Kathleen Erin Hogg Woodiwiss was an American novelist who was born on June 3, 1939 in Alexandria, Louisiana. She was the youngest of eight siblings by Gladys (Coker) and Charles Wingrove Hogg, a disabled World War I veteran. Kathleen long relished creating original narratives, and by age 6 was telling herself stories at night to help herself fall asleep.

At age 16, she met U.S. Air Force Second Lieutenant Ross Eugene Woodiwiss at a dance, and they married the following year. She wrote her first book in longhand while living at a military outpost in Japan.

Kathleen is credited with the invention of the modern historical romance novel. In 1972, she released The Flame and the Flower, an instant New York Times bestseller that created a literary precedent, revolutionizing mainstream publishing in the romance genre. Throughout her career, she signed thirteen novels and two stories, becoming a bestselling author.

She passed away on July 6, 2007 in Princeton, Minnesota.