Biography | < Back

I'm a late riser, and get my best ideas in the half waking, half sleeping time that comes when I've just awoken. I've often gone to bed wondering how I'm going to resolve some plot issue, only to find next morning that it's all perfectly obvious.

My husband is Italian (Venetian) and an artist, who does beautiful water colors, so we both work at home, which is nice, because we still prefer each other's company to anyone else's.

I've based many of my heroes on him, but they're not always the Italians. They're the merry charmers, the ones who tease the heroine into love with a joke and a smile. Luke (For His Little Girl), Gil (Rebel in Disguise), Daniel (Daniel & Daughter), Lorenzo (Bride by Choice), and many others are really the same man - the one I married.

He's also especially present in Guido, hero of The Venetian Playboy's Bride, out next April.

I set a lot of my books in Italy and he vets them for accuracy. He's really tough about it, too. I'm not allowed to get away with anything.

We have no children. He has a springer spaniel who takes him for walks because he needs exercise, following heart surgery.

I've just acquired a kitten who lives in my office, walking all over the desk, and playing with the computer mouse. If I try to use it he fights me for it.

He's fascinated by the screen, and will stare at it, wondering why it's filling up with star signs. (Because he's sitting on the 'star' button)

I don't have a set time of the day for writing, although I try to start in the morning when my mind is sharp. Like all good resolutions it tends to go by the board. I can spend a whole day finding excuses not to write, and then settle down to it at 11:00 at night in a blaze of inspiration.

I like to be writing two books at the same time. If my mind gets jaded with one, I can switch to the other, and still be fresh. It helps me to write a lot, and writing is how I get my kicks.