Writing Daze

I've been a storyteller all my life. I used to make my sisters, cousins, anyone available, sit and listen to them until I learned how to write. (My sisters may have forced that on me so they wouldn't be captive audiences anymore.) I never gave any thought to publishing until my cousin told me she was going to write a romance novel. Until then, I only wrote scenes -- the highlights, not all the slower connective stuff in between -- but I decided to give it a shot.

My first manuscript came back with a suggestion that I not bother the editor anymore. After crying for two days, I finished the manuscript I was working on, sent it to a different editor and sold it. Who knew I couldn't resist a challenge?

Copper Lake, Georgia

When I wrote One Stormy Night, it was intended to be a single book, not the start of the never-ending series. But the hero had a half-brother who was bartending at a strip club, and I couldn't help but wonder why. When I began his book, I started calling it the Calloway brothers series and thought four books for the four brothers and it would be done. About eleven stories later, I'm not sure there's an end in sight. After all, those Calloway boys came from a large family, and darned if every single one of them doesn't have friends.

Background

Because the margarita series is set in the fictional Tallgrass, Oklahoma, not far from the Tallgrass Prairie, I wanted to have a prairie shot for the background of this site. My husband searched for hours and found the absolute perfect shot. He sent me the website, and I filled out the form to license the photo . . . which came out to about a thousand bucks a year!! Ouch. Instead I went out before the temp hit triple digits and took some pictures of our own "prairie" -- the field on the way to our pond and (ahem) our front yard. This one is the field, with our road curving around on the right. I'll post the front-yard prairie on the photos page. Um, maybe.

Author Alterations

I'm currently working on the AAs for Holiday Protector, my Christmas novella from Harlequin Romantic Suspense. This is my last chance for making changes/corrections and one I always enjoy. For one thing, I'm compulsive enough that usually there's not much to catch. Two, it means the book is done and will soon be on the shelf. Always a relief!

Margarita Series

Post-holiday malaise. I got up this morning fully intending to write my little fingers off, but instead tinkered with this blog, got a few more pictures up, got the author alterations for Holiday Protector and looked at cover ideas for the first margarita book. I always get excited around cover time. After all the writing, brainstorming, researching, etc., the book always seems real when we get to cover art. I know it'll still be a while, but I can't wait!