Oh, my! I read many genres from mystery to women's fiction and mainstream. If it's a good story, I'll read it. Books and stories have been a big part of my life for years. When I was a kid, I'd get four books out of the library at a time and often return a day or so later to get four more. There was a limit, or I probably would've toted eight or more books home. In the summer, one of my girlfriends and I would ride our bikes to a wooded area a mile up the road and sit on an abandoned car seat and read all day. We'd only pause for the lunch and snacks we brought, then get back to it.

Currently, some of my favorite authors are Kristy Woodson Harvey, John Sandford, Dennis Lehane, Harlan Coben, Laura Lippman, Louise Penny, Anne Tyler.... and many more.

I have a Kindle.

Really. People want to know about this mess? Okay, here we go.
On the left is a stack of small things: pictures, a sketch pad, a small notebook with a pen, a scattering of business cards, and a small calendar where I keep track of review assignments.
In the middle is a large monitor.
On the right is a paper where I keep track of doctor appointments. When you get to a certain age, there are a lot. Sigh...
Next is my computer tower, with a printer beside it. Then coffee on a coaster, and a large notebook where I keep track of chapters in a current work in progress.
That is all below a hutch that has shelves with treasures from lovely cards someone has sent me, to framed pictures, to small figurines. On the top shelve is an amazing collection of angels that were all gifts from my husband.
My brother recently mentioned that if I ever have to downsize again, there are a lot of things to get rid of. So I gave him a little donkey that had been here. :-)

First a little bit about the first book. Open Season launched the series following the tragic shooting that left Sarah’s long-time partner dead as well as a young black kid. Sarah hated that she’d been the one to pull the trigger on the kid, but she had no choice. The kid had just shot her partner, and she was next in his line of sight.

To quell the community outrage that erupted in the city, the DPD top brass thought it would be a good idea to partner Sarah with a newly minted detective who just happened to be Black. That was better PR than policy, and neither woman was fooled about what motivated the pairing.

Racial injustice is an issue I’ve always had an interest in, and it continues to be an ongoing subplot in all the books. In college, my sociology professor introduced me to the Civil Rights movement – yes, I’m older than dirt – and I was horrified at what some people will do to those they consider lesser beings than themselves.

Marriage, kids, and the time involved with raising a family took center stage for many years, but I never forgot what I learned in that sociology class.

I’ve always had an interest in law enforcement, too, and knew I’d found my niche when I started reading the 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain. I liked the diversity of his cast of characters and in writing the Seasons Series I created a diverse cast, while also playing against stereotype. The most obvious instance of flipping stereotypes is with Angel who grew up in a stable, middle-class family, and Sarah who “came up hard and poor.”

Melding my social awareness with my growing love of police-procedural mysteries seemed like a natural, but since I had little experience with law-enforcement, other than the occasional speeding ticket, lots of research went into developing the series. A good friend and fellow writer, who was also a detective on the Dallas force, introduced me to officers who were willing to give me the down and dirty. One of them was a young Black woman who’d just made detective. She sure opened the eyes of this white woman, and I liked her so much that she became Angel in Open Season.

I started writing short stories when I was a kid, mostly about horses because I was in love with the beautiful creatures and the way they were described in the Black Stallion Series. Living in a suburb of Detroit, I had little opportunity to see a real horse.
When I was twelve, my English teacher, unbeknownst to me, sent one of my stories to the Detroit News Scholastic Writing Awards, where it was honored.
I was thrilled, especially because I got to go downtown Detroit to the grand Fisher Theatre that looked like a palace and made me feel like a princess. I was sure that I would subsequently grow up to be a rich and famous writer.
Still waiting on the rich and famous part.

Not an easy question to answer in just a few words as there are many best things.

When actually in the process of writing a new story, it's always a thrill when the characters come to life and start talking to me. I write without an outline, so I count on the people to tell me where the story is going. Sometimes they go down a path I'd rather not, and I have to rein them in, but overall they direct the plot and give me the dialogue. I love it when I start a scene, not sure where it's going, and they take charge.

And when that morphs into a big creative surge where the words just start tumbling out -- what a high!!

Another wonderful aspect of being a writer is attending signing events or giving a presentation, where people comment that they've read one of my books and loved it. Since writing is such a solitary endeavor, that kind of affirmation in person means so much.

The main motivation for going indie was when Five Star/Cengage decided to drop the mystery line. They were a great team to work with on three of my books, One Small Victory, then Open Season and Stalking Season. I was writing the third book, Desperate Season, when I got word they were not going to publish mysteries any more.

That was quite a disappointment on several levels. They produced lovely hardcover books that were sold mainly to libraries, but that was okay, especially when the books also got great reviews from Library Journal and Publisher's Weekly. I appreciated the professional editing and formatting that comes with a traditional publisher.

But... there I was with a book almost finished and no publisher. After a few attempts to find another publisher, I decided to release the book myself. Twenty years ago, I might have spent more time trying to get back with a traditional publisher, but, well, I didn't want to wait.

So, I hired an editor and formatter and graphic artist to create the cover, and a few months later published the book.

Some writers go indie because they have problems with a publisher, but that has never been the case with me. Both of the companies I worked with a number of years ago, both for nonfiction and fiction, had a terrific staff and editors I learned a lot from.

Currently I'm what is referred to as a Hybrid Author. I have a lot of self-published books, but also have one with a small company, Uncial Press and several with Next Chapter Publishing.

Totally not a fair question. Almost akin to asking a parent which child they like best. But if you promise not to tell, I'll admit I'm partial to one of my daughters. If they see this interview, they can have fun figuring out which one it is. :-)

Seriously, I think while I'm in the process of writing a story, that's my favorite one because I'm really emotionally invested in it. However, like the above admission, I will say that there is a special place in my heart for Evelyn Evolving, the book I wrote about my mother's life. While we didn't always have the best of relationships when I was young, I came to understand that the way she treated me and my sister was just because that was the way she was treated in the orphanage. She had no "mom" training.

After years and years of trying to write about her life, it wasn't until after she died, that the story started to flow. Maybe that was the way it had to be, although I think she would've been pleased to see that I presented her as a flawed, but strong woman. Stronger than her mother for sure.

It was a thrill when I found Next Chapter Publishing and they took a chance on me and the book. And created that amazing cover!!