I remember when I finished my first novel (at 16) I spent several hours telling the story to a friend, who was so encouraging and asked all the right questions. That was never published, but I still think of the story at times. That was probably the first time I shared what I'd written - it was always just for me.

Writing full time came when I retired from my full-time position at the university. A third Vice Chancellor had been named following the retirement of the best boss I ever had and the new guy really didn't want a chief-of-staff. The job I had then was frankly boring so my husband and I discussed it, and we decided to go for it. I had fifty years in, twenty-two at the university, so transitioning to going to my home office was a delightful commute. I still have a routine and treat it like the job it is (though a lot more enjoyable with myself as the boss!)

I've always been drawn to the paranormal (thanks Daddy!) and I think that melds well with science fiction in my mind. It stretches the mind and offers possibilities that expand the mind. I also love showing the women in the lead so much of the time in stories like these. There doesn't have to be physical strength component to being the "leader".

The science fiction I grew up with focused on men and science – with what I write, emotion can be added which, in my opinion, adds a depth to the characters. That draws me closer to the character and therefore I'm more interested in their story.

Women are just as strong or stronger than men - maybe not upper body strength but that's only one aspect of strength. I hope I show them gaining confidence and accepting their roles as leaders and "alphas".

When my husband and I first met, we were in a meeting and one of the other men hadn't stopped talking. I reached over and tapped him and basically told him to shut up. Hubs saw that as a strong woman, he didn't know the man had dated my roommate and I knew him in a different way than anyone else in the meeting. He shut up. Hubs nurtured that strength he saw in me and it became real. I can do things now I never dreamed of before he believed in me. Love did that for me, I'd like to think it could do it for everyone.

I can't believe anyone could be a writer that isn't an avid reader. I listen to the voice of my favorite writers and try to emulate how they draw out their characters and make them so three-dimensional. The characters in a Stephen King novel become as real to me as anyone in the actual room I'm in. The same for Suzanne Brockman or Dianna Duvall. I always have three books going - reading one, listening to one and writing one. I learn so much that way.

The process changes according to the book, but it usually starts with the main character coming to me with a scene - might be a dream, might be a scene in a restaurant, or someone walking by in an airport concourse. Usually, it's the female character but not always. I let my mind play with the scene and see where it goes. I'm very character driven and, obviously, a pantser. Once I know where the character wants to take me I kind of take dictation...

That's an easy one. At 8:30 I head into the office. No TV or music, just me in the office, typing away. I usually read the last couple of pages from the day before to get back into a scene. I do try to stand up and walk a little every hour because when I don't, finally standing up is hard. I try my best to avoid calls and texts and avoid social media as much as possible. It's better for me to do my research later because I can get sucked in. Every writer understands that. Then at 12:30 I shut it down formally, though I "take a nap" after lunch - where I rarely sleep, but lie down and the characters play in my mind - that seems to really focus on my plot holes and sometimes negates what I wrote that morning but it seems to work for me.

I mentioned Stephen King. I don't write horror but I love the way his characters speak - real conversations rather than the stilted prose of works I read in school. His characters speak with contractions like real people do, the first word of a sentence is often left off which is how people speak. Another of my favorites is Larry Niven for science fiction. His science is much harder than mine, but he makes it almost understandable to a non-scientist like me, rather than making it incomprehensible and dry.

I try to use the world building that I do to deepen the relationship between the two leads in my story. They have to interact with their environment - like in my time travel, Another Time. They have to adapt to what they find which is so different from what they've always known. Then have to adapt again due to the butterfly effect of what they did. The same with my dystopian, Survivors - the world building is part of what draws them together.

Like most of the writers I know, I have periods of "writers-block". When that happens, I go back to one of my WIPs that I haven't completed (yet) and just get into another story. When the characters want to talk to me again, I'm ready and waiting. Interruptions are one of the biggest problems - especially when I'm writing dialogue. When I have to go back to recreate, I feel like it's never as good, so I do my best to isolate myself to write.

I learned something every time I attended a meeting. I would find myself coming up with new ideas just being the room with these talented women and making notes to use as soon as I got home. HCRW also created satellite groups in different cities around the state. I became part of Writer-2-Writer in Greensboro over eight years ago and we still meet monthly to critique, edit, and kick around stories and ideas (during the pandemic we still met via Zoom). They have become my most trusted editors and betas.

I'm working on a science fiction story now that will have a tie-in with my 2026 Christmas novella. It's tentatively called Foxtrot, where an isolated mountain man rescues a woman from an abusive ex.

AllAuthor has been a great help to me - possibly the best is the incredible Magic Tool, which I use on nearly a daily basis. That has been invaluable to me. Linking me with other authors in my genres is another great asset. I’ll be sticking around to see what you guys do next!

I grew up in a don’t blink or you’ll miss it small town in western NC, Hudson. I left to go to college, and while I visit, because my sister still lives there, I won’t be moving back. It never felt right for me. I don’t want to live in a huge city but the happy medium fits me well.

Imaginative, unexpected, caring I grew up with my grandmother living with us as well as my parents, so I had three people directing the way I lived, usually at odds with one another, so I couldn’t “win”. I was also born with a mild form of EB – epidermolysis bullosa which greatly inhibited physical activity (still does) so swimming has always been the best exercise for me and I love it. It also had me reading to explore all the things I couldn’t do in real life. My love of books and searching, but not finding, exactly what I wanted to read, shoved me forward to create my own.

Secretarial work is most of my experience. I started at the age of 12 and did that for fifty years. I’m lazy, so I’m very organized and efficient. I did wait tables one summer during college at the beach – my feet eventually forgave me, and I’m a force to be reckoned with at a buffet because I can carry six plates up my arm – LOL!! I think mostly it got me used to sitting my butt in the chair and getting the work done, making deadlines and completing what was assigned.

I love writing something that feels possible. I haven’t branched out into fantasy because there’re so many stories that can be grounded in reality and still have that twist of paranormal in them. That’s what I look for – is it possible?

First, I definitely believe we are not alone in the universe, I never have. I don’t know about Roswell, but A.E. van Vogt’s Slan was one of the first books of Daddy’s I absconded with and it made so much sense. Then there’s Star Trek’s episodes where they observe a planet without violating the Prime Directive – it all feels real to me. As for having to leave a decimated planet due to the inhabitants short- sightedness, as the aliens in Alien Embrace are forced to do, that feels incredibly real to me as well. And if possible, to remember or even retain some of the culture they’ve been forced to leave and pass it on in a new environment—that would be the ultimate sacrifice.

My husband and I took an Alaskan cruise several years ago and went to Glacier Bay. While there, I spoke with a woman who had been there years before and she shared her pictures with me. The glaciers were drastically diminished in her lifetime and my imagination took off. That became the first scene in the book, and still one of my favorites. As for the medical information, I’m incredibly lucky to have a couple of doctors in the family so I glean all I can from them.

I so loved writing that one. Social issues – let’s see, equality for women and environmental issues are the main ones. To have everyone doubt that Dee was a “real” doctor drove me crazy. I write strong, capable women who in more than one book have saved the butt of the hero even as he has saved hers (equality). All of my books touch on the environment – even it it’s just to mention that someone drives a Prius or recycles. I loved having the children laugh in Another Time when Dusty mentions the absurdity of having one-use diapers. I don’t know if people have noticed – maybe in The Melting Series, or Alien Embrace where that’s the crux of the story, but they’re seeing it even if it doesn’t register as, ‘hey I should do that’.

My father embraced the idea of reincarnation, so we thought of it has normal in our home. It’s in every religion (though it was voted out of Christianity by the First Council of Nicaea because if people thought they had another chance, they didn’t give the church enough money.) I think of it as the Stephen King effect – everything’s normal except there’s that little twist. That’s what I look for in what I read, I want the story to be realistic and then be surprised by something that could happen. Used it in The Melting and Small Changes as well – what if . . .

I guess Nowhere for Christmas, since it’s more generic. In Moe’s Christmas, if you haven’t read Before You there’re some gaps. That said, it’s hard to decide – they’re all my children.

That’s one of the hardest things for me. I think of a name, then I realize I know someone with that name and it screws how I feel about it. It’s especially hard writing villains because if I know someone with that name I like, I can’t do it. Normally I write all heroes as David and have to change it later. Not sure why I can get into David’s head easier. As for women, I’d rather cut off a toe than pick a name. Argh!!

How long do you have? Inspiring authors – Sherri Tepper, Larry Niven, Stephen King, Sherilyn Kenyon, Suzanne Brockman, Norah Lofts (talk about the master of that little twist!). Books are even harder – Shikasta by Doris Redding, The Stand by Stephen King, Hammer of God by Larry Niven, Dragon’s Egg by Robert Forward, The Decline and Fall of the Gibbon by Sherri Tepper and countless others.

Got a letter (snail mail) from my 7th grade teacher congratulating me on my first book. I still remember the best thing I thought I wrote for her got a D – LOL!! I found it all marked up when we downsized to move to a condo. I have her letter safely enshrined; we lost her a few weeks ago. I love to have someone ask when is the next one scheduled of course and even more when they leave a review (only need about 12 words at Amazon!)

If you don’t try, I’ll never get to read it. You have the idea, get it down. Edits aren’t easy but as Nora Roberts says, you can’t edit a blank page. The saying I have taped next to my computer is “What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?”