The ability to connect with people: entertaining people with my humorous works or moving people with the serious ones. I love when people tell me they really enjoyed something I wrote, since it means I was able to bring happiness to someone's day.

I would be nowhere without my loyal and supportive fans! They keep me writing. As a new author, I was insecure about publishing my first book. Would people read it? Would they like it? But the positive feedback from my fans has given me the confidence to continue full steam ahead with my mystery series.

A fan is much more important than a sale. I would rather have people read my work for free and love it than sell my work to someone who didn't care so much for my writing.

The sequel to "Bluff." It's a mystery called "Feed the Kitty."

Painting, reading, walking/hiking, hanging out with friends, watching movies, and working at my full-time job--which also involves writing.

It was called "Murder on Sheldon Street" and I was about 8 years old. Sheldon Street was in our neighborhood and a little spooky. I wrote the story (which was about 6 mini-pages long), bound it (with a staple), and did the cover art. I even taped Saran Wrap over the cover like the books in the library. I was a self-published author before it became popular!

I try to write every day when I'm working on a novel, otherwise the ideas dry up. I hear the scene in my head as a dialog, so my first draft often looks like a screenplay. Then, once I've captured the essence of what happens between the characters, I go back later and add narrative descriptions and more action. It helps if I write it out longhand first - that prevents the editor in me from endlessly reworking the same section to get it perfect. Computers make it too easy to cut and paste and move things around.

I'm also an artist so I usually have an idea of what I want by the time I'm done with the manuscript. I draw it out and then give it to my cover designer (I'm not proficient with computer graphics) and she adds her magic touch.

Mysteries (but nothing too dark or disturbing), chick lit, self-help, romance....and anything that comes with a good recommendation.

I have a Kindle.

Word of mouth has been my #1. Despite all my best efforts (and I've tried lots of things), it's usually my fans who seem to get me the most new readers!