I became motivated to self-publish my books because I couldn't seem to catch an agent's eye. For whatever reason, my queries all came back as "not for me." I never got so much as a request to read the first chapter. So, I jumped on the Indie author bandwagon and put my work out to the world.

Smashwords contributed to my success by taking the burden of submitting to multiple platforms at the same time off of my shoulders. Smashwords has a fantastic setup for indie authors allowing our books to be distributed with little to no effort on the author's part. Also, being able to price my book as free on Smashwords allowed it to be priced as free on Barnes&Noble. If I had listed directly with NOOK, I wouldn't have that option to price at free.

My greatest joy comes when I open my email and find a letter from a fan. It never gets old and I absolutely love receiving fan-mail. When I read that my writing is helping young writers be inspired to write their own books, I truly feel overjoyed! I try to respond to every reader who takes the time to contact me.

EVERYTHING! Without my fans, without my readers, I am only a wistful dreamer.

I like to read romantic suspense books. I also like to read books by other indie authors because they are raw and uncut, the same as I like to watch director's cut movies and bonus extras.

My computer. I also have a kindle app on my phone for when I'm out and about, waiting for this or that.

Free ebook promotions. I've used social media to gain many readers, but in the end, the successes I've attained have come from having book one in my series priced as free. Because of that, on Barnes&Noble I now have over 650 ratings with a 4.5 star average, and over 300 reviews on Amazon with a 4.6 star average.

Oh dear! Coffee cup, empty wine glass from last night, stack of bills, sticky notes stuck to the side of my computer hard drive, two cookbooks and two diet books elevating my computer screen, keyboard with the keys A,S,D,C,N,M,L partially rubbed off due to excessive typing. The letter E is completely gone. A hand carved log lamp with a picture of my little family from twelve years ago, and assorted hair clips and ponytail holders. Two yellow legal pads with discombobulated words, numbers, and phrases jotted down. Now if I just only remember why I thought it was important to jot it down.

I grew up in "small town" Idaho. I think my upbringing helps keep a certain level of innocence in my writing.

I began writing in the early 2000's, but I've told stories all my life. THE DICTATOR'S DAUGHTER was the first book I began working on. I was operating a home daycare at the time and would write during quiet time, and then again later in the evening.

My daughter . . . because she wants me to make her lunch. =) After I see her off to school, I take my cup of coffee and go check my numbers and statistics on the computer. It's awesome to see daily changes and discover a new email from a fan desperately wanting to know when the next book will be released. I get the most inspiration from readers who admit they don't like to read, but they loved reading my books. When they say my books have helped them become excited about reading, it just makes my day!

I like to cook, Bar-b-que, hike, watch movies, and sit and laugh with my children and husband. We're a funny bunch. We like to quote movies and do impressions.