Natick Author Wins Top Romance Writing Award

NATICK, MA—A Natick indie author is among the five that have been named winners of Romance Writers of America 2018 RITA Awards, which recognize excellence in published romance fiction.

Natick native Stephanie Rowe’s novel, "Hunt the Darkness," was awarded the Romance Writers of America 2018 RITA Award for Paranormal Romance. Rowe is a first-time RITA winner.

All authors published their books using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).

The winners were announced this week at Romance Writers of America (RWA)’s annual conference.

“A big congratulations to KDP authors Kara Isaac, J. Kenner, Kait Nolan, Stephanie Rowe and Lexi Ryan,” said Charles Kronbach, director of independent publishing worldwide for Amazon, in a statement. “This is an incredible achievement and we’re honored that these talented writers are choosing KDP to reach readers around the world with their remarkable work.”

Rowe is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and has written more than 45 novels. She's also a four-time nominee for the RITA award. Rowe has been writing for more than a decade, focusing on contemporary romances, romantic suspense, paranormal romances and YA contemporary romances.

She's been a life-long reader and started crafting stories at age ten, but didn't realize her dream until she was an adult. She left her "day job" and continues to thrive by following her dream.

A life-long reader, she began crafting stories at age ten, but didn’t realize it was her dream until she was an adult. Rowe still lives in Natick.

The 2018 RITA Award finalists included 26 independently published authors, setting a new high for the number of indie authors recognized.

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