Being a writer is one of my many roles, but the most important role I play is as mom to my two boys. Sporty kids ages 9 and 14, between school, band and soccer they certainly keep me hopping. As everyone with kids knows, the whole parenting thing (especially the single parenting thing) isn’t easy. If a mom and/or dad tells you otherwise, they’re lying. Or delusional. Maybe a bit of both. Lol That’s why not a day goes by when someone isn’t posting something on Facebook about blowout diaper disasters, play date drama, or sports-related something-or-another. The non-parents roll their eyes, the grandparents laugh at their screens relieved those days are long past, and the singles just swipe on by. It is what it is, and most of us wouldn’t trade it for the world. Except the diaper blowouts. We would ALL prefer to go without any more of those. One of the hardest lessons for me as a new parent (and sometimes even as an older, wiser one), though, was learning how to be…or not to be. Working full time, doing the family thing, and writing in the rare, leftover conscious moments of the day can be a…

Historical romance – Regency in particular – is my crack. I love it. I can’t write it, but OH MY GOD do I love it – like a freak, obviously. One of my favorite kind of Regency heroes is the grumpy Duke. You know the kind. He sits in his library with a drink and stares at the fire while bemoaning (silently) about the hoyden who has caught his eye. Seriously, that guy is my catnip. I just might have married him, but without the title and lands. 🙂 So when it came time to write my hero, Lucas, in HER ENEMY PROTECTOR (Tempt Me Book 2), I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Readers met Lucas in HIS UNDERCOVER PRINCESS, Tempt Me Book 1 and he was quiet, had an overdeveloped sense of responsibility and definitely lacked a sense of humor. You see where I’m going with this right? Lucas really was a modern grumpy Duke. I couldn’t go totally old school on him, but as you read HER ENEMY PROTECTOR you’ll see all the tell-tale signs. Lucas definitely isn’t chatty. He loves to issue orders and can’t imagine someone wouldn’t follow them. He thinks he’s the smartest…

It may not be true of all novelists, but one of the aspects of storytelling I find soul-satisfying is the ability to experiment with careers I never had, visit places I’ve never seen, own businesses, experience adventures, and tackle intriguing dreams that belong to my characters. I had more than my fair share of fun inventing the storyline and setting for this year’s Christmas novel—RESTORING CHRISTMAS. I fell in love with old fieldstone farmhouses when visiting Pennsylvania last January. Assuming I’ll likely never have the opportunity to own one, I pulled out my laptop and wrote a lovely, slightly lopsided version into the novel. I could almost feel the smooth wood on the banister to the second floor, “see” the view from the front porch, hear my footsteps—or rather, the characters’ footsteps—on the well-worn hardwood floor. Since long before HGTV reached its current state of popularity, I’ve dreamed of restoring old houses—with someone else’s sweat equity and financial investment. My dream had no blisters or hammered thumbs. Instead, I’d be the one designing the restoration and supervising those who don’t mind dirt, dust, and perspiration. Have to replace the knob-and-tube wiring? Need to reorder the kitchen cabinets? My job would…

In the South, we get excited about our stories. When we hear someone shout, “Y’all ain’t gonna believe this!” we all gather round because we want to hear what they are about to tell us. This story is kind of like that. Only unlike a good Southern storyteller, I will not embellish this. It’s true. All of it. So earlier this year, I was at my desk, hard at work. Okay, I might have been doing some online shoe shopping but … I was trying to work, when I got an e-mail from Sandie Bricker. The Sandie Bricker. She asked if I’d be interested in writing a novella that would include four stories. She wanted to pitch the idea to a publisher she knew I’d worked with before. I immediately said “Yes.” When she told me that Barbara Scott and Lynette Sowell would be involved, I was even more delighted. Meantime, in a land full of brokenhearted dreams and gorgeous boots (Nashville) two very savvy publishing world women were talking back and forth and when Barbara Scott mentioned to her friend Sue Brower that she was working on this novella collection, Sue’s eyes lit up. She suggested Barbara send it…