Since my new book, THE LAST MILE, the second book in my Blood Ties Series, Gage Logan’s story, is set in Arizona, I thought it might be fun to talk about a place I’m only just getting to know. Most of the year, I spend my time in the mountains of Montana.  I’ve never been much of a desert person, but on a drive from California back to our Montana home, we took a detour that led us to Northern Arizona.  It’s far different from the rest of Arizona, over 5,000 feet in altitude, with mountains and pine trees all around.  So I felt a connection right away. We ended up buying a winter home there and as I grew to love the area, I decided I wanted to write a story set in that location.  Since I hadn’t written a treasure hunt book in years, one idea morphed into another and eventually became my new novel, THE LAST MILE. One of the most famous missing treasures, not just in Arizona, but the world, is the Lost Dutchman Mine.  The legend says it’s located in the harsh and dangerous Superstition Mountains of Arizona. But no matter how much I researched;…

For the last few weeks, I’ve been hard at work, plugging away on my romantic thriller series, the Final Hour. It’s nice to take a break to share some of my current favorites. Time to write: 1 a.m., yes, I know it’s crazy early. My kids are out of school and at home all day for the summer. They wake up at six in the morning, so my most productive hours are before they open their precious, little eyes and start making demands. The funny thing is, I don’t even set an alarm. My brain just wakes me up. Morning beverage: Black coffee. Fun thing to do with the kids: Dance party. We dress up in crazy outfits, take turns picking songs, and dance around the entire house. It’s a blast, I get to burn a few calories, and it’s free. Date with hubby: In the summer, the kids take a three-hour art class on Saturdays. That’s our time to grab lunch together, watch a movie, or take a walk in the park. Simple, kid-free time to connect. Snack: Gala apple with a tablespoon of cashew butter. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s satisfying, the perfect mix of…

Some people fear spiders. For others, it takes rats or scorpions or snakes to really rev up the old goose bumps. For me, it’s alligators. American alligators, in particular those big brutes lurking the lakes and bayous near the Texas-Louisiana border. I’m fascinated by the creatures, which seem like something left over from the pre-human prehistoric past (which indeed, they are). While researching my latest romantic thriller, Beneath Bone Lake, I learned some fascinating facts about alligators. For one thing, their eyeballs always orient themselves so the slit-like pupil is vertical, even when the animal is rolling to drown its intended prey. Creepy, huh? In Texas, some are up to 16 feet long, and they more and more frequently wander into the human realm, from golf course ponds to backyard pools (yikes!) But in spite of their reptilian indifference to our charms and their nasty eating habits, I learned that at least in this state (I’m still talking Texas), there has never been a recorded case of human predation by an alligator. (There have been some injuries, many provoked by human idiocy, but basically, if you keep a respectful distance and use your head, you’re off the menu.) Click to…

People often ask me where I get story ideas. With my latest romantic suspense novel, THREAD OF FEAR, the idea took shape as I watched a news broadcast about a kidnapped girl. It wasn’t the kidnapping itself that caught my attention, but the forensic artist who helped solve the case. How does a person interview a traumatized victim, and come away with a life-like picture of a criminal? This is the job of a forensic artist. They listen to people’s heart-wrenching stories and transform them into concrete leads for the police. Fiona Glass’s talent at forensic art has made her the best in the business—which is why she’s quitting. She’s haunted by the stories of victims and the faces of sadistic criminals. She’s working on her last case when rugged Texas police chief Jack Bowman bulldozes over her resistance and convinces her to help him hunt down a serial killer who is terrorizing his small town. Jack never intended for Fiona to become so involved in his case. Or in his life. But he knows she’s his best hope for finding a psychopath who’s lurking in plain sight. He desperately needs Fiona’s help, but he never counted on her ending…

Have you ever looked down at a sleeping child and realized you would do anything, resort to any measure, to protect the life entrusted to you? Have you ever loved so deeply that it’s almost like a physical ache? Excused behavior even when you knew it was wrong? If the answer to any of these is yes, perhaps you’ll understand the inspiration for my latest romantic thriller, Triple Exposure, where I explore the idea that even the best, most wholesome emotional attachment can be taken to deadly extremes. Fine art photographer Rachel Copeland is acquitted of the self-defense slaying of a nineteen-year-old student who’d been stalking her back in Philadelphia. But thanks to a heart-wrenching emotional appeal from the young man’s mother, a popular television personality and the doctored-pornographic photos the “victim” posted to the Internet, Rachel finds no peace, even when she returns home in an attempt to reclaim her life. What Rachel does find is a new assignment that leads her to photograph reclusive desert craftsman Zeke Pike without his knowledge. The picture taken highlights both his strength and sensuality as he creates his furnishings, igniting feelings Rachel had thought extinguished by her ordeal. But the lit fuse…