A recent reviewer said it best when she described Slow Hand as not your “typical” western romance. “Vane entwined the old west with the new west and gave us a whole new contemporary romance cowboy.” There’s no question that all of the heroes in my hot new contemporary Western series are cowboys, but the word “cowboy” doesn’t define what a man does, it defines who he is. In SLOW HAND, Wade Knowlton is a workaholic lawyer and part time rancher who’s constantly at odds with his brother. Wade only sees the hardships and struggles of modern day ranching and wants to provide a comfortable retirement for his parents, especially after his father’s triple bypass. In his interactions with the heroine, Nikki, however, he is a shameless flirt and a total charmer. Excerpt from SLOW HAND He crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned on the door frame studying her. “Miz Powell, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were undressing me with those pretty blue-green eyes of yours.” A guilty flush infused her face but she refused to give him the advantage. She opted for a strong offense instead. “So what if I was? Weren’t you quite…

Do you ever feel like the whole world is in on the secrets of life, and no one bothered to tell you? Have you ever read a great book, or seen a movie whose entire premise should be completely and totally impossible…but you just can’t stop yourself from wondering if it’s true? What if there really were Jedi Knights out there somewhere? What if vampires were real? Or werewolves? What if our planet really was alive and could speak to us, like the home world in Avatar? What if we really did live in a matrix, and gentlemen like Mr. Smith were out there, watching and waiting to strike down anyone who got too close to the truth? What if wizards and magic were real? What if aliens really did walk among us? What if? What if? What if? I could ask questions like this for hours. Days. If you must know the truth, I have been asking them…for decades. ‘What if?’ is my favorite question. And it’s what inspires me to write. I have notebooks full of wild ideas. In the Timewalker Chronicles, I combine several of my favorites. What if time travel were possible? What if humans were…

One of the many things I enjoy about writing the Library Lover’s Mysteries is that I get to flex my librarian research muscles. As I devised the plot for ON BORROWED TIME, I knew that Lindsey’s brother Jack was going to be a globetrotting economist. But when it came to the business crisis that would cause him to be on the run, I was stumped. This happens frequently during the plotting stages of a novel. I’ll have a kernel of an idea but no idea how to make it pop. There are a variety of methods to try and get a lock on the idea. I walk my dogs a lot. Sometimes inspiration hits during the pooper scoop portion of the walk and sometimes it hits when my girl dog launches herself off the sidewalk in some crazy attempt to take down a passing bread truck. She has issues. If the dog thing doesn’t work, I move on to baking. I will bake myself into a three pies, two rounds of cupcakes, several batches of cookies sugar coma in an attempt to get my ideas to blossom. When that doesn’t work, it’s back to walking the dogs, because by then…

I rarely write blog posts, partly because I spend so much of my time writing my books and well . . . I have to have a life. My life looks something like a typical mom’s life. The laundry is never done, the house is never perfectly in order and there is always some errand to run. But this week was different. I finished a book I had been writing for several months so I rewarded myself with a break. Whenever my focus moves away from writing fiction, I find it impossible not to examine and analyze the state of my life. It’s like the big cozy blanket of make-believe is removed and I say out loud, “Wait, how old am I again? Oh sh$#! Where did that year go?” I came out of the writing cave, went to the juice bar, went to yoga and actually went shopping. I hate shopping but I forced myself to go and look at things that are current for the sake of my own social acceptance. Normally, I don’t care about that stuff, but this week I let myself care so I could feel like a person again. Complacent is how I would…

“My dog senses when my anxiety is high and gently nudges me when I’m about to have a flashback. He brings me back every time.” Iraq Veteran suffering from PTSD In the book EVEN HEROES CRY, I wanted to bring across a hero that is not perfect, but I didn’t plan for him to become so broken. I knew he was going to be a war veteran and intended for him to be someone who suffered from PTSD. I didn’t know the path this would lead us both down. Whoa were my eyes opened. I found a study that frightened me and let me to find information on organizations that help veterans with PTSD. Sadly, twenty-two war veterans commit suicide each day. Foundations such as Pets-For-Vets are unsung heroes that pair specially trained animals with veterans. In the process they save lives two lives. The animals they train as companions are acquired from shelters. The unconditional love they offer as well as training help veterans not medication or counseling can. Although in my book, my hero does not acquire a dog, I did write a small dog into the story and decided to donate a percentage of the books earnings…