Her first child, Marilyn, was born only nine months after her wedding, Warren Jr. arriving thirteen months later and David was born two years after his brother. Two months after her first short story was sold her fourth child, Carol, was born. After being left a widow by the death of her husband from a heart attack she began to write radio scripts and started to write books. Her first book Aspire to the Heavens, a biographical novel about George Washington was published in 1969 by Meredith Publishing (it was later re-released under the name Mount Vernon Love Story in 2002).

She entered Fordham University at Lincoln Center in 1971, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1979, with a B.A. in Philosophy. Her children followed her example and have entered some prestigious careers. Her daughter Carol has become an author of suspense novels. Her first novel, Where are the Children?, was purchased by Simon & Schuster for $3000.00. The paperback rights were sold for $100,000.00 and the book became a bestseller. Her second novel sold for $1.5 million. As of 2008 she has written 25 suspense novels that have sold more than 80 million copies in the US alone and all of them have become bestsellers and are still in print.