Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My love of history lead to a career as a high school history teacher. I combined that with my passion for writing and have published 4 historical romances, with another coming out in Fall 2014.
My releases include: Music For My Soul, Outlaw Muse, A Game of Chance, and Written in the Cards.
I do a lot of plotting when I’m on my daily 5-mile walk. I also read voraciously, love to go to movies and sporting events, and travel when I can afford it. Some of my favorite places to visit are Maui, Italy, the Pacific Northwest, and Walt Disney World.
I love seafood and Mexican food (I make a mean tortilla soup and shrimp enchiladas), and I believe in eating dark chocolate every day.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I’d read that Showtime was planning a new series called Penny Dreadful. Penny dreadfuls were the British version of American dime novels. I was in the mood to write a western historical romance, and so I though my hero could be a dime novelist. That’s when my heroine Maggie jumped up and demanded that she be the dime novelist. Many women authors wrote under a male pen name during the 19th century, so I thought Maggie was onto something.
I gave in and let her be the writer, and I turned my hero Ben into a Civil War veteran who became a gambler after a family tragedy. Maggie interviews Ben, believing him to be a cowboy, and she falls hard and fast–only to learn his true occupation and that he has a gunslinger bent on revenge hunting him down.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I keep a pack of gum nearby because I love to chomp on it as I write. The more intense the scene and action, the harder and faster I chew.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King’s On Writing really spoke to me and encouraged me to keep on writing and believing in myself. I always like that his characters are ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances, and I try to do the same with the characters that I create.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on another western historical romance that has a Pinkerton detective as the hero. It’s set in Denver during the 1870s.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My author website has blurbs and pictures of all of my books, and it also links to my personal blog. I think readers like to get to know an author beyond what he or she has written on the page. If they read my blog, they definitely get to know the real me.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Give yourself permission to write something that’s crap. Too many new authors want to wait and let their muse strike before they sit down. It doesn’t work that way. Usually, your muse is on vacation–which means you’ll never get any pages done. Ever.
So in the writing world we call it BIC – butt in chair. Sit down and write. Even if it stinks, you’re flexing your writing muscle, and practice will help you perfect your craft. It’s easier to go in and revise and do re-writes if you have something on the page. If nothing’s there, it’s a wasted opportunity.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
At the end of each day, give thanks for 5 things you’re thankful for. It can be small things such as being grateful for a pretty day or the rain that fell or the fact that you got the pair of shoes you’ve been dying for on clearance. It helps you re-visit your day and teaches you to be thankful for both the small and big things in life.
What are you reading now?
I just finished the latest John Sandford and Dorothea Benton Frank novels. They are two authors that are consistent and fun to read.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to continue publishing in the historical romance genre and eventually try my hand at romantic suspense.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I read To Kill a Mockingbird every year, so that would be the first book in my bag.
The others would include The Stand and two random books so I’d be surprised!
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