I grew up in Arkansas. Almost all of my stories are set in the American South. There's such a different culture here-- food, music, art, literature, and especially superstitions. Living in central Arkansas, I'm around three hours from Memphis, six hours from Dallas, Nashville, Kansas City, and St, Louis, and about eight hours from Atlanta and New Orleans. Each of the cities has a different feel, but they are all united by a feeling of "Southern-ness," even though Kansas city and St Louis are more midwestern. There's a mythology in the south that lends itself to great fiction.

I have- for the first time in my life- a desk. I've been writing for years, but my "writing space" has always involved a lap tray and a corner of the couch! My desk is small, about two and a half feet across. The main writing surface is about 18 inches deep. It holds my laptop, a notepad, and a few fountain pens. There's a small shelf along the back, and it holds several bottles of fountain pen inks (I write my first drafts my hand), a jar of Pepper Imps and a Honeydukes jar of Sherbert Lemons (from the Wizarding Word of Harry Potter), and Moriarity and Gerard Way Pop Vinyls.

I don't really remember. I know I started making up stories as soon as I could talk. I remember acting out elaborate scenes with my toys when I was very young. I was a self-taught reader, and I'm ging to assume I started writing stories down as soon as I could write.

I published two novels with a traditional publisher several years ago. I took some time away from writing to focus on my daughter (I'm a single mom), and when I decided to write again, the landscape was dramatically different. I submitted my upcoming novel to my former publisher and was told that it was well-written, but the romance wasn't a strong enough focal point of the story. I felt if I submitted it to any other romance houses, I would get the same response. I knew I could either take out the meat of the story and focus on the romance or I could cut out the romance and focus on the paranormal and submit to a fantasy imprint or I could stay true to my vision of the story and be an independent author. I chose to be independent so that I could have complete control over all aspects of the process-- my story, the cover, the marketing, and the price.

Getting to know my characters. They start off as strangers to me, and through the writing they become real. I'm not an organized writer. I don't do character worksheets or outlines. Sitting down and watching my characters do the unexpected is always a treat, and I love finding out new things about my characters.

I don't know if it's the first one I wrote, but the first one I remember was about a unicorn who fell in love with a girl. I was in elementary school.

I'm halfway through the first draft of the second "Bound by Blood" novel. I'm also working on a few free short stories that expand on the characters and universe that will be introduced in "Bad Blood."

I'm also working on (I have so many stories going on) a novel about a group of superheroes that masquerade as a rock band. The band (Heartbreak Overture) broke up several years ago, but an authoritarian despot has taken over the government, so the heroes have to regroup to save the world. This is a completely new genre for me. I don't know if it will ever see the light of day, but it's fun.

I search the #amwriting tag on Twitter and to find new writers to read. I also search keywords on Smashwords to find books that I would be interested in.

My e-reader of choice is my Kindle Voyage. I know dedicated e-readers aren't as popular as they were, but I'm on my third Kindle. I find it lighter, easier on the eye, and easier to keep charged! I still have the Kindle app on my phone in case I'm out and have time to read, but given a choice, I'll always go for my Voyage.

Morning Pages. I started doing Morning Pages about six months ago, and as soon as I wake up, I know my notebook is waiting on me and that I should write before my brain wakes up. It's become a deeply ingrained habit and if I have to miss a day (I've missed two days in six months) it just feels off.

I listen to a lot of music, and I like to play classic video games. I still love Super Mario World and old Zelda games.