Born and raised in Iowa, have you ever thought of moving out of your birthplace?
I have. I wanted to move to Montana, but my husband and I decided to stay in our small town to take care of our parents. We still feel it was a good choice.
What inspired you to start writing at the age of 13?
My mom and I had a very volatile relationship when I was a child. My writing started in a journal, and then I started making up stories. I think that was my savior. I wrote about the lives I wanted to have and was able to distract myself from my turbulent emotions. Although my life now is pretty awesome, I’m addicted to the feeling of being someone else for a bit. Now I’m blessed to actually get paid for my stories.
What was your first book about? How did your mother and sister react to your first book?
The first book my sister and mother read of mine was not the first book I’d ever written. It’s only been a few years that they have been aware of my writing. The book I let them read was about a woman who’d been in an abusive relationship. She was able to get away from the man and move to a different city, but then she has to let herself heal enough to move on. Since it’s a romance, always, a man comes into her life that helps her overcome her past. Surprising to some, I never thought my stories were good enough to publish, it’s a self- esteem issue, but a sister and my mother pushed me to try, and I did. The publisher got back to me within a few days and had me sign a contract for the book. I’ve never had a novel I’ve submitted to be rejected.
What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of a good romance story?
A good romance has to have some kind of conflict to make it interesting. I also like writing about women that either start strong or gain strength throughout the book. My men tend to be dominant because that’s what I’ve always been attracted to. Lastly, my books have to have a bit of sex in them to spice things up.
How did you come up with the 'First Sight'? Who is your favorite character in this book?
My stories tend to just come from my head. I’m not sure how it works, but I’ve got so many stuck in my mind I sometimes get confused. LOL. My favorite character in First Sight is Garrett because he knows what he wants, Jessica, and he fights to keep her. He also sees past her outer shell and falls in love with her spirit.
How did you begin writing the Mail Order Brides Series? Do you find it more challenging to write the first book in a series or to write the subsequent novels?
I wrote Lost In You as a stand-alone novel. My publisher and I came up with the idea of the Mail Order Bride Series. The second book, Lost In The Shadows, was a story I started a while ago but hadn’t finished, that fit with the series. I will definitely add series, but I do find it more challenging to write subsequent novels
Between Keira and Daniel, who was your favorite character to create in "Stalked"?
Daniel, because he’s another man that wouldn’t give up no matter how much Keira pushed him away. I’m not talked about stalking her, LOL, he knew she needed him, and he was determined to be there for her.
How was your experience of writing Summer Break Anthology with eight other authors? Have you read all the nine stories in the book?
I love doing anthologies with other authors. It gives me a chance to meet some I might not have. I have read all the stories and have loved every one of them.
When you're running low on ideas, what do you do or who do you talk to for inspiration?
I’ve been lucky to not have writer's block yet. I can’t see me ever running out of stories. I’ve had so many stuck in my head for decades. It seems when I finish one novel; another pops up.
I don’t talk to anyone about ideas or even about my books. I think that stems from my childhood. I tended to spend more time with animals; then, I did people. I learned the hard way not to talk about anything, especially problems because it usually came back to bite me in the ass. Still to this day I internalize most things. I’ve told one friend in my hometown that knows about my books. I have no idea why I’m so apprehensive. I’m hoping I will eventually get over it.
How did you come up with the title "Open Fields"? How important do you think are the titles of a book?
I think titles are very important for a novel because it helps grab the readers attention. Most of the time, I have a hard time coming up with them. Open Fields came to me when I was writing one of the chapters about the field that separates Zane and Tory’s ranches.
When reading a new book, what is one thing that is a surefire way to capture your attention?
Conflict or suspense of some kind.
You can usually be found at your home in the country surrounded by your family and many animals. In what ways do you spend time with your family?
My favorite thing to do with my family is to sit down to dinner. We’ve got a 27-year-old, 25 years old, and 17-year-old boys, so we rarely get to be together, just the five of us. We have the most fun and laugh so hard when it’s just us, and I could sit there for hours. We also like spending time outdoors together. Hiking is our favorite.
How do you feel about the shift of reading from physical books to digital ones? What would you advise the young writers?
I don’t think it matters at all. I happen to like both.
Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?
I’ve got so many books started. Some are just ideas; some have rough drafts, and some I’m trying to finish. My biggest frustration is that I can’t work on two or three stories at a time. LOL. I have been known to flip back and forth with a few of them during the day.
How has been your experience of working with AllAuthor?
I would recommend AllAuthor to every author out there. They have been amazing to work with. They keep me informed of the people who start following me, tweets about my books, price changes, rankings, reviews, etc. They have so many cool features. One of them is they create banners for my books that I can use for Facebook or Twitter.
