When you write a series, or in my case have two ongoing series, this is the email that arrives in your inbox just about daily. Questions about characters you never expected would incite readers–take poor dead Orlando Danvers from Once Tempted or Kit from One Night of Passion for example. Then there are the characters who you just know, from the moment they step on the page are going to be interesting, going to make a great hero or heroine. Even if you don’t know all their secrets . . . yet.

Rockhurst, from His Mistress by Morning is just … Read more »

And you thought I was going to say love. Heck no! Summer evenings are for finding quick fix dinners so you can get out and enjoy yourself. And when the kitchen and house are hot, the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven and rev up the stove. Well this is my favorite summer meal, please I can pull a portion of the ingredients out of my garden.

Tomato & Basil Linguine

1 large wedge of brie
3 large roma tomatoes, chopped
handful of basil, leaves washed and sliced into thin slivers
3 cloves of garlic, … Read more »

What is wrong with this picture?

Why does this dog look so sad? So alert? So ready to spring into action on a warm summer day?

Because he hasn’t received his copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yet. I’d venture to guess this is what the 2 million Amazon customers looked like on Saturday as they awaited the UPS driver to arrive with their copy of Harry Potter.

I know I spent the day pacing the floor, glancing out the window at the least bit of rumble of traffic on my otherwise quiet street. Oh, yes, I could … Read more »

Last post conference post I’ll make. Promise. But here is something to consider. After conference and you’ve got that request to see a partial or a full, do yourself a favor–go through those pages with a fine tooth comb before you send them in. I know how exciting it is to get requests and you don’t want to waste a second getting them in front of that editor–but I also know the other side of that elation–the remorse of having sent in pages that were rushed in for the sake of just getting them in.

What is the point of … Read more »

In all the hoopla and post picture posting frenzy of conference writing seems to get shoved to one side. That’s my biggest problem with conference–it can be a total time-suck on the writing. And it is all about the writing after all (though all the party pictures and booksigning snaps beg to differ).

It took me until Tuesday night to drag my notebook and pages back out and dust off my manuscript. I find that my writing is like my commitment to yoga. If I lay out my yoga togs, my mat, and queue up the DVD the night before–getting … Read more »

I always come back with conference with my mind filled with wonderful vignettes of memories. Because to me conference is always so fragmented–you run into old friends here and there, unexpected meetings, new friends, off to a workshop, dinner, lunch, last minute changes, bad shoes.

And this year was no different. Some of my highlights were meeting Anna Campbell for the first time, and though I only got to chat with her for a little bit, she was one of those people that you meet and know is a kindred spirit. She loves to travel and I am so envious … Read more »

This business is not about the writing. It’s all about the shoes:

… Read more »

As I was packing to go to the beach–you know getting the important stuff in order–what books to read, what knitting project to take along–when I remembered that I’d unearthed an old copy of Arabella by Georgette Heyer while I was moving my office. I probably snagged it off eBay and had tucked it away for the right chance. So into the bag it went. It might have been published over 50 years ago, but I find Georgette Heyer’s stories a delightful change of pace.

I came to discover Georgette Heyer only about 7-8 years ago. I know. A shameful … Read more »

Thanks for all the comments while I was gone… Yes, I snuck off for a few days at the beach. Where it was supposed to be warm and sunny, but in typical Oregon Coast fashion was gray and windy. But that only left me with more time to read and knit, so I was perfectly content to do that, while the small hero had a great time flying his kite in wind that sent it aloft immediately and carried it to the end of his string in a flash.

Let me say this very clearly: I LOVE the ocean. … Read more »

If you go to conference and pitch to an agent or editor, by all accounts you are a Sure Thing. Even if you go into your meeting, stutter uncontrollably, toss your cookies all over the table and you discover later you have a big blotch of lunch on the front of your blouse. You could even speak in tongues and still, most likely, get a request for a partial. That’s because an agent or editor has no way of knowing what your story is like without reading your manuscript. You might be the most socially challenged writer in the Western … Read more »