Meet Irene Hannon

Photo by Laszlo Bencze

Irene Hannon is an award-winning author who took the publishing world by storm at the tender age of 10 with a sparkling piece of fiction that received national attention.

Okay…maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. But she was one of the honorees in a complete-the-story contest conducted by a national children’s magazine. And she likes to think of that as her “official” fiction-writing debut!

Since then, she has written more than 25 romance and romantic suspense novels. Her books have been honored with a number of awards, including the coveted RITA from Romance Writers of America (the “Oscar” of romantic fiction), the HOLT Medallion and a Reviewer’s Choice award from Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine.

Irene, who holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in journalism, juggled two careers for many years until she gave up her executive corporate communications position with a Fortune 500 company to write full time. She is happy to say she has no regrets! As she points out, leaving behind the rush-hour commute, corporate politics and a relentless BlackBerry that never slept was no sacrifice.

In her spare time, Irene enjoys hamming it up in community theater productions. A trained vocalist, she has sung the leading role in numerous musicals, including “South Pacific,” “Brigadoon,” “Oklahoma” “The King and I” and “Anything Goes.” She also regularly performs with a six-person musical review troupe and is a cantor at her church (where she does NOT ham it up!).

When not otherwise occupied, Irene loves to cook and garden. She and her husband also enjoy traveling, Saturday mornings at their favorite coffee shop and spending time with family. They make their home in Missouri.

Awards and Honors

2008 HOLT Medallion

2008 RITA Award finalist

2007 National Readers’ Choice Award finalist

2007 Romantic Times Career Achievement Award finalist

2007 HOLT Medallion Finalist

2006 HOLT Medallion Finalist

2006 Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award finalist

2003 RITA Award

2000 Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award

1999 Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award finalist