1–What is the title of your latest release? A STORM OF INFINITE BEAUTY 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A Hollywood icon. The heir to her fortune. And a family secret that could change everything. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I wanted the setting to be an important part of the plot and to provide an element of external conflict, so I began searching for a natural disaster that really happened. Eventually I found my way to the Alaskan earthquake of 1964, and curiosity took me down a path of fascinating research that evoked all sorts of ideas for a novel. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Definitely. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Resilient, creative, loyal 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned about one of the most powerful earthquakes in modern history, and how people naturally band together and help each other in difficult circumstances. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I edit constantly, always polishing what I wrote in the days and weeks before. But the high-level revision—regarding characterizations and overall pacing—happens…

I have a story to tell you about having a dream and not giving up, no matter how many times you get knocked down. Most of you know me as a historical romance writer.  Over the past 11 years, I’ve written 15 historicals for three different publishers, so I think it’s safe to say I’ve been branded as a certain kind of writer. Occasionally, however, a writer needs to step out of the box, and it can be both exciting and nerve-wracking to venture into risky, untried territory.  I know this for a fact, because I have just released my first women’s fiction mainstream contemporary novel, THE COLOR OF HEAVEN – and let me tell you, it was a good lesson about perseverance, because I had a very hard time selling it. I first came up with the concept for the book six years ago, because I’ve always been fascinated by near-death experiences and the question about what lies on the other side of this life. My interest in the subject grew after a serious car accident at the age of twenty-five.  Somehow, miraculously, I survived a horrendous wreck and walked away without a scratch. I’m still not sure why…