I grew up in the Arizona desert, which is pretty funny since "Water Witch" is about a sea captain. I've only been on boats a few times, and I get horribly seasick. Going sailing in books was the only way I was going to do it, so when I had the opportunity to write about my sea captain, I really threw myself into the project.

Several years ago I was working on another project (under a different name) and I did a ton of research on ships and sailing. At the same time, I was wondering what I might write that would be... let's say... a tad more popular than the stuff I write under my other name. The answer was easy - romance!

The romance category was starting to change around that time: no longer did every romance novel have to fit the same formula of outspoken-but-innocent-woman/tall-dark-and-handsome-man/fall-in-love/HEA. I read a few books with characters I'd never seen in a romance before - Poison Study comes to mind - and I realized a sea captain would make a great heroine for a romance novel. That's not to say that my characters don't fall in love, or that there's no HEA (there is!) but I felt I had the freedom to write something a little different. Add a little fantasy (since I am a fantasy writer, after all, by any name) and I was ready to go!

I start with some ideas in mind, not that they're going to be the finished project, but to get an idea of what I like. Then I look at other book covers in the category, to see what the recent trends are. For example, a few years ago fantasy covers were dominated by icons and objects: a sword on a landscape or abstract background, for example. Now the covers are more likely to be photorealistic portraits.

Once I'd updated my idea of what I was shooting for, I started looking for stock photography that would fit this design. I've used Dreamstime.com before and I'm happy with the selection, pricing, and rights. I grabbed some screen shots (which I did *not* publish; I paid for a license to use the art once I settled on what I wanted) and I played around with some things to see what would look good. With my final layout in mind, I bought the art and assembled the cover. Then I showed it to some people. When even my friends who don't read much said it looked really good, I figured it would work.

I read all sorts of things: some fantasy and romance of course, but also mystery, literary fiction, nonfiction, essay collections, and anything else I get my hands on that looks interesting.

I've owned several different ebook readers, but currently I read on my phone because it's always with me. I thought I'd have trouble adjusting to the tiny screen but it hasn't been as bad as I originally feared. Once I get involved in the story and it starts coming to life in my mind, the format I'm using to access it doesn't seem to matter much.