I was in elementary school when my mother taught me to sew. The first big project I made completely on my own, a dress, was hard, definitely, but I am nothing if not dogged and focused when I put my mind to something. The pattern had the option of using two coordinating fabrics which I decided to attempt. I made the whole thing from scrap pieces from my mother’s ample collection.  I worked for hours and hours on that dress, even adding buttons up the straight skirt. I was so proud of myself, but what I remember most is how proud my mom was. That was the beginning of a lifelong love of sewing. Fast-forward thirty-something years. I still sew, but my five kids, my former career as a teacher, and my current career as a full-time writer have zapped my free time. Sewing isn’t something I can do everyday or even every week. It’s one of those luxuries I fit in every chance I get.So what is a fabric-aholic, craft-lover, creative writer girl to do if she can’t actually sew as much as she’d like? Create a cozy mystery series that revolves around sewing, of course. PLEATING FOR MERCY,…

Thank you so much, Fresh Fiction, for having me here today. It’s such a pleasure to talk with your readers once again! My publisher will be giving away 2 copies of my latest release, THE LADY OF THE STORM, to a couple of lucky commenters today (U.S. & Canada mailing addresses only), and I’m looking forward to responding to the comments. A reader once told me “You paint pictures with words.” It surprised me, for I had never thought of my writing that way before, and I had to give some thought as to how I managed to do that for her. So I talked to several of my writer friends, asking them their process. I was amazed to find that we all did it differently (okay, keep in mind, this was years ago when I was still new to even being around other writers). One gal told me she would write during commercials of her favorite TV show. Another other said she wrote while her kids were at ballet or ball practice. Another said she’d hide in her bedroom and bar the door to write. One used a very detailed outline, knowing each step her character would take. Another…

What is it about a first crush? There’s something about the memory of that first boy who makes your heart flutter…that memory has power. The power to make us smile, make us blush, make us sigh for the loss of what could have been. But what if that you had a second chance at that first crush? That’s exactly what happens to the heroine of TOO HOT TO TOUCH, my new contemporary romance, Jules Cavanaugh, when her best friend’s brother comes home to help his family’s restaurant enter a high-stakes culinary competition. The only problem is, Max Lunden has been gone a long time. And while he was off learning exotic culinary techniques all over the world, Jules was working to become sous chef of Lunden’s Tavern. In fact, she’s worked really hard…and she’s not thrilled at the idea of sharing leadership of the restaurant’s Rising Star Chef team. Even with the man who *still* makes her heart flutter. So in spite of their simmering attraction, Jules is determined to play it cool…no matter how hot it gets in the kitchen! So who was your first crush? The older brother of a friend, or maybe a boy down the street?…

When I first decided to write mainstream women’s fiction with romantic elements, I was plagued by doubts. With romance comes sex. Was I capable of writing convincing love scenes? Would Indian characters wearing saris and kurtis and indulging in carnal pleasures sound realistic to my readers? I realized I would never find out unless I tried to work in a sex scene here and there—lift the sari. I could envision the scandalized looks on the faces of my conservative family and friends when they discovered that wholesome Hindu men and women were reveling in hot, glorious, mind-numbing sex in my stories. And this notwithstanding the fact that India is probably the only ancient culture that boasts a seventeen hundred year-old textbook on the art of love-making, the Kama Sutra. Erotic sculptures abound in centuries-old Indian temples, too. I wonder when Indian society turned prudish. Unlike my fellow South Asian authors, who generally write literary fiction, I had never truly enjoyed the slice-of-life type of fiction I was forced to read for my English literature classes in college. Even the rare love scene was a work of lyrical beauty but sadly lacking in sizzle. I was always a romance reader, in…

I was talking to my critique partner the other day, discussing my characters (I was having a crisis or more to the point, my character was), and when I paused, she said, “You know they aren’t real, right?” “Who aren’t?” I asked. “Your characters.” I hyperventilated. Was she kidding? No, she wasn’t. I live a very strange life. I interact with people who really don’t exist, not in our tangible world, but I have to believe they exist in order to create a believable story. Yeah, wrap your brain around that one. So yes, I know they don’t exist in flesh and blood, but they do exist, are real in my head. They have to be. Their worries and loves and troubles and triumphs have to matter to me. I have to want the best and the worst for them otherwise they’ll exist in a boring, staid story that I, let alone anyone else, won’t want to experience. That is the entertainer in me talking. It’s this little voice in the back of my brain that giggles when I come up with a sick idea that will cause my characters no end of torture. It sighs with pleasure every time…

Hi everyone and thank you to Fresh Fiction for inviting me to blog today. It’s lovely to be here! Ever since my Scandalous Women of the Ton Series launched last year I’ve been asked by readers just how authentic is the historical background to the series. We are accustomed to think that women’s lives in the late 18th and early 19th century were very circumscribed. Diaries and the novels and letters of authors such as Jane Austen suggest as much; Jane, for example, though a mature woman, could not travel if there was not a male family member available to accompany her. Such were the rules and regulations of society. But of course where there are rules there are always women willing to break them. It was these exceptions that I wanted to explore in my series. Each of the Scandalous Women of the Ton books features a heroine who has done something that outrages society in a different way. In WHISPER OF SCANDAL Lady Joanna Ware travels to Spitsbergen in Northern Norway. Foreign travel was considered quite beyond the pale in a woman and even unfeminine and indelicate. Yet Lady Joanna was based on a real life lady traveller,…

When I first started writing towards publication, I had two sons under the age of three. During the day, I was working as a freelance feature writer for a local newspaper but at night, while my husband worked the nightshift at the same paper, I would write. My oldest would go to bed at 8 but my youngest wasn’t as predictable. I can remember nights sitting at my computer, rocking my youngest to sleep in his carrier with my foot while I typed as quietly as I could. As my sons got older and went school, my writing time expanded. But since I was still writing for the newspaper, I had to learn how to hit all my deadlines without going crazy. If you would see my desk, you’d know I’m not an organized person (my husband is laughing hysterically at my understatement).  But I’ve had to learn how to juggle multiple assignments, including book deadlines and newspaper deadlines. When my guys were younger and my husband still worked every night, I would lug my trusty battered IBM Thinkpad to soccer practice, baseball games, basketball practice, swim meets and karate lessons. I could write surrounded by screaming kids at the…

Hello, and thanks for inviting me to be part of Fresh Fiction. Have you heard of the INDY gene?  It’s a gene that scientists discovered about ten years ago in fruit flies that can be manipulated to double or triple their life spans.  This is real science mind you, not fiction (I’ll get to the fiction in a moment).  “INDY” stands for “I’m Not Dead Yet,” a Monty Python reference.  Remember the “plague” scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail: “Bring out your dead!”  Who says scientists don’t have a sense of humor? The protagonist in THE GENESIS KEY is a biologist named Kathleen Sainsbury, who is diligently studying the INDY gene in fruit flies, hoping to find a similar gene in humans.  She is the founder and CEO of a small biotech company near Washington DC, which is seeking cures for various age-related diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.  Kathleen’s motives are both scientific and personal.  Her grandfather—who raised her from age seven after her parents died at an archeological site in Iraq—is suffering from Stage Five Alzheimer’s. Let me stop there for a moment.  Many people have asked me how I came up with this particular plot. …

There’s only one thing I like better than a man in a kilt: a man out of one.  The great thing about reading romance novels with Scottish heroes is that there are lots of Scottish actors that we can mentally cast in these roles.  I’m a serious Anglophile when it comes to those of the opposite sex, and men of the UK have always held a special place in my fantasies.  But no matter what nationality of man you prefer, few are more drool-worthy than the hunky Highlanders listed here. 5.  Ewan McGregor This Scot has a fine, braw shape to him.  I could swim in his gorgeous smirk and warm, blue eyes.  God help me if he decides to open his mouth up and sing—I would be putty in his hands.  This guy can be both tender and forceful, perfect material for those nocturnal daydreams, if you take my meaning.  And if you ever want to get a look at what he has under his kilt, check him out on Velvet Goldmine. Full frontal scenes reveal that this particular Scot is, shall we say, a remarkably healthy specimen of manhood. 4.  Sean Connery The King of Suave himself.  Whether…

Good Morning! Thank you for having me at Fresh Fiction. I’m happy to be with you today to talk a little about my new book A GENTLEMAN NEVER TELLS and along the way I thought it might be fun to talk about some bloopers I’ve had in my books. You know when you are writing somewhere close to one hundred thousand words it’s easy to write the wrong thing and over look it. Some of the easiest mistakes to overlook is she for he, there for their, and than for then. But those aren’t the kind of mistakes I’m talking about today. I’m remembering the time I first wrote a scene with the hero and heroine and put it outside. I later moved it inside the parlor but I forgot to take the lovely, shade tree out of the scene.  Luckily my editor noticed that blooper right away. There were some other memorable ones from my earlier books that I would have been mortified to see in print. In one of my books the heroine needed to tend a wound on my hero so she pulled out a small leather drawstring bag that was filled with slaves. Yes, slaves rather…