Did any scene have you laughing or crying while you wrote it? Please share a snippet. The moment I saw this question, I knew exactly which scene I wanted to share. There are (I hope!) some chuckle-worthy moments in A PROMISE OF FIRE, especially when the hero and heroine can’t decide if they need to kiss or fight. I definitely prefer comedy to tragedy myself, but there’s one scene that always makes my eyes prick, no matter how many times I’ve read it, and I love that stirring of emotion just as much as I love to laugh. Cat, the heroine in A PROMISE OF FIRE, survived an abusive and unhappy childhood. While her past impacts both her and the story immensely, the novel is really more about the now—and the future. Her past shaped her, though, making Cat who she is when the story starts: rebellious, fierce, a survivor, a protector, and a little bit hard. Only a few key players from Cat’s past have any real page time, the ruthless Andromeda being one of them. Flashbacks show some key moments with Andromeda who, as my kids like to describe the villain in Disney movies, is “the evil bad…

Back in college, a guy friend of mine asked me out to dinner. We’d been friends more than a year and hung out together quite a bit, so I didn’t suspect it was an actual date until I learned the restaurant he’d chosen was across the US-Canada border, about two hours from campus, and that he wanted to make a day of it. Open to the idea of travel, I agreed to give it a go. On the big day, my friend showed up in a suit and tie. Feeling underdressed in spite of my new shirt and pants, I changed into a dress and heels. Back in the eighties, that involved the wearing of panty hose. He’d put a lot of thought into our itinerary, though, so I decided I could tolerate a little itchiness. The drive to our destination was pleasant, and the weather and stroll through the city’s historic district was beautiful—almost enough to distract me from the torture of navigating cobblestone streets in heels. Turned out, those scratchy nylons were a blessing in disguise, since they helped contain the swelling in my newly twisted ankle. Next up was our museum visit. I stifled a groan at…

Did you ever wonder how a writer’s mind works? Because – spoiler – it isn’t pretty. But I’ll give you a peek. Here’s the flat out truth – I was more than a little tipsy when the idea for my Naked Men series originated. I was at a wine tasting at Fleming’s Steakhouse (twenty-five wines in two hours – hence the tipsiness!). The idea of a series revolving around five guys who share a blog seemed like a winner. Okay, lots of hysterical things seemed like a winner that night, but this one really had legs. Like the wine (that’s a joke only for wine snobs, but I promise they’ll be ROFL over it). Obviously the guys all had to be different. I still have the paper with the original scribbled ideas: the jock, the jerk, the manwhore, the smooth talker, the big business tycoon. Then I drank more cabernet. You know – to celebrate having an awesome idea! So the next day – after much water was consumed – I had to figure out how to turn a fun idea into a book. Because five guys typing a blog post on their laptops is, in fact, not a viable…

On March 25th this year, I was running around looking for my wallet and keys so I could leave the house for a routine doctor’s appointment. When the phone rang, I snatched up the receiver and muttered a distracted “hello” as I tried to close the zipper on my purse. On the other end was Romance Writers of America board member Priscilla Oliveras. She quickly had all of my attention when she asked me if I was sitting down and then told me my debut novel, VIKING WARRIOR RISING, was a RITA® finalist in both the Best Paranormal Romance and Best First Book categories. I don’t remember what else Priscilla told me as I blabbered and cried in response. I was so loud, my husband and the dog rushed into the kitchen to see what had happened. On the drive to the doctor’s office, I called my agent and my editor to give them the good news, which led to more happy tears. And when I rushed into the medical clinic, I told the receptionist and all the people in the waiting room. They had no clue what I was talking about, but nodded and smiled. Maybe they just wanted…

One of the main plot concepts in my small town romance novel FINDING HIM AGAIN revolves around an adopted dog who helps serve as the catalyst that finally ties the hero and heroine’s lives fully together. FINDING HIM AGAIN centers on RaeAnne, a single mother who returns to her small, rural farming hometown after the unexpected passing of her own mother and who brings her young daughter with her when she returns. In her hometown, RaeAnne ends up having the one romance she always regretted not pursuing. It turns out to be more than a fling and grows into something strong and everlasting. When RaeAnne arrives home, much to her surprise, she finds that her father has adopted a dog named Blue from an animal shelter. RaeAnne questions her father’s decision to have gotten the dog so soon after her mother’s death but eventually Blue ends up winning over even the reluctant RaeAnne. In fact, possibly more than anyone in the story, she wants Blue to stay in their lives. Blue is based on an actual adopted dog, my own, who I can say, has definitely won me over. Both dogs, fictional, and real, are hound mixes who were adopted…

Be free and happy and danceful and uninhibited and now-y! ~Terri Guillemets I love that quote. And I love summer. It’s my favorite season. I love the warm weather and sunshine and lazy days spent with my family, a good book, or in front of the television (while still in my pajamas, of course). I love wearing flip-flops and my favorite Writer Chick T-shirt. And right now I also love Songs by DNCE, Flume, Justin Timberlake, and Calvin Harris. Indulging my sweet tooth with a little tiramisu gelato from Haagen-Dazs. Curse you, Haagen-Dazs for making something I can’t resist! The beach. Okay, I love the beach every day of the year, but I have especially happy memories of days at the beach during the summer months. These gorgeous pictures of waves that look like brushstrokes are pretty awesome, too. This book dedication page. (It totally makes me smile.) Instagram. I’m fairly new to the social media site, but really enjoy it. I’ve always liked taking pictures, much preferring to be behind the lens instead of in front of it, and it’s been great fun trying to capture parts of my days to share with people. I love looking at other’s…

Ready to play Author Match? I hope so because I’ve got an author on hand who you’ll want to check out ASAP! Writes: Contemporary romance with my latest release, BREAK OF DAY, book #2 of the EXCLUSIVE ROMANCE series now on store shelves. About: Contemporary romance author seeks readers for a novel with both heart and heat featuring a poor but determined heroine who’s clawing tooth and nail to get ahead in her TV news career and a rich, surfer weatherman hero whose happy-go-lucky attitude hides his deep, scarring family secrets. Must like workplace romance, humor, and John Hughes plotlines. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Likes their beach reads with emotional depth. Enjoys stories with some heat, but a lot of heart. Has always wanted to live in the sunshine of Southern California. Thinks surfers are super hot. Is curious what goes on behind the scenes in a TV newsroom. Wants a hero you can root for and fall in love with. Likes an ending that is not only happy, but filled with hope. What to expect if we’re compatible: Two more books in the series (JUST THIS NIGHT, already released) and AT FIRST LIGHT (coming…

I love music, from the sounds of Motown and funk of the seventies, eighties girl groups like The GoGos and Bangles, through country and bluegrass to modern music like Bruno Mars, Rumer and light jazz artists like Stacey Kent and Karen Souza. I love classical music, too… Rachmaninoff, Mendelssohn, Copland and lots of others. But I would never have imagined getting hooked on… opera. OPERA?? Well, yeah, opera. I started researching some opera just to reference pieces for Pish Lincoln to listen to for my Merry Muffin Mysteries. And I listened on YouTube, to some of the greats. And a funny thing happened; I was listening and watching Pavarotti signing Nessun Dorma, and realized… tears were streaming down my face. It was like my very own Pretty Woman moment (except I do NOT look like Julia Roberts); remember when Julia’s character is watching the opera with tears in her eyes? I got it… I finally got it. Opera done right is an extremely emotional experience, a revelation, really. I went from doing research to get Pish’s picks correct, to becoming more interested, and watching opera videos for entertainment. But it is important to watch quality singers. I’ve found that opera…

You hear it at every Q and A: Where do you get your ideas? The question makes most authors cringe because the answer is silly and obvious: Everywhere. But it’s especially hard on mystery authors, because of a guilty secret. A Saint Paul police investigator and I were having a lively conversation about some of his cases when he said, mildly surprised, “You have a criminal mind.” He expanded on that. “A professional criminal is always looking for an opportunity to commit a crime. He goes into a grocery story and automatically looks for the location of the office and whether the door stands open and if it does whether the safe is also open. He goes to a bar and notices if there’s a drunk with a fat wallet. He sees a car in a driveway outside an upscale house being loaded with suitcases by a family going away on vacation and stores the address away in his head. You do the same thing, except you turn all those things into stories rather than actually committing the crime.” Yes, and so the proceeds of the crime come to my pocketbook legally. But he’s right. Actually, it’s worse than that….

When I wrote the first book in the Material Witness Mystery Series a few years ago, I had the luxury of establishing some murky backgrounds for the series characters—dropping in just enough to let you know who they were, but leaving myself some room to dig in to their pasts in the next two books. So when it came time to write book 3, SILK STALKINGS, I had to ask myself: what questions do I need to answer in order to give closure to the three books as a series? There was the question of what would happen between Vaughn and Poly (can they get past their differences?), and the question of whether or not Poly’s fabric store would succeed (there’s that loan that she has to pay back—yikes!). There were questions about Duke (what was the accident that left him paralyzed?) and the Lopez family (is their cat still blue?) But the overwhelming question had to do with the background of Charlie Brooks, auto mechanic, Van Halen fan, and new friend of Poly, so I knew book three would delve into that. Charlie has been one of my favorite characters to write. She’s a tough girl to the point…