I was born and raised in Oklahoma. I graduated from Tulsa Community College in 1993 with an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts (in other words, the degree for the indecisive professional student). Since 1997, I've lived in Las Vegas, Nevada, land of cheap buffets and slot machines, with my husband and my two children. I worked for a small publisher, Huntington Press, for a couple of years before giving up the 9-to-5 world to stay home fulltime. Now, I take care of my family and write and edit.

I wanted to be a journalist-ever since high school. I worked for my high school newspaper (I was made Managing Editor my senior year) and I worked for my college newspaper (I was made Managing Editor my last year there). I loved writing nonfiction, but I'd gotten a hankering for fiction. I'd been writing poetry and short stories since I was in junior high, but hadn't contemplated writing a novel until I took some creative fiction classes at TCC.

I took me two years to write my first novel, a paranormal romantic suspense called Shadows Present. It was a great learning tool, but it didn't exactly take the publishing world by storm. I had the opportunity to rewrite it this year and I turned into a paranormal romantica for Ellora's Cave. It was released the last week of April. The sequel, Shadows Past, comes out this August.

I have had the opportunity to learn from many, many people. My English and Literature teachers in junior high and high school offered encouragement and enthusiasm. My first English college instructor, Susan King, pushed and prodded me. Genell Dellin, a wonderful historical romance author, was my first novel writing teacher. I've also been blessed to know Karen Toller-Whittenburg, Renee Roszel, and other published authors. I've also been graced with wonderful critique partners in Oklahoma and in Nevada.

From a reader's standpoint, I would say Nora Roberts, Sue Grafton, and Robert Ludlum are just a few authors I admire and who inspire me to keep telling stories and to keep learning the craft.

Like most writers, I create composites using this behavior from one person, this quirk from another. Sometimes observing complete strangers in the grocery store or at Starbuck's offers a good jumping off point for writing a character.

A virgin with an outrageous to-do list hires a reluctant Prince Charming to help her live a whole lifetime in one short week…

It's a romantic comedy suspense the follows the story of Marissa Vanderson, a naïve socialite who tries to honor her sister's memory by completing a wild to-do list they created as teenagers. She runs into Dane Sinclair, a part-time bartender, when she tries to get drunk. His mother and ex-wife were both spoiled rich girls and he's has quite enough of playing Prince Charming…at least until he meets Marissa and realizes she really needs a keeper.

My short story, A Perfect Murder, will appear in the mystery/horror anthology collection, Beyond The Mundane: Unravelings published by Mundania Press. Midnight Intentions will be re-released, probably in an anthology with two other novellas, but I'm not sure when. I will be working on a mystery called Sweet Charlotte and The Backstabbing Boyfriend after I finish my current work-in-progress.

It's very gratifying and validating. The Writer's Digest competition gets thousands of entries every year. When I won the 2003 competition, "A Mother Scorned" beat out more than 18,000 entries. That's mind-boggling.

I'm very proud of my EPPIE, too, especially since when I entered Midnight Intentions I had self-published it on my website as a free read. It was wonderful to have it published by Writer's Exchange E-publishing, too, a wonderful author-supportive electronic publisher. Now, it's going through another transformation and the updated version will be published again.

Bigger and better! As part of my prize for winning the Writer's Digest competition, I got to go to New York with WD Editor Kristin Godsey and meet with four agents. I'm happy to say that my new agent is Stephanie Kip Rostan with Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. Wahoo! So…I hope that five years from now, I'll be a little more well known, making money from writing full-time, and be able to see my books on store shelves without begging or bribing booksellers. LOL!

I love the J.D. Robb "…In Death" series. I think Laurie Notaro's books (she wrote The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club) are hilarious! I love Christine Feehan's books, too. She's a helluva writer. I read a lot of small press books. I like J.L. Hansen, Jeff Strand, Joey Hill, Pauline Baird Jones, Nancy Lynn, Ruth Kerce, Sharon Horton, Murdoch Hughes, and so many others! There are a lot of really great reads available online.

I don't build ships in bottles or knit sweaters. I love going to the movies and I love reading. I like romantic comedies and action adventure movies the best and I love reading romance, nonfiction, mystery, and action-adventure novels.

Keep writing and keep submitting. The only way to get published is to produce and to submit. Keep an open mind, too, about markets. Electronic publishing, small press, and self-publishing can offer valuable experiences-especially with learning how to market and promote your work.

Thank you for letting me talk about myself and my work. I really enjoyed it! I'd like to invite readers to sign up to my newsletter or to email me anytime. Thanks again!