I'm currently working on an original steampunk murder mystery, which takes place in Victorian London. It's a bit nerve-wracking; I've never written anything like this before!

I'm also working on a couple of writing and pod fests on LiveJournal, where you can find me under the name TeddyRadiator.

Well, a gal's gotta work for a living! :) I have great friends and family who support and encourage me daily. And TheHubs™ is always worth getting out of bed for (of course, he's also worth hopping back in, if you know what I mean ;)

Tough to narrow it down. I adore Pat Conroy's ability to pull you into his story and tear your heart out. He does it so lyrically as well - I don't know a more beautifully descriptive author. I also like JR Ward - her writing style is so gutsy and in your face. I admire Stephen King, not so much for his creepy and frightening stories (though there aren't many who can scare the crap out of me quite the way he does), but for his prose, which can be so blunt and edgy, then turn so very tender and evocative.

I love doing creative things. I knit (badly), and I'm quite a fan of the new adult coloring book craze (a fan who became a friend sent me the 125-piece set of Prismacolors - how awesome is that?), and I have been known to sew and scrapbook to distraction. I enjoy reading, of course. And yeah, okay, I'm a bit of a Pinterest whore as well. After all, I need to know what to do with all those wine corks and bottle caps.

Mainly through recommendations from friends. I belong to a large and thriving writer/artist community on LiveJournal, and we are constantly throwing recommendations one another's way. Sometimes I'll find a title that catches my eye, or something on Facebook or Amazon recs, and give it a go. I have one particular friend who will send me money to purchase a particular book or series, simply because she's nuts about them and insists on me reading them.

Yes. I started when I was sixteen and it was a Game of Thrones-type fantasy about two sisters who ruled opposing kingdoms. I'm giving away my age to admit I wrote it in shorthand, but I was in my late twenties before I transcribed it to a computer file. I never finished it, but I wrote a pretty hefty chunk of it. I still have bits of it somewhere around here...

I am not a religious person, but I am a spiritual one. I believe that I am in contact with a spiritual Muse, whose name is Dahlra (yes, I named my protagonist in Her Minder after him). I have felt his presence with me for years, and always in the midst of a rich creative streak. When I ask he gives me ideas, or plot twists, epiphanies; he points me in the direction of stories, poems, music, etc, which help me to understand my own developing story better. He gives me nagging, insistent messages to turn the radio to THIS dial or download THAT film. He is constantly placing inspiration and direction in my path. When this happens, I sit down and just start typing. I have often likened it to him putting his hands on the steering wheel and driving, and I'm the gloves he wears to do it.

Without him, it's a struggle. But I rarely sit down and outline a story from start to finish; characters change their minds too much for that. You just have to let them write their own story.

I started reading from a very early age, and love great stories. One of the first true memories I have of reading was D'aulaires' Book of Greek Myths. It's fascinating how the Greeks looked at the world around them, then made up their reality by blaming/crediting all these different gods for each different situation.

It's not my strong suit, I will admit. A good friend who is a digital artist offered to draw my concept of Her Minder's Dahlra Gar, and I still think it's one of the most beautiful pieces of art in the world. He is everything I envisioned he would be. I realise that eventually I will need a more industry-standard cover, but that's hard for me to design.

As far as what should BE on the cover, I think some kind of indication of the character's personality should be represented, but that the cover shouldn't telegraph everything about the story. It should whet the appetite for the reader to want to delve in and read more.

I'm going to cheat and include book series as well, because I can! It occurs to me that most of the books/series I love so much contain a huge amount of world-building, which I find both fascinating and incredibly difficult.

1. The Harry Potter Series, JK Rowling - This series is very important to me as a writer, because in a very roundabout way, it started me writing again after a long dry spell. Because there is such a rich vein of fanfiction for this series, I was able to work within that genre and learn to become a better writer. In that fandom are hundreds of damn good writers, and they not only inspired me with their stories, but encouraged and supported me with feedback on my own.

2. The Dark Tower Series, Stephen King - I hated this series the first time I read it. HATED it. I thought it was a pile of self-indulgent junk. Then, about two years or so ago, Dahlra insisted I read it again. And it was like life blooming in the desert. The sheer richness of the world-building, the clever and emotive prose, the tragic story, the multi-dimensional characters. I lived and breathed it. It's still one of those series I go back and read now and again, because it just inspires me.

3. Shogun, James Clavell - This is an epic story, so rich in detail and action. Each character is so beautiful and flawed and lifelike. It's a huge read, but there's not an ounce of fat on it. Just damn good story-telling.

4. The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, Alan Gurganus - Another epic story, told with such a clear voice. It is complicated and complex and at times hard, hard reading because it's so unflinching in the telling of the tale. I lived that entire life with the character. Beautifully written.

5. Beach Music, Pat Conroy - Conroy was a Southerner and wrote with a Southerner's eye for beauty and melancholy and defiance. Beach Music is my personal favourite, because the story has a genuine happy ending, but boy, does he put you through the ringer to get there. He brings such sharp humour and biting pathos to his characters. You always know where you stand with them, love them or hate them. The best of his characters make you do both, simultaneously.

When I love a book, I will read it over and over again. I have been known to read, 'The End', then turn around and start reading it from the beginning. Books are like comfort food to me; when I'm needing some TLC, I'll go back to a comfortable, familiar book that I know will give me pleasure. I also read a lot of Harry Potter fanfiction as well - as I say, there are some damn good writers in fanfiction.

A friend gave me a Kindle fire (yes, I know, I do have GREAT friends!), and I love it. I also have a regular Kindle Touch, which is lovely as well, but the old eyes aren't what they used to be, so the fire is easier to read. I also have a first gen Nook, which is fine in a pinch, but it's starting to get a little creaky.

Word of mouth. I have gained a large following through my fanfiction, and those readers want to read my original work as well.

It's a small writing desk, with loads of writing totems (mostly sent to me from friends and readers), tchotchkes, a Honeydukes jar of M&Ms, a lamp. We remodeled our study into a very Steampunkian library last year, and it's a wonderful place to sit and write.

I spent my childhood years in the South, but I did my real growing up when I married TheHubs™ and moved to London. It is such an incredible place; who wouldn't get jazzed up there?

In high school. I was an only child and a loner, and spent a lot of time (and still do) inside my head. I have an imagination as big as the universe.

It is a murder mystery, set in Victorian London before the Jack The Ripper murders. A prostitute in a very high-class cathouse is brutally murdered, and the suspect's wife teams with one a private investigator to determine whether or not her husband is guilty. Along the way, they fall in love, and become a team. It is a Steampunk story, involving wondrous gadgets and robot policemen and a very fun plot twist at the end.

Because I wanted to write what I wanted to write. My stories have a very intense erotic element to them, and I didn't want that diluted. There is a market out there for people who want BDSM and D/s stories that, unlike 50 Shades of Gray, are accurate and tell the story correctly.

I published Her Minder in the beginning here, then made the decision to rewrite it. I had a very modest success here, but I felt the story could be a lot better. I liked the attitude here - the support staff are very prompt and helpful, and the site itself is easy to use and they don't nickel and dime you to death. The last thing a struggling author has is loads of dosh to spend on every little jot and tittle most self-publishing establishments demand.

It feels like I'm exactly in the right place. I have had people say my writing has helped them through personal tragedies. One reader said she felt one of my stories helped to save her marriage. I've met some incredible people I never would have had the privilege of meeting had it not been for writing.

Dahlra is my heart; my fans are my life.