What I Write

When it comes to reading, I am a fan of just about everything. I have dozens of favorite authors. Some of my favorites are F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dean Koontz, Sandra Brown and Heather Graham. But, I have been influenced in my own writing by so many others. When I read now it’s part entertainment, part education. As I read through books I jot down things that interest me, new words, new ways to structure sentences or chapters. By the end of the book I’ve thought of half a dozen ways the query letter for the book would have been written.

While my reading tastes vary, I am most comfortable writing Romantic Suspense. A true sucker for romance, I wouldn’t know how to write an entire book without it. I enjoy the process of building the relationship and the way love can make a strong character even stronger. But, the suspense is just as important to me. Each time I come up with a new idea for a novel, the first focus and thought is about the antagonist. What kind of villain will they be? What will their motivation be? And, most importantly, how will they change my main characters? How will they make them stronger, and how will they be overcome?

Currently, I’m working on a novel set on Amelia Island, FL. The romance comes from a broken, seemingly irreparable, relationship. Their biggest hurdle is a life changing secret. However, like in most romantic suspense novels, the chaos surrounding them eventually paves the road to rebuilding the broken relationship. What’s fun about writing is that even when the very base of the novel seems ordinary, it’s your characters and how they get where they’re going that make it extraordinary. I am drawn to funky characters and characters who are a little bit unusual. Who have issues and quirks, but strong moral compasses and goals.

At the end of it all I want my novel to be one that a reader can get lost in. The characters should become a reader's friends and enemies. I love when I finish reading a book and miss the characters. That’s my hope for anyone who reads my writing.