Q: What shares your time when you’re not writing?

A: I’m in career transition. I spent 12 years as a chemist, then another 12 in quality management for pharmaceutical companies. Now I’m working as a quality consultant and technical writer, trying to decide what is next. Plus I have some wonderful friends and family, especially my daughter, and we are scattered across the country, so I travel as much as possible to visit them. I’m also a scrapbooker and photographer.

Q: What’s your strangest writing habit?

A: Many years ago some great writer whom I can’t remember was doing a workshop on getting past writer’s block, how to get your mind ready to write when you’re ready to write because creativity is not always on tap. She said to do the same thing every time you sit down to write so when you do this special thing, your mind knows it’s time to write. So I listen to an ocean waves soundtrack. I also write by candlelight whenever possible, but the library won’t let me do that so the soundtrack is my constant.

Q: What personality trait helps or hinders you most as a writer?

A: I'm a perfectionist and that is an advantage and disadvantage. I’m always looking for the right word. Sometimes that means I stare at the blank page for a long time. It’s hard to type “the end” because I always feel like I can edit just one more time and make things better.

Q: How much of yourself do you put in your characters?

A: A lot. They say write what you know, and my own particular brand of crazy is something I’m both familiar and comfortable with. So I use it. But I also try and build characters who are the exact opposite of what I am. Like many writers, I’m something of an introvert, so writing a character that is bold and on-the-edge is a challenge I love. Not to mention fun! I get to live vicariously through their adventures.

Q: Who are your favorite authors?

A: There are so many! Just off the top of my head…Janet Evanovich, Jennifer Crusie, Laurell K. Hamilton, Aric Davis, JK Rowling, Deborah Smith, J.A. Konrath, Christopher Moore…just to name a few.

Q: Tell us about the moment you learned your book would be published.

A: I was visiting my parents over Easter and we were all in the den and I got the email. I remember the blood draining from my head, getting all dizzy. Luckily I was sitting down. But I got to share the news with them all at once. It was very exciting. Then I texted or emailed everyone I knew!