When did you decide to pursue writing seriously?

1996. I decided then that I really wanted a career as a writer and took my first writing class. I started out writing essays and my first piece was published in the winter of 1997. My definition of “serious” has evolved over that time. I am now *much* more serious about writing every day, on a specific project. Some of that has come with novel-writing instead of essays.

How did you choose what genre to write – or did it choose you?

Essays initially chose me. They fit how I think about the world. It was an easy way for me to get started, especially since I wrote in bits and chunks of stolen time. Then I tried to write long narrative nonfiction and it went nowhere. I started to write a novel from a dream, for a break, and things took off from there. I just finished my second novel. Writing those has totally remodeled the way I write.

Tell us a little about your writing process. How do you get from idea to completed draft?

I’m a front to back writer. I start at the beginning of the story and writer through to the end. Usually I know the general sign-posts of the plot along the way, but I find I have to write the story to find out what happens. I don’t understand people who can figure out the plot *before* they write it. It sounds like a great way to do it, but I just can’t. I start with an image, really, a scene between two people. Both novels were like that. Petals and Thorns, my erotic novella started with that, a scene between Beauty and the Beast. With essays, I have an idea, an image, a thorny problem. I start by describing what leads up to these things, then let the story lead me to the seed image/idea and beyond.

What are some of your favorite authors to read?

Ann Patchett, A.S. Byatt, Jacqueline Carey, Margaret Atwood, Robin McKinley. Plus tons more.

What do you like do when you're not writing?

I like to sit on my patio and drink wine and watch the light change. I don’t get to do that much. Sometimes I read, too. I like to take long walks (no rain or Pina Coladas, necessarily). I work in the garden. I spend time with my man watching movies. I like to go out to eat and take vacations to the Caribbean where I get to snorkel and lie on the beach as much as I want to. I’m a hedonist, it’s true. Except that most of the time I’m either writing, working the day job or doing necessary chores.

How do you balance writing with the other aspects of your life?

Can I say “see above?” I’ve learned I have to build a fence around the writing and make it be THE most important thing. Otherwise it fast becomes the least important. I don’t know why that is, but it’s true.

Who is your favorite literary character or couple?

Hmm. Have to go with Eve and Roarke on that one. Kat and Bones come in a close second. Oh, look, I totally focused on “couple” in that question. Well, so be it.