Authors OnLine -

It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of a great stalwart, supporter, colleague and friend of Authors OnLine, Wendy Anne Lake, on October 1st 2008 after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 74.

We first met Wendy back in 1998 when, as one of our original authors, she approached us to publish her deeply personal biography 'You've Been Wonderful to Your Father' as an eBook. At that time, a novice at computers, she asked us to have the book scanned, having only the hard copy. It later turned out she actually had it stored on her hard drive, but had no idea how to copy it onto a floppy disk - a story we all dined out on for many years.

She went on to publish the sequel,  'Am I crying for Me?', and the novel 'Cinder Path', as well her wonderful tongue in cheek but mildly pornographic books, 'Inspired Urges', 'Labyrinth of Desire', 'Phantom Seducer' and 'Sensual Rhythm of Perfect Melody'.

As the company changed and grew, Wendy became a good friend and volunteered to help out with admin, phone calls and just about anything we were struggling to cope with in those early days at the turn of the Millennium. After a few months she joined us full time and took over the position of Submissions Editor, a job she remained in until the end of 2005. Working out of small cubbyhole by her front door, she successfully ran our submissions department for a couple of years, before finally building a large, luxury log cabin in her small back garden. Even as she entered her 70's she clearly had no plans for retirement, finally leaving us to set up her own literary services company, which she successfully ran until her death.

A naturally kind person, she gave enormous help to many of our authors, and a sympathetic ear to the troubles of very many other people. We can honestly say that without Wendy Lake, Authors Online would not be where it is today. She will be sorely missed and our deepest sympathy goes out to her family, particularly her husband John and to her children, Steve, Debbie and Mandy. A sad loss to our industry indeed.

Wendy's Wreath from Authors Online
(Click on wreath for larger image)