A Little About Me
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​I’ve been reading romances since…honestly, I can’t remember when I first picked them up. Probably somewhere around high school. I used to read a lot of Harlequins, along with John Saul and Dean Koontz. Diana Gabaldon is my absolute favorite author. But my all-time favorite read is a good, heartwarming romance. I write what I prefer to read—heartwarming and sweet, but sensual. There's just something about reading a romance. It warms my heart and gives my soul a bit of hope. Reading them is an escape for me. Writing them has become a passion. Okay, more of an obsession.
 
I started writing novels somewhere around the year 2000. It started out as a dream I had early one morning that begged to be written down. It was a simple image, but something about it intrigued me. This boy in this wheelchair seemed to have a story to tell. The more I wrote, the more the story unfolded, and the more addicted I became to the process. I eventually found a message board where several more experienced writers showed me the ropes. Four books and many rejections later, I published my first book back in 2010.

Personally...I was born in Queens, New York. I’m about the only member of my immediate family who didn’t actually grow up there. My parents moved away when I was three, and we moved around a lot, so I grew up on the west coast, between California and Washington state. 

My husband and I married in 1996. He isn’t a romance fan, and he isn’t a writer. In fact, the only thing he reads is the Yahoo news page. lol He’s a computer geek and a car guy. Give the man a screwdriver and he can fix darn near anything. But he’s my biggest supporter and my best friend. We have two boys and two very spoiled dogs.
 
When I'm not writing, I'm usually reading. I’m the happiest with a book and a dog in my lap. You can also find me vegging out with a computer game or in front of the TV.​

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The Fun Stuff  

Things I love:

• That first cup of coffee in the morning.
• Laughing babies and playful puppies
• The first bloom in spring, when the sleeping world finally begins to awaken.
• A good, smooth dark chocolate (about 60% -- Godiva and Dove are favorites).
• Pixar movies
• A warm, summer rain
• Singing (although I’m terrible at it. lol)
• A full moon
• Going barefoot in the grass
• Books that make me cry
• Warm chocolate chip cookies
• Fresh bread, crusty and chewy on the outside, soft on the inside
• People watching
• Angels

 
Favorite movies:
Too many to list them all, but these are a few I could (and have) watch again and again…

• Grease (1 and 2)
• Ever After
• Superman (all of them, but I’m particularly fond of Superman Returns and The Man of Steel.)
• The Green Mile
• The Color Purple 

Favorite Books:

• Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
• Lover Awakened J.R. Ward
• Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James
• Uglies and Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
• Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer
• A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

 
Current Favorite TV Shows:
Roswell, New Mexico
​Superman & Lois
Chicago Med & Chicago Fire
 
What I do when not writing:

• Listening to music – I like a little bit of everything, but really, I like music that moves me, that “speaks” to me.
• Cleaning (usually needed because I’ve been caught up in writing or reading. lol)
• Watching movies
• Reading
• Playing mindless games. Current favorite? Delicious Emily series. 

 
Guilty pleasure read?
Historical romances, particularly Regency and Medieval, and erotic romance
 
Little known facts about me:

• I was the first member of my family to go to college.
• My entire family was born and raised in New York City, but eventually moved away. I was born there, but raised on the west coast.
• I’m an empath. That means I feel things (emotions, energy) and can communicate with the dead. This is something you’ll likely never see in my books, though, because I’m too close to the subject matter to see it objectively. 
• I’ve had dogs my whole life. I don't really feel complete without one. 
• Studied psychology in college but never graduated. Quit when my oldest was born. Wrote my first official book when my youngest was about 6 months old.
• I worked in a bakery my senior year of high school. I miss the fresh bread the most. Okay, and her honey oat bran muffins. lol
• Up until I started writing, Harlequin romances were all I read. Harlequin Historicals. Had a monthly subscription for years.
• The first books I ever wrote included a Sailor Moon fan fic, lost somewhere on the net, and a YA romance featuring a paraplegic hero (also lost). 

 
Idiosyncrasies while writing:

• I need quiet. Which means on days when my husband works from home or during holidays, I have to get most of my writing done either in the early morning or late at night. Otherwise, I get nothing done.
• I am, for the most part, a “seat of the pants” writer. I come up with a basic premise, the hero and heroine, a couple of key scenes…then I sit down and write and see where my characters take me.
• I’m also a character writer, so I always come up with the characters first. But I don’t “create” them. I let them tell me who they are.
• My “working titles” are always the hero’s name; it’s how I remember them.