The heroine of my new release, TRUE HIGHLAND SPIRIT, has an unusual occupation for a laird’s daughter in medieval Scotland. Due to the poverty of her clan, and her natural prowess with a sword, she joined the group thieves led by her brother, who roam the countryside looking for unsuspecting travelers from whom they “request” a donation to the fund for wayward highwaymen. While this was admittedly unusual, there are several cases of females from this era donning armor and leading the troops, which have survived through history. I can only imagine that women fought beside men in more instances which were never documented. Morrigan is actually named after a mythological Celtic goddess of war, strife, and sovereignty. The fact that powerful woman warriors exist in myth show that this concept was one that existed. Several examples of women warriors also exist in history in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was not unusual for the wife of a lord to take command of a besieged garrison if the lord of the castle was away. However, Agnes Randolph, Countess of Dunbar and March, earned herself the nickname of Black Agnes by her brash antics in the siege of Dunbar. Black…

When I was working as a television and radio host “in another life,” I once interviewed a very famous romance writer who responded rather curtly to my question about her techniques when researching the setting and background of her characters. “Listen honey,” she replied with an edge to her Texas twang, “nobody cares who’s king–or what kingdom he’s from!” I guess she meant that, in her view, the characters’ backgrounds and the world they inhabited were unimportant. What mattered in historical romance was the sex. And I suppose for some readers that tends to be true. But not necessarily for other lovers of historical fiction–which is probably why I’ve gravitated toward writing a strong love story in my books—but I have always felt it important to include the “who, what, where, when, & why” about a story to bring imagined people to life.  Given these precepts I learned as a journalist, for me, this meant grounding my stories with strong sense of place and the history underpinning it. I’ve always felt that what intensifies the bond between readers and the books they love (to say nothing of the bonds between a book’s characters as they fall in love) is revealing…

I’ve been asked by Fresh Fiction for comments about my February release, WILDEST DREAMS, published both in print and as an e-book by Sourcebooks. I am glad to oblige, and thanks for asking! WILDEST DREAMS is a western romance set in the wilds of an unsettled 1800’s Montana. It is a love story told through the eyes of Luke and Lettie Fontaine, beginning with when they meet on a wagon train and ending a lifetime later with the Fontaine name being prominent in Montana and representing the owners of one of the biggest cattle ranches in Big Sky country. The life Luke and Lettie share depicts what it was like to settle an untamed American West, including outlaws, Indians, the severe elements of hot summers and bitter winters, wild animals and the struggle of survival against it all. Throughout the story it’s the love these two people share that holds them together through danger and personal loss that could easily tear two people apart; as well as learning to face tragedy from the past that inevitably catches up with them. The American West and Native Americans is all I write about, and I’ve done it over the past 30 years…

I’m an avid fan of TV’s Castle. Got to admit that Richard Castle and Detective Kate Beckett make a great team. Love the plots. Love the witty dialogue. Love the romance that Castle and Beckett attempt to keep to themselves. What is there not to love? When Cold Case aired, I often lost myself in Detective Lilly Rush’s investigations. I admired her spunky personality and her ability to solve tough cold cases. She gave closure to the victims’s families, something no one else could do. When I thought about the two shows, my thoughts raced ahead. What if . . . Castle met Cold Case? What if . . . I switched the characters’ genders and set a suspense series in my home town, Houston? Then I talked to a good friend, who happens to be the media coordinator for Houston’s FBI, and we brainstormed. What if . . . I wrote a series based on solved cold cases from the files of Houston’s FBI? THE CHASE, the first book in my Crime Scene: Houston series, was birthed over coffee as I talked to my friend, scribblings on napkins, and lots of research. My heroine would be Kariss Walker, a…

They say if you want to find your soul mate, stop looking. But it never occurred to me that the same thing would happen with the characters in my book. Dylan Maguire was supposed to be a one-book man. Laurel Maguire’s nephew, he travels from Ireland to care for her after an incapacitating stroke and shortly before Vicki Boyd arrives. Vicki isn’t expecting the man with the lilting Irish brogue, the merry half-moon eyes and a near body-builder physique. And she’s not looking for a relationship. Vicki is a psychic spy for the CIA, a vocation based on a real government program. After a mission goes horribly awry, she leaves the agency to begin life anew in a small town. When she meets Dylan, she is reluctant and reserved. VICKI’S KEY is my 13th published book, but it’s the first time a character has leapt off the page at me. I never felt as though I invented him. Even his speech patterns were foreign to me (pardon the pun), his cadence different from any dialogue I’d ever written. And a funny thing happened. Vicki fell in love. And so have my readers. Their repartee is reminiscent of Hepburn and Tracy,…

I’m thrilled about the start of my brand new series, beginning this spring for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, called Chance, Texas.  The series features rugged Texas men.  My all time favorite. The first book in the series is on shelves in print now (April 1 on Kindle and Nook!)  Called TEXAS BABY SANCTUARY, it features Sam Chance, the oldest brother in the large ranching family.  A strong, quiet man of the United States Secret Service, Sam’s job is to guard witnesses in the protection and security program.  The one witness that gets to him, running from his protection and changing his life, is Grace Brown.  Hiding from the Mexican drug king who kidnapped her, killed her parents and then made her his mistress, Grace wants to become self-sufficient enough to protect her baby son.  But she discovers she must also learn to trust Sam. Finding unique plots and interesting characters is always a challenge.  Yet I know those are the very things that make readers happiest.  I know because that’s what makes me happiest as a reader and a writer.  My favorite settings are in Texas.  The romance of the great American West stirs a passion in my soul.  I’ve told…

I adore my heroes in my romance novels. More so than my heroines, I must admit. But what makes a hero come to life on the page and make a reader fall in love with him? Hotness. Ah, but I’m not talking just physical. Sure, I want my hero to be physically appealing in my mind, but a skilled writer can make any hero come alive by using certain qualities women for centuries have been lusting after. Sex appeal. Humor. Confidence. A soft spot for babies and animals. A good man’s heart wrapped up in a bad boy’s attitude. The list goes on and on. When I’m sketching out my own hero, I allow him to take the lead and tell me what his inner demons are. No man is complete without some bad ass demons causing him inner conflict. This builds character. Personally, if a man never had any problems in his past and skated through life happy go lucky, I don’t want to read about him. Sorry. So, I build up a past with conflict and sketch out what made him who he is today. I throw in a dose of sex appeal, whether it be a sharp…

Since BELIEVE IT OR NOT hit shelves in early March, I’ve seen one piece of feedback pretty consistently: Cool character names! It actually surprised me a little bit. To be honest, naming characters is one of those author tasks I always assume others have a much better grasp on than I do. Like maybe when the great muse handed out writer skills, I was off in the corner making penis jokes when all the other authors got the enviable ability to come up with clever names. That’s why I’ve been pleased by that particular piece of praise. BELIEVE IT OR NOT stars a hero named Drew, who owns a bar that features male strippers a few nights a week. When I originally began noodling the story in 2008, I started off calling him Andy. It didn’t take long for me to realize that was the wrong name. Andy plays tennis and has dimples. Andy wears polo shirts and never forgets to hold the door open for his date. Drew on the other hand, is more jaded. He masks it with dry humor a habit of juggling quirky objects, but he knows what to do when someone needs a shoulder to…

What’s the most important thing about a romance novel? Why, the romance, of course. Folks who’ve never read the genre seem to believe that all romances are alike. Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl live happily ever after. People persist in believing this even though the romances they’ve had in their own lives are never the same. Did your first love follow the same pattern as the love you have with the person you later married? Did your flirtation with a guy on the subway turn into a romance or into a pleasant memory or did you forget it the moment you got off the train? What makes each romance different, in our lives as well as in our fiction, is who we are now. And who we are is a product of our age, our live experience, and our environment. Which is, oddly, why setting is so important to any romance. Navy Seals are different from stockbrokers, in part, because of where they work. Drop your average stockbroker into a war zone—with guns and bombs and chaos—and that stockbroker might break. Drop your average Navy Seal into a brokerage, and that Seal might…

One day three sisters – with no better sense – became accidental writers.  It happened on a whim at a seaside café with a staggering view of the Olympic Mountains.  We were hunched over a bucket of clams, crusty sour dough bread, and a bottle of wine.  A guy played jazz on the saxophone and a hunky waiter got hotter as the night went on.  (OK.  It was Happy Hour.)  Our sister Kristen was visiting from Chicago.  We talked about the books we’re reading, the men we’re seeing, and Uncle Hal’s god-awful toupee.  We wanted to find something that would help us stay connected when we got home.  That’s when we decided to write a book. Growing up, we created our own Nancy Drew dramas.  We sisters have always been passionate about mysteries.  Regretfully, we knew nothing about writing them.  But we figured if you write as a team, you only have to be 1/3 as smart as a real writer.  Do the math. Julianne called the hunky waiter over and ordered a round of mojitos.  We scribbled notes on a napkin.  Soon we had Cat DeLuca and her Pants On Fire Detective Agency.  Cat’s a lot like us but…