I’m just back from the United Kingdom, having attended the Romance Novelists conference in Yorkshire with several of the Word Wenches, followed by a research trip into Scotland with Mary Jo Putney. I love traveling, but it’s even better when you have the company of someone who understands why it’s necessary to photograph every inch … Read more
The holiday season is almost upon us and I’m rushing around attempting to reissue some of my favorite oldie goldies while preparing for a long trip and getting ready for Christmas. Think the flight attendants will mail my holiday cards? But I think I’ve at least got the reissues ready! They’re set for release on … Read more
As I grow older and realize life is growing shorter, I give in to my impulses far more often than I should. Of course, when I was young, I was poor and didn’t have the money or time to buy that pretty pillow or the stack of books on Mayan history. I was forced to … Read more
Fear is part of human nature—witness the fight or flight instinct in all of us. I am cautious by nature and would easily become agoraphobic if I hadn’t realized at a very early age that I would never accomplish my dreams unless I stepped out into the unknown. Constantly pushing my boundaries keeps my mind active and allows me to follow a career I love. But I’m a reader, and books have opened my mind to possibilities I would never have envisioned without them.
I am spinning wheels on the current Unexpected Magic work in process, which means I’m diving deep into research mode, looking for a way out of the corner I’ve written myself into. Having started my career by driving librarians crazy with inter-library loans attempting to dig out esoteric information, I am always amazed by the … Read more
I regard politics as a necessary evil, and when the warfare grows too rank, I like to fight back with the compassion, imagination, and humor politicians apparently lack. On Facebook, we’ve been talking about what makes America Great, and the responses have been wonderful. Here’s a very brief overview of what people have mentioned so far:
Baseball
National Parks
Small Towns
My romances often reflect issues I grapple with personally. But because the books are upbeat and often humorous, the issues aren’t immediately obvious. Sure, my blind marquess in THEORY OF MAGIC has anger issues. He’s disabled in a society that considers disability a matter of shame. His heroine (and quite frequently, his family) point out that as a marquess, he’s fortunate in a society that walks over the poor and helpless, but in 1830, wealthy white privilege is a matter of fact, not social commentary.
Still, I tried to show the very human tendency to judge others on the basis of appearances or hearsay, without any evidence to prove that opinion right or wrong. I’m as guilty as anyone. I scorn books with poorly written blurbs or bad covers, assuming the writing will be equally unprofessional. I am a literary snot. I know this, but it’s an easy way of dismissing the barrage of information crossing my computer screen.
An old argument, currently revived and raging around the internet, is the one where some people insist authors cannot write about any ethnicity/race/religion/sex but their own—which pretty much leaves the entire library to white male writers since there are far more of them than anyone else. Yes, I agree that a strong female/African/Muslim point-of-view character … Read more
I think everyone understands the delicate line we all walk between looking after our own interests and looking after friends and family. So I hope you’ll understand that I’ve been treading that line a lot lately. It’s really hard to keep our balance when the unexpected occurs, even harder when tragedy strikes. We’re pulled toward … Read more
I know readers seldom think about a writer’s thought process when creating a book, but since that’s what I do all day, that’s what is on my mind most of the time. So pardon me for occasionally wandering off on mental writer acrobatics. 
I am currently drafting the latest genius mystery. These are told in first person from my main protagonist, and third person from whichever of her family has a point of view in the story.