Anna has three times been a finalist for the coveted RITA award for romance fiction and has twice before been recognized by Romantic Times magazine with their Reviewer's Choice Award. CHECK OUT:* Anna's website and contest at www.booksbyanna.com* Anna's Blog at www.booksbyanna.wordpress.comMORE ABOUT ANNA...In addition she was named a Rising Star finalist and award winner in 2000, and in 2005 she tried her hand at screenwriting. That first screenplay made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the coveted Don & Gee Nicholl Screenwriting Competition sponsored by the Academy of Arts and Sciences. (Yep, those are the folks who hand out those little gold statues called Oscar every year!) "My father ran a movie theater when I was growing up and my masters degree is in theater arts. When I write, I do tend to think in terms of my characters being 'onstage' - for me it's as much a visual process as a cerebral one."Critics have called Anna 'a natural writer, spinning tales reminiscent of old favorites like Miracle on 34th Street.' Her characters have been called 'realistic' and 'endearing' and one reviewer raved, "I love Anna Schmidt's style of writing!"Having survived her own battle with uterine cancer and discovered wellsprings of compassion and caring she never knew she possessed when family members and friends faced their own health challenges, Anna often draws on the questions she has faced in her own life in creating her characters. Readers regularly write to Anna to let her know that a character's story touched them on such a personal level that it was as if Anna understood what they were going through in their own lives."But you can't come up with believable stories if you have no life beyond writing," Anna admits. She likes to dabble in crafts - weaving, creating handmade books and notecards, and a little knitting. "We are talking straight knitting - row after row of beautiful yarn is very very soothing for me!" The rows of straight therapeutic knitting do eventually have a purpose -- Anna makes them into prayer shawls for hospice patients.In addition she loves gardening and she's hauled enough seashells home from the Florida beaches that somewhere in the future, archeologists may believe there must have once been an ocean in Wisconsin! (Click here to learn how you can receive one of Anna's handmade bookmarks.)One of Anna's favorite pastimes is the chance to hear from and stay in touch with her readers.