Janette Oke (pronounced "oak") was born in Champion, Alberta, Canada, during the depression years. She graduated from Mountain View Bible College in Didsbury, Alberta where she met her husband, Edward. She and Edward married in 1957 and went on to serve churches in Calgary and Edmonton, Canada, and Indiana. Oke published her first book, Love Comes Softly, in 1979. The book experienced immediate success because works of fiction were a virtually unknown genre in the Christian publishing industry. Oke has gone on to publish some 36 romance novels, earning her the 1992 President's Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. She is the author of the "Love Comes Softly" and the "Prairie Legacy" series of books. Oke enjoys a large reading audience primarily comprised of teenagers, homemakers and working women. She recently started writing for young children.