Occupation Novelist Name Gina Wilkins Genre Romance | Period 1987 - present Nationality American Role Author | |
Born Gina Ferris Vaughan
December 20, 1954 (age 69)
Little Rock, Arkansas, United States ( 1954-12-20 ) Pen name Gina Wilkins
Gina Ferris
Gina Ferris Wilkins Spouse John Wilkins (1972-present) Books The Boss's Marriage Plan, A Reunion and a Ring, A Match for Celia, Getaway Bride, The MD Next Door Similar People Kristine Rolofson, Heather MacAllister, Ginna Gray | ||
Gina Ferris Wilkins, née Vaughan (born December 20, 1954 in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States) is a best-selling American author of over 85 romance novels. She writes novels as Gina Ferris, Gina Wilkins and Gina Ferris Wilkins.
Biography
Born Gina Ferris Vaughan on December 20, 1954 in Little Rock, Arkansas, daughter of Beth Vaughan, an executive secretary, and Vernon Vaughan, an electrician. In February 1972, she married John Wilkins, a wood turner, and they have three children.
She obtained a journalism degree from Arkansas State University (ASU) and worked in advertising and human resources.
In 1987 she sold her first book to Harlequin and embarked on a career as a full-time writer. Since then, she has written more than eighty-five novels for various Harlequin and Silhouette category romance lines. Her early Silhouette novels were written under the pseudonyms, Gina Ferris and Gina Ferris Wilkins, which she later dropped in favor of Wilkins. Her books have been translated in twenty languages and appear in more than one hundred countries.
Wilkins was awarded a Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award in 2003 for Best Silhouette Special Edition, Make-Believe Mistletoe and has been nominated for both a Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Harlequin Temptation (1998 for Tempting Tara) and a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award. The Georgia Romance Writers have awarded her the Maggie Award for Excellence four times, and Wilkins has seen her books appear on the Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, and USAToday Bestseller lists.
In 1999, Wilkins was forced to sue BET Publishing for plagiarism. A librarian who was a fan of Wilkins noticed that a new book she was reading, When Love Calls by Gail McFarland, appeared to very closely match a Harlequin Temptation, Hotline published in 1991 by Wilkins. After purchasing and examining the other book, Wilkins claims that over 100 pages were taken in whole or part from her work. In an out-of-court settlement reached in 2000, BET agreed to withdraw all copies of their book from booksellers and to cease any future publication of the book. Neither the publisher nor the infringing author offered an apology or admission of guilt.
Wilkins is a member of Novelists, Inc. and the Romance Writers of America, and often speaks at schools to emphasize literacy, goal-setting, and motivation.