How did you get started writing?

Although I used to make up stories all the time, I hadn’t thought of writing as a profession until later in life. It’s only been the last several years that I decided to make this my career. It’s funny how ‘green’ I was, about the publishing industry, when I was younger. Having made friends with authors in town helped point me in the right direction and helped me gather the writing and publishing knowledge I needed to pursue writing as a career.

What genre(s) do you write in and why?

I actually started out writing cozy mysteries. I enjoyed reading those until I discovered several good romance authors. I still dabble with cozy mysteries, but now focus on contemporary romance. Cozies can contain a romantic element, but the focus is on the mystery. Romance lets you discover a new way to have love transport you to a happily ever after.

What is your favorite part of writing?

I love coming up with the diverse characters and creating their world with different conflicts to create a compelling story for readers. It’s the creativity process that I find exciting.

What is your least favorite part of writing?

Yes, this definitely goes hand in hand with my favorite part of writing. There are a lot of authors I know that don’t like the revision process of writing. I don’t really mind revising because it helps your story evolve. My absolute least favorite part is writing the synopsis. I’ve been told that I write long, so trying to pull my story into a one or two page ‘summary’ is difficult. It’ll take me some time before I’m comfortable doing this.

What is your next project and when will it be released?

Right now, I’ve committed to writing for a few different authors kindle worlds. I’m up against a tight deadline for Carly Phillips’ Dare To Love world. My working title is Daring Return and should be released December 13^th. After this, I’ll have two more kindle world releases by the end of June 2017.

What is your typical day like?

I’m not sure I really have a typical day yet. With my release, being involved with the required Facebook party for kindle worlds authors, blog tours, marketing, emails, and working on my next release, I’m trying to get into the flow of a regular writing day. I’m picturing a day where I can really spend a solid 5 to 6 hours of pure writing after working on all the other things I’ve mentioned. Right now, as soon as I get up, I turn on my computer and then the coffee machine. I bring up my manuscript and work on that in between all the other tasks that are involved with writing.

Where do you get ideas for your stories?

I keep a folder of story ideas and they come from any place. This can be from something I’ve read, a quote, a television show, something I see on vacation or in the neighborhood, a news headline, or even from listening to other people’s conversations. Yes, authors are known to eavesdrop. Sometimes those lead to some very interesting stories.

What do you have planned for the future?

Writing, writing, and more writing. It’s like an addiction. I have stories that I feel I need to send out into the world. My husband retired earlier this year, so writing has become my retirement dream. Beyond the kindle world releases, I’ll be working on my own series. I have several planned, some involving cowboys and others involving beaches. Who knows, I might even combine the two.

Do you have any words of inspiration for aspiring writers?

Don’t give up and don’t listen to the ‘noise.’ For those who say, “Oh yeah, anyone can write a book. It’s easy.” Well, it’s not. Writing is hard work. If it were that easy, everyone would be a best seller. There are those authors who’ve made a lot of money and seem to have had instant success, but what you don’t hear is how long they’ve worked at their craft and how many rejections they’ve received. If they quit after their seventieth rejection, we may not have read some of the classics we have today.

Having said that, don’t publish the first draft you’ve written. Yes, anyone can publish anything on the Internet, but if you plan to be taken seriously as a writer, you have to make sure you do your due-diligence. This includes getting the story critiqued and professionally edited. Read the genre you want to publish in to make sure your stories are current with what readers are reading.

Above all, have fun with it. Writing shouldn’t be like a job you don’t enjoy.