Cassie Edwards-Cedar Herald Index

Cassie Edwards is a best-selling American author of over 100 historical romance novels. She has been published by Dorchester Publishing, Signet Books, Kensington Publishing and Harlequin.

Biography

Edwards began writing romances in 1982 and released her 100th novel, Savage Skies, on August 28, 2007. Although her earlier books were classic historical romances, the vast majority of her novels involve Native American tribes. Edwards's grandmother was Cheyenne. Her first 99 books sold a combined 10 million copies as of August 2007, with her more recent novels averaging sales of 250,000–350,000 copies.

Cassie Edwards

Edwards has won the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, as well as being named one of Affaire de Coeur's top ten favorite romance writers. Edwards has a reputation for meticulously researching the proper anthropological backgrounds of each tribe she writes about.

Cassie Edwards

Edwards and her husband Charles, a retired high school biology teacher, have been married for over 50 years. They have two sons, Charles and Brian, and three grandchildren. The family lived in St. Louis, Missouri for over thirty years, but now reside in Mattoon, Illinois.

Cassie Edwards

Plagiarism allegations

On 7 January 2008, the romance-novel review blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books accused Edwards of widespread plagiarism after finding multiple passages in her novels that appeared to be directly taken from various works by other authors, including novels, poems, reference books, and websites about Native American history and culture. Many of the passages came from old references, many without copyright or with expired copyright protection. One of Edwards' publishers, Signet, initially defended the passages in question as fair use rather than copyright infringement.

Nora Roberts, herself a victim of plagiarism, joined the outcry. Two days later, Signet announced that they would be reviewing all of Edwards' books that they published to determine whether plagiarism had occurred, and, in April 2008, Signet stopped publishing Edwards' books "due to irreconcilable editorial differences." In an interview, Edwards said that she did not know she was supposed to credit sources, and her husband stated that Edwards gained ideas from her reference works but did not "lift passages".

Partial bibliography

Chippewa

Savage Torment (1982) Savage Obsession (1983) Savage Innocence (1984) Savage Heart (1985) Savage Paradise (1987)

Savage Secrets

Savage Surrender (1987) Savage Eden (1988) Savage Bliss (1990) Savage Dream (1990) Savage Splendor (1991) Savage Whispers (1991) Savage Dance (1991) Savage Persuasion (1991) Savage Promise (1992) Savage Mists (1992) Savage Sunrise (1993) Savage Pride (2000)

Wild Arizona

Wild Ecstasy (1992) Wild Splendor (1993) Wild Desire (1994) Wild Abandon (1994) Wild Rapture (1995) Wild Embrace (1995)

Savage

Savage Illusion (1993) Savage Spirit (1994) Savage Embers (1994) Savage Secrets (1995) Savage Passions (1996) Savage Shadows (1996) Savage Longings (1997) Savage Tears (1997) Savage Heat (1998) Savage Wonder (1998) Savage Joy (1999) Savage Fires (1999) Savage Grace (2000) Savage Devotion (2000) Savage Thunder (2001) Savage Honor (2001) Savage Moon (2002) Savage Love (2002) Savage Destiny (2003) Savage Hero (2003) Savage Trust (2004) Savage Hope (2004) Savage Courage (2005) Savage Vision (2005) Savage Arrow (2006) Savage Beloved (2006) Savage Tempest (2006) Savage Quest (2007) Savage Intrigue (June 2007) Savage Skies (September 2007) Savage Glory (November 2007) Savage Flames (February 2008) Savage Abandon (September 2008) Savage Sun (April 2009) Savage Dawn (September 2009)