Molly Swanton and Carla Peltonen were born in in Aspen, Colorado, U.S.A. on January 22 and September 12. In the late 60s, both newly returned from bumming around the world, they met in Aspen in the Red Onion, an Old West saloon. They were both new brides, wet behind the ears. It was several years later that they dreamed up Lynn Erickson, the pseudonym a combination of their husbands' names. They had read every romance put out in the early 70s and started saying, "We can do better than this." Well, they couldn't, but what the heck? The wrote two fat novels before we chanced onto an agent and made a sale. His first words to them: "The manuscript is flawed, but..."

They published their first novel as Lynn Erickson in 1980. Their early books were historical romances, full of blood and guts and murder, then they turned to contemporary women's suspense. "We've set almost all of our books in Colorado, especially in Aspen, a town where the truth is usually stranger than fiction. Aspen is a character in our books, not just a setting. We love to drop inside jokes about the quirks and fancies of our hometown. The scenery truly is glorious, the mountains magnificent, the skiing and hiking and fishing and horseback riding legendary. We cover the arts, too - the world-renowned music festival, the shops full of museum-quality paintings and sculptures. Southwestern art is big, of course: paintings and pottery and Navajo rugs."