1–What is the title of your latest release? THE PERFECT CRIMES OF MARIAN HAYES 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for THE PERFECT CRIMES OF MARIAN HAYES? A man falls in love with the woman he’s attempting to blackmail 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Well, I knew this series was going to involve highwaymen, so I was looking roughly at the 1700s. The fashions of the 1750s were one factor that helped me narrow it down to that decade—you have wonderful lace cuffs and boots and shoes with heels but the wig situation isn’t as dire as it was earlier in the century. I really didn’t think I could write about men in truly enormous wigs. 4–Would you hang out with your Marian or Rob in real life? Only with my back against the wall. Actually, they’d both be easy to spend time with in different ways. Rob is charming and would make conversation easy, but Marian would be content to sit quietly. 5–What are three words that describe Marian? Prickly, loyal, dangerous 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned so much about how long it takes to travel in various parts…

My characters are always sharing food with one another. Food and love are tied up in my brain in ways they probably shouldn’t be, but that knot is never going to get untangled, so my characters love one another and love their food. Sometimes they show they care by making sure their love interest has enough to eat; sometimes they give gifts of pastry and pie. In IT TAKES TWO TO TUMBLE, a secondary character starts to fall in love with someone based on their cooking skills. It’s a summer book, with lots of picnics and fruit pies, but now it’s almost the holidays, which is prime food-sharing season for many of us. My family has quite a few food sensitivities, so when I figure out a recipe for a favorite food that we all can eat, I’m pretty pleased with myself. These cookies have never yet sent any of my family members running for the epi-pen, they’re easy enough for my kids to make on their own, and they taste exactly the way sugar cookies ought to. Roll Out Sugar Cookies (gluten, dairy, and nut free) Ingredients: 1 cup white sugar 1 cup butter substitute (I use earth balance…