Look and Listen

Biography

As stated in my 'About You' blurb, I'd much rather talk about the characters I've created than about myself. But you found me, and I'm very happy about that, so I should thank you by giving you a taste of what I'm about. I didn't mention my first two books in my blurb, which are memoirs by the way. The Message in Dad's Bottle is a very personal story about my father who died of alcoholism in 1992. Despite the premise of this memoir, it is uplifting. I don't believe in telling anything, truth or fiction, if it doesn't offer inspiration. Don't let the title of my second memoir fool you. I'll Never Wear a Backless Dress is a story about my personal experience with the back deformity Scoliosis. "You'll hear me say many things, but 'I'll Never Wear a Backless Dress' isn't one of them"...a quote from the book. Even the cover of the book is proof of this. As I finished writing my second memoir, I realized, "Hey, my life isn't that interesting." And in coming to this realization, I was out of writing material. Just kidding. Thankfully I'm also an avid reader and blessed with the gift of imagination thanks to my kids. So I began writing fiction. My first romantic mystery 'Blessed and Betrayed' was born after reading Nicholas Sparks's 'A Walk to Remember' and eating enormous amounts of cheeze before bed. I woke up with a reeling idea and a laptop that was calling to me. Eight months later (hey, give me a break, I've got two kids to watch!) I had a manuscript that wasn't about me! I realized after writing Blessed and Betrayed that I loved writing fiction waaaay more than memoirs; I was hooked. Not even a week after finishing Blessed and Betrayed I began writing 'The Wife of a Lesser Man'. The idea came to me after exploring the 'what if' side of a healthy marriage. I loved the book so much that I began writing a sequel halfway through. 'The Wife of a Lesser Man: Don't Mess with Daddy's Girl' was the most fun to write since I'd already fallen in love with the characters from the first book. The words flowed out of me so fast it made editing the first book difficult. I should mention that 'The Wife of a Lesser Man' isn't yet published. It will be in April 2013, with the sequel to follow shortly thereafter. For a glimpse of 'The Wife of a Lesser Man' I've included the first chapter at the end of 'Blessed and Betrayed' My writing plans extend beyond the next ten books; so I'm here to stay. I vow to entertain, inspire and get a few laughs out of each of my readers. I will give you a spoiler for each of my books: none of them end badly. I believe in happy endings. We don't normally get them in real life, so I make sure my readers get them in my stories.

Inspiration

My writing inspiration began as I became reunited with my father’s side of the family when my first daughter was a baby. Nobody had spoken much about my dad since his passing and since the estrangement of his family, and I felt that part of my life had been resurrected. Writing a book about him was something I’d wanted to do for a while, but felt that it wouldn’t be supported. When I was reunited with the family, I felt I finally had the support I needed to complete the book. My second book was written as a way to cope with the frustration I felt while trying to figure out what to do with my life since finding out I had Scoliosis. As I wrote the book, the answer came clear to me and I felt silly because I realized that the answer had been there all along. I was destined to be a writer. I’d written several poems and short stories since my teens, but it never occurred to me that I could write other things. After completing my second memoir I decided I didn’t have enough interesting personal material to warrant a third book about myself…really, my life isn’t that interesting. So I began inventing other people to write about. At first, I feared writing fiction since I’d never attempted it before. But I’m living proof that if the will is present, there isn’t anything you can’t do. Now I’m completely in love with writing fiction. I love creating happy endings, twists, interesting characters, steamy love scenes and everything in between. My inspiration comes to me all the time. I can be doing dishes, watching television, driving, talking to somebody or out with the kids and it comes to me. I’ve even had story ideas pop into my head while I’m sleeping! The secret is to take notes; lots of notes and make them as detailed as possible. In keeping with that practice, I have rough ideas and chapter outlines for approximately ten books. I only hope that my readers enjoy my stories as much as I enjoy writing them. I’ve realized that choosing a book is a very personal choice, and it’s really tough to satisfy all tastes, but I try my best to make my books as positive, inspiring and interesting as possible. My promise to all readers is that every book I publish will be my best work, and I will have pulled out all the stops to ensure I provide as high quality a book as possible.