Gina Ferris Vaughan Wilkins (1954–)

Gina Ferris Vaughan Wilkins is the author of more than 100 books. A life-long resident of central Arkansas, Wilkins obtained a journalism degree from Arkansas State University (ASU) and worked in advertising and human resources until she sold her first book in 1987 to Harlequin.

Gina Vaughan was born on December 20, 1954, in Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Vernon Vaughan, an electrician, and Beth Vaughan, an executive secretary. She has three younger brothers. In February 1972, she married John Wilkins, a wood turner. They have three children. When she sold her first book, he used his savings to buy her a typewriter. She returned the one she had borrowed from her mother-in-law.

After graduating from ASU in May 1976, Wilkins worked for the Little Rock Air Force Base Federal Credit Union (now the Arkansas Federal Credit Union). From 1979 to 1983, she worked in advertising and in the Audio-Visual Employee Training Department at Sterling Stores/Magic Mart.

Hero in Disguise was the title of her first published work. It appeared in the Harlequin Temptation imprint, and she has stayed within the romance genre all her writing life. Within the genre, she has written romantic comedies, family sagas, romantic suspense, and romance with paranormal elements. Other Harlequin imprints that include her titles are Silhouette Special Edition, NASCAR, Pageant Romance, Logan’s Legacy, Men at Work, and Harlequin Signature Select. Her books, written under three names—Gina Wilkins, Gina Ferris, and Gina Ferris Wilkins—have appeared on Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, and USA Today bestseller lists and have been translated into twenty languages.

In her many series, she groups common themes, as with her Southern Scandals series, which centers upon the Wild McBride family of Honoria, Georgia, beginning with Seducing Savannah (1997). Personal interests often find their way into her books, as with a series she wrote that focused upon automobile racing, with titles such as Risky Moves (2008) and In High Gear (2008). These prompted an invitation to her first live National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) race, at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in North Carolina.

In 1999, Wilkins sued BET Publishing for plagiarism. In their title When Love Calls by Gail McFarland, Wilkins found that 100 pages were lifted in whole or in part from her book Hotline (1991). BET withdrew the book, but neither the publisher nor the author apologized or admitted guilt.

Wilkins is a member of the Published Authors Network of Romance Writers of America. She is a four-time winner of the Maggie Award for Excellence sponsored by the Georgia Romance Writers. Romantic Times Magazine awarded her the Reviewers Choice Award in 2003 for her title Make-Believe Mistletoe, and she has been a nominee for a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times. She belongs to Novelists, Inc., and is a past president of Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas.

Wilkins lives in Jacksonville (Pulaski County).

For additional information:
Gina Wilkins. http://www.ginawilkins.com (accessed April 6, 2022).

“Gina Wilkins.” eHarlequin.com. https://www.harlequin.com/shop/authors/12327_gina-wilkins.html (accessed April 6, 2022).

Gale Gill
Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas