When brainstorming for my latest series, Rough, Tough and Tumble, I knew I wanted to tell a story about a particular kind of character–or in this case three. I didn’t want traditional heroes with normal or squeaky clean lives. The time travel experiment is dangerous and illegal, so the doctors in charge need people as…
Category: Behind the Scenes
Behind the Scenes: Demitri’s Devil – Fear
Fear. It’s a powerful word with a wide reach. Everyone has fears, whether they’re deep and sometimes overwhelming, or minor and controllable. Everyone handles fear differently, sometimes in ways that are unexpected or misunderstood. In Demitri’s Devil, both the hero and heroine seem outwardly fearless. Demitri has been trained to lead his tribe. He’s the…
Behind the Scenes: Enslaved-Judging a Book by Its Cover
In Naughty Nights: Enslaved, Strongsea is a man of new ideas in a society that prizes tradition. I enjoyed writing about him because in a many ways he’s a contradiction. He’s a compassionate man trapped in a violent world. He has learned not only how to survive, but to incite changes. Strongsea looks gentle compared…
Behind the Scenes: Mate Marks: Breath – Carnal Colors
It’s easy to know when Flick, the shapeshifting hero of Mate Marks: Breath, is aroused. Yes, he displays the same characteristics of a human male and “rises” to the occasion, but in his Froth Glider form, he turns from gold to bright orange when he’s in the mood for love. Froth Gliders have both…
Behind the Scenes: Mate Marks: Thirst—Malika’s Museum
Lots of different things inspire book ideas or help build characters. Sometimes things stick in your mind and you know there’s a story there, but it might take a long time to uncover. A very long time ago, when I was a kid, I went on a trip with my family and we stopped at…
Behind the Scenes: Mate Marks: Hunger-Cattitude
One of the things I enjoy most about writing animal shifters is building their world by researching and observing animals in the natural world. I’ve based some shifters on snakes, badgers, raccoons, frogs, sea turtles, wolves, cats, and hawks. Most of the time learning the characteristics of certain animals means a lot of reading. Other…
Behind the Scenes: Silk Bonds—Fantasy and Reality in Romance Fiction
One question that writers often get asked is how do you come up with your ideas? For me ideas come from many different sources. Even paranormal stories usually have some spark of reality. In my recent novella, Silk Bonds, the heroine has undergone a major lifestyle change. After being injured in an accident, she is…
Behind the Scenes: Back to Haunt You-Mother & Daughter
Some characters in books are nothing at all like their authors. For me, many of my characters are completely separate people and I usually feel like they’re telling me their story and letting me know who they are. I don’t always agree with what they say and do, but I understand their motivations. On the…