Author. A writer of best-selling ladies' romance novels, "her" true identity as Iain Blair only became known after several years of success. Raised originally in Glasgow, he was orphaned at five and spent the next 10 years in Milwaukee; returning home at 15, he soon moved to Australia where he worked as a lifeguard for a year before returning to Glasgow and a job as a newspaper columnist. Blair studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and was to spend roughly 20 years as a minor actor on television, with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and in various West End productions. After producing four "thriller" novels which flopped he turned to rather steamy romance novels but both he and his publisher realized that all of the successful writers of that genre were female. Iain thus constructed "Emma" complete with a feisty personality and a sad life history; her debut novel "Where No Man Cries" (1982) was to lead to 28 more including 1985's "This Side of Heaven" and the 1995 "Passionate Times". When "Flower of Scotland" was honored as Romantic Novel of the Year for 1998 Emma had to choose between attempting a subterfuge or "coming-out"; the decision to go public did not hurt sales of "her" books as "she" continued writing until slowed by diabetes. Blair's final offering was the 2008 "Arrows of Desire"; he died of the effects of diabetes.
Author. A writer of best-selling ladies' romance novels, "her" true identity as Iain Blair only became known after several years of success. Raised originally in Glasgow, he was orphaned at five and spent the next 10 years in Milwaukee; returning home at 15, he soon moved to Australia where he worked as a lifeguard for a year before returning to Glasgow and a job as a newspaper columnist. Blair studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and was to spend roughly 20 years as a minor actor on television, with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and in various West End productions. After producing four "thriller" novels which flopped he turned to rather steamy romance novels but both he and his publisher realized that all of the successful writers of that genre were female. Iain thus constructed "Emma" complete with a feisty personality and a sad life history; her debut novel "Where No Man Cries" (1982) was to lead to 28 more including 1985's "This Side of Heaven" and the 1995 "Passionate Times". When "Flower of Scotland" was honored as Romantic Novel of the Year for 1998 Emma had to choose between attempting a subterfuge or "coming-out"; the decision to go public did not hurt sales of "her" books as "she" continued writing until slowed by diabetes. Blair's final offering was the 2008 "Arrows of Desire"; he died of the effects of diabetes.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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