Emma Darcy is the pseudonym used by the Australian husband–wife writing team of Wendy Brennan (28 November 1940 – 12 December 2020) and Frank Brennan (1936 – 1995), they wrote in collaboration over 45 romance novels. In 1993, for the Emma Darcy pseudonym's 10th anniversary, they created the "Emma Darcy Award Contest" to encourage authors to finish their manuscripts. After the death of Frank Brennan in 1995, Wendy wrote on her own. She lived in New South Wales, Australia.
Darcy sold 60 million books from 1983 to 2001, and averaged six new books per year.[1]
In 2002, Darcy's first crime novel Who Killed Angelique? won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Novel. In 2003, the next novel, Who Killed Bianca, was a finalist for the Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel.[2]
Personal life
Wendy Brennan
Wendy was born 28 November 1940 in Australia, she had an Honours degree in Latin and worked as a high school English teacher. She was reputedly the first woman computer programmer in the southern hemisphere.[3] She died on 12 December 2020.[4]
Frank Brennan
Frank Brennan was a businessman. He died in 1995.
The marriage
Frank Brennan and Wendy married, and she left her job. The marriage had three sons. They were voracious readers, and they decided to write their own novels under the pseudonym Emma Darcy.
Wendy died at Forresters Beach, New South Wales, Australia on 12 December 2020. She was survived by her 5 grandchildren and 3 adult sons.[4]
Writing career
As Emma Darcy, they sold her first novels in 1983. Darcy sold 60 million books from 1983 to 2001, and averaged six new books per year.[5]
In 2002, Darcy's first crime novel Who Killed Angelique? won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Novel. In 2003, the next novel, Who Killed Bianca, was a finalist for the Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel.[6]
Emma Darcy Award Contest
In 1993 Frank and Wendy Brennan created the "Emma Darcy Award Contest" to encourage authors to finish their manuscripts. It had a prize of $2,000 and a guarantee that the manuscript would be seen by an acquiring editor.[7]