moved home to Butler, Vermont af...)

    2017
  • Ain't She Sweet

    (Charlotte “Charley” Abbott has gone out with every guy un...)

    2016
  • I Want to Hold Your Hand

    (For the Abbott siblings, the Green Mountain state has alw...)

    2014
  • Treading Water

    (Love is the last thing on Jack Harrington’s mind when he ...)

    2012
  • Ravenous

    (Tired of waiting for THE ONE, Ellie decides to have a bab...)

    2016
  • Starting Over

    (Aidan offers Brandon the choice of rehab or jail, and Bra...)

    2011
  • Maid for Love

    (She’s a single mom with no patience for a playboy until h...)

    2011
  • Yours After Dark

    (He didn’t believe in love at first sight… Until it happen...)

    2018
  • Sex Machine

    (He’s good for one thing and one thing only - and she want...)

    2016
  • Here Comes the Sun

    (She was beyond his reach… until she turned up on his door...)

    2018
  • One Year Home

    (He came home a hero and lost the only woman he’s ever lov...)

    2019
  • Can't Buy Me Love

    (Mary enjoys her predictable, satisfying life in Butler. I...)

    2017
  • Fatal Invasion

    (First the fire, then the heat… A brutal home invasion. Tw...)

    2018
  • Light After Dark

    (Mallory Vaughn is at a crossroads in her life. A year aft...)

    2016
  • Five Years Gone

    (The most brazen terrorist attack in history. A country be...)

    2018
  • Outrageous

    (She drives him crazy… In more ways than one. Every time L...)

    2018
  • Till There Was You

    (Being an adult has its advantages... Lucas Abbott and his...)

    2019
  • You'll Be Mine

    (A Wedding on Butler Mountain... After a whirlwind romance...)

    2015
  • Fatal Consequences

    (Politics can be murder... Lieutenant Sam Holland has no s...)

    2015
  • Fatal Chaos

    (First the calm. Then the storm… Escaping DC during the do...)

    2018
  • Fatal Affair

    (Washington, D.C., Metro Police Detective Sergeant Sam Hol...)

    2010

• ищщл

  • Rapturous

    (Control is his mantra… until one woman breaks his control...)

    2016

• Other Work

  • Sex God - Kindle edition by Marie Force. Contemporary Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

    (I inherited a life I never intended to live. I've upheld ...)

    2017

Views

"I don’t have routines or rituals beyond working every day to get words on the page. I try to do at least 2,000 words a day, seven days a week, which keeps things moving forward all the time. I rely on Excel spreadsheets to track the series details as well as frequent re-reads of past books to make sure the continuity is intact from one book to another. It’s a lot of work, no doubt, but it’s also the most fun I’ve ever had doing anything."

Quotations: "I think the readers respond to the sense of community in small-town romances, that feeling of belonging in a place where everyone knows your name, knows your family, remembers you as a kid. As an author, it’s fun to dig into those long-standing relationships for the story."

"Now there are endless opportunities for authors who have great stories to share with readers. If your story doesn’t fit the needs of a traditional publisher, you can self-publish it and find success. We’ve found that there is an audience for just about every story, and what would never fly with a publisher can be hugely popular with niche readers. In my workshops, I tell other authors that this is the best time in the history of the written word to be an author. It’s a very exciting time to be in this business. That said, however, it’s still a tough business to break into. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed. I tell newer authors to put all their focus on their books. If there is a “magic” wand that leads to success in this business, it’s in the books."

"My readers inspire me to want to give them more of the characters and series they love, and I’m constantly inspired by people I read about and stories I hear on the news (I’m a huge news junkie). I pay attention to what goes on around me and find inspiration is everywhere if you are looking for it. I’ve also come to realize that the author's brain doesn’t work the way other people’s brains do. I see and notice things that others miss, and in those little nuggets of life are story ideas that can become books."

"Career authors write a lot of books. One or two books is a great start, but to go the distance in this business, you need an inventory, which means lots and lots of books! I find that many authors can write five or ten books, but can they write fifty or a hundred books? Inventory is where the rubber meets the road and makes a difference when it comes to longevity in a very competitive business. I encourage indie authors to keep their focus on producing new books and getting them out to readers as fast as they possibly can without sacrificing quality."

"Write. Write. Write. So many people come to me wanting to talk about how to break into publishing, and my first question is always the same - how many books have you written? Inevitably, they are still working on their first, which is fabulous, but they aren’t ready to talk about publishing. They need to be focused exclusively on honing their craft and making their books as good as they can possibly be to give them the best chance of finding readers who have thousands of authors to choose from. If you get them to read your book, you want to keep them, and the only way you will do that is to continue to write great books that keep them coming back for every new release. There’s no shortcut, get-rich-quick scheme or weekend workshop that will make that process “easier.” It just takes time and perseverance to get your books to the point where readers are clamoring for them."

Membership

Force is a member of the National Association Publications Society.

Interests

• reading, cross-stitching, traveling

• Sport & Clubs

  hockey

Connections

Marie married Daniel Joseph Force on October 24, 1992. They have two children from this marriage: Emily Jane, Jacob Sullivan. While her husband was in the Navy, Marie lived in Spain, Maryland, and Florida, and she is now settled in her home state of Rhode Island.

Father:

George Brown Sullivan

Mother:

Barbara Jean (Lopes) Sullivan

Daughter:

Emily Jane Force

Son:

Jacob Sullivan Force

husband:

Daniel Joseph Force

Friend:

Sharon Lathan

References

• Author's Marie Force Official Website