I freaked out more than a little bit when I first realized I could see Mt. Rainier from my neighborhood. The day has to be clear and the air quality has to be decent, but it’s totally possible to see that giant, magnificent, looming dormant volcano steps away from my back door. And without fail every time I see it, I turn into an overexcited fangirl with zero cool. I don’t know how, but that mountain finds a way to sneak up on me. I’ll be passively scanning the skyline, minding my own business, and then what’s that, a cloud? A trick of the light? Then BAM. Mountain. Just like that. My son now knows to expect cheers and a good amount of jumping when it turns out to be a “mountain day” as we’ve so creatively coined it.   Last year, I was really hoping to make it to Mt. Rainier National Park before winter set in since that’s the destination my protagonist sets out to reach in my upcoming novel, All That Fills Us. I was hoping to get a sense of what the park looked and felt like during the fall, since that is when she’s set to…

Thank you for having me at Fresh Fiction today. I’m always excited to be invited. 1–What is the title of your latest release? A GENTLEMAN SAYS “I DO” 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? TEASER: A GENTLEMAN SAYS “I DO” is about a determined, savvy lady who only wants to save her family and a dashing rogue accustomed to getting what he wants. He’s looking for revenge but she helps him find love instead. SYNOPSIS: At the virile age of twenty-nine Iverson Brentwood has finally met his match. Catalina Crisp heats his blood like no other in his history as a confirmed bachelor. She is the most alluring young lady he’s ever encountered. Her boldness has stopped him dead in his tracks. But no matter how attracted he is to the intriguing Catalina, he can’t give into his desire to possess her in every way…for she is the daughter of the man he’s sworn to destroy. Catalina’s father is a well-known poet and a writer, but wastrel whose disappearances continuously put their household one step away from destitution. Something drastic must change, so it is with quill in hand, that Catalina completes her father’s latest parody of the…

Describe the setting that LETTERS TO SINGAPORE takes place for me. LETTERS TO SINGAPORE takes place in Calgary, Canada and Singapore. The protagonist Simran is a new international student at the University of Calgary. Bewildered and alone, she arrives in Calgary (the West) from Singapore (the East). Simran sends letters that go back and forth to 4 women in Singapore. She learns about surviving in a new city, new country and new “everything,” so place becomes a metaphor for transformation and reinvention for Simran.   Does this story draw on personal experience at all? What inspired you to write this book? I was inspired to write this novel when I was accepted into a four-month writing program by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta and Alexandra’s Writers’ Centre in 2019. I was excited and inspired, especially when I found out that my mentor was the marvelous Aritha van Herk. Thrilled and nervous, I finished this novel in 100 days. There are some parts of the novel that draw on personal experiences – one is the skiing adventure. Other parts are the strokes of creative fiction that I enjoyed incorporating as I delved into developing the stories. I enjoyed engaging in the intricacies…

What made you choose 1971 as the setting for A Snake in the Raspberry Patch? I chose 1971 because I didn’t want technology such as cell phones or computers to be in the story. Also, since true crime events in rural communities were part of the inspiration for this book, I didn’t want the date to conflict with other mass murders that have occurred in Canada. And in 1971, I was a teenager so could relate quite easily to what it would be like to live in that decade.   Is the story told through one character’s perspective? Liz is the protagonist, so the story is told through her eyes, but Rose, whose personality seemed to jump out early in the writing, took over many of the scenes. She almost came alive as I wrote. I could even hear her voice in my head.   Do you try to maintain the tension throughout the story? The murders, and/or a killer on the loose, so a potential threat to the girls, are mentioned throughout, creating tension. But I also wanted some normalcy – i.e., depiction of life on the prairie in the 70’s.   Families seem to be the heart of…

1–What is the title of your latest release?FOUR LEAF FELONY 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? I finally got my big break! The interview of a lifetime and nothing could stop me from getting there! Not even a dead body that ended up diverting my airplane in an emergency landing to a small town where secrets swept under the rug have found their way out with a few dust bunnies attached. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I knew she needed to get diverted to a small town where she would end up staying which makes her character grow by realizing her dream was never her true dream. It’s the journey. 4–Would you hang out with your sleuth in real life? A lot! Definitely a few times a week for coffee! She’s really good with gossip. 5–What are three words that describe your sleuth? Determined. Curious. Strong. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I love holidays! All of them! 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I wait until I’m totally done. I sprint through the first draft and call that the bones, then…

 1–What is the title of your latest release? FATAL CODE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? In the global race for space domination, a cryptologist must overcome his greatest mistake to help the granddaughter of a nuclear physicist decipher the clues to a top-secret nuclear project before it falls into the hands of America’s enemies. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Washington D.C. is where my SNAP Agency is located because it’s the epicenter of all things political intrigue and suspense. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? I would because she’s a lot of fun but honestly, she’s an aerospace engineer so I’d probably be clueless about anything she’s discussing and would just have to smile and nod. A lot. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Hawaiian. Funny. Genuine. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? So many things. Lots of space defense information; historical information surrounding the top-secret research at Los Alamos National Laboratory—including the inclusion of Black scientists like nuclear scientist George Johnson, after the war; and that measuring the weight of a wave is more math than I ever want to do…