First, if we were meeting at a coffee shop I’d be drinking a Latte 🙂
What would you order? My usual order is a large mocha latte. Chocolate and caffeine – one of the greatest combinations! 😉

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer a few questions. I am always in the mood for a great Romantic Suspense book. You have two series, a suspense series and a romantic suspense series that you are writing at the same time. How challenging is that? What inspired you to write suspense? Writing two series at once has definitely been a challenge – mostly finding the time to write all the books! But I also have to be careful when I switch back and forth to stay in the right “voice” for the particular book, which usually requires some re-reading every time I move from one series to the other. The upside is that each series refreshes me for the other; I enjoy taking a break from one world and moving into another, but I always want to return to each!

I’ve always been drawn to suspense. It’s my favorite genre to read, and even as a kid, when I’d scribble stories in a notebook, they’d be mystery/suspense. I love the puzzle – the chance to figure out the clues (or as a writer, how to layer in those red herrings alongside the real hints and how to work in all the twists and turns). I also love that, unlike in real life where there isn’t always a happy ending, in suspense (and romantic suspense), most of the time at the end of the book, you get some kind of justice, some kind of closure.

How many books do you anticipate in each series? Right now, there are at least three books planned in The Lawmen series (my romantic suspense from Harlequin Intrigue), and at least four in The Profiler series (my psychological suspense from MIRA Books), but I hope to do more of each!

How much research did you do for this?  I really enjoy the research, and I do a LOT of it. Everything from reading up on psychological disorders, FBI procedures, and creating criminal personality profiles to in-person research. I’ve been lucky enough to get the opportunity to talk to a number of current and former FBI Special Agents, visit the FBI Academy and the New York field office, and even shoot weapons at Quantico! Many of the opportunities actually came through writers’ organizations; others I pursued on my own (talking to some of the agents). People like to talk about their jobs, especially when they’re passionate about them, and as long as I don’t ask about topics they can’t discuss, I’ve gotten a lot of great information, because I’m serious about trying to portray the job and the FBI accurately.

I read that you went to the FBI shooting range, what was that experience like? How were you able to do that? Firing weapons at the FBI Academy was a lot of fun. I took a bunch of notes – everything from how heavy the weapons were, how easy they were to shoot, what kind of kick they had – and I had a Special Agent standing beside me, telling me the proper way to do it all. Did I mention I shot all the weapons in a skirt and heels?

Congrats on your upcoming releases – you must be super organized to have two books out almost back to back! Thank you so much for having me!! (I do need to keep organized. I use a special writing program for my novels and I keep a lot of To Do lists!!)

Thanks again, I had a blast! Happy Writing!

8 Tantalizing Tidbits:

1. A Must read book and why? Gone with the Wind. A classic, and one with so much drama, angst, and intensity. Plus, Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler make a fantastic pairing, even if they never quite get it right.

2. What is one place that I should see if I visit your hometown? The Henry Ford museum. Metro Detroit is known for their automobiles, and this museum has an amazing, historic collection, including the bus where Rosa Parks made her stand (by sitting!) and JFK’s presidential limo.

3. Castles or Beaches? Beaches. I love castles, but there’s just something about the sound of the ocean, crashing into the shore, that has always spoken to me.

4. One thing readers would be surprised to know about you. Although I haven’t done it much lately, I was once a pretty good skier – I could ski backwards, on one ski, around moguls, and over small jumps.

5. If you had an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world for research, where would you go? If I was going for pleasure, I would head out of the country, but for research? I’m going to cheat a little and say a non-stop tour of all the FBI field offices. That would definitely be a dream research trip!!

6. What is your guilty pleasure? Chocolate. And lots of it. I don’t really feel that guilty about it, though – I tell myself it’s dark chocolate, so it’s good for me! 😉

7. Would you rather see a movie in the theatre or at home on DVD and why? It’s fun to go out to the movie theater, but I love watching a DVD at home. I can throw on something cozy, lounge in my recliner, and eat a bowl of ice cream (which might be a little weird in a dark theater!).

8. One thing you can’t live without. Books. Definitely books. I have a LOT of bookshelves, but it’s still not enough (especially with my own books and all the foreign versions to add to the mix!).