Her words are read around the world, and she is recognized as a "best selling" author. Sharon Sala is deeply rooted in Oklahoma soil, but it is her dreams that open doors into the world of fiction.

Writing in the contemporary romance genre, she is author of more than 80 books published since 1991. They consistently make the "best selling" lists in the New York Times and USA Today and are published in several languages.

Sitting in her comfortable home in a quiet Norman neighborhood, Sala reflects on the day she was frustrated by her job as a grocery store clerk and decided that the stories of her dreams could lead her out of that line of work into something more rewarding. She set about writing her first book.

"I remember writing "The End" on that book. I was so thrilled with myself. Then I read it over." She can laugh about it today, but at the time, there was no laughter. "This stinks," she told herself of her first novel. "It was really bad and I knew it. I shoved it under the bed." That was in the early 1980s.

Not giving up on her dream, Sala wrote another novel and found it equally bad. She knew she needed to study and develop skill if she was ever going to see her stories in print, so she enrolled in classes and began to associate with other writers in organizations like the Oklahoma Writers Federation and the Romance Writers of Amerca. It was nearly 10 years later, in 1991, that she completed a book she thought was good enough to submit to a publisher.

She recalls the envelope from the publisher that arrived in the mail. Expecting it to be a rejection, she didn't open it right away. But when she did, she was amazed to find the publisher was interested in her book, and asked her if she would make a few changes and submit the book again.

In the process of writing the book she figured she had typed the manuscript seven times. "Any little change can change the page order so I thought 'one more time won't hurt.'" She got to work quickly making the suggested changes, and sent it back.

She remembers the phone call and the thrill when she heard the "Yankee accent" of the editor of the publishing house. She wanted to buy Sala's book. Her ambition had borne fruit, and her family, who had made their own supper many times because she was busy writing, "saw that my hobby was worthwhile."

The book was published in September of 1991 and now, 81 titles later, Sala still hasn't written all of the stories which come to her in dreams ... visions which include the plot, how it ends and even the book's title. "I think it is a gift," she says, realizing that the seemingly never ending source of stories is just a night of bed rest away.

Her story lines include strong figures dealing with current day issues such as child molestation or alcoholism. Oftentimes there is an aspect of the paranormal or the psychic. "At the end there is always a resolution ... not always happy, but justice," she says. She likes strong male characters, "men who are larger than life."

Her readers laud her for the depth of her story lines, and often tell her that the topic was one they had personally dealt with. It is satisfying to her to think "I help them get through tough times and heal."

"Romance fans are the most avid, crazy fans," she says, and she has been told that her books aren't often found in used book stores as the readers don't part with them. Her books are "collectable," she has been told, with many of her fans buying two copies of each title, one to read and one to keep untouched.

As a best-selling author, often listed in the top 100 selling books, and even occasionally in the USA Today "top 50", she shares the feelings of other writers whose income depends on selling books. "People tell me they loved a book so much they had passed it around to friends and relatives. I appreciate that they enjoyed the story, but that means that I only sold one book."

Selling power is what matters when she is negotiating what she will be paid for her next book. "It has taken me almost 18 years to get to this point," she says, saying that she receives an advance based on a proposal, and royalties on sales.

Sala is nearly finished writing the third book of a trilogy to be published next summer, with the story line being what happens in a fictional Louisiana inland town which is hit by a tornado. The trilogy titles are "Blown Away", "Torn Apart" and "Swept Aside."

While the story line comes to her in dreams, it takes a lot of research into places, events or natural phenomena in order to the build the story depth that captures and holds the reader's attention. She usually writes at night, balancing the research and writing with caring for her mother who is suffering with Alzheimer's and spending quality time with her children and grandchildren. "Family always comes first," the successful writer says.

An officer in the 10,000-member Romance Writers of America, she is an advocate for writers who are learning their craft. Although there are fewer than 2,000 of the members who have published books, they share the dream of seeing their name on a book cover and having readers enjoy their work.

"Romance books are an industry generating over a billion dollars a year," she says, and even though romance writers sometimes feel like "a stepchild of the publishing world," you can't argue with the numbers, she says. There are readers hungry for adventure, and many of them are waiting for the next book with the name Sharon Sala blazing across the cover.