I had a lot of false starts when I decided to attempt a novel a few years ago. I didn’t realize there were different types of writers; those who plot, and those who do not (see?  I told you I was a poet). I thought you had to write a book in order, chapter by chapter. I would get hung up, frustrated, and quit. Once I realized there is another side of the coin, the side the pantsers call home, I finished my first manuscript. A pantser writes by the seat of their pants, allowing the characters to drive the story with no set outline of how the book will progress. Difficult?  Sometimes, yes. Effective?  For me and many other writers, absolutely.

So I’ve finally found the hat that fits…writer. I’ve had a few other hats blow off my head in the past, all part of the process that led me here. A brief synopsis:

1.         Bartender- My college gig. At the time I thought I hated my job. Looking back, they were some of the best years of my life.

2.        Counselor for Planned Parenthood- I started out with a Public Health major in college. This was one of my internships. My job?  To present classes on birth control to incoming freshman. Fabulous. A room full of seventeen and eighteen year olds with wide-eyed, apprehensive looks on their faces as I answered THE most pressing question at least a handful of them had at every class. Yes, you can get pregnant if you have sex in a swimming pool, or if you (fill in the blank here).I never left without learning of a new perceived way of not getting pregnant besides the obvious- which leads me to the real reason why I was even there in the first place…condoms. I had to carry around in my “bag of goodies” a replica of the male anatomy made of wood (can’t you just see the manufacturer snickering…sending poor people like me out in the field with our “woodies”). After you demonstrate how to properly place a condom over said male part replica dozens of times the speed with which the task can be completed becomes a freakish skill…almost a slight of hand, if you will. My parents are so proud.

3.        Accounts Receivable Employee- The company didn’t much care that I had a psychology degree (after being scared away from public health by experience #2) and had somehow gotten through college without taking one course that had anything to do with numbers. I was my most sparkliest at the interview, though. Maybe that did it.

4.        Personal Trainer and Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant- I LOVED this job. I loved it for several years until I became pregnant and suffered with morning sickness. The day I nearly vomited on a bulky, beefy, sweaty male client of mine as I was spotting him was my last day on the job.

After having my kids and staying home with them my creative side came back to life and in late 2006 I started writing with the focus of publishing. It’s a process. In April 2008 I was offered my first contract with The Wild Rose Press.

I have a B.A. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina. I am an active PRO member with Romance Writers of America, Georgia Romance Writers, as well as Passionate Ink; a subdivision of the RWA focusing on writers of erotica. I reside in Georgia, where I was born and raised ya’ll.