Isabel Allende was born August 2, 1942. Although born in Peru, she was raised in Chile as the daughter of government official. She began her writing career as a journalist and worked throughout South America.
             Allende begins writing all of her novels on January 8. The tradition began when, on that date, Isabel received word that her grandfather was dying. She was so moved by the news that she began composing a letter which turned into her first novel, The House of Spirits. Since then, Allende has not started a novel on any other date.
             On her Website, www.isabelallede.com, she explains her formula for an innovative and successful story line. Allende suggest carrying around a notebook and noting inspiration. She acknowledges that inspiration could be a portion of a conversation or a road sign. She also reveals that almost all her characters are modeled after family members, friends, or people she has met briefly. According to Allende, "When I develop a character I usually look for a person who can serve as a model. If I have that person in mind, it is easier for me to create characters that are believable. People are complex and complicated, they seldom show all the aspects of their personalities, characters should be that way too."
             Allende's poetic style and colorful language are her trademark. She writes all of her novels and short stories in Spanish, because as she explains, "I can only write fiction in Spanish, because it is for me a very organic process that I can only do in my language."
             Isabel Allende has written many books including: "The House of the Spirits", (novel) Spain 1982, "Of Love and Shadows", (novel) Spain 1984, "Eva Luna'", (novel) Spain 1985, "Stories of Eva Luna", (short stories) Spain 1989, "The Infinite Plan", (novel) Spain 1991, "Paula", (novel) Spain 1994, "Aphrodite" (recipes, stories and other aphrodisia...