Barbara Ann Logan Colley (born July 26, 1947) is a romance

Romance (novel)

Romance is a novel co-authored by Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford. It was the second of their three collaborations. Romance was eventually published by George Bell and Sons in London and by McClure, Phillips in New York, in March 1904....

 and mystery

Mystery fiction

Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...

 novelist based in New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. Her recent work is centered on the fictitious "Charlotte LaRue", the subject of a series of mysteries. She has written more than a dozen novels which have been published in some seventeen language

Language

Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...

s. Sometimes she writes under the name "Anne Logan". Her 2009 book Wash and Die is available in paperback. In January 2010, she will release Dusted to Death.

Colley was born in Ringgold

Ringgold, Louisiana

Ringgold is a town in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,660 at the 2000 census. Ringgold is named for United States Army Major Samuel Ringgold, the hero of the battle of Palo Alto near Brownsville, Texas, in the Mexican-American War. Ringgold, the son of a U.S...

 in Bienville Parish in north Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 but was reared primarily in Minden

Minden, Louisiana

Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...

, the seat of neighboring Webster Parish. She graduated in 1965 from Minden High School

Minden High School (Minden, Louisiana)

Minden High School is the public secondary educational institution in Minden, a small city of 13,000 and the seat of Webster Parish located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana...

 along with her future husband, Alfred David Colley (born April 20, 1947). At MHS she played in the "All District Band" of the Louisiana Music Educators Association. She attended, first, Louisiana Tech University

Louisiana Tech University

Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...

 in Ruston

Ruston, Louisiana

Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...

, the seat of Lincoln Parish, and, then, Nicholls State University

Nicholls State University

Nicholls State University, founded in 1948, is a public university located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, USA. Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System of universities. Originally called Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the institution split from the Louisiana State University System in...

 in Thibodaux

Thibodaux, Louisiana

Thibodaux is a small city in and the parish seat of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 14,431 at the 2000 census. Thibodaux is a principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux...

 in Lafourche Parish in south Louisiana, having majored in music education

Music education

Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...

. It was while she was at Tech that Colley made her first trip to New Orleans, not having realized at the time that she would live most of her life within twenty miles (32 km) of the city. At the time, she expected to become a band director. The Colleys moved to Luling

Luling, Louisiana

Luling is a census-designated place in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 11,512 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Luling is located at and has an elevation of ....

 in St. Charles Parish in the Orleans suburbs. They have three children and at least a half dozen grandchildren.

Colley turned to writing to put to use what she calls her "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." Living near New Orleans gave her ideas for writing. "I truly love living near New Orleans. With its unique Creole

Louisiana Creole people

Louisiana Creole people refers to those who are descended from the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent. The term was first used during colonial times by the settlers to refer to those who were born in the colony, as opposed to those born in the Old World...

 French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 influence, it's such a unique and interesting city. Strolling through the historical French Quarter

French Quarter

The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...

 or the lush Garden District is one of my favorite pastimes. The city is well over two hundred years old, but each time that I visit, I find something new and fascinating."

Her writing initially stemmed from her daughter's interest in Harlequin

Harlequin

Harlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...

 romance novels. Colley said that she became convinced she too could write such a novel: "Believing I could write a book was half the battle. Actually writing one and getting published was the other half."

Colley's awards include the 2003 "Reviewer's Choice Award for Best First Mystery", the 1996 "Distinguished Artist Award" because of her contribution to the literary arts in Louisiana, and the 1992 Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

 Romance Writers of America National Reader's Choice" for her romantic suspense novel Gulf Breezes.

Colley once worked as a line dispatcher in the former Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant

Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant

The Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant is an inactive government-owned, contractor-operated facility twelve miles east of Shreveport, Louisiana that was established in 1942. The plant was active during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War...

 near Minden and edited the classified advertising section of the Minden Press-Herald

Minden Press-Herald

The Minden Press-Herald is a Monday-Friday daily newspaper published in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, by Specht Newspapers, Inc...

newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

. Yet, she declares that her best job is being a published author because she can "share my stories, whether they are romances or mysteries, with thousands of wonderful readers all over the world."

On April 7, 2008, Colley underwent surgery for cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

. Her husband, David, reported that the prognosis is encouraging for her complete recovery.

Partial listing of Colley novels

Gulf Breezes

Polished Off

Death Tidies Up

Maid for Murder

Married to the Mop

Dangerous Memories

Rachel's War

Finding Kendall

Dial D for Destiny

Twin Oaks

That Old Devil Moon