ONCE HAUNTED, TWICE SHY is the second book in the Peyton Clark series and picks up where the first book, GHOULS RUSH IN, left off. In this series, new divorcee, Peyton, relocates to New Orleans after inheriting an antebellum mansion in the Garden District. It isn’t long before she realizes her house is haunted and the ghost in question, Drake Montague, is a Casanova and then some! When Peyton is put into a difficult situation regarding the safety of Drake’s soul, she makes the decision to allow Drake to possess her. In so doing, he is able to see and hear everything she does and he also bears witness to all of Peyton’s innermost thoughts. While it was incredibly fun to write about Peyton and Drake’s bizarre relationship, I can’t imagine wanting to share my head with anyone, living or dead! I had to put myself into Peyton’s shoes while I was writing about her interactions with Drake. In doing so, I had to imagine what it would be like not to ever have any privacy (luckily, Peyton can tune Drake out when she wants to). So, while I would never want to share my head with anyone, I do…

It’s kinda nuts the way – one moment you’re a daughter (with a big tummy) and the next you’re the mother. Naturally you’re still a daughter but that takes a very big step back in your mind as you look at the tiny bundle of perfection they’ve gently placed in your arms. Now – all of a sudden, you’re not pregnant – you’re the mama! Congratulations and welcome to mayhem. Algorithm definition: Set of rules to be followed or other problem solving operation. Algorithm No. 1. Little People = Little problems. The early years aren’t so bad. Keep them (& yourself) warm, fed & well slept. Throw in lots of cuddles and the occasional tea-party and you have a happy daughter. Little girls are proud to tell the world that when they grow up they’re gonna be just like their momma and marry daddy. (Oh, those were the days.) Algorithm No. 2. Big people = Big problems. Sadly, if we’ve done our jobs right – as they grow, they’ll start to think independently. By mid-teens you might get a slightly disapproving glance from your baby girl when you reach for that second slice or cheesecake. She might stop laughing at…

It was a delight and honor to be part of this very special Christmas book for several reasons. Harlequin chose women authors who were in the military to write these three military romance novellas you will read in this book. They include Lindsay McKenna (US Navy), Delores Fossen (US Air Force) and Geri Krotow (US Navy). I was in the US Navy as an AG3 (weather forecaster) and had created the military genre in 1983 with CAPTIVE OF FATE, Silhouette Special Edition. My other two sister writers, Delores Fossen, US Air Force, and Geri Krotow, US Navy, are also military vets, so the readers are getting the real deal. The novellas will have a uniqueness that no one else can produce because we were in the military and understand how it works from the inside out. We’re able to lend an insider’s knowledge to the novellas as a result. Secondly, with the drawdown and our heroic military men and women finally coming home from Afghanistan, it makes our stories all the more heart-rending and poignant. Delores, Geri and myself know what it’s like to be stationed somewhere else in the world when the holidays hit. And it’s a very lonely…

We’ve all had this happen at one time or another—an urging or longing for a certain something or other that sneaks up on us and lingers until it settles in our bones. Before long, another person mentions the very thing we’ve been deliberating. Soon, we begin seeing or hearing about that certain something everywhere until a groundswell of popularity emerges. That’s what seems to be happening with American-set historical romances. Remember those lush, sweeping, sagas full of romance, drama, sexual tension, excitement, family struggles, and plenty of twists and turns that spans time and geographic locations? Stories that kept us turning pages well into the night? Having grown somewhat weary of reading restrictive English-set ballroom scenes filled with rigid rules, where one dance too many often meant scandal or even a marriage proposal, I purposely set my first novel in the English countryside, far away from London. Immediately, I found I had greater latitude to create a viscount with a large and quirky but close-knit family whose members thought nothing of doing exactly as each pleased—rules be damned. To stir up the mix, I gave them a heroine who’d also been raised in the countryside, but with no memory to…

I had given up on love. I decided it would be easier to write about romance than endure the ups and downs of any more real-life love affairs. So after years of dead-end pick-ups, fix-ups and online dating, I’d reached a point in my life where I was content to be alone. I’d arrived at this decision while in the middle of writing LOVE THY NEIGHBOR for the new Lovestruck Imprint for Entangled. For those of you who might not be familiar with the Lovestruck line of books, the one thing they all have in common is the meet-cute. The meet-cute is the cornerstone of every romantic comedy ever made. It’s where the man and woman meet in a memorable and for lack of a better word, “cute” way. And while I was working away on my novel, determined not to become embroiled in any more ill-fated romances, I experienced my own meet-cute. Picture the scene: it’s the holiday season. Chicago is in the grips of another polar vortex. It’s my best friend, Sydney’s last night in town because her visa is about to expire and she’s forced to leave the States. We’re having a farewell drink at a neighborhood…