Linda Siegert Warren, July 2, 1945—November 8, 2023
Linda Warren was born Linda Siegert in Brazos County in 1945 to James and Mary Siegert.
Linda was preceded in death by her parents and her brothers, J.O. and Paul; her sister and brother-in-law, Sissy and Ed Lenz.
She is survived by her husband, Billy (Sonny); her brother, Bobby and sister-in-law, LaVa; and their children; Robin and her husband Mark Fuller; Susan and her husband Jeff Robertson; Laurie and her husband Lee Fay; J.O.s wife Sondra Siegert, and their children; Darrel, Rick and his wife Sherry; Nick and his wife Lisa; James and his wife Oriana; Jason and his wife Charissa; Paul’s wife Melinda Siegert, and their children Chris and his wife Crystal; Mitch and his wife Jenny and Ty and his wife Courtney; her cousin, Diannia and Larry Landry and their children, Wayne, and Curt and his wife McKenna.
She is also survived by Sissy and Ed’s children, Darla and her husband Randy Ryclick; Edward and his wife Kim Lenz; Missy and her husband Ken Tharp; Kim Lenz; and Courtney Lenz; her sister and brother-in law, Betty and her husband, Wayne Moon; and their son, Randy Patranella; and numerous great nieces, nephews, and cousins. She is also survived by the devoted ladies that cared for her, Tammy Medina and Kimberly May, and all her devoted readers.
After graduation from Stephen F. Austin High School in Bryan TX, Linda enrolled at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) to pursue a career in nursing. After less than a year in the program, Linda was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Her pain became so bad that she was unable to walk to class and was forced to drop out. Linda was married to Billy F. Warren on March 6, 1965, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Bryan.
Before starting her career in writing, Linda studied painting. She became a noted painter and sold many paintings. Some of those were commissioned by the College of Medicine at Texas A&M University. After time, the fumes caused problems for her eyes, and she was no longer able to paint.
She was hospitalized frequently to surgically repair her joints. To keep herself occupied during her frequent hospital stays, Linda read voraciously. Finally, her father, James Siegert, and husband, Billy Warren, suggested that she write her own novels. In 1985, she began writing. She sent her first completed manuscript, Christmas Cradle, to Harlequin Books. Harlequin rejected the manuscript, with a note that it had a “good plot, but [the] characters [were] not three-dimensional.” Encouraged by the fact that Harlequin thought her plotting had promise, Linda continued writing. Her next two manuscripts did not satisfy her, but she sent her fourth attempt back to Harlequin. The manuscript was shuffled through the different Harlequin lines before being purchased on April 19, 1999, by the Harlequin Super Romance line.
Her second Harlequin release, Deep in the Heart of Texas, won the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Best Super Romance in 2000. Two years later, Linda won the Golden Quill Award, given by the Desert Rose Chapter of the Romance Writers of America, for the Best Long Contemporary of 2002 for her novel Cowboy at the Crossroads.
After releasing nine novels for Harlequin, Linda returned to her first manuscript. After she reworked it, the story was finally accepted by Harlequin. It reached the top 10 on the Waldenbooks Series Best-Seller List, marking the first time one of her novels had placed on the list.
In 2007, Linda received the Bookseller’s Best Award in the Long Contemporary Category for her novel The Cowboy's Return, published in the Harlequin American Romance line. The same year, she placed third in the Lories, and was a double finalist in the Aspen Gold contest for The Cowboy's Return and Son of Texas. In 2009, she was a finalist in the Romance Writers of America (RWA) RITA contest with Texas Heir.
Linda wrote every day. In those mornings she did not have physical therapy, she read e-mails and participated on various blogs. In the afternoons, she would write from 1:00—3:30. She would then return to her writing at 7 p.m. and worked for as long as she could, sometimes until 1:00 a.m. Linda wrote 50 books in all. Her last book, A Texan’s Christmas Baby, was published in November 2021.