Q: Where does your writing inspiration come from?

A: I draw inspiration from everywhere. Many of my fantasy elements come from the legends of demons and monsters I find inside the trove of books on the supernatural I've collected over the years. Frequently, the everyday proves useful. Just the sight of a person or location will sometimes spark a creative flame. My incredibly bizarre dreams never fail to provide ideas. 

Q: What is your favorite genre, and why?

A: Fantasy, mostly urban/contemporary or erotic. It all comes down to freedom. With fantasy there is so much room to explore humanity and society, and still make it safe for readers to explore. With different worlds, species, and rules, it's easier to turn the mirror back on ourselves, to examine who we are and why, without making readers feel threatened or preached to. I never want my readers to think I'm trying to teach them a lesson. Fantasy also ensures I have to do far less research than my mainstream and historical fiction counterparts. Getting reality to convey as real is a lot of work. There's a good deal of room for fudging the details in fantasy. When all else fails I can fall back to the old mom-ism, "Because I said so."

Q: What do you do outside of writing?

A: I live in a very large can of worms that my husband and I opened the minute we purchased it four years ago. I've lived in various stages of renovation-related discomfort ever since. As I write this there is a fine coating of plaster dust on every static object in this house. I'm also the vice president of my flat-track roller derby league, so practice, bouting, and running the organization pretty much gnaw up all of my free time and spit it back out. I'd have it no other way. 

Q: What does your typical day look like?

A: Nothing like the model of a "successful" writer, so if you're looking for useful tips, stop reading here. I'm up, I'm down. I write five hundred words and then wander off to vacuum, grocery shop, or do work for my derby league. Usually around two or three I settle down and get the bulk of my work done, but still not in any great feat of stamina. I switch between my desk chair and my exercise ball. I write a few hundred words and then spend twenty minutes watching a squirrel balance on the power line. I squeeze in a few hundred more words before my reflection in the screen makes me decide I need to do some crunches. I make dinner around five. If it's one of three nights, I go to derby practice for two hours. If it's not, I'll try and get in a last burst of productivity before spending the rest of the night with the hubs.

Q: Why do you write?

A: There are stories in me that want to come out. It probably has something to do with introversion and the need to communicate, but I'll leave that one to Dr. Jung. For the most part I want to share something with the world, my viewpoint, my desires, my dreams. And if just one person finds something worth keeping inside the words I write, I'm over-the-moon happy.