Thanks to the wonderful people here at Fresh Fiction for having me over. Nice place you have here. I hope you’ll check out my group blog, www.storybroads.com/. Meanwhile, let’s chat. I have a lot of friends who are going through one of two problems. About a third are depressed, a third are fighting weight issues, and a third are battling with both. (There’s a tiny percentage in there of people who follow the same philosophy I do, who take everything in stride and are actually doing very nicely. But it’s probably less than one percent of my pals. Sadly. I’m trying to spread it around, though.) At any rate, I thought since these two problems are two I know well, have been through, and conquered, they would be my topic today. And interestingly, the same techniques are effective at fighting both depression and weight. Of course, the first one is exercise. You know I used to think I couldn’t “run” even if I wanted to. And I never really wanted to. I was one of those, yeah; I’ll run if someone’s chasing me with a knife. But a friend of mine inspired me, and so I decided to try. I…

The great thing about being an author is that the learning curve on your job is limitless. You’re probably wondering why I think that’s a good thing. LOL! I think it’s great because in my mind, I’m always learning. When I look at the books I wrote five years ago and the books I’m writing today, I can see how much I’ve grown as a writer; how my style and my approach to writing stories has changed. I’ve always loved a good story alongside my romance, but somewhere along the line, I wanted more. So I delved headlong into the vast paranormal genre. But even writing a straight paranormal romance wasn’t enough, and I began to add subplots, which evolved into suspenseful plot twists, which turned into more surprises in the story than even I had expected. Layering emotional romance over complicated plotlines with mystery elements forced another transition in my writing—moving from being a pantser writer (write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants), with no planning at all, to morphing into a hybrid style author where I wrote a high-level outline as to how the story would play out to the end. Would I follow it? Not necessarily (hence the reason I’m a hybrid writer…

At the start of each new year, my thoughts linger on endings and beginnings. I think of memories and changes and the finite things about which I have hope. Then, there are those things that carry over from year to year, and book to book. The idea of true love conquering all. Soul mates. Love at first sight.In 2007, Loved Enough was released – my first contemporary romance and a story of love rekindled. Later in the year I ventured from contemporary into paranormal with Cast in Stone (Book One of the Quinguard Immortals Series.) He waited seven hundred years to find her. For what seemed an eternity, Julen endured a nightly punishment that never should have been his. Descended from a line of ancient warriors, he vowed not to become the creature his persecutors claimed he was – the creature they did their best to make him into. Now that he has found the healer who can end his nightly torment, the stirring she creates in his Agathyrsi blood threatens to bring more danger than redemption.She was sworn to destroy him. Sofia Evan, owner of Fortune’s Cup coffeehouse, had been raised on family lore and responsibility passed down through…

Right about now you must all be breathing a heavy sigh of relief that Christmas is over and life for the most part–well other than New Years– will get back to normal. Truly, Christmas is a lovely holiday, giving us the chance to spend time with family and—at least for me—visit with cousins and relatives who I only see two or three times a year (and I have great family so I love that.) But boy! Three days of non-stop visiting and eating and unwrapping gifts is very exhausting, don’t you think? I do. I’m about ready to drop. And don’t even mention the Boxing day sales. Holy cow!! People get crazy grumpy out there on their hunts for bargains. It’s a very serious business that bargain shopping stuff. Do not get between another man or woman and their sale item. You could be placing your life at risk. And watch yourselves in the parking lots too! We saw an accident happen right in front of us. A fellow backed his pick up out of his parking spot and right into a car that had stopped to let another car get out of the way. I thought the drivers would…

The Aisling psychic triplets trilogy was a departure for me. I’d always had a little of the Gothic in my books, a little suspense, and layers of characters and their interactions. But while writing the sisters’ books, I was struck by how much of the material, resource, and research already dwelled within me. Writers often speak of where they get their research, and share with others. To some extent, writing is a share and hand-me-down craft. The rest of the writing experience rests on the individual’s investment of time and energy. Some people are just natural storytellers, and stories bubble out of them. But structuring them, and putting them into book form, takes editing and control. I spent a great deal of time setting up this trilogy. Due to the logistics of business and contracts, I wrote SILENCE THE WHISPERS (a favorite story) prior to beginning this trilogy; the psychic triplets had to sit on the back burner for a while. The basic trilogy idea contains a story arc, where the threads of the story run through each book, and end in the third. I’d written several other series, including the TALLCHIEFS (9 books), and understood how to build a…

What a fabulous day! I’ve got Christmas tunes on surround sound. The house smells like praline caramel sticky buns. And my second book, Another One Bites the Dust, officially releases in the States TODAY. I haven’t felt this fab since I spied a whole stack of Wonka’s Everlasting Gobstoppers on the shelf at my grocery and realized that I might actually live long enough to meet an oompa loompa. I’ll have to clean up my act first though. Far too much swearing for their taste, I’m pretty sure. Should we talk about the book a sec? About the fact that Jaz has to belly dance as part of her cover? About how she’d much rather crawl through the mud while being fired upon by a long line of tanks manned by vicious, American-hating devil-worshipers? Never fear, our girl is up to the task. Gotta impress the boss-man, right? Plus, when Vayl looks at her that way…she may just learn to like the skimpy costumes. It’s not all fun and games though. Jaz and Vayl have been assigned to take down a slippery old vamp named Chien-Lung who’s gotten away with far too much for way too long. Hindering their progress—a…

It may seem kind of silly but I love the character Bronwyn in the “Charmed & Dangerous” series. I’m beyond excited that the first book is coming out in mass-market paperback on Dec. 4. Hopefully that means more people will get to read about this amazing chick. When I first conceived the idea of her, I wanted someone who was strong and didn’t take crap off of anyone. Bronwyn is certainly that. She’s one of the most powerful witches in the world, but you wouldn’t know it to look at her. I like that she has a little bit of an attitude, but she has a soft heart. That one minute she can be caring for an elderly man with Alzheimer’s, and the next she’s blowing up bad guys. Bronwyn is also an adventurer who loves to travel. People ask me all the time if I’ve been to all the places she has – I wish. (Smile) I do a lot of research into places where I would like to travel, and then I send Bronwyn on her way. I like that side of her, where she can adapt to most any situation. She always manages to make friends, even…

My December Nocturne, The Empath, is dedicated to my dog, Tia. Someone I know thought that was strange. I didn’t. Tia wasn’t just a pet, but a loyal friend. One year ago, Tia died from liver cancer. When my husband and I got the diagnosis, our hearts broke. Our wonderful, lively pet who barked with joy when we came home, used to howl when my husband howled with her, jumped in my lap when I wrote and rested her head on the laptop (ever try to write with a 24-pound Shih Tzu hogging the keyboard?) was dying. Typical of Tia, as I sat there crying, she pushed her nose into my face and tried to cheer me up. I grieved, and began to write. The story became The Empath. It started with a woman who tries to find a cure for the mysterious disease killing her beloved dog. Gradually the story shifted. The woman developed into Maggie, a veterinarian. She was a Draicon, a werewolf, and the pack’s long lost empath, unaware of her ability to heal. The hero strolled into the story, a powerful warrior werewolf tormented by a dark secret, who longed for peace but forsake it to…

Since it’s shortly after the release of my first book, I’ve been thinking ofthe start of this journey. I’d known since I was twelve that I wanted to be awriter, but it took me almost twenty years to start writing. Why did I wait solong? Here were the biggest things that held me back. Excuse #1: I need to take classes/go to a conference before I can write a novel. Wow, that kept me from trying for over ten years! The truth is while classesand conferences are helpful, they aren’t necessary. Now, I’m not recommendingskipping college or thumbing your nose at literary courses, but don’t let thatbe a stumbling block in your path to writing a novel. Do you read a lot? Areyou a (reasonably) good speller? Are you willing to take constructive criticismand revise when necessary? Then you can do this. Excuse #2: But I don’t know HOW to write a novel. I used this one far longer than I want to admit. When I repeated it a severalyears ago to a writer friend of mine, she just smiled and said, “Then read abook on writing, dear.” Guess what? That worked! There are many great, usefulbooks aimed at helping…

My hands were clammy and the nervous feeling in my stomach felt like it was trying to work its way out as I dialed the numbers on the telephone. “Hello?” he answered, and I was immediately taken off guard. “I…I am sorry, I didn’t expect you to pick up the phone,” I stumbled over the words, desperately thinking about what I could say. After all, he hadn’t actually answered the phone for years; how could I have predicted that he would now! “I dreamed about you all night last night,” I decided to go for broke with an honest explanation. “And I tried to call you yesterday,” he said quietly, like the words might betray some emotion. “Most of your old numbers don’t work, but I left some messages at the one that did. I just wanted to hear your voice.” Has something like this ever happened to you? I am a firm believer in the magic of love. Whether it is the science of chemical reactions or an attachment on a spiritual level that we can’t explain, I can honestly say that it is the last true magic I see in the world I once had a friend tell…