Why gay romance?
That question comes up occasionally. Some people think it’s weird that I am interested in gay fiction. I can’t understand why; I’m a heterosexual woman interested in men. And if one man is sexy, two men are twice as hot. That’s the short answer. The long answer is a bit more involved.
To me it was a natural progression. Right from the start I was always attracted to the male side of life. A voracious reader, I devoured all the action adventure fiction—think spies and thieves—that the library had to offer. Back then the adventure genres were populated with tough male characters; the occasional woman was a love interest at best, and this bookish tomboy couldn’t possibly identify with the feminine female characters of the 1980s.
When the time came and I started writing, you guessed it, I wrote from a male’s point of view. Writing was about escaping my own awkward teenage girl reality and having fun; I had no interest at all whatsoever in female characters. I incorporated them rather begrudgingly. My fascination was with the male and as I grew older my attitude changed from wanting to be a boy to wanting to be inside his head (and later inside his shorts).
But it wasn’t until the summer of 2000 that I discovered gay fiction. What a revelation! Hallelujah. Now for the span of a hundred pages or so, I could escape into the mind, heart and soul of the hero AND still get the gorgeous guy love interest. Two men for the price of one!
So why do I like to read and write gay fiction? 100% escapism and because I like men and their masculinity. I like the dichotomy of strength and vulnerability. And when is a man most vulnerable? When he loves. Thus, gay romance.
Writing habits:
I used to write at night (yes, I’m a night owl), staying up until way, way past midnight, but life and three children now required an earlier bedtime. I’m still trying to find a writing schedule that works for me. I do miss my nights, but I’m learning that mornings can be nice and quiet, too.
Two favorite quotes about the writing life of a wife and mother:
“The best time for planning a book is while doing the dishes ...” Agatha Christie
“I ... have to constantly balance “being a writer” with being a wife and mother. It’s a matter of putting two different things first, simultaneously ...” Madeleine L’Engle
Timeframe For THE PROTECTOR:
I started the first draft in very late 2003 and finished in early 2005. A large chunk of it was written in a hotel bathroom (after moving from Japan to Hawaii, we spent two and a half months in a hotel; the bathroom was my writing refuge). When I began THE PROTECTOR, I didn’t have much of a plan, no outline, and certainly no plans for publication, which is to say I didn’t go “hmm, I think I’d like to write a series of gay romantic suspense novels.” That changed quickly enough (I’m a natural planner). But with ambition doesn’t come wisdom, so it took me a while to get organized. It wasn’t until 2006 that I found the wonderful Ken Harrison at Seventh Window Publications. Chances are you are here today, visiting my site, because you read the book he took a chance on.
What’s next:
I promise I began writing THE STALKER, a sequel to THE PROTECTOR, in very early 2006. I had a plan, an outline and a schedule, but before I could do more than write a few chapters, I started struggling with depression and a serious lack of interest in all things creative. Just as life started to look up, i.e. I started writing again, I had the most beautiful little baby girl. Fast-forward to 2014 ... THE STALKER still sits unfishined in my drawer, but a new paranormal about a medium and a TV ghost hunter is almost finished. I'm hoping to have it published before returning to Mason and Soren.
Why Guam?
For two reasons really: 1. No one that I knew of had used it yet. 2. I was looking for an environment/setting I knew something about. At the time we lived on Okinawa, Japan, and a friend mentioned that Guam was the American equivalent to the little Japanese island: densely populated, super humid, horrible traffic and gorgeous beaches. I’d briefly played with the idea of setting THE PROTECTOR on Okinawa, but with the police force and the law being Japanese I didn’t feel I could sustain a suspense series without a few years of research. Plus, Guam was around the corner, so to speak. It was only 1500 miles or 2400 km to the east, which was considerably closer than Hawaii, my second choice (the distance between HI and Okinawa is almost 5000 miles or 7800 km).
Many people don’t know that Guam is a US territory or where it’s located exactly and that was what intrigued me.
Authors on my shelves:
Oh boy, that would be a long list and I’m afraid I’ll accidentally leave someone off I really admire, but I particularly enjoy series. Neil Plakcy’s Mahu series is a lot of fun, as are the Channeling Morpheus and PsyCop series by Jordan Castillo Price. Anything Josh Lanyon is worth reading, for sure.
Advice for New Writers:
Persistence! You need to show up at the keyboard. Trust me, I know that’s sometimes easier said than done, but the truth is, nothing gets written if you don’t show up.
Best Advice Found On A Publisher’s Website:
“If you absolutely have to have a rough estimate of our rejection rate, the answer is that we reject most [manuscripts]. But look at it this way: if you don't send us your manuscript, the odds that we'll publish it approach absolute zero. It's your call.” Tor Books | 
