In the romance genre, Barbara Colley is known as Anne Logan, an award-winning, best-selling author of six novels that have been published in over 16 foreign languages. But, take one romance author who truly loves mystery and suspense, add a main character who is a fifty-nine-year-old maid, throw in the lush setting of the famous historical New Orleans Garden District, then add a murder, and what do you get? You get Maid for Murder, the first book in an exciting new series dubbed "A Squeaky Clean Charlotte LaRue Mystery." For her debut in the mystery genre, this time Barbara will be writing under her own name.

Barbara Colley is a native of Louisiana and has lived there all of her life. She grew up in the town of Minden where she worked on her high school newspaper staff, and later, on the staff of the Minden Press and Herald. At that time though, she never really dreamed of becoming a writer. In fact, she attended Louisiana Tech University and Nicholls State University as a music education major. Her dream then was to become a band director. Instead, she fell in love, married, and moved with her husband, David, to a small suburb of New Orleans. Over thirty years later, three children, and five grandchildren, Barbara and her husband still live there.

"I truly love living near New Orleans," Barbara says. "With its Creole French and Spanish influence, it's such a unique and interesting city. Strolling through the historical French Quarter or through the lush Garden District is one of my favorite pastimes. The city is well over 200 years old, but each time I visit, I find something new and fascinating."

So how did Barbara get started writing? "A lot of people ask me that question," she says. "And the answer is both simple and complex. Simply, I was trying to be a good, conscientious mother. More complex, I've always loved to read, and according to my mother, I've always possessed a healthy dose of imagination as well as the belief that I could do anything I wanted to do if I set my mind to it. When my oldest daughter was a young teenager, Harlequin Presents began arriving through the mail. Without my knowledge, my daughter had subscribed, and I decided I should read a few to make sure they were suitable for someone her age. I deemed that they were suitable, but a funny thing happened. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. Then I came to a point when I began to believe that I could write one of those."

Barbara says that, "Believing I could write a book was half the battle. Actually writing one and getting published was the other half. Well, I did write one, then I wrote another one, then another, and I'm still writing fifteen years later. I've worked at many jobs over the years, including being a line dispatcher in an Army ammunition facility, editing the classified section for a newspaper, and serving as the secretary for a country club. The best job I've ever had though, is being able to share my stories, whether they're romances or mysteries, with thousands of wonderful readers all over the world as a published author."