What do you love the most about Arizona?
The winters! While the rest of the country is battling snow, we’re golfing and grilling on the back patio (to be clear, I don’t golf... but I like the idea that I could without a pair of snow shoes. But I do grill—I’m a grill girl.) The other very best thing about Arizona is its diversity. Where I live (in the Valley) is very much what people think of when they think of Arizona—desert, saguaros and coyotes (I actually have a coydog. She’s exactly what she sounds like. Half dog, half coyote.) but I can travel two hours north and be surrounded by tall pines. If I want the ocean, I can leave my house at 7AM and be wading in the surf by lunch time.
Tell us a funny story of your college days.
I was a working mom all through college so, not many funny stories to tell. Those were some tough years but absolutely worth it.
How old are your children? Do they enjoy reading?
I have 4 children—18, 18, 15 and 12. My eighteen year olds are seven months apart and the younger of the two just turned eighteen this month (June). The only reader among them is my 15-year old son. He’s very much like me in a lot of ways.
If you had to describe your relationship with your children in one sentence, what would it be?
We have fun. My daughter and I (she’s one of my 18-year-olds) share a love of Dutch Bros. coffee (she knows my order and all the Broistas know her mother is a coffee junkie). She’s getting ready to ship off to college in the fall so it’s a very bittersweet time for us. My 12-year-old is constantly trying to sneak up on me and scare me, which since I worked for nearly a decade as direct care on an adolescent psych ward before I left the work force to be a fulltime mom and writer, is virtually impossible. And my 15-year-old is pretty much me inside my husband’s body. We absolutely, 100% get each other.
What are the other activities apart from writing you like to participate in, in your free time?
I’ve always been a reader. My childhood was hard, so books were my escape. They saved me. These days I don’t need much saving, but I still read 3-5 books a month. Doesn’t sound like much but when you factor in the kids (4), chickens (quite a few), dogs (8. Yes, 8), horses (2) and husband (sadly only one of those), my life is pretty full. I have friends and family who love me (no small feat) and an army of imaginary people who live in my head, all waiting patiently for their turn on the page.
You are so fond of coffee. Where have you had the best coffee in the world?
I am fond of the coffee. Strangely enough, I’m not a coffee shop person. I meet a fellow local author for coffee at a coffee shop twice a month and my daughter feeds my Dutch Bros. habit but other than that, I indulge at home. Deathwish coffee—the absolute best.
How do you strike a balance between fulfilling your responsibilities towards your children and your readers?
First, I take both very seriously. I love hearing from my readers and I love spending time with my kids so I carve out time for both. During the school year it’s easier—the last kid leaves the house at 8 o’clock to get to school and I’m in my office writing by 10 o’clock. I write until 4 o’clock (when he comes home) and then I’m a mom again. Summers are crazy—kids underfoot. Deadline to be met. I adopt an alternative sleep schedule that helps me meet word count and allows me to spend time with my kids. If you email me, I WILL answer you. It might be at 3AM, but I will answer you.
The Gilory Clan series has had four books till now. How many more are planned in the series?
Conquering Conner marks the halfway point in the series. Since each couple’s story spans the length of two books (that was not a marketing or sales tactic. Each couple’s story is so big in my head and I love each character so much that I didn’t want to rush it. I wanted each of their journeys to feel real and epic.), we have two couples to go—Declan and Tess and Ryan and Grace. Everyone knows Declan and Tess and I think so far theirs is the most anticipated story. Ryan and Grace are characters that have been introduced later in the series but to be perfectly honest, theirs is the story I’m most excited to tell.
What inspired you to write the plot of ‘Pushing Patrick’?
I really, really love friends to lovers romance (probably because my husband of 20-years and I started off as friends) so that was the inspiration behind PP... but more than that, I wanted to take the typical “alpha male” and turn him on his head a bit. We've all read the story about how falling in love changed the hero and inspired him to be the "perfect man"... but what if he was already perfect and falling in love changed him in a completely different way?
‘Drive’ in the One Night Series has a very touching story at heart. What inspires you to write such emotional romance stories?
Well, romance is emotional, right? Falling in love is one of the most terrifying and important things we will ever do in this life. It’s big and messy and consuming. I just can’t see how you can write romance any other way if you want your stories to resonate with your readers. I want my readers to have all the feels. I want them to laugh and cry. I want them to experience all the highs and all the lows of falling in love, right alongside my characters and at the end of their story, know without a doubt that they belong together. If I have accomplished that, then I’ve done my job.
Which story out of the ones you have written till now is the closest to your heart and why?
I really, really love Conner and Henley. Maybe because I identify with Henley—the awkward bookworm who has a hard time feeling feelings. I love how in love with her Conner is, right from the start and how he couldn’t he walk away from her, even though he knew that loving her would destroy him. See, I told you I’m into big, messy love stories.
Do you relate to any of your women characters?
So, here’s my open secret... In my “real writer life” I’m an award-winning thriller author (Maegan Beaumont). In my thriller series, my MC is a trauma survivor who, after years in hiding, decides to hunt down the man who nearly killed her. She’s strong and loyal and loves her family. I think that’s what connects her to my romance heroines. As flawed as they are, every female MC I write is loyal and fierce. They aren’t afraid to stand up for themselves and others—even if their voice shakes. I like to believe it’s a quality I share with them.
Is any part of any of the books inspired or taken from your real life experience? Which one(s)?
Like I said before, my husband and I were friends for a long time before we moved into a romantic relationship. I think that our epic love affair (we’ve been together for 27 years and I still get butterflies when I see him. That’s qualifies as epic in my book) inspires me every day. If I had to choose one book that I’ve written that most closely resembles our story, it would be Drive—because the Plain Jane got her man.
Which is the next book you are working on?
You mean bookS, right? I just finished wrapping up a new first in series called Diving Deep with my fabulous co-author, Shanen Black. Paradise Lost is the first series we’ve done together but hopefully not the last. After that, book 2 in that series, Hard Dive will be released in July. Next on my list is Destroying Declan—book 5 in my Gilroy Clan series, which will hopefully launch in August... and I’m also working on a super sexy stand-alone called Mr. Wrong which will be part of the ILLICIT boxset, launching in early 2019. Oh... and don’t forget my brand new solo series, The Kings of Brighton (A spin-off of The Gilroy Clan) that will launch in October and book 6 in TGC, Taming Tesla, which will be released in December. So, I’ve got a few things cookin’.
