1. What were you in your
life before you became a writer? Did this influence your writing?
I’m sure this is a cliché, but…I was a high
school English teacher. (I also taught French, German, and theater.) As an
undergrad, I was married to an Army helicopter pilot and knew we’d be moving
from place to place, so I’d need a portable career. Both my parents were
teachers. That legacy, along with a bone-deep love of books, moved me to major
in English.
My entire teaching career played out in Germany,
where I worked on U.S. military bases. So yes, my travels, intensive study of
story structure and writing techniques, and the colorful characters I met all
influenced my writing.
You might think I’d end up writing YA, right?
While I loved many of my students dearly and would have gladly adopted a few,
after 27 years I’m done centering my focus on teenagers. I prefer mixed-age
casts for my stories now.
2. Are you genre specific or general? Why? I
don't mean genres like romance, mystery, fantasy etc. There are many subgenres
of the above.
On my shelf sit three as-yet-unpublished novels,
two cozy mysteries and a women’s fiction story. I do plan to publish those
under another pen name. I’ve also published one horror short story. So yeah—I’m
eclectic.
In the meantime, I seem to have found my happy
place with steamy contemporary romance. I’m writing Book Three in the Book
Nirvana series, and subsequent Sadira Stone stories will be steamy
contemporaries—though I may try my hand at historical romance one day. The
1920s have always fascinated me.
3. Did your reading choices have anything to do
with your choice of a genre or genres?
Lately, I do read mostly romance, all flavors
and subgenres, interspersed with nonfiction and mysteries. I gobble books like
Pringles. I mean, how does anyone go to sleep without a book on her nightstand?
4. What's your latest release?
Runaway Love Story, Book 2 in the Book
Nirvana Series, is the tale of Laurel Jepsen, 31, whose M.O. when faced with
failure has always been to run toward her next opportunity. Fired from her art
gallery job in Portland, she’s on her way to San Francisco when a call for help
comes from her beloved great aunt Maxie. A 90-year-old artist, Maxie’s the only
member of Laurel’s family who supported her artistic dreams.
Laurel’s brief detour in Eugene, Oregon to help
Maxie into assisted living gets complicated when she runs, literally, into Doug
Garvey, who rescues her from some teen harassers on a riverside running trail.
Sweet, quiet, down to earth, Doug seems the opposite of what she wants—a
suburban teacher devoted to his students and his aging parents. Okay, he’s
charming. And tall. And hunky. And a runner, like her. And their powerful
attraction sizzles and sparks whenever he’s near. But—stay in Eugene? No way.
She’s gotta stick to her plan. Maxie always said that a woman with a plan is
unstoppable.
Their steamy “temporary” fling is complicated by
big, juicy feelings, unexpected artistic success for Laurel, painful family
baggage on both sides, and a viral Twitter thread that throws their
relationship into the spotlight.
5. What are you working on now?
I’m writing Book Three in the series, which
features my youngest couple yet. Margot, 22, is a graphic design student at the
University of Oregon. Elmer, 26, is a ceramics artist and college dropout.
Connected by Maxie, their adoptive grandmother, they find themselves competing
for the same art grant, which both desperately need to launch their careers.
6. Where can we find
you?
I want to hear from you!
Thanks so much for hosting me today!
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