• Source: Maureen Stephenson

Maureen Stephenson (14 February 1927 - 5 July 2008) was an author of romantic, gothic and contemporary mysteries.




Personal life


Stephenson was born to father Joseph Duffy, a tailor, and mother Anne, née Byrom. She attended high school in London. She married Louis John Stephenson, an engineer and later Warwickshire County councillor, in 1954. They had three children. She lived at Ansley Mill Farm, Ansley, from 1978 until her death. The mill is thought to be the inspiration for George Eliot's 1860 novel The Mill on the Floss.




Work in film


She worked as a production secretary and in film continuity at several major studios, notably Shepperton Studios from 1944-1947, Pinewood Studios from 1948-1950, Denham Studios from 1950-1952 and Ealing Studios from 1952–1954. Of this work, she said "I found working on film scripts invaluable in learning how to build up a story and a character."
Films on which she worked included:

Anna Karenina (1948) Dir. Julien Duvivier
Maria Chapdelaine (1950) Dir. Marc Allégret
Men Against the Sun (1953) Dir. Brendan J. Stafford
The Square Ring (1953) Dir. Basil Dearden
Isn't Life Wonderful! (1953) Dir. Harold French




Writing


Stephenson started writing when her father paid for her to take a correspondence course in fiction writing, about which she said, "In my opinion, such courses are the best way to start." While on holiday in the Yorkshire Dales in 1977 she started writing romantic mysteries. She was influenced by the Brontë sisters, stating that "They achieve a mystical otherworldliness that I admire." The majority of her books were published through Robert Hale.

Ride the Dark Moors (1977) Pub. Zebra Books, also published in German
The House on Wath Moor (1979) Pub. Zebra Books, also published in German
The Flowers of Tomorrow (1980)
House on the Heath (1982) A reprint of Wath Moor with a new title. Pub. Zebra Books
Autumn of Deception (1982)
Roses have Thorns (1983)
The Enchanted Desert (1986), also published in Norwegian
Snow in my Heart (1987)
Never Too Late (1992)
The Love Dance (1996)
I'll Wait Forever (1996)
Dance Amongst Thorns (1996) Pub. Cosmax Co
Kiwi Sunset (2006)




= Legal issue

=
Unbeknownst to Stephenson – Wath Moor US publication rights were unlawfully "sold" to an American named Elliot as part of a tax evasion scheme in which expenses and purported losses associated with publication were to be used to reduce the buyer's liability for income tax. The plan did not succeed.




Other


She published a small run of A Brief History of Ansley around 2000. She was a featured author as part of the second World Book Day in 1999.




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• The Flame Within (film)
• 9 Juni
• Margaret Thatcher
• Aktris Terbaik dalam sebuah Peran Pendukung (BAFTA Award)
• Penghargaan Nebula untuk Novel Terbaik
• Penghargaan Hugo untuk Novel Terbaik
• Maureen Stephenson
• The Wild Party (1956 film)
• Ansley, Warwickshire
• 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia)
• Stewart Stevenson
• The Long Shadow (TV series)
• Newham London Borough Council elections
• List of Chopped episodes (season 41–present)
• 1998 Newham London Borough Council election
• The Homestretch