Welcome to my website! I am thrilled to announce that BARE NECESSITIES, my third novel from Harlequin will come out in January 2008, followed shortly by SEX BY NUMBERS in June 2008 and a Greek-set Blaze for the Lust in Translations mini-series in late 2008 or early 2009.

My first novel HER BODY OF WORK came out in English in 2005 and in Dutch in December 2006 under the title NAAKT ONDER HAAR HANDEN (NAKED UNDER HER HANDS). My second Blaze, HER BOOK OF PLEASURE, came out in early 2007.

Writing romance fiction is a dream come true after so many years of avid reading. I got my fill of tragedies and unhappy endings by majoring in opera/vocal performance and Spanish literature. During all those years of singing about throwing myself into various rivers (Thanks, Puccini!) and reading about political prisons and horrible civil wars, I devoured romances whenever I could.

My first attempt at romance fiction was a gothic-type short contemporary where the teenage heroine actually ran into the dark and stormy night to escape her abusive father. Must have been all those Victoria Holt novels I read growing up.

I took off several years from writing fiction and then won a bookstore gift certificate. I took it as a sign to get started writing romance again. I promptly ordered several how-to books on writing romance novels and read them until they were dog-eared. My husband insisted I join Romance Writers of America, not even blanching when I showed him how much first-time dues cost.

Fortunately, as I smartened up about writing romances, so did my heroines. The Harlequin Blaze line inspired me to try my hand at sensual romance.

It was a good fit. My book HER BODY OF WORK won three RWA chapter contests and finalled in two more, earning lots of positive attention and editor requests. I signed with my wonderful agent and my manuscript went winging off to Brenda Chin in Toronto. In the meantime, I wrote HER BOOK OF PLEASURE, whose heroine is the best friend in HER BODY OF WORK.

Brenda read my book and asked for revisions. A week later, she called to tell me she wanted to buy HER BODY OF WORK. After two weeks of whirlwind revisions, I finally celebrated with my family, friends, and fellow Romance Writer of America members.

When not writing, I love to read (of course), garden (cursing the tough clay soil), and watch a few favorite TV shows like BBC’s COUPLING, RESCUE ME, COPS, and my newest favorites, WHAT NOT TO WEAR and LITTLE PEOPLE, BIG WORLD. I also love Agatha Christie movies and other PBS Mystery specials.

Thanks for stopping in to find out about me. I’d love to hear from you as well as invite you to sign up for my newsletter. Happy reading!