Look and Listen

Biography

I started writing when I was about ten years old. I'm an avid reader and started with poems and progressed to short stories. I was editor of the high school newspaper and managed to get through college (nursing) relying on my ability to make papers sound good! I'm also an avid sports fan and, since I live near Cleveland, Ohio, I root for the Indians, Browns, Cavaliers and Buckeyes. I've had several articles published in the local papers about my favorite teams. However, it wasn't until my three children were teenagers that I attempted a full length novel. My first, Irish Magic, was published in 2004 to very good reviews. It is to be rereleased this year with Double Dragon Publishing. My second, Letters From The Heart, won Best Romantic Suspense at the Eppie Awards in San Antonio, Texas in 2006. My third, The Stanton Curse, is presently available as an ebook with Double Dragon Publishing. My two newest releases are A Killer's Agenda, a 2008 Eppie Finalist, and The Killer Among Them. Both are with Samhain Publishing and A Killer's Agenda goes to bookstores March of this year. I'm an obstetrical nurse and have been for almost thirty years. I have three grown children, a husband, a cat and three dogs and truly admire anyone who manages to write with little children! Oddly enough, the reason I attempted a novel was that the economy in Northeastern Ohio had slowed my husband's business and I thought it would be a source of extra income. However, that soon was not a factor because I was hooked!

Inspiration

When I was a child, I lived in a small community. Every Saturday while my mother grocery shopped she would drop my sister and I off at the local library. We would spend hours reading. I can still remember the smells, the silence and the joy of wrapping myself into an imaginary world. A day does not go by that I'm not in the middle of a book. There were times when my children were little that the only time I was able to read was that half hour I stole in the bathtub. I love Grisham, Dan Brown, Crichton. But my all time favorite is Nora Roberts. Probably because I love a book with meat. She not only writes romance but she surrounds it with the supernatural, suspense and fabulous love scenes. I try very much to develop my own distinct style but I admit she has influenced my writing to a large extent.