This past summer, I took a research trip to the UK, where I went to some of my characters’ favorite haunting grounds in London, a side trip to Stonehenge, and finally to Brighton, where I was able to peek at a very interesting Regency-era locale: The Royal Pavilion. …
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Readers don’t fall in love with books–they fall in love with heroes. That’s wisdom I heard early in my romance writing career. The implication was, writing a great heroine was secondary to writing a man who readers wanted to date. This was hard for me to hear as someone…
For me, writing a book is akin to watching a film – albeit exceptionally slowly, over the course of several months to a year. Visualizing characters, their setting, costumes. Imagining embellishments such as the texture of a hanbok, the way Rui’s hair might flutter in a stray wind, the…
When you think Contemporary Romance, Persian girls don’t come to mind. That’s because, other than my books, I’m not sure how many romances have Iranian women main characters. Not ones set here in the states, living average, every day, American lives. Or at least as average as it gets…
What’s currently on my nightstand isn’t dystopian, it isn’t YA—it isn’t even fiction! It’s The Beekeeper’s Handbook by Diana Sammataro & Alphonse Avitabile, and—surprise, surprise—it’s all about how to keep bees. Beekeeping is something I’d love to do, but because there’s so much knowledge that’s needed, I’m doing my research…
I love music, and I take a ton of inspiration from my favorite songs when I’m writing a book. I have vivid memories of playing one song on repeat while I was writing Escaping Eleven, and that’s Snake Eyes, by Mumford & Sons. To me, it captures the budding romance…
5 reasons you need to read Escaping Eleven You’ll forget about everything else in your life. I mean it. Not only is Escaping Eleven fast-paced, but it’s super intense. The action, the emotion—it’s all ramped up to the extreme, and it’s totally unrelenting. You’ll fall seriously in love with the…
I’m not a fan of slasher movies—no Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street for me—but I am a huge fan of paranormal movies. There’s something out there for every taste, but here are my personal Top 5 Picks. 1. T HE CROW. This 1994 film staring Brandon…
I began writing ONE NIGHT STAND AFTER ANOTHER in January of 2021… Did I make a New Year’s resolution? Who remembers? All I know is that during the pandemic I’d begun going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. 5 am seemed like a great time to coffee up and…
Is that really a thing? I say it is! If you look at my bio, you’ll see the first of my hobbies listed near the end is…wait for it…cooking! When I was a wee lass, my mother taught me how to bake cookies, pies, and cakes. I got…