1–What is the title of your latest release? ENCHANTED TO MEET YOU   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A handsome stranger shows up in plus-sized witch Jessica’s clothing boutique to tell her that she’s the Chosen One, and only she can save her small town from destruction by an evil force. But is he telling the truth? And how is he so cute?   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I like to write books set in places I’ve actually been so I can get all the details right—unless of course it’s a made-up country like Genovia. This time around, I chose Connecticut. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Fairfield area—which West Harbor, where my heroine lives, is modeled on!   4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! As the owner of a clothing boutique possessing the magical power to pick out the perfect outfit for anyone, Jessica, my heroine, would be an invaluable friend to anyone!   5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Smart, quirky, kind   6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I had no idea the first people…

I’ve been an avid reader since I was 12, when my mom set me loose in the newly minted young adult section of our favorite Waldenbooks store. Armed with $20 and bored to death waiting for her to finish picking out this week’s batch of “hidden baby” romance novels, I discovered my soon-to-be favorite author L.J. Smith stacked amongst the shelves with R.L. Stine and Judy Bloom. I crouched on a round step stool, opened that first page of DARK ANGEL and dove head-first into a world where ghosts, vampires, shape shifters, and humans mingled and fell in love. To say I was hooked was an understatement. From that day, I spent every single one of our traditional Saturday afternoon book store visits huddled under the bookshelf ladder with my back pressed against some of my closest friends. As the years went by the young adult section grew from one shelf, to an entire case, to half of the children’s section. I returned week after week, always discovering something new or revisiting old favorites. I read so much then and often I look back at the Gwen of 15 years ago with longing. I wish I could go back to…

I went to a busy birthday party last night and found myself surrounded by the book people. Or in other words friends I know from one or another book related events who sorta knew each other in passing. We gathered at a couple of tables, talked about our lives and then the conversation turned to authors and books we’re reading. Not every one present read the same genre but we all did share one thing: we love to read. Most of us mourned the lack of time we have to read because there is some much out there we feel we’re missing, but we all had something to contribute. So what did we talk about? We talked about the upcoming FenCon next weekend. FenCon is a speculative fiction literary conference in Addison. They have guest authors, artists and musicians along with writing instructors, gather for a weekend of learning and fun. I go for the fun part, others go to hone their writing skills and others go for costuming or the musical performances. A group of us will get rooms in the hotel even though it’s local and spend a weekend of intensive fun — being away from our jobs…