Carol Higgins Clark
Author, actress
Born: July 28, 1956, in New York City
Grew up in: Washington Township, New Jersey
New Jersey Hall of Fame, Class of 2016: Arts & Letters

Talk about having the right teacher, Carol Higgins Clark learned the art of suspense writing from her mother, Mary Higgins Clark, author of 51 novels and a fellow member of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Raised in Washington Township, Clark attended Immaculate Heart Academy, an all-girls private school in Bergen County. While continuing her education at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, she began helping her busy mother by retyping the senior Clark’s manuscripts.  This chore helped the younger Clark understand the art of writing books and telling tales.

“As I typed, I had the opportunity to explore her stories and characters, and I found the encouragement and inspiration I needed to practice and define my own craft,” Clark states on her website.

Encouraged and mentored by her mother, Clark learned how to bring characters to life and become increasingly secure in her abilities as an author. “After working with my mother on more than 15 novels,” she says, “I was less afraid to start on my own.”

Clark’s first novel, “Decked,” published in 1992, when she was 36 years old, introduced the character Regan Reilly, who has now appeared in each of her 15 novels. Clark also has co-authored five novels with her mother, including four best-selling, Christmas-themed mysteries. And while mother and daughter both specialize in suspense, the touches of humor in the younger Clark’s books set them slightly apart.

Not content with one vocation, Clark has a parallel career as an actress. She studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse and has performed on stage and in films. She is also a successful voice actress and audio book narrator.

Still, writing is her passion—and more. “It’s an integral part of my life, and it continues to inspire me every day,” she says.