Earlene's first novel Fool’s Puzzle and two sequels were sold within a week of submission to Putnam-Berkley Publishing Group as one of three lead titles for their new hardcover Prime Crime Line.   Fool’s Puzzle was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Mystery of 1994.   Kansas Troubles, Goose in the Pond, and Dove in the Window were each nominated for an Agatha award for Best Novel.  Earlene finally won the Agatha Award for her sixth book Mariner's Compass.  It was followed by Seven Sisters, Arkansas Traveler, Steps to the Altar and Sunshine and Shadow, Broken Dishes.  It was followed by Delectable Mountains, Tumbling Blocks, and State Fair.  In March 2009, she published her second mainstream book, Love Mercy, which is set in Morro Bay, California, and stars a new set of San Celina County characters (Benni and family are minor characters and the book is set eleven years later than the Benni Harper books). Her fifteenth Benni Harper novel, Spider Web, comes out in May 2011. She is currently working on the sequel to The Saddlemaker's Wife.

The Benni Harper mystery series is set on the Central Coast of California in a town remarkably similar to San Luis Obispo.   Love Mercy is also set on California's central coast in the town of Morro Bay.

Earlene is an avid lover of quilts, folk art, horses, oral history, cowboy boots (she owns 25 pair), the Central California Coast and country/western music.   She lives in Orange County, California, with her husband Allen and Pembroke Welsh  Corgi, Boo.