1. What inspired you to write your first book? 
A trip to Italy. Honestly. And no, I didn’t write Under the Tuscan Sun. I was traveling there with family, including two young kids, and because I’d been so focused on packing for them I’d forgotten to pack myself a book. I stopped at the bookstore in the airport and picked up what I thought was a mystery. It turned out to be a romantic suspense story – the first I had ever read in that genre. I felt like I had found my people and opened a flood gate of stories, ideas, and a passion to write. I’ve been writing ever since.
[divider type=””]
2. Writing can be a difficult job, what inspires you to keep going?
Most writer will tell you that we keep writing so that the voices in our heads eventually quiet down and I’m no different. Stories, characters, plots, and even tiny little details are constantly popping into my head. If I didn’t write them down, I think my head would probably explode. That, and it’s fun.
[divider type=””]
3. What are you working on now? What’s next?
My fourth book “What Echoes Render” was just sent off to my editor two weeks ago and so now I’m on to book five, which will be the fourth in the Windsor Series. I have a tentative title, but I haven’t run it by the marketing gurus at Booktrope so I won’t share it yet. But, what I can say is that Drew, Dani, and Ty (from “The Puppeteer”) show up again along with the usual cast of characters from Windsor, New York.
[divider type=””]
4. What’s your writing process, schedule, or routine?
I think a lot about the stories and the scenes and once I feel like I have a good handle on where it’s going, I just write. I’m not someone who sits down every day to write or monitors my word count. My life, like many people’s, if very busy, and I find that if I try to set up that kind of schedule the only thing it accomplishes is to make me feel guilty for not sticking to it. So what I’ve decided to work on instead it to learn to trust myself enough to know that I’ll get it done when and however I can. So far it’s working for me.
[divider type=””]
5. Who is your favorite book character of all time? Why?
Oy, really? This is such a hard question and honestly not one I can answer. It’s kind of asking your spouse or partner or friend to be everything you need at all times – a person can’t do/be all that and neither can a character. I love Melinda from Mary Lee Settle’s “Choices” for her courage and constant embracing of life, I love Daniel from Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s “Shadow of the Wind” because his journey was a joy to read, I love Harry Potter because of his loyalty and strength, and I love Ruben Montoya from Lisa Jackson’s series because he’s an excellent (read “super hot”) romantic hero. I like characters, from all genres, who take chances, make journeys, and embrace the chaos, craziness, and fragility of life.
[divider type=””]
6. What advice would give to aspiring writers?
Just write. I know that’s not new advice, but really, that’s all there is to it. That’s not to say the writing will be easy or good but an aspiring writer is never going to know the answer to the question of whether they are any good or not if they don’t ask themselves and the only way to ask is to do it.
[divider type=””]
7. What’s your favorite quote?
Depends on the day. If I’m feeling snarky or annoyed at the world, I tend to remind myself that “A person is smart, people are stupid.” But if I want to be inspired to keep going (on those days that seem oh-so-long), I like quotes that remind me that my biggest regrets will be the chances I didn’t take. Or sometimes Churchill’s quote “If you’re going through hell, keep going” (I know a lot of parents who can relate to this). And last, if I need a good dose of girl power, I love the quote “Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the Devil says “Oh crap, she’s up.” ”
[divider type=””]
8. Who would you most like to have a cup of coffee with? (Dead or alive)
DH Lawrence or Ernest Hemingway
Explain…
Kind of weird to pick two authors who weren’t known for being all that kind to women, but those two authors really changed how I read and what I look for in the books I pick up. Besides that, I would bet Ernest would have some very interesting stories to tell and I wouldn’t mind spending a day hanging out on Key West with him.
[divider type=””]
9. What is your biggest pet peeve?
I don’t like whiners. Really, I can’t stand them. I’m not talking about the people who occasionally have a bad day or week or even month and need vent and/or feel sorry for themselves (we all do this). But I have a really hard time with people who wallow in their own misery. I find it exhausting and a waste of time and I find it very sad that they can’t see the beauty that surrounds us every day.
[divider type=””]
10. Tell us something quirky about you.
I had a friend tell me that I should talk to a psychic who specializes in past life experiences because some of my interests are so not what you’d expect from a corporate employee/mother of two/wife of fifteen years. I’m pretty “normal” when it comes to most things in my life, I teach my kids manners, I like a (relatively) clean house, I enjoy good food and wine, and I like nice things. But there is another side of me that is really drawn to the unknown, and an unknown with a little bit of an edge or dark side to it. I don’t know why, but I always feel a sense of wonder, like something is waking up inside me, when I visit places like the swamps of the south, New Orleans, Savannah, and other cities that have an edge to them. I don’t have an interest in courting danger by any means, but there is something about how history still seems to be living and breathing, the good and the bad, in some places and it’s these places I love to visit. More than that, I feel physically drawn to them, like something changes in my brain chemistry when I’m there. Weird, I know. Or maybe just quirky, but there you have it.
[divider type=””]
11. Favorite comfort food?
Burger and beer. Hands down.
[divider type=””]
12. Star Wars or Star Trek?
Star Wars (much to my husband’s chagrin)
[divider type=””]
13. Sunrises or Sunsets?
Both! It’s true, I love both and often see both. We have spectacular ones I live.
[divider type=””]
