Who the heck is this woman?
Or as a former employer of mine used to say on particularly bad days, “Why are we even here?” Good question.
Why do I write?
I always liked writing but originally planned to be an astronaut. Or a reporter. Or maybe a spy. But NASA was not accepting females at the time, I hate asking intrusive questions, my eyes are bad, and I’m not good at foreign languages. And I really, really liked reading.
But why historical fiction/romance, you ask?
After re-reading Georgette Heyer’s novels for the umpteenth time, I decided to try writing something similar. She wasn’t going to write another, having been dead for forty years by then. My first attempt didn’t turn out like a Heyer novel but I found a publisher and about eleven months later was delivered of my first published romance.
Why the 1740s in particular?
Studying 18th century novels in college, we were assigned to research and write about the year one of the novels was published. I chose Samuel Richardson’s Pamela, published in 1740. The intellectual curiosity, the interest in science, the contrasts, and the robust enjoyment of life fascinated me.
Hobbies? I’ve got a few.
I enjoy writing, costume, recreating old recipes, cats (as housemates), and reading historical romance, historical fiction in general, mysteries, some fantasy, and some mainstream fiction. I love doing research for my books and am picky about getting the details right. I also own four spinning wheels in various stages of repair.
The bio stuff
I grew up in Alaska, where winters encouraged staying in and reading.
A Master’s Degree in English prepared me to work a variety of jobs: light bookkeeping, security officer, and paralegal. The long stint in a law firm is probably why 18th century English law tends to creep into my books, as well as elements of crime, and the cutting edge science and commerce of the 1740s.
Before my historical romances, my proudest moments were the sale of two stories to the late Robert Bloch (of Psycho fame) for anthologies. Let me stress that he wasn’t “the late” Robert Bloch at the time.
I now live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where art is in the air. It’s drier, smaller, and cheaper than Seattle, and also has Hatch chiles (yes, in New Mexico, this is the correct spelling). I haven’t had a sinus infection or bronchitis since leaving Seattle.