Francis Ray

Francis Ray (July 20, 1944 – July 3, 2013) was a New York Times and USA Today bestselling African-American writer of romance novels. Her literary fiction series – Taggart and Falcon, the Invincible Women, Grayson Family of New Mexico, and Grayson Friends – consistently made bestsellers' lists. She lived in Dallas, Texas. She was born in Richland, Texas, and studied nursing, receiving a bachelor's degree from Texas Woman's University in 1967. She began writing in 1987, while continuing to work as a nurse, and had her first book published in 1992. Ray was inspired to write after reading one of Kathleen Woodiwiss's books. She was also inspired by J. California Cooper's writings.In 1995, she co-founded the Romance Slam Jam, which was an author-reader conference and first launched in Texas.