Curious about the characters in HER HIGHLAND MASTER? Now’s your chance to meet Zoey. What is your name? Do you have a nickname? My name is Zoey Mills. Sometimes my sister calls me Zoe or Z, but it’s rare. Who is your best friend? What kinds of things do you do when you’re together? Lucy Martin and I have been BFFs since grade school. She’s really like a sister to me. We experienced our first boyfriends together, puberty, high school, and college. She was the first person I called the day my parents died. One of our favorite things to do is a girl’s night out. We don’t worry about finding guys or anything, just go have a blast at a winery or pub. If you have a family, how do you get along with them? If you don’t, are there people in your life that you consider family? How do you get along with them? My baby sister is my only blood relative. We’re the best of friends. I’m not sure if it’s because of the fact that our parents died and we had to forge our way, or if it would have always been that way with…

Oh, the bad boy. Who doesn’t love a guy in black leather, with a wicked curve to his smile, and a gleam in his eye that says, “Come on, baby, let’s get into trouble.”? I never knew I was the bad boy type…until I started writing them. Now I can’t get enough. What’s beautiful about bad boys is there is a wide range. From down and dirty to hard and gritty to the kind of bad boy I love to write the most: the sweet heat. You know the type. The kind of guy who is a good family man at heart, but won’t hesitate to toss his woman over his knee. The man who is loyal to his friends, but still takes physical risks that put him in danger. From billionaires, to ex-military landscapers, to rock stars, I’ve written many, many bad boys. And I’m not stopping any time soon. Here are my top five reasons women like you (and me!) love bad boys. I’ve also included a few of my bad boys as recommendations. Which one is for you? Bad Boys know who they are. They may be jerks, but they know they are and aren’t afraid to…

Here’s a secret: That MARRIAGE CONTRACT cover that everyone loves so much? Total accident. Well, not really an accident. But not exactly what we planned either. Initially, we were going to do a steamy couple. But they decided to get a few shots just of the guy while the female model was changing—you know, just in case.  And whoa! The challenge with THE WEDDING PACT was how to get something just as smoldering and amazing. It starts with a description: James Halloran is a big dude with dirty blond hair who looks like he’d be at home on the back of a motorcycle. Hair is about shoulder-length. Icy blue eyes. Usually wearing faded jeans and either a black or white T-shirt (though he does have a leather jacket). Has scars layered across both his chest and back (from a whip). Lots of swagger! And then some inspiration photos for character tone and poses (talk about fun research!):    At last comes the day of the photo shoot. When my editor first emailed me some pics as things were in progress, I screamed so loud that my kids thought the house was on fire. How come I never get to help…

When I began the RANSOM CANYON series, I moved my computer to a little room out back of my house that we now call the bunkhouse. It’s not big, mission designed and almost a hundred years old. I took down all the western art and put up white boards. I even removed all the books except those on ranching, horses, Texas, or research I might need. Family histories of characters fill one wall and plot lines another. When I step into the bunkhouse, I step into the world of Ransom Canyon. One by one my characters come in and sit down to tell me their story. Two people came into my mind as I began writing LONE HEART PASS. One, Jubilee Hamilton, who has just had all her dreams crash and the other, Charley Collins, who feels like he’s never had the chance to follow even one dream. Both are fighting to simply survive. Together they learn to start believing in love and form a dream, not of riches or fame, but of family. Jubilee and Charley came to me fully developed. I saw them sit down in front of my desk (in my mind) and begin to tell me…

A trope is a recurring literary device that’s been proven to appeal to a broad audience. Consciously or not, writers use them all the time. I choose two or three tropes when I’m planning a story. After that, I really don’t pay a whole lot of attention to them. The story is what it is. Her Secret, His Surprise is a secret baby story. (Yep, that’s a trope.) I love babies. But I’ve never been a huge fan of secret babies. In real life if a baby has to be kept a secret, at least one of the parents probably has some major issues and I don’t have much patience for people with issues either. (Other people, I mean. I’ve got plenty of my own. Those are okay because I try to keep them to myself.) As a writer, however, a secret baby and parent(s) with issues proved an irresistible challenge to me. Children aren’t bargaining chips in adult relationships. How could I possibly make myself, let alone readers, like these people? Enter Cass, Logan and little Olivia. Cass has baggage. She had a terrible childhood, so when she becomes pregnant by a man she can’t find, she chooses to…

Recently I read a suspense novel that left me wondering what the story was all about. I couldn’t follow the storyline or figure out character motivation. Although many aspects of the novel were outstanding, I couldn’t find the plot (storyline) and that meant I had no stake in the protagonist’s life. In short, I lost interest. After careful analyzation of story structure and my method of writing suspense, and I don’t always get it right/write, I made a checklist of what was essential to a SSS—Strong Suspense Story instead of a STOP—Suspense Totally Omitting Plot. At times, a writer neglects a story arc, so the reader stumbles through spine-chilling action without direction. The writer gets ambushed along the way because he forgot his tools of the trade. How can a writer ensure story has meaning? By taking the time to plot a story with explosive characters. The story has a dynamic beginning and propels toward a culmination of exciting events that burst onto the page. The following guidelines will help weave story happenings from ground zero to the climax and resolution. Each scene pitches the story forward by revealing new information, twisting subplots, and unraveling character flaws and strengths. Have…

Top Five Ways I Drive My Editor to Drink Describe the crime-scene stuff in my books with waaay too much detail, because I am a huge forensics nerd. What I find “fascinating,” normal people find “really gross.” Write an entire chapter merely to set up a joke (it was a funny joke, though. Maybe “forward momentum” and “plot” should to take a back seat and let humor drive for a while). Completely and utterly fail in my attempt to write short(er). Even after cutting two complete chapters from In Safe Hands (Book 4 of my Search and Rescue series), I added so much elsewhere that the manuscript was even longer than it’d been before edits. I just can’t stop adding words. It’s a sickness. Lament my inability to correctly use the subjunctive mood for an entire (long) email, because, in addition to being a huge forensics nerd, I am also a huge grammar nerd. Dump my insecurities on her head. “Do you like my book? Did the copyeditor like my book? Did your mom like my book? Will readers like my book? Do you think it’s good? Really? Honestly? Tell me again what you like about it.” Normally, I’m a…

Though my April release, OH WHAT A (WEDDING) NIGHT, is a brand new book, it’s germination occurred sixteen years ago. Long before most of us were reading books on ereaders—my New York publisher asked me to write a pair of connected historical romances set in Regency England. We didn’t label it as a series in those days, but I called it my Brazen Brides series. The first book was the lighthearted COUNTERFEIT COUNTESS. It went on to be a finalist for the Daphne du Maurier award. In the second book, ONE GOLDEN RING (Best Historical, 2005, Holt Medallion winner) my hero came from the wealthiest family in England, the Birminghams, who were prominent in banking and on stock exchange. I modeled them after the Rothschild family, and I wanted to make them Jewish, too, to make even more obstacles to the marriage of an aristocratic lady to a Jewish stockbroker. Unfortunately, my editor nixed the idea of a Jewish hero. Over the years, many readers wrote, asking that I give each of the powerful Birmingham brothers his own book. More than three years ago, I wrote a novella (Lady Sophia’s Rescue, no longer available) with William Birmingham as the hero….

I have always loved the friends to lovers romance trope. The challenge to making a story like this work is to be able to first show how good the hero and heroine are as friends but also create that subtle tension that lets you know something more than friendship is on the rise. That’s what I I hope I’ve done in my contemporary romance, THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY. Because of…reasons, my hero, Jamie, and heroine, Brynn, are on a road trip from Chicago to L.A. We know from the outset that Jamie has feelings for Brynn that go beyond friendship, but obstacles have kept him from telling her. His hope is that by the end of the trip she’ll realize he’s the one. What does that mean for me as a writer? I get to put these two in situations that will make them squirm with tension. Here’s a short little scene from early in Jamie and Brynn’s road trip. Because of a travel mishap, Brynn is without her glasses or contacts for their overnight stay in Tulsa, OK. Because our hero is a beer brewer and their hotel bar has tons of microbrews on tap, Jamie and the…

If you visit Amazon these days, you’ll find millions of books. Millions in the romance category alone. So many stories. So many ideas birthed in the writers’ imaginations. But where do those ideas come from? Ask most writers that question and you’ll most likely get some variation of Oh, geez. Everywhere. That’s because life provides the seed for every story, whether it be a song lyric that hits your ears at just the right time, a news headline, a funny comment overheard… Or something as simple as an elderly man holding a bouquet of flowers as he waits for a train. I stood in Grand Central not long ago, watching such an old man and thinking, where is he going? Who are the flowers for? He must be meeting a woman. Look at how sweet and dapper he looks in his fedora as he anxiously studies the board with the train schedule. My mind quickly slipped a romance heroine into the picture. She sits next to the old man on the train and… The possibilities are endless. For me, at least, those seeds normally sprout sideways, never taking me where I first thought they would. Like the idea that came…