Jessica Rowley Pell Bird Blakemore (born April 19, 1969) is an American novelist. Under her maiden name, Jessica Bird, she writes contemporary
romance novels, and as J.R. Ward, she writes
paranormal romance. She is a three-time winner of the
Romance Writers of AmericaRITA Award, once as Bird for Best Short Contemporary Romance for From the First and twice as Ward for Best Paranormal Romance for Lover Revealed and Dearest Ivie, and her books have been on
The New York Times Best Seller list.
Biography
Born Jessica Rowley Pell Bird in
Massachusetts, United States, she is the daughter of W. Gillette Bird Jr. and Maxine F. Bird.[2] She began writing as a child, penning her thoughts in diaries as well as inventing short stories. The summer before she went to college she wrote her first book, a
romance novel.[3] After that, she wrote regularly, but for herself.[4] Bird attended
Smith College[2] where she double majored in history and art history, concentrating on the medieval period.[4] She then received a
Juris Doctor degree from
Albany Law School[2] and worked in healthcare administration for several years,[4] including as the Chief of Staff at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in
Boston, Massachusetts.[2]
In 2001, Bird married John Neville Blakemore III.[2] Her new husband encouraged her to try to get an agent and market her manuscripts. She found an agent, and in 2002 her first novel, a contemporary romance called Leaping Hearts, was published.[4][5] Several years later, Bird invented a world populated by
vampires and began writing single-title
paranormal romance novels under the pen name J.R. Ward. These novels are a series, known as the
Black Dagger Brotherhood.[5]
Bird likes to write series novels which incorporate characters from her previous books. She likens the process of creating a series to "meeting friends through other friends".[4] Her heroes are most often
alpha males, "the tougher, the cockier, the more arrogant, the better", while the heroines are smart and strong.[4]
The
Romance Writers of America awarded her the
RITA Award for Best Short Contemporary Romance in 2007 for her novel From the First.[6] She has also been nominated six times for Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Awards, winning once for Lover Awakened. She was also number 2 on the New York Times Bestsellers List of 2014.[7]