Questions people ask me...
Who are your favorite authors?
Diana Gabaldon , Anne Rice , Sherrilyn Kenyon , Nalini Singh , Jane Austen , Jeaniene Frost — These ladies rock. I enjoy Harlan Coben, too.
How did you get into writing?
By reading. I love romance. No matter the media, I'm rooting for a couple to get together, hopelessly addicted to the happily ever after. Um… I don’t buy novels, I buy the series. When I'm done with book one, I set it down and pick up book two. Publishers love customers like me.
When I chose a profession, I didn’t consider writing. I pursued nursing. Not because I wanted to be a Florence Nightingale, but because I needed a reliable income. I have absolutely no regrets over my choice, but I do wish I had explored writing earlier.
Naturally, I don’t love everything I read.
One Sunday morning, I read one too many disappointing novels. I can do better than this! Using a plot that had been banging around in my head, I hammered out my first -first draft. As it turns out, I couldn’t do better than the poor author who'd disappointed me.
Undeterred, I put together a two-year plan to publish my work in progress – my baby. After two years, four re-drafts, my firstborn was still not ready for prime time! At a colleague's urging, I took a break and started something else.
One day I'll tune up my first angel story and allow it to fly.
Now, almost four years after my initial first draft, I've published four books.
Where do you get your ideas?
Anywhere! An overheard conversation. Traumatic events that pull at my heart almost always spark something. Often, writers respond, dreams. I very rarely recall dreams. But I am a daydreamer – always in trouble as a kid for not paying attention to the teacher. My classmates got scolded for talking to each other. Me? Doodling some fantasy I’d cooked up in my brain.
How did you get published?
In response to Evernight's call for submissions for a shifter anthology, I sent them Jungle Rapture. They wanted the story for their Romance on the Go line rather than the anthology.
My friends were so helpful, too! Several critiqued and some beta read for me. Had I not laid the groundwork and became active in professional writer’s associations, who would’ve had my back when I needed it? Few do this alone.
Do you have an agent?
Not at the present time, though I may seek representation for a future project. We'll see.
Will you read my novel and tell me what you think?
Yikes! Aside from the four to six hours it takes to read a novel, there are legal pitfalls, too. I won’t go into those here. You’d be wise to have a trusted critique partner read your work.
Network, network, and network some more. I belong to an active critique group, plus I swap pages and beta reads with a few trusted people.