By MICHAEL BOYLAN

Sports Editor

Although two of Kimberly Raymer's romance novels share their name with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movies, the subject matter is a tad more adult. Raymer, a Peachtree City resident, became interested in writing about eight years ago after taking a creative writing course at McIntosh High School. Next she took a course taught by author Nancy Knight at the Art Station.

Knight talked Raymer and some of her classmates into joining the Georgia Romance Writers, a group where all the ground rules for writing romance were laid down and all the right contacts were established. Raymer entered a contest sponsored by the Georgia Romance Writers and placed second nationally. Unfortunately, that book has never been published.

She has written six books so far and has had three of them published. "50-50 isn't so bad," said Raymer. "I know of a lot of people who have had a far worse time of it." Her first novel was sold to the Lucky in Love line and right before it was scheduled to hit the shelves, the company folded. Her next three books were published by Kensington press for Wal-Mart's exclusive romance line. While the people who buy their books outside of Wal-Mart may not see her work, the Wal-Mart line has opened up opportunities in the industry and is doing very well.

Her first novel for Kensington was called "Double Trouble." The story, set in Atlanta, is about a female radio personality and a male parenting columnist for a newspaper on a blind date. Her second book, which hit the shelves March 17 is called "It Takes Two" and is about a sailboat race around Bermuda. Raymer has another book coming out at the end of April, called "Wish me Luck." A young woman's fiance elopes with another woman days before their wedding. She goes to Las Vegas to enjoy the honeymoon suite by herself and anyone she touches in the casinos wins big.

"It is really great to walk into a store and see your name on books," Raymer said. "It's nice to hold your words in your hand." Her ultimate goal is to write historical novels about women in the late 1800s. Historical novels take an enormous amount of research to complete but over the years Raymer has geared herself up for it. "I know that I've reached one of my goals," she said. " Now, I have to establish some new ones."

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