Personal life Jayne Ann Castle was born on March 28, 1948, in
Cobb, California, United States. Realizing that she enjoyed being a librarian but not the aspects of teaching that working in an elementary school required, Krentz moved into the higher levels of academia, including a stint in the
Duke University library system. Her first novels were released under her birth name, Jayne Castle. Krentz signed a contract allowing one of her publishers to own the name, and, after leaving that publisher, Krentz was unable to use that name on new works for ten years. This led to the creation of several pseudonyms, including Jayne Taylor, Jayne Bentley, Stephanie James and Amanda Glass. By the mid-1980s she had begun using only her married name, Jayne Ann Krentz, for all of her contemporary romance novels. The success of these books encouraged Krentz to try to write a real historical romance with a humorous twist, which she released under the pseudonym Amanda Quick. Psychic themes appear throughout Krentz's work. In 2006 she began a new series, called The Arcane Society, which includes books written as Amanda Quick (historical setting), Jayne Ann Krentz (contemporary setting), and Jayne Castle (futuristic setting). The books tell the stories of members of the Arcane Society for the psychically gifted, and each hero and heroine has his or her own psychic power. The books feature a mystery for the protagonists to solve while they are learning to deal with their psychic abilities. The heroes of her novels are always
alpha males who are as strong and determined as her heroines.
Recognition More than 120 of Krentz's romance novels have been published, with 32 placing on the
New York Times Bestseller List. In total, there are over 23 million copies of her books in print. Krentz's novel
The Waiting Game was adapted for the Harlequin Romance Series teleplay in 2001. Her books have won many awards. Krentz has been nominated 22 times for
Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Awards, winning in 1995 for
Trust Me and in 2004 for
Falling Awake. She has also received a
Romantic Times Career Achievement Award. ==Bibliography==