Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in Plymouth, MA and have always been a lover of all things book-related. I’ve been writing for years but only got focused about it this Summer when I moved into a new condo and met my next-door neighbor who is a published mystery writer. She invited me to join her local writers group and I’ve had a ball meeting with them twice a month. I’ve also belonged to Romance Writers of America for over ten years and recently joined Sisters-in-Crime.
I worked in journalism during and immediately after college. My part-time job for three years while in school was to spend every Sunday morning at the local Tampa Tribune offices, writing the obituaries, wedding and birth announcements. I’ve held other writing and marketing jobs since, including food blogging and writing for a local paper. But my favorite so far is writing novels.
I have two books available. Six Months in Montana, is a contemporary romance and TRUST, which just released a few days ago is a cozy mystery.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
TRUST is my latest book. It was inspired by an adult education class I took many years ago in Forensic Psychology. The class was fascinating and one of the case studies we looked at it intrigued me and I knew I wanted to use it in a book some day. It dealt with the concept of False Confession, and looked at a landmark case that changed the way police were allowed to interrogate suspects. Three teenagers were all interviewed separately and deprived breaks and even sleep. They lied to the teens and told them the others had confessed and then they wore them down until each one produced a confession and was then allowed to leave. An attorney got involved and it was determined that all three confessions were coerced, and were tossed out.
I used that in TRUST as backstory for the heroine who becomes a person of interest when one of her students goes missing. I looked at how having once confessed to murder, how would that affect the public’s perception in this case? She’s also about to get married, and never told her husband about this long ago confession, because it was tossed out. Should he have any doubts? Or should he trust in her unconditionally?
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Oddly enough, I’ve always been a night-owl, but find that I write best in the early morning hours. I still work full-time, so my routine is to get up early, usually around 5 or 5:30, make a cup of dark roast coffee and then dive into the writing for a few hours. I usually reread a few pages of what I wrote the day before and then set out to write at least one scene, sometimes two.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are so many, especially as I write both romance and mystery. In the mystery world, it’s Dennis Lehane. His writing is just gorgeous and his stories so dark and haunting. The first line of Mystic River is amazing. He has such a unique voice. We all have our own voices though and as much as I admire Dennis, I actually tried to get into that mindset, and sat down to write a dark, atmospheric mystery and what came out was light and warm instead. 🙂
Other authors I love include John Grisham, especially his first book, A Time to Kill, and The Firm. Both are entertaining page-turners. Lisa Gardner is another favorite in mystery/suspense.
For romance, I’ve always loved Barbara Taylor Bradford’s A Woman of Substance. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read that book. I really enjoy big sagas that you can lose yourself in. Maeve Binchy was another author I really liked. For current romance authors, Debbie Macomber is a favorite. She writes sweeter, family focused romances and women’s fiction and that’s the audience I write for as well.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a sequel to my first book and it will be called Mistletoe in Montana. It’s a contemporary romance featuring two characters from the first book who will now have their own story. I have one more book in the series planned after that.
After that, I’ll be starting the second book in my cozy mystery series. This will introduce a new character and include many characters from the first book. Jane Cho is a former legal investigator who has a gift for numbers and computers. She was nearly killed in one of the law firm’s investigations and decided to quit and follow her passion for cooking. So she bought a condo in Waverly, MA, and opens Comfort Food, a small shop that sells…comfort food. Her next door neighbor is Ted Stanhope, the 91 year old retired town sheriff and she also meets Jack, the too handsome, thirty-something current assistant sheriff. Jack learns of her special abilities and tries to lure her into helping him on a puzzling case. Both Jack and the case are very tempting.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook is my favorite and most effective way to connect with readers and to promote my books. I enjoy spending time on Facebook and it’s a great way to share updates about the books. I also have a mailing list so readers who are interested can sign up and receive occasional emails about new releases, giveaways or special sales.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t just start writing a book, finish it. It took me quite a few tries to follow this advice and it’s the most beneficial thing you can do. It’s normal to have doubts at different points in the process or to get stuck, but it’s important to push on and finish because then you can always go back and fix it. Finishing a book really teaches you so much about how to write a good story. Other advice I would give is to read widely and pay attention to what readers are responding to. My goal is always to satisfy the reader, to entertain and have them wanting to read more. I’m always trying to write the kind of story that I would love to read. 🙂
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To write what you love and to finish writing the book.
What are you reading now?
I’m going to sound like such a geek, but I read a lot of books at once. Depending on my mood I might race through or put them down and start again. So, what I have going now is Agatha Christie’s Five Little Pigs, just started that last night, Elle Dawson’s The Christmas Gift, The Cowboy’s email Order Bride by Cora Seton, A Child is Torn, Innocence Lost by Dawn Kopman Whidden, Break in Two by MJ Summers, Both Sides Now by Shawn Inmon, and Wild Montana Sky by Debra Holland.
And a pile of others in my kindle that I haven’t opened yet.
What’s next for you as a writer?
There are so many stories I want to tell and genres to explore. What’s next for me is a women’s fiction novel.
I am about 100 pages in to a story called The Restaurant, which is about three sisters who inherit a restaurant that they never knew their grandmother even owned. The three sisters live in Boston, New York City and Seattle and have established lives in those cities. In order to sell the restaurant, their grandmother has a stipulation that they must spend a year working there first. The story explores how that year changes their lives.
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?
The Bible, A Woman of Substance, by Barbara Taylor Bradford, The Firm by John Grisham, and something new.
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