I’m so excited to be here sharing about my latest book, THE HELLION. The heroine Cleopatra Killoran and hero, Adair Thorne are not necessarily one’s typical Regency couple. Born into rival families, of London’s most successful gaming hells, they’ve only ever known hatred for the other. Until they meet and sparks fly, and every belief they’ve ever had of one another, is challenged. They’ve only seen the differences between them. When they’re thrust into one another’s company, they see just how much they in fact, share. Neither of them were born to the nobility. Both of them know what it is to struggle and fight to survive. And then there is the passion that flares from the onset! The inspiration for my Wicked Wallflowers series actually began first with the heroine, Cleopatra, her family, and the rival gaming hell owners of the Hell and Sin Club…which is run by Adair. Immediately I knew, I wanted Cleo’s family to juxtapose Adair’s….and from that the Wicked Wallflowers was born. This series wouldn’t be about a club run solely by men. Rather, about a family, of strong, independent, and very capable women…and their lone elder brother. And so, from the start, Cleo, by…

When I sat down to write the Texas Rodeo books, I didn’t flex my fingers over the keyboard and say to myself, “Self, we are gonna write us some kickass heroines.” But I was determined to create characters who are an accurate reflection of the women I was raised by, grew up with, and compete against in the rodeo arena. Cowgirls are lucky that way. From the time we’re old enough to ride, we are admired and rewarded for being tough, independent, aggressive and competitive. The women of Texas Rodeo are the natural result. Take the heroine of TOUGHER IN TEXAS, whose first line in the book is, As far as Shawnee Pickett was concerned, when most women went out to get a Brazilian they were doing it all wrong. And then she rolls over and nudges her lover awake.** A few chapters later, she realizes that she’s been giving the hero an inadvertent peep show. Her reaction? She considered being embarrassed, then shrugged. It wasn’t the first time someone had seen her in a wet t-shirt, and she wasn’t even dancing on a bar. Shawnee is aggravating, outrageous, and hands down the reader favorite among my heroines. Her popularity…

Research is my least favorite thing about writing! There I’ve said it, and anyone who knows me, will vouch for that statement. On the other hand, I take getting details correct very, very serious. So, it’s always a plus when I can plot my story to include something I find interesting. Imagine my excitement when my latest release, SLATER’S REVENGE, began to take shape and I discovered my heroine lives in a penthouse…in the five-star hotel she inherited years ago. And, she has a personal elevator from her penthouse all the way down to her private garage in the basement. Wow, talk about interesting research! After some initial on-line searching, I realized I’d become the buyer, the builder, the sculpture of my surroundings and I’d become very selective in what I wanted. I wanted my penthouse to be fabulously perfect! Of course, by this time, I was thinking through everything from where suspense scenes would occur to conversation areas to the always important love scenes. I began to lay out the design of the penthouse interior including the flow from room to room, and the city view from the living room’s expansive balcony windows. Skyscrapers mingling with the city’s government…

I’ve been writing for a long time now and have been published with Harlequin/Mills & Boon since 2012. I write contemporary romance – and even with deadlines and late nights and the occasional staring at a blank page – I truly love every word I get to write. What I adore about the romance genre is the diversity in the storytelling. The cultural diversity, historical diversity, books with elements of faith, the suspense, medical romance, the paranormal, fantasy…there is so much to choose from as a reader, and so many ways to be a storyteller as an author. I write for Harlequin Special Edition – a home and heart series that has a strong focus on the central couple, but also on the sense of community within the pages. There can be minor characters – like the meddling mother, the cute kids who want their parent to find a happy-ever-after, the nosey neighbor who wickedly stirs up trouble, and even a four-legged character who adds another dimension to the story. But at the core, is a love story about two people who simply have to be together. Whenever I start with an idea for a new story, I usually start…

Jeff Resnick never asked for the gift he was given. Gift? More like a curse. And that curse was? Becoming a little bit psychic. But don’t way the “P” word infront of him. Maybe he’s in denial. After all, experiencing weird stuff just wasn’t a part of his life … until the mugging. That’s when things changed. Broke and broken, he’s forced to accept help from his estranged, older half-brother, thus losing his home and the new job he was about to begin. Forced to go back to a city he had no love for and a house that was never a home. Visions of a slaughtered deer hung to bleed out take on a terrible new meaning when a local banker is found in just that condition. How could Jeff have known? Why did he feel compelled to find out more about the man, about the murder? As an insurance investigator, with crime scenes his specialty, Jeff knows what it takes to look into these matters. Too bad his brother, physician Richard Alpert, isn’t an enthusiastic collaborator. He’s convinced that these so-called visions are the manifestation of an injured brain, and he’s only willing to go so far to…

I hate the adage “write what you know.” Hate it. But I don’t hate it because it’s wrong. As an author, there are plenty of things about your life woven into your fiction, and most of the time this is done unconsciously. The car your character drives has a striking resemblance to your own. A few choice turns of phrases that you’ve been known to use pepper your manuscript. Your protagonist’s drink of choice is, coincidentally, a margarita on the rocks, two parts tequila, one part lime, touch of orange liquor and a drizzle of agave nectar. No salt, not ever. No, I hate that phrase “write what you know” because too many readers take it as an unalterable truism. By readers, of course, I mean family members. They mean well, God bless ’em, but boy do they want to know where all that darkness comes from. It has to come from somewhere, because, you know, you write what you know, and if the villain in your book fancies choking out hookers and making totem poles out of their torsos, well, we may need to revisit that time you went to summer camp when you were sixteen. My mom always…

My new book, THE PURSUIT OF MRS. PENNYWORTH takes place in the fall of 1888 in London, England. If that date seems notable, it is because that was when Jack the Ripper was wreaking havoc in White Chapel, one of the worst sections of London at the time. With a degree in Education and History, doing research, while absolutely necessary, can be a time suck for me. Once I find a subject I need to learn a few facts about, hours later I am oftentimes still reading and googling for more information. (The research black hole) Thus became the overload of data I uncovered about Jack the Ripper. While the actions of Jack the Ripper don’t have a direct effect in my story about a widow who is being stalked, it does impact the plot. Mrs. Charlotte Pennyworth is receiving disturbing packages on her front steps. When she goes to the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) they deny her help because Jack the Ripper is keeping them busy. The police officer she speaks with indicates she probably has an admirer, she is in no danger, and should enjoy the attention. Charlotte then turns to Mr. Elliot Baker, a private investigator to…

In my new book, THE HIGHLANDER’S GIFT, I had to do a lot of research about archery. The various bows, the parts of an arrow, and whether or not someone can use a longbow if they are without the use of one of their arms. In my story, the heroine, Lady Bella Sutherland, meets the hero, Sir Niall Oliphant, for the first time when they are children, at a skills tournament. She beats him at archery, but not by much! They are both extremely skilled. In fact, as an adult, Bella often practices with a blindfold on, or shooting apples and such off of her maid’s head (who is perfectly confident in this activity!) When Niall and Bella meet up again as adults, where our romance story begins, Niall has recently lost an arm in battle. He no longer uses his bow because of the injury, thinking it impossible. Bella is determined to help him regain that skill, which she knows was a vast source of pleasure to him, and hopes it will build up his confidence, too. How about a few facts I learned while doing research for this story? A bow and arrow can absolutely be used by…

Not every book I write contains supernatural elements, but I believe there’s a suggestion of darkness in all of them, one that harkens back to my childhood. I don’t mean to say there was a lot of darkness in my upbringing. In fact, looking back, those years seem wonderfully sunny and bright. But, oh, I did – and still do – love a good scare. That feeling of being terrified and right on the edge of unsafe began with a visit to my aunt’s boarded-up farmhouse in Saskatchewan. My aunt and uncle lived there when they were first married. Knowing my aunt, it would have been a clean and lovely home. However, by the time my sister and I saw it, everything inside the place was old and rolled and silent as the grave. We didn’t learn why until after we’d scared ourselves silly with thoughts and imaginings of dead bodies trapped inside those rolled-up carpets and ghosts lurking at the rusty handpump that once upon a time would have filled my aunt’s kitchen sink. My newly married aunt discovered a mouse in her house. Huh. How strange is that? Finding a mouse in a farmhouse that was surrounded by…

Not all bad boys are created equal. The Bad Bachelors app is currently helping with women of New York sort the good from the bad, and the bad from the terrible. It’s a fine line. Personally, I love a little bad sprinkled in with the good. So, I’m here to talk about my three favorite categories of bad boys. The Suit One of my personal favorites. A guy who’s smart, in control, looks incredible and has big dreams and goals. What can I say, ambition is a turn on! The key thing to look out for is how he treats those who work closely with him—if he’s cruel and manipulative, then he’s veered into alphahole territory and you should steer clear. But if he shows kindness (especially if he thinks no one is watching) then you have yourself a winner. Take Reed McMahon, for example. Sure, everyone thinks he’s a womanizer and a player, but he cares about his executive assistant so much he agrees to do some pro bono work for her grandson’s favorite library. And he hates libraries! He’s an alpha Suit with a heart of gold. The Wild Boy These are the guys you mother probably warned…