As a fantasy writer, people often ask me where I find my inspiration. So, here is a list of my Top 5 influences. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I am hardly the first author to be inspired by these amazing novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. I first read The Hobbit when I was a child, and I can still remember getting lost in the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and company. I quickly moved onto The Lord of the Rings trilogy and was completely hooked. To this day, I am amazed by the artistry and breadth of this series. And, of course, I feel challenged by it, to write something that might measure up to its greatness. Star Wars. I was seven years old when the first movie (A New Hope) first arrived in theaters. I saw it seventeen times with my father that year. It was truly a magical experience; unlike anything I had seen before. The adventure, the heroism, the battles, and the dynamic conflict between good and evil for the fate of the galaxy. Years later, when I began to experiment with writing my own stories, Star Wars was never far from my mind. Not the…

A Must for Christmas is a short holiday read about newlyweds Greg and Faith Mallory, who first appeared in Must Have Faith, Darling Cove, Book 2. Greg and Faith are thirty days away from having twins but days away from an explosive argument. Greg, who’s very old-fashioned wants Faith to be a stay-at-home mom. Faith wants to keep doing the job she loves and knows she can be an effective working mother. No one’s budging. Have you ever been in a situation where you know you have to have a difficult conversation, but it’s the holiday season and you have to put up a brave face and get through it? Don’t get me wrong, Greg and Faith are passionately in love. They’re childhood sweethearts and crawled over broken glass to be together, after a wild, out-of-nowhere break up days before their wedding ten years earlier. This couple got to me while writing Must Have Faith. I could feel their longing for each other and while not much of it ended up on the page, they had a rich history. They really deserved a happy-ever-after. When I tried to insert many flashbacks into this book, my critique coach had said I’d…