I've always loved stories. When I was too young to read I loved listening to my parents and grandparents tell stories. I come from a family of storytellers. On lazy Sunday afternoons we would sit on the porch and the adults would try to top each other with outlandish tales. Some of them had a moral, some were funny, some were scary but all of them were completely enthralling. When I learned to read you could always find me with a book in my hands. The library was my favorite place in the world, and it still is. From the time I was seven, I was writing my own stories. At first they were very short and usually mimicked some fairy tale I'd read or heard. Then when I was in high school I started writing longer stories with romantic themes. A shy, awkward teen, the heroines in my stories were never like me, they were outgoing, together, and always got the cute guy. To date, I'm the author of sixteen novels and nine short stories that were included in some very interesting anthologies. I am blessed to be able to do what I was born to do: write. Because I never take my blessings for granted, I work hard at my craft and I hope it's reflected in the stories I produce. Ultimately, I write stories that I want to read. I'll say to myself, "You know, I've never read a book about African American shape-shifters, or a book in which the sea is so prominent it's like one of the major characters." So I wrote OUT OF THE BLUE. I hope you'll read it if you haven't had the chance to do so. Or I'll think to myself, "What if angels and humans mated and their offspring were still living on Earth?" So I wrote AVENGING ANGEL in the anthology, CREEPIN'. Ideas come to me in the strangest ways. Sometimes I dream them up, literally. I've always had very vivid, colorful dreams. They're better than any movie. And I remember every detail of them when I awaken. This is why I keep a dream journal. And I always suggest to aspiring writers that they keep one. You never know where your next idea is going to come from. Most of all, though, my ideas come from everyday people. Normal people who are really much more interesting than they think they are. Readers like connecting books, therefore here is the list of my connecting books: The Toni Shaw series: short story: To Love Again; All the Right Reasons, A Second Chance at Love; For Your Love and To Have and To Hold. The Everetts: This Time Forever; short stories The Keys to My Heart and Teacher's Pet. The Bryant Winery Trilogy: Waiting For You; Constant Craving and One Fine Day. The Temptation Series: Temptation's Song; Temptation's Kiss; Dance of Temptation; and A Little Holiday Temptation. The Gaines Sisters series: This Winter Night; Safe in My Arms; Thief of My Heart; Unconditionally; and Cherish My Heart. A novel related to the Gaines Sisters will be published in October 2019 called His Christmas Gift. I believe we are all special and we all have a story to tell. What's yours?
