I'm an OCD neat freak when it comes to my desk. My laptop is centered and surrounding it is my drink (probably some over caffeinated soda for writing fuel) on its coaster, my tablet, and my Droid for easy access to any notes I may have made while wondering the streets of Cincinnati.

I grew up in the country south of Dallas about a half hour's drive in a little city called Midlothian, Texas. Now Midlothian has turned into quite the sprawling mini-metroplex and continues to grow at an astronomical rate, but when I was younger it wasn't much larger than Mayberry. Everyone knew everyone. If you were a kid and wanting to get into mischeif? Fuggedaboutit!
I think the most productive way that growing up in that environment helped my writing is the nature. I love nature and often place my characters in the wild outdoors or running around on the outskirts of town. I try to write about what I know, thought at times that doesn't seem like much! Especially when the dreaded writer's block disease kicks in.

I think I first started writing when I was in High School. I was an avid reader ever since I read "Where the Red Fern Grows" and cried my eyes out. That novel made me realize that something as simple as words on a page could touch another person so profoundly and I decided then and there that that's what I wanted to do. Then I joined the Navy, had a family, and lost track of time, but I've found my way back to my love of literature even though it's taken almost a decade.

Is this a trick question? I'm always writing and sometimes on multiple books at once so that's rather difficult to answer and we'd be here all day. I'll leave it to a two part answer for that reason. "Shifting Sky" is about a young teenage girl coming of age in a troubled home. Her parents divorced when her older sister went missing years before causing her mother to move to Alaska and her father to become an alcoholic. She's struggles with her new home in Alaska (quite different from Texas) and is shy so meeting new friends can be a challenge. Top it all off with the fact that she has been genetically challenged with a gene that has skipped generations causing her to be a shape shifter who turns into an adorable furry animal that a hunter decides he wants as a trophy. She tries to learn about her abilities and the reason why she is who she is while still trying to hold onto the who she was. It's a touching, heartwarming story of the end of childhood and first loves. "Into the Darkness," which I'm currently working on is the second out of a planned three books in the Shifting Sky series. It continues on with Sky's story as she meets and befriends Nik Liakos, a druid who has descended from a long line of druids entrusted with the responsibility of protecting all the lore of the supernatural world against those that may wish to take it from him to wreak havoc.

When I first started to look into publishing "Shifting Sky" is when I learned about query letters, agents, editors, and the several year process to turn a manuscript into a bestselling novel. With a little more digging, I found the self-publishing industry and how user friendly it can be. I though, I can do that! And, I have been ever since.

I would have to say the glow on my son's face as he reads the book dedicated to him and see his little eyes light up as he becomes engrossed in Sky's world and her story.

The world! If there were no fans, who would I be writing for? Obviously I write because I enjoy it and it's my passion, but that originally stemmed from my love of reading and being touched by something someone else created out of thoughts in their minds. Without the thought of someone actually picking up my book and reading it, I don't know that I would have continued writing.

After I finish with the Shifting Sky series, I plan on writing an end of the world thriller titled "False Alarm." It's set in Cincinnati, where I now call home, and focuses on a wide assortment of individuals and couples from all walks of life. When I first moved to Cincinnati I happened to be meandering through the streets of downtown one Wednesday morning when I suddenly heard sirens sounding that typically herald bad weather. I was confused since it was a beautiful and bright sunny day. Then, I was absolutely flummoxed when no one responded to the sirens around me. It seemed as if the world had gone deaf. When I questioned a friend I was informed that the sirens were tested the first Wednesday of every month at exactly noon. I, of course, thought but what if. What if this Wednesday there were an actual emergency at noon and the idea snowballed from there. How do people respond? Who lives? What happened to the tourist family visiting the sites who reacted? What about the pregnant lady stuck in the parking garage of her doctor's office or the elderly couple driving in to town from the fields?

Ooh, that's a toughie. I read books from such a wide variety of genres that to pick just a few is heartbreaking. I'd have to say though, that Stephen King is an all time favorite. I love J. K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series. And host? *sighs* Outside of them, the literary world is my oyster. If it's well written, edited well for grammar and punctuation, and has a great plot with characters that you can relate to then I'm sold!

My alarm's incessant nagging and my husband's (figurative) foot telling me that I need to get back to work.

I love the outdoors in any setting whether I'm walking through the streets of downtown or taking a hike through a city or state park. I enjoy seeing movies. Especially movies based on novels. I love to read the novels beforehand and see how the movies compare. It's rare when a movie surpasses the novel, but I enjoy it nonetheless. I'm an avid reader of course, like any novelist. I can't get enough! I love spending time with my husband and son, though when they plan the camping trips it can get a little scary (joking).

Typically I find them by word of mouth, surfing Amazon.com Top 100 lists, or by blogs that I receive daily/weekly newsletters from.