Carolyn was born to Douglas Owen Tope and Mary Patricia Willis and raised in Southern California.
[1] On their sixteenth wedding anniversary, Carolyn and her husband welcomed their first daughter, Madeline Alexa.
When he was 18 months, an African American sibling set, Grace Elizabeth and Gabriel Robert were added to the family, adopted through foster care.
Reviewer Pamela Cohen says Zane's genre books are "strong on humor, snappy repartee and passionate moments.
[2] After what Zane refers to as the world's longest maternity leave, she went back to work as the launch author for Abingdon Press's Quilts of Love series.