1.) What is your martial status?
Single
2.) Tell us about where and how, you grew up:
- I was born, bred, and raised in Riverside, California. I have never lived anywhere else. I grew up in a house my carpenter father and my mother built. We also lived in a mobile home park and then moved to a house that was closer to my then job at the YWCA. I grew up between two brothers but I also have three older sisters.
3.) Are you currently working on something now?
I have a pre-teen book in the works. It's ready to go, but I haven't published it yet.
4.) What do you like to read?
I like westerns, Victorian romances, some mysteries, and romance novels, and science fiction like Star Wars.
5.) What is your favorite sound?
Huh?
6.) Who is your favorite person?
I adore Kevin Costner. Six of my books are written with him in mind.
7.) Where is your favorite place?
I love both the mountains and the ocean.
8.) What is your favorite memory?
Right now it's of my mother who just passed away in February. She is sorely missed.
9.) What is your favorite writers' quote and why?
I read this little poem once, but I have no idea who wrote it: How easy the breath that kills the flame, how hard it is to light again, cold words kill while kind words kindle, by words with held, a dream may dwindle.
10.) What is your most favorite quality about yourself?
I consider myself a very loyal friend to others. I am honest. I will keep your secrets for you. I will gladly encourage you to reach your highest peak.
11.) What is the least favorite quality about yourself?
The phobias I have developed in the years of being a caregiver.
12.) If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
First it would be Ireland, because I am partly Irish and I love everything about it. I would also love England because I'm fascinated with the English history and monuments and their accents.
13.) What inspires you to write?
It's tremendous therapy. It's like playing God. The bad guy gets zapped and you feel so good about taking care of the scum!
14.) What is your favorite book and why?
I really, really enjoyed The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye. It is so incredibly written that I'm envious.
15.) What is your favorite genre?
I love westerns but also Victorian romances.
16.) What do you think makes a writer successful?
Knowing a lot of what they're writing about. Research makes all the difference in the world. Also constructing a proper manuscript. It cannot be sloppy. That's a turnoff. Also the beginning must grab you in an instant or you're more than likely dead in the water.
17.) What is it that makes 'you' successful as a writer?
I'm not sure I've reached that title yet. Give me time.
18.) What are your goals as a writer?
To keep it fun and interesting, a variety and not the same genre hacked to death over and over.
19.) What is the best tip you can give to fellow writers?
Don't submit anything unless you have edited it to perfection. If you have to read and re-read the manuscript 100 times, do it so that you catch your mistakes before a reader does and thinks you're a total incompetent. Rewrite as much as needs be. Eliminate whatever seems like trivial excess.
20.) What do you hope to provide your readers with through your writing?
A fun and different adventure. Whether it is in outer space or on an African safari or panning for gold, I want the reader to enjoy the experience as much as I enjoyed creating it for them.
21.) How long did it take you to write your book(s)?
Several of my books were already written by hand in notebooks. As I began to transcribe them in Word Perfect, I would rewrite as I went along. However, Marble Halls Book II and Halloween Is A Scream, and Secrets Under Ancient Stone were written as I sat at my computer, a real first for me. I found it to be somewhat easier that way than jotting it down in a notebook. Some of them took months to write.
22.) What would you do differently if you could repeat the same publishing experience?
I would never let Publish America touch my work. The cover for my Accidental Outlaw is terrible and doesn't match the true theme of the western book at all. They wouldn't change it, so I'm stuck. While I like the cover of Just A Little Love, there are a few mistakes in it that I asked to be fixed and was refused. Also, I feel that 8% royalties is nothing but plain robbery. They keep 92% and that's really not fair. They would have no book at all to publish if authors didn't give it to them. I've said this at their site and have paid for saying as much.
23.) What have you learned about the publishing world?
It's one tough gig. You are virtually a needle in a haystack. You must work hard at promotion and you practically have to do it all by yourself.
24.) This is your chance to 'Talk Back' to your readers. What would you like to say to them?
Read mine first!!!! Just kidding, but read what interests you. Encourage your children to read as much as they can. And if they show an interest in writing, by all means encourage them to. Give them a dictionary for a present. Give them a thesaurus (be sure to make it clear that it's not some strange undiscovered dinosaur). Find an interesting picture from a magazine and have them write a paragraph describing what they see. You will see the creativity bloom.
25.) What's the one thing that you want people to know about your writing?
That I have 8 books out there. Some are being ignored, such as my second book, Just A Little Love. I'm trying very hard to create products that will be likeable and once you've read it, you will say, "That was good."
