What or whom inspired you to become a writer? 

I’ve loved writing since I was a child. I used to have a typewriter that my grandparents bought me and I would write stories or make up a newspaper on it. But as far as my career in romance, I would say my inspiration was Elizabeth Lowell and Amanda Quick (Jayne Ann Krentz). The first romance I ever read was Only His and I fell in love with it and decided I wanted to write romance, too. 

What types of books do you read? 

My house is filled with books. Most of my books are research related. I collect books on the Tudor period, Middle Ages, Victorian England, and Regency England. As far as romance, I like erotic, paranormal, and historical romance. Thrillers and mysteries are fun to read. I also collect self-improvement and spirituality texts. 

What well-known authors do you admire most? 

I have a lot of authors that I enjoy reading, but as far as someone I really admire, I am grateful to Beverly Jenkins. Beverly has been writing African-American historical romance for decades. She was the first person I ever saw writing it and as a teenager, I loved reading her books, loved that someone had the courage and foresight to write them. 

What were your writing habits while writing A Marquess for Christmas? 

Night Buddies: Impostors and One Far-Out Flying Machine
By Sands Hetherington
Publisher:Dune Buggy Press
Pub. Date: February 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0984741724
Pages: 320

Review:

Earlier this year, I reviewed the delightful children's book titled Night Buddies and the Pineapple Cheesecake Scare for a book tour, and last month, Bostick Communications and Dune Buggy Press nicely sent me an advanced copy of the sequel in exchange for my honest review.

Crosley, the red crocodile in a yellow jacket and his young friend John Degraffenreidt are back in Night Buddies: Impostors and One Far-Out Flying Machine. Picking up where the first left off, Crosley returns to John's house for their second Night Buddies program. Once again, time is almost still inside the Degraffenredit home, making it easier for John to leave for his new mission along with Crosley as when he returns only a few seconds would have gone by.

Crosley is in shock when he checks into the Night Buddies Headquarters as it seems he had already checked in earlier that night. How could this be? Did he forget that he already checked in?

Merry Christmas, Alex Cross
By James Patterson
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pub. Date: November 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-0316210683
ASIN: B007BGQBFY
Pages: 352

Review:

It’s been several years since I have read a James Patterson novel. My grandmother was a huge fan of his books and after her death I have continued to buy each new release. The latest Alex Cross novel has been sitting on my coffee table for a few weeks. With some free time on my hands, I started reading it yesterday afternoon.

In his nineteenth outing, Detective Alex Cross is looking forward to spending a quite Christmas Eve with his family, but one phone call will change his holiday plans. A distraught man, Henry Fowler, forced himself into his ex-wife's home on Christmas Eve. Henry has taken her hostage along with her new husband, Dr. Barry Nicholson, and her three children. Alex knows that man is on a short fuse and could begin killing the hostages at any second, but Alex is their only hope of surviving the night.

Just as Alex is ready to return home to his family, an enemy from his past emerges from the shadows and intends on bring deaths millions.

We see all these blog posts about what to do with our time during those two weeks when the kids are out of school and you’re trying to spend that vacation time before the end of the year. We all have grand ideas about cruises and skiing and visiting family and such.

In my book, O Christmas Three, my characters did exactly that. They packed up and spent Christmas in a lovely cabin in the woods. But unfortunately, that’s not possible for people the majority of the time. We have obligations at home, kids that have things going on, or pets that need tending to, or maybe we’re just not in the financial position to go anywhere that year.

Here’s three things I do during Christmas vacation:

Changing Fate Through Reincarnation
By Gerald Sze
Publisher: Two Harbors Press
Pub. Date: November 30, 2012
ISBN: 978-1938690150 
Pages: 328

Review:

A few months ago, out of the blue, I received Changing Fate Through Reincarnation in the mail. I review many books a month from authors, publicity groups, and publishers, so occasionally I forget about agreeing to review a book, but it turns out that I didn't agree to review the book at all. I received an email from Two Harbors Press's publicity a few weeks later asking me to review the book in exchange for my honest review.

Even though I'm a Christian, I do occasionally read about other religions. Changing Fate Through Reincarnation is a mix of Buddhism, Western science and Han Chinese that the author has weaved together to help others have a more meaningful life. Have you ever heard of Karma? The basic principle is that if you’re nice to others, nice things will happen to you. The premise of the book is that a person can completely change his or hers life in the present by changing the way he or she thinks and how he or she reacts to everything and everyone.

The Book Blogger Hop meme was created by Jen from Crazy For Books and nicely let me be the guest host for this week. Read the history and rules for the meme here. 


What to do: