Biography
Peggy is a multi-faceted writer who enjoys changes, frequently. Some would say she's far-stretched, others, multi-talented.
Born in Michigan, raised in Indiana and Florida, she now lives with her husand in New Mexico, a beautiful state of mountains, pines, desert and cactus.
Fiction has been her passion from about the age of fourteen. Her only quandary was that she could never write anything short. So, in the course of things, she just kind of skipped over short stories and jumped right to novel length and submitted what she felt was her first marketable works when she was nineteen, to a literary agency in New York. They
welcomed her into their ranks of writers, addressing her as Mr. Bechko, which at that time went uncorrected as she was then submitting westerns and was told, repeatedly, 'women can't write westerns'.
Her first sale was to Doubleday, the editor with whom she dealt, was also greatly surprised to find himself talking to a young woman. But, over time, everybody adjusted. The book, THE NIGHT OF THE FLAMING GUNS, written it in the first person as a middle-aged man, was published when she was twenty-two. Doubleday went on to buy a total of five westerns from her.
Romances were picking up avid fans about that time, and she tried that genre as well, managing to keep her western influence strong while writing a more modern 'romance' set in Mexico, DARK SIDE OF LOVE.
Then came CLOUD DANCER, a full-blown historical romance which she took pains to keep historically correct, also published first by Harlequin. After that she returned to westerns and took a plunge into screenwriting. Now, additionally, she is exploring the fantasy/science fiction field.
In her early days, since writing unfortunately did not completely cover the bills, she held an assortment of 'day' jobs. Such things as Gift Wrap & Customer Service in a department store; an Artist's Model; Delivery Person; Clerical and Office person; Legal Secretary & Office Manager; Administrative Assistant and Assistant Bookstore Manager.
Bechko is also talented with her hands as well as her mind. She has had paper mache' sculptures for sale in a well known local gallery, and hand made jewelry on sale at several galleries.
Peggy A. Bechko has 15 completed, published books to her credit, some under the name of P.A. Bechko, others under Peggy Bechko. She has written six complete spec screenplays. One screenplay, Replica (originally Spitting Image), climbed to a high
ranking place in two well-known competitions: the quarterfinals of the Nicholl Fellowship in screenwriting, and the semi-finals of the Writers Foundation sponsored America’s Best screenwriting competition. Two of her screenplays have since been
optioned and she has written for a half-hour animated series now in production. Not to miss the boat on the latest trend, she's getting involved with audiobooks and ebooks, and is developing a couple of proposals for kids television shows, both
animated and live action and still finds time to write reviews and articles for the web.
Her books with Doubleday include Night of the Flaming Guns, Hawke's Indians, Blown to Hell, Gunman's Justice, and The Winged Warrior.
Her Harlequin romance novels include The Dark Side of Love, and Cloud Dancer. Her books for Pinnace include Sidewinder's Trail (pen name of Bill Haller), and Dead Man's Feud. And, most recently, her original Western books for Thorndike Press include Eye of the Hawk and The Tin Pan Man and the Romance reprints are Dark Side Of Love and Cloud Dancer.
She is married to Steven Chappell, author of DRAGONS & DEMONS, ANGELS & EAGLES, THE VOYAGE OF THE PEREGRIN, and the Ebook, THE TALES OF CAER ALBAN, recently released by The Fiction Works. |
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