Where have you BEEN?

I know, I know, this website has languished far too long. As anyone who's had a little too much real life thrown at them in a short period can understand, sometimes just getting through the essentials of survival take all you've got. And when you finally do level off, you've got the accumulations of all that time to dig out from under. But I'm finally there, and promise things will be a lot more active around here from now on. I'm belatedly starting a blog, and anyone who has questions or simply wants to chat, I'll be there to discuss...well, pretty much anything but politics and religion. I'm also reachable on my Facebook page and even more easily on Twitter; links to both of those are here on the site.

Is it possible to get a list of all your connected books/series?

You should find them on the books page now. They're divided by publisher, then by connection. The Justine Dare books are listed, but they're currently out of print. I hope to rectify that soon with at least e-book versions.

Are you going to do more Redstones?

I think anything after Josh's book would feel...tacked on. It all built to his story (although St. John sure as heck gave him a run for his money, and to this day I'm not sure HE shouldn't have gotten the last book!) and anything added after that would be anti-climatic. But for those who love series and connected books (and obviously I'm one of them) I can promise you I have a very special mini-series starting next spring. The connection between the books is a uncannily smart and irrepressible...dog. His name is Cutter, and I hope that you'll fall for him as hard as I did. I think he may be around a long time.

Is that really your Corvette in your publicity photos?

You mean the car that gets fan mail? Yes, that's really my baby. I've had it for years, before I ever sold my first book. We bought it cheap and my husband restored it. He was so sweet about it, first thing he wanted to do was pretty it up, but I told him that could come later, right now he needed to make it go faster. And he did. He was also very smart; after he did all that work, I could hardly complain when he wanted to build a toy of his own, now could I? I treasure it to this day, and when I take it out and that motor rumbles, it's as if he's still here, talking to me.

Your bio says you spent years in law enforcement. What did you do?

Yes, my first real job was at a beach city police department in Southern California. I was sworn, but I was not a street cop. So what does that mean? It's sometimes confusing to those outside--and apparently even to some cops who came along later, at a time when everyone but them was a civilian, and they assume it was always that way. But I digress. There are generally two categories of jobs at a police department: sworn and non-sworn. Non-sworn or civilians are the support personnel, clerks, secretaries, etc. Sworn are the police officers themselves, and, back in the dark ages when I started, communications. When I got the job (and was, I admit somewhat proudly, the first female they'd ever hired for it. And working with almost solely men really paid off in knowledge of how they think and talk) I took the oath, and accepted the responsibilities and the badge, right alongside the rest of the new guys. As it ended up years later, I was the last sworn (they called it "safety personnel" back then) person in my category in the state of California. When I finally retired to write full time, the folks who track such things in Sacramento were so glad to be able to close out the computer category they'd kept open for years just for me, that they paid for my retirement badge!

What happened with your futuristics? Any chance of more?

Hard to believe those books came out fifteen years ago. Harder to believe people still ask! I loved them, and the story of the kids that naturally would follow from LORD OF THE STORM and THE SKYPIRATE is still in the pot, bubbling away. I had the book mapped out, my editor liked the concept, but unfortunately at the time marketing of futuristics became problematical (not the first time I've been ahead of the curve!) and my publisher quit buying them. They also wanted more romantic suspense, a type of book I also love to do. However, things have changed dramatically in the publishing world, and I now have the rights back to both books, and there's now a decent chance that those books may see the light of day again, along with the much-requested third book of the trilogy.

When are you going to write Tal's story? (the wizard from FIRE HAWK)

I can't tell you how delighted I am that people fell so hard for that character! So did I, and I have the most wonderful story to tell about him. He's made it to the present day, you see, and has found a very different way to use his considerable talents. And as is the case with the futuristics, things are different now, I have the rights back to the three Hawk books as well, so there's hope!