- After J.K. Rowling, she is the world's second best-selling female author.
- A descendant of author Harriet Beecher Stowe.
- Her former spouse, Charles Cornwell, edited her book "Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper, Case Closed".
- She helped establish the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine
- On July 20, 1997, Cornwell coupled her Richmond, Va., book signing for Unnatural Exposure with a blood drive held by The Virginia Blood Services. The event raised 141 pints of blood, which is a record collection for a one-day drive.
- Her first novel - "Postmortem" - was rejected seven times until it was eventually released in 1990.
- Struggles with bipolar disorder.
- In 1984 she took a job in the Virginia medical examiner's office and for six years she worked at the morgue, first as a technical writer, then as a computer analyst
- Graduated in 1979 with a degree in literature
- Was a police reporter
- Her first book was a biography of Ruth Bell Graham, whom she had befriended as a child, called A Time for Remembering. It was published in 1983.
- As of 2008, she is the most successful crime writer in the world.
- Is a middle child with two brothers: Jim (one year older) and John (three years younger)
- Moved to Montreat, North Carolina at age seven, with her mother and siblings.
- When working at the Charlotte Observer, she wrote under the byline "Patsy Daniels".
- In 1980, she won an investigative reporting award from the North Carolina Press Association. The award was for a series she did on prostitution for the Charlotte Observer newspaper.
- In the late '70s, she worked at the Charlotte Observer newspaper, inserting the daily television listings. She moved on to work in the newsroom, first as a clerk, and later as a police reporter.
- Likes to play drums
- Has one Boston Terrier and four English Bulldogs [2003]
- Owns several handguns.
- Counts spouses Billy Graham and Ruth Bell Graham as her personal mentors.
- Working on the 14th novel in the Scarpetta Series, which has the working title "Predator". (September 2004)
- Attended the final exam for the crime scene investigators at the National Forensic Academy in Tennessee. (July 2005)
- Writing a serialization for the New York Times Magazine, called "At Risk". (February 2006)
- Is the keynote speaker at the Markle Symposium in New Haven, Connecticut. (March 2005)
- Born to Marilyn and Sam Daniels.
- Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". New Revision Series, Vol. 131, pages 74-78. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005.
- Had a lecture and book signing at the Congress Centre in London on November 7th. (November 2005)
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