Rather than follow the advice of the rejection letters and rewrite the novel, Mrs. The Flame and the Flower was rejected by agents and hardcover publishers, who deemed it as 'too long' at 600 pages. Woodiwiss's original and only paperback publisher William Morrow, Avon's sister company, publishes Mrs. Feron, who has been Woodiwiss's editor for 13 years, continues, 'Avon Books is proud to have been Kathleen's sole publishing partner for her paperbacks and hardcover novels for more than three decades.' Avon Books, a leader in the historical romance genre to this day, remains Mrs. Woodiwiss is the founding mother of the historical romance genre,' says Carrie Feron, vice president/editorial director of William Morrow and Avon Books, imprints of HarperCollins Publishers. The Flame and the Flower revolutionized mainstream publishing, featuring an epic historical romance with a strong heroine and impassioned sex scenes. Woodiwiss is credited with the invention of the modern historical romance novel: in 1972, she released The Flame and the Flower, an instant New York Times bestseller, creating literary precedent. She wrote her first book in longhand while living at a military outpost in Japan. Air Force Second Lieutenant Ross Woodiwiss at a dance, and they married the following year. She long relished creating original narratives, and by age six was telling herself stories at night to help herself fall asleep. Woodiwiss was the youngest of eight siblings. Her attorney, William Messerlie, said that she died after a long illness. Woodiwiss, creator of the modern historical romance, died Jin Minnesota.

The flame and the flower