Where do you get your ideas?

They creep up on me in the middle of the night and say BOO. Seriously, though, getting sufficient sleep is important for any creative occupation, including writing, because that's when the subconscious mind can roam and explore and dream up new ideas.

When do you write?  What's your schedule like?

I write when the kids are in school. Now that they're older, with one at college and the other able to drive, I have more available writing time, but family still comes first, so when they're home and are willing to spend time with me, I'm there. I tend to handle email for about a half hour in the morning, exercise, then write for 1-2 hours before lunch, then write 1-2 hours again after lunch before doing errands or chores later in the afternoon. Evenings I read, critique, or watch TV or movies with my husband. I make sure I have the outline of the next 1-2 scenes in my head before I go to sleep, so my creative unconscious mind can work on them. When I'm actively writing new pages, versus outlining or editing, I tend to write about 20 pages a week.

What do you like to read?

I read a wide variety of books. I'm in a Book Club that meets monthly to discuss literary and women's fiction. Some of my favorite reads from that group were The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult, The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by  Mark Haddon, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I read a lot of mysteries, of course. Some of my favorite authors are Western writers who I've gotten to know at conferences: C.J Box, Kathy Brandt, Christine Goff, Maggie Sefton, and Margaret Coel. I also enjoy light-hearted series by Alexander McCall Smith, Donna Andrews, and Tim Cockey. My all-time favorite mystery writer is Sharyn McCrumb, and I'm collecting all her books. I read romance and science fiction occasionally and have enjoyed Diana Gabaldon, J.D. Robb, Anne McCaffrey and Douglas Adams..

What makes A Real Basket Case different from other mystery books?

The story has a significant romantic subplot, where the protagonist and her husband must work together to repair their marriage, which has been torn asunder by the murder. Also, the protagonist is not that skilled at sleuthing. In fact, she's almost inept, though she learns along the way. She is an AMATEUR sleuth, after all. One of my critique partners liked to call my protagonist Lucy, after the main character in the I Love Lucy show, because she keeps bumbling into ridiculous situations that she has to work her way out of. I hope this characteristic makes her more fun and human for the reader.

What are the similarities and differences between you and your protagonist, Claire Hanover?

Like Claire, I'm middle-aged, live in Colorado Springs and have two children, though hers are older than mine, with the sexes reversed. Unlike her, however, my marriage is very happy, as evidenced by all the hard work my hubby has put into implementing this website. And Claire is a lot braver than I am, but I'm smarter than her. I had to construct these ridiculous situations to put her in, after all, then gently steer her toward finding a way out.

What are you working on now?

I'm editing the first novel in what I hope will be a new mystery series. The protagonist is a single female river ranger in her twenties, living in Salida, Colorado. The trouble begins when a middle-aged man she rescues from the raging river dies on the shore, and the news causes customers to cancel reservations with her uncle's rafting company, out of whose raft the man fell. When the autopsy toxicology tests find the man died of poisoning, Mandy cooperates with the local sheriff's department to solve what has become a murder case. The case greatly affects those she loves. I've always enjoyed whitewater sports, so this series is my chance to delve into a milieu that I love. I had so much fun researching the book that it was hard to stop and put my butt in the chair to write the tale. But it was boatloads of fun to write, and now I’m making the story shine.

If you could invite three people to dinner (living or dead), who would they be and why?

I would choose Jimmy Carter, Mother Teresa, and Jesus Christ. From this list you might think I was a very religious person. I do attend church somewhat regularly, but I'm not an over-the-top evangelist. Instead, what intrigues me about these people is the combination of their peaceful, loving demeanor and their power to cause tremendous change for the better in society, resulting in the foundation of a new religion, a huge relief effort for the poor, and the spread of democracy. Both Jimmy Carter and Mother Teresa are Nobel Peace Prize winners, to me the most important award in the world, and they were both motivated by their strong beliefs in Christianity. I'd love to have the opportunity to discuss faith and God with Jesus, his son, and to observe what Jimmy Carter and Mother Teresa would ask him.