[Forward][Back]
I think one of the most difficult times in my life was when my first husband passed away. I had twins in college and a teenager in high school with all the attendant problems. And I needed to work. We had gotten rid of the business but I needed to bring in some income.

A good time to start writing, you might say. Except I was smart enough to know that between having a story idea and selling it and receiving royalties too much time would have to pass. I needed money right then. And Fate was working behind the scenes.

[Forward] [Back]
My creative fiction class was made up of so many different people it’s a wonder we ever got anything done. There were about thirty people and no two of them wanted to write the same kind of fiction. We had people interested in everything from military stories based on fact to sweet romance to psychological stories. But we all had one thing in common—we wanted to learn how to write fiction.

[Forward ]
First of all, thanks so much to Novelspot for hosting me this week. This has been a favorite site of mine since my first book was published and Allie Bates does very well by her guests.

It seems as if all my life I’ve wanted to be a writer in some form or other. (After I found out I wasn’t going to Hollywood to be a big star! LOL!). I was always making up stories in my head and telling them to my dolls. They’ve always been my best audience—they love everything!

[Back]
After seven years as the official James Bond author, setting out to create an identity of my own was essentially akin to starting over. The only difference between me and other authors who wanted to sell their work to publishers was that I had an agent and I could get my foot in editors’ doors. I’m happy to say that I continued to make a living as a freelance writer for another decade.

[Forward] [Back]
My entry into the world of publishing novels was indeed unorthodox. In 1996 I became the fourth—and first American—writer of official James Bond novels. Yes, it was daunting. I had big shoes to fill; not only Ian Fleming’s, but those of Kingsley Amis and John Gardner as well. The Glidrose Chairman, who happened to also be Ian Fleming’s original literary agent, believed I was up for the job. While my novel-writing experience was minimal, I had been writing professionally for well over a decade.

[Forward] [Back]
I’d always enjoyed board games. When I was a young teenager I was hooked on Avalon Hill war strategy games. The advent of computer games opened a new, entertaining world that we accessed only on home computers and, half a decade later, videogame consoles. I particularly loved the text-adventure games made by Infocom because they were story-based, all text, challenging, and usually had a sly sense of humor.

[Forward][Back]
My eleven years living in Manhattan, mostly during the 80s, were terrific. I was in my late twenties and early thirties—the best age to be in such a vibrant, creative city. You can actually feel the energy on the street, and in those days it was like a drug. I stayed busy in theatre—directing and composing for shows off-off-Broadway and even an off-Broadway production of that old favorite, The Resurrection of Jackie Cramer.

[Forward] [Back]
It’s probably safe to say that most people find out who they are in college. My experience at the University of Texas was eye-opening and mind-expanding, especially after coming from Odessalation. Besides studying the craft of directing plays, I learned how to think abstractly, recognize good and bad art, and grasp the true mechanics of story-telling.

[Forward] [Back]
Story-telling. That was the goal, but perhaps I didn’t know it at the time. All I knew was that I wanted to create. Something.

[Forward ]
Our existence on earth is really a series of doors. Either we open them and venture into whatever lies beyond, or we don’t, and we never know how that decision will turn out until we take the journey. My unorthodox career as a writer might never have happened had I not taken a chance on some of the doors I encountered on life’s path, even though my long and winding road had several sharp left turns I didn’t expect. Just when I thought my destiny was headed in one direction, a new portal appeared that offered a new opportunity.

[Back]
I’ve learned so much since that first sale. I learned that writing one book doesn’t make writing the next one any easier. I learned the different between third person POV and first person POV. I learned about showing vs telling. I learned that I can’t write to music, and the internet is the devil for my productivity. I also learned that rejections still hurt, and the joy of a sale will never fade no matter how small the story.

[Forward][Back]
I’ve written in many different genres now, including paranormal, contemporary, steampunk and horror. It all tends to be pretty sexy stuff and I’ve always used the same pseudonym for everything, but when I wrote a dark fantasy that was a twist on Hansel and Gretel, Alice in Wonderland, and the old movie Labyrinth (remember David Bowie in that?)

[Forward][Back]
Making that first deal was both a cruelty and a blessing. I was so excited, and it was a fantastic opportunity for me, but I suddenly had a lot of responsibilities and a ton of expectations to live up to. Writing, editing, blogging, interviews—and then there was Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, etc. It all becomes very overwhelming, very quickly. I think I had my first nervous breakdown in the middle of book two.

[Forward][Back]