In 1992, I wrote a self-help book and began to look around for a publisher. Although I'd been a successful free-lance writer in Maine for nearly two decades, my book was turned down by 21 publishers. After banging my head against the wall, I decided to take an alternative direction and I started my own publishing company, White Wave. I published "Learning to SOAR!" in 1993, and the book sold more than 1,000 copies in the first year, more than exceeding my expectations (and easily paying for itself). Thus, it was only natural that when I conceived of the Sovereign Series in 2012 I follow the self-publishing route. I love having control over my book from start to finish. I work very closely with my artist, Peter Harris Creative, to come up with the perfect covers (and layouts) for the books, and I decide the price, and when and where to sell the novels. The social medias help me get the word out about the Sovereign Series, plus I still have a few friends in the Maine press who have been great at getting me publicity.

(laughs) Well, like farmers of old, I organize my year according to the agricultural calendar. I plant in the spring (we grow most of our own food), make hay in the summer, harvest in the fall, and write books in the winter. It's a perfect fit. Also, when I'm dragging the tedder (a piece of haying equipment) around the field in June and August, I'm also working on the next book in my head, running dialogue and creating scenes. So when I throw another piece of maple into the woodstove on January 1st and sit down at the laptop to start my next book, the words come flooding out of me. I'm so ready to write that the book practically writes itself!

I love to give people hope, and also the opportunity to escape from what may be a crazy world for a while. When I was a teenager, I wrote a poem that I wanted to have etched into my gravestone on my death: "Writing is my greatest joy; I live to give again. If I could pick a place in time, I would so with a pen." I think that says it all.

My fans give me a reason to get up every day. About a decade ago I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Since then, I've lived with more and more pain. It sucks, as anyone with chronic pain knows. Every year it seems I'm physically able to do less and less. However, fortunately I can still do the two things I love most: write and drive a tractor. However, I don't think I could keep writing without my fans giving me positive feedback -- letting me know that my life has meaning. (Of course, I still do have the cows depending on me for their winter meal, but it isn't quite the same.)

I'm currently doing the research for Book 3 in the Sovereign Series, "The Songbird of Sovereign." When I originally conceived the series, I envisioned 3 books; however, my early fans of Book 1, "Hens & Chickens," fell in love with one particular character, Miss Hastings (an 87-year-old retired music teacher), and told me that Miss Hastings deserved her own book. Thus Book 2.5 -- now Book 3 -- came into being. I'm very excited about this novel because it's a look back in time at Miss Hasting's early life and love. I'm chomping at the bit to begin writing, but I want to have all my research done and my ducks in a row before I hit the keyboards on January 1, 2014. Look for "The Songbird of Sovereign" in July 2014. That will be followed by (what was the original Book 3) Book 4, "The Minister's Daughter," in 2015 and "The Sovereign Series Cookbook" (also in 2015). That will conclude the Sovereign Series, and I'll move on ...

Jane Austen, Anthony Trollope and I've just added Elizabeth von Arnim. I love 19th century fiction, the English, the Americans and the Russians. People ask me who are my favorite modern authors and I say, "I don't have any, 'cause I haven't got much past 1910 yet." And that's the truth. I haven't read more than 2 or 3 "modern" novels, which helps keep my work fresh and different. However, some readers do have difficulties with my 19th century style, which is often wordy, and sprinkled with some unfamiliar turns of phrase. Also, the switch from 3rd person to 1st person occasionally confounds and angers some readers, who aren't familiar with this older style. I ask them to be patient and give it a whirl. Some do. Some don't. Some just tell me I need a good editor and don't have a clue that I'm utilizing a style that was common 200 years ago.

(laughs again) No way! One thing I am NOT is an editor! When I published my book "Learning to SOAR!" in 1993, a poet friend of mine edited the book and I was amazed by how much better it became. Sadly, he had passed by the time I conceived of the Sovereign Series, so I couldn't turn to him again. Instead, after finishing the 1st draft of "Hens & Chickens," I solicited the aid of about a dozen friends and family members who had some reading comprehension skills and editing abilities. Well, 3 or 4 of them took this task to heart, and provided me with GREAT editorial insight. I used the same group for Book 2 in the series, and, whether they know it or not, I'm depending on my team for Books 3 and 4. In addition, I also use at least 2 proof-readers. I can't stress how important proof-reading is! Nothing makes a book look chintzy and juvenile more than pages full of errors. I'm always surprised by how many Indie authors don't take the necessary steps to produce clean and clear copy. Each book is like a baby to me, and I want my baby to be as beautiful as possible!

I met my husband in 1997, when he was planting two acres of cranberry vines. I was a beginning beekeeper at the time, and, although I was new to town, I went to see him to see if he wanted to use my bees to pollinate his cranberries. He said, "Yes," and I started to call him "the Cranberry Man." We were both married (to other people) then, and it never occurred to me that (after our divorces) we'd get together. By that time I'd been using this nickname for nearly 15 years, and I couldn't stop calling him "the Cranberry Man." He's a big help to me in winter, when I'm writing, because I simply disappear down into our daylight basement next to the woodstove and he stays upstairs and does the cooking and the cleaning. Everyone should have a "Cranberry Man" in their lives!

Oh, I don't know if I could narrow it down to just one person. I come from two families of very independent women, and they were all role models for me: my Mom, my grandmothers, and my great-grandmothers. In addition, the woman upon whom Miss Hastings' character was modeled, Bess Klain, was very important in my life. She was a fabulous music teacher in the Oxford Hills area of Maine, who loved children and was so supportive and encouraging with them. She always told me -- and everyone else that would listen -- that I was going to grow up and become something very special. I believed her. Of course, I didn't know that she told this to ALL the children, but it doesn't matter. Miss Klain truly believed that we kids were all special and treated us this way. I'd like to think that I do and have done the same with kids, but I often fall short of Bess Klain. She was my heroine!

I decided to become a writer when I was six. I had started Kindergarten in New Jersey, and then half way through the year we moved back to Maine. New Jersey had "progressive" schools that didn't teach reading and writing until first grade, but in Maine, Kindergartners were taught their letters. So I was the "dumb" kid in the class. As a result, my Dad tried to teach me how to read using flash cards. Remember flash cards? One day he held up a card that read "blue" followed by the card "dress." Well, in that instant, I GOT IT! I knew that blue modified dress -- and I'd always wanted a blue dress (we were pretty poor and I only got one dress per year, then). The power of words surged through me and I've never forgotten that thrill, sorta like seeing Heaven. I decided then and there that I was going to harness that power. I started writing poetry soon after that, and moved on to short stories and then novels. I've written probably 10 or more novels in my life, but I never considered any of them good enough to publish until I wrote "Hens & Chickens" in 2012. (laughs) Maybe I'll need to revisit some of those old books when I'm done writing the Sovereign Series, though!

Absolutely! When I write, I see the action progressing in my head, sort of like watching a movie. I think both of the books in the Sovereign Series written so far could be made into GREAT movies, particularly "Hens & Chickens." In fact, it's on my list of things to do to write the screenplay for "Hens & Chickens," that's after I get the hay cut, the cows fed, and the other two books in the series written, of course!