1. Your tales feature various winged shapeshifters – dragons, owls, falcons… If you can shapeshift into a mythical or real life creature that allows you to soar the skies, what would you be?
 
A dragon.
 
2. If you had a time machine, which historical period would you visit?
 
The sixties.
 
3. Learning how to play the guitar was on your bucket list. Did you check that item off the list, and do you play other instruments?
 
I actually bought a guitar for my last birthday. I want to learn how to play it, but I haven’t put forth a lot of effort.
 
4. What are you reading when you’re not writing?
 
Right now I’ve actually been listening to audiobooks more than reading. I’m binging on Paranormal Women’s Fiction. When I read, I’ve been reading books on cognitive behavior therapies.
 
5. How do you sort the titles in your personal library?
 
I have more books in my kindle than on my shelves. I tried to organize those, but gave up. The books I have in my office are divided into signed, professional, and other.
 
6. An author’s mind never rests. What is the weirdest place you’ve had to write down new ideas that just popped into your head?
 
The paper envelope of a tea bag.
 
7. Authors are all about painting sceneries and setting up the mood through the power of words. If you had to limit yourself to a single word in the English language to describe yourself, which one would it be?
 
Upcycled.
 
8. What was your most fundamental inspiration behind Breaking Into Hell?
 
The Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage movie THE ROCK.
 
9. How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, what’s your beverage of choice?
 
Slow and steamy with a small dash of sweet in the middle of the dark.

1. You have a kitty named Sinatra. Is he a writing partner or an adorable distraction demanding time off writing?

Sinatra is absolutely a writing distraction. He frequently paws at my legs with a chirping meow to get my attention if I've been in my office too long. He offers cuddles and some warm fur to keep this old, curmudgeonly heart beating.

2. As a writer, you explore the dark sides of human psyche, but you also note your favorite color is pink. If a psycho breaks into your home, do you have a pink item you’d be able to use as a makeshift weapon?

Yes! I have a statuette of Elvis in a pink, bedazzled suit from the 50s right next to the door. I would be sad if anything happened to it, but it's nice to know that The King would be watching over me in my time of need.

3. Do you have a favorite grammar joke?

I love plays on words! It's so hard to choose just one! English is a difficult language to disect. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though.

4. What are you reading when you’re not writing?

I'm very much an "oldie, but a goodie" reader. I tend to favor rereading things I've already read to help quiet my mind when I'm not writing. With that said, Outlander, all the way.

5. How do you sort the titles in your library?

I actually sort my library according to height to make it aesthetically pleasing. I heard the collective groan. Don't judge too harshly!

6. Authors are all about painting sceneries and setting up the mood through the power of words. If you had to limit yourself to a single word in the English language to describe yourself, which one would it be?

High-maintenance.

7. Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Night owl that hoots until the wee, small hours of the morning.

8. What was your most fundamental inspiration behind Real Talk?

The X-Files was the driving force behind the concept. Mulder was an Oxford-educated psychologist that believed in the paranormal, and Scully was a no-nonsense, hard-nosed woman of science that believed in religion. Their witty banter; the long, steamy looks. Oh, man! I could go on for days.

9. As a “glorified caffeine addict”, how do you take your coffee?

​A measured amount of creamer, no additional sugar, helps the medicine go down.

1. Some of your readers may not know this, but you're a musician. How did you end up choosing the trumpet?

I remember my parents taking me to a school event, where local music shops had brought several sample instruments out for interested students to try them and see if they'd be interested. I think at the time it was more my parents encouraging me to try music, but I went. I think between the saxophones and clarinets, that had a whole lot of keys, and the tuba, baritone, and trombone, which seemed a little big for me at the time, the trumpet just had that magic combination of a good size, and not a whole lot of keys to have to worry about. What can I say, I like to keep things simple :)

2. What would be your go-to song if you had to get up on stage and sing karaoke?

Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet.

3. What would be your weapon of choice if you had to defend yourself against an alien threat?

Pulse Rifle, in automatic mode.

4. What are you reading when you’re not writing?

A giant across the board mix. I've read Howard Stern's book of celebrity interviews, the Hunger Games series (just finishing up a Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes!), I've got several space opera books lined up as well, including Leviathan Wakes.

5. How do you sort the titles in your library?

I have been an alphabetical organizer for a while, but lately I've been looking at organizing books by their size.

6. If you could wake up with a supernatural power tomorrow, what would it be?

The gift of flight! Would make travel easy!

7. Authors are all about painting sceneries and setting up the mood through the power of words. If you had to limit yourself to a single word in the English language to describe yourself, which one would it be?

Determined.

8. What was your most fundamental inspiration behind The Essence Wars?

The Essence Wars space opera series I'm launching in February 2021 is a culmination of almost 44 years of consuming science fiction, in particular space operas... stories of distant galaxies and civilizations, with great heroes and powerful villains. I enjoy writing about strong characters, putting them into crazy situations and have them fight their way out.

9. How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, what’s your beverage of choice?

At home, I typically drink it black. If I'm out it all depends where I'm at. My current coffee of choice is a "King Cake Latte" by one of the local coffee shops in my hometown.

1. You chronicle some of your travels on your blog. If you could pick a destination in the universe where you could spend the rest of your days blissfully, which one would it be? Have you ever been there?

This is an unanswerable question! I haven't been everywhere in the universe to know. Surely, there must be other planets that would be perfect if I could only get there.

To answer the question from experience, meaning places I've actually visited, I'd love to have a little cottage in Ireland with a patch of land to walk through. My wife, Barbara, and I visited Ireland for our honeymoon and absolutely loved it. Such a beautiful country. But there are beautiful places all over the world. I think I'd like to travel as much as possible and have a chance to take in as many places as possible, rather than settle on one single location.

2. As a fan of Marvel, who is your favorite superhero?

My love of Marvel characters goes back to the seventies when I first started collecting comics. I loved the complex characters and storylines. Asking me for a favorite is so difficult because each of Stan Lee's creations were unique and special in their own rights.

That said, let me cheat a little and provide two answers. Ultimately, it is the Hulk who tweaked my emotions the most. I always felt sorry for his plight but loved it when he kicked butt. My favorite team is the X-Men. I loved the whole mutant concept and really liked how the various X-Men evolved, from old to new.

But yeah. Love Spiderman, Avengers, Dr. Strange, Daredevil, and so many more. Love how the newer movies really embraced Stan Lee's vision and didn't go off on their own storyline. Most of them. The ones that did, frankly flopped.

3. How about your favorite villain?

Argh, another tough question. I'd go with Magneto. He always struck me as a good guy gone bad from the comics, which the movies have pretty faithfully replicated. And he was powerful enough to give the X-Men a run for their money to make his appearances interesting.

4. If you had to get up on stage and sing karaoke, what would be your go-to song?

I'm a total introvert. I would need a lot of alcohol to sing in public. And at that point the song wouldn't matter.

5. How do you sort the titles in your library?

There's a lot of science fiction and fantasy. Love Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury, Gene Wolfe, Tolkien, Piers Anthony, Terry Pratchett (was fortunate enough to meet him, he was a very nice man. Deeply missed.) In recent years I went through a classics collection kick using eBay, so I have a lot of old volumes of books by Doyle, Dickens, Burroughs, Verne, Stevenson, Hugo, and more. That said, there's no real organization. I do group authors together, but otherwise the books appear in whatever sequence I acquired them.

6. If you could wake up with a supernatural power tomorrow, what would it be?

I've always wanted to be able to move things with my mind. It might be because I'm too lazy to get up and find the remote.

7. Authors are all about painting sceneries and setting up the mood through the power of words. If you had to limit yourself to a single word in the English language to describe yourself, which one would it be?

Complex.

8. What was your most fundamental inspiration behind the Peacekeeper's Passage series?

Great question. I started writing this story back when I was a teenager. I won't say how many years ago, but it was before the internet, cellular phones, and the leading video game system was the Atari 2600. Reading Gene Wolfe's "Shadow of the Torturer" inspired me to draft my own first person story, and I really enjoyed it. "How Green Was My Valley" by Richard Llewellyn was another inspiration. I liked the idea of writing a story from the perspective of the protagonist, though there are interesting challenges in doing so.

Fast forward to a few months before my daughter, Sara, was born. I really wanted to publish a book. I always had. Something about bringing a new life into the world inspired me to take a real serious look at accomplishing this feat. Mind you, this was years before self-publishing exploded, so it was go agent or go home with very few exceptions. Once it became possible to bypass that limitation I decided to rewrite and add to the original manuscript to make the story more detailed and interesting, but the fundamental plot and characters remain.

9. How do you take your coffee? If you don't drink coffee, what's your beverage of choice?

I love coffee, though I do enjoy a good cup of tea. Coffee is with creamer and a couple of sugar cubes, the latter a habit I picked up after visiting Ireland. I like strong coffee. The flavored coffees usually smell really good but their taste doesn't live up to the hype from my nose.

1. You mention in your blog that you’ve traced one of your ancestors’ roots to 16th century Ireland. Is this the farthest you’ve delved into your family’s origins, and what other ancestry apart from Irish have you discovered?

That's as far back as I have been able to find any information. One side of the family was diligent about family trees, the other side... not so much. From Ireland, the family migrated to England/ Wales then eventually to the United States. There's some Native American in there, or so I'm told by my mom on her side of the family (the side that didn't keep detailed records). 

2. As a mom of 5 kids, when do you find the time to write and where do you usually write?

Time? What's that? I wish I could say I have a set schedule to write (I try and fail, then get mad at myself, and then try again), but it's hit or miss depending on the day. I can't seem to get any writing done when the kids are home so any and all writing is done when they are in school. I write at home. I find cafes too noisy. I have an office in the attic which is currently under renovation so I set up where I can in the meantime (currently that's on my bed, not the most productive spot for writing).

3. If you could shapeshift into an animal, which one would it be?

Dragon.

4. What are you reading when you’re not writing?

I love books in the fantasy/ paranormal genre, but I also enjoy historical fiction and self-help books like Embodied Grace by Jennifer Lonnberg.

5. How do you sort the titles in your library?

With the office in complete disarray, they are all stored away in boxes until the built-in bookcase is complete. Usually I sort by genre - one shelf each.

6. If you could pick a destination in the universe where you could spend the rest of your days blissfully, which one would it be? Have you ever been there?

I dream of traveling to Ireland but I think my husband is afraid I won't leave. I have never been there though. If I had to pick a place I've been to... Lake Tahoe! It's pristine, beautiful, and serene. I could sit outside writing all day.

7. Authors are all about painting sceneries and setting up the mood through the power of words. If you had to limit yourself to a single word in the English language to describe yourself, which one would it be?

Storyteller.

8. What was your most fundamental inspiration behind Rekindled Prophecy?

The idea behind the book stuck in my head years ago (I may have been a teenager at the time), but the setting was all based on personal experiences such as my wedding at a quaint Irish B&B in rural Virginia. The inspiration came from my love for angels. I feel it's an underrepresented trope in fantasy/paranormal fiction. As my own life has been quite frankly saved by guardian angels over the years, I became fascinated with the topic. Guardian angels come in all forms - sometimes it's the person behind you in the grocery store who compliments your hair or shoes when you're having a crappy day and your day seems to turn around; sometimes it's the friend who knows when to just hug you and let you cry it out; sometimes it's a stranger directing you to the safest direction when you're lost in the middle of bad neighborhood of DC at 3AM and can't seem to find a cab (this was before Uber or cell phones), etc. Guardian angels are everywhere.

9. How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, what’s your beverage of choice?

Can't live without my coffee. Splash of vanilla creamer. 

1. I’ve seen you cosplay quite a few characters on social media and unleash your creativity with colorful wigs and show-stopping make-up. Which was your favorite look through the years?

Thank you! I’ve loved all in their own way but I have to say my favorite is one I did last year, the Witcheress inspired by the Witcher 3 video game. My most meaningful cosplay was done last year also. One of my best friends passed away from cancer and I got one of her wigs. I used it for my Sith/Maul inspired cosplays. It was a very emotional face paint for me.

2. If you could wake up with a supernatural power tomorrow, what would it be?

I’ll go with my most recent thought. I would like to have the power to make any mechanical device as it was when it was new. (my car broke down recently)

3. An author’s mind never rests. What is the weirdest place you’ve had to write down new ideas that just popped into your head?

Nothing too odd, but one time in a client meeting where I work. I had to separate my book notes and notes from the meeting later in the day.

4. What do you read when you’re not writing?

A lot of books I read are recommended to me. I love to discover new authors that others have read and love. I’m always open to a variety of suggestions from Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Paranormal Romance and Classics.

5. How do you sort the titles in your library?

I sort by author for a quick find on my bookshelf and on my Kindle.

6. You draw inspiration from Celtic, Egyptian and Greek history. If you had a time machine and could travel to the past, would you prefer Ancient Greece or Ancient Egypt?

Ancient Egyptian art and hieroglyphs have been a fascination of mine since I was in Jr. High. I would doodle Egyptian art or hieroglyphs in my school book (much to my teacher's dismay, thank goodness it was in pencil) or notebook I had on hand.  I would love to see in full color the art covered limestone walls, columns etc. And the statues fresh from the sculpture.

7. Authors are all about painting sceneries and setting up the mood through the power of words. If you had to limit yourself to a single word in the English language to describe yourself, which one would it be?

Determined.

8. What was your most fundamental inspiration behind Celtic Storm?

The name of the book, Celtic Storm, was undecided on until the day I heard someone say “It’s the calm before the storm”. That certain phrase became part of the name of the second book in the series. It then made sense that Celtic Storm would be the third and final books name. Each book in the series has a painting inspired by them that I created. I first used them as the original covers until I had them redone to the ones I have on them now.

9. How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, what’s your beverage of choice?

Black during the week and with creamer on the weekends.

1. When we chatted a while back about author bios, you joked that you’re “fairly certain you’re a mermaid”. I see you've added it to your bio. If you could shapeshift into one mythological creature, would it be a mermaid?

Yes, being in the water gives me peace and now that I have a waterproof MP3 player, in my mind I can cut through the water with my tail 100mph or do a mean aquatic dance listening to Ciara & Bruno Mars.

2. Traveling is one of your hobbies. If you could pick a destination in the universe where you could spend the rest of your days blissfully, which one would it be? Have you ever been there?

I’ve never been to Africa. I would love to visit Egypt to see the Great Pyramids.

3. You started reading supernatural novels as a way to escape from everyday life. Do you remember what was the first supernatural book you picked?

Twilight Saga (Vampires vs Wolves). Couldn’t make up my mind which team I was on.

4. If you had to get up on stage and sing karaoke, what would be your go-to song?

Bootylicious (Destiny’s Child).

5. What’s your ultimate binge-watching-worthy show on Netflix?

Black Lighting.

6. How do you sort the titles in your library?

I no longer have a library. I have donated all of my books, hoping to bless someone else with the gift of words, a getaway in a fantasy land and time away from their reality.

7. Authors are all about painting sceneries and setting up the mood through the power of words. If you had to limit yourself to a single word in the English language to describe yourself, which one would it be?

“Unstoppable".

8. What was your most fundamental inspiration behind Blood, Secrets and Lies?

Blood relates to our own bloodlines meaning families and what we pass down, Secrets, we all have secrets good, bad and some that need to go to the graves with us, Lies refer to not being honest with ourselves as well as others and evenly they may come out.

9. How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, what’s your beverage of choice?

Not a coffee drinker. Love Sparkling Ice-Strawberry-Kiwi flavor.

1. Anyone familiar with your books knows that they stand out in the Paranormal Romance genres with the most fascinating and unusual couples. Unicorns, phoenixes, mountain lions, platypus shifters, incubi… If you could shapeshift into an animal, which one would it be?

Laura: I think I'm supposed to say owl, but that'd be a lie. If I could be anything, it would have to be a tiger. They've been my favourite since I was a child. Or maybe a dragon. No one would ever mess with a dragon!
Lainie: A cat, all the way. I want to sleep all day and get lovins. Sounds like the best life.

2. Do you have an all-time favorite mythological creature?

Laura: Hmm that's a hard one. I'm going to go with the sphinx, partly because they're underrated, and partly because Ancient Egyptian mythology has been an interest of mine since I was younger.
Lainie: Probably Cthulu. Or maybe a minotaur. They’re pretty damn badass.

3. What would be your go-to song if you had to get up on stage and sing karaoke?

Laura: I promise, no one wants to hear that! Especially since one of the songs that means the most to me is Symphony by Clean Bandit and I can't sing to save my life. So probably something fun and wacky - maybe Aqua's Barbie Girl.
Lainie: Ohhh I love karaoke. This is a dangerous question. I have a few. War Pigs by Black Sabbath. I will always love you by Dolly Parton. Thank you Child by Zakk Wylde.
 
4. Time zone differences can be exhausting, but you manage to make it work. Who is the morning person and who is the night owl in this team?

Laura: Lainie always seems to be awake when I am, so I think it's safe to say she's the morning person! I'm most productive between 11pm-3am. Luckily for me, my partner is also a night owl, so there's no clash in schedule!
Lainie: I used to work a job that I had to be at 4AM. Which is like 9AM for Laura. So I was used to being up early. Now, I tend to get up about 7 Eastern Time, so noonish for her.

5. How did you come up with the initial idea for Valentine Pride?

Laura: That's testing my memory! Hopefully Lainie remembers better! The latest Between The Sheets anthology (that we organised) was coming up, and neither of us had a story for it yet. I was struggling trying to come up with something, and then somehow, we decided that it would be easier to write one together. And suddenly, there are mountain lions and unicorns running about.
Lainie: *crickets* I have a HORRIBLE memory. Like, bad enough I’ve had my doctor looking into it and we may do tests. So, yeah. It’s a book we wrote. :D LOL
 
6. Authors are all about painting sceneries and setting up the mood through the power of words. If you had to limit yourself to a single word in the English language to describe yourself, which one would it be?

Laura: Eccentric. But only because it sounds better than weird!
Lainie: What single word means “She tried.” ?  Attemptive. I’m attemptive. That’s not a word, but authors have license, so bam.
 
7. What are you reading in your spare time?

Laura: Right now, I'm listening to The Boleyn Inheritance, and I just finished re-listening to the Mistborn trilogy (I listen to audiobooks rather than read these days because I find it easier to sort it from writing time)
Lainie: Oh, geez. What spare time? I swear, I read less as an author than I did before. I found an Elizabeth Briggs book recently and loved it so I’m super into her right now. And I’m about to delve into Kerry Adrienne’s backlist.
 
8. How do you sort the titles in your library?

Laura: Embarrassingly, by the box they were packed into when we moved house. But if they were all sorted - by genre, then alphabetically by author into series, or alphabetical by title if they aren't a series.
Lainie: I’m planning to move soon, so most of my books are in boxes right now, BUT normally I like to do genre shelves, OR series shelves on my bookcases. Like all my WoT books take up an entire shelf. All my “author friends” books on a shelf. All my Janet Evanovich books on one shelf. And I have like 3 shelves of HP books, different editions and translations, etc. I love love love my bookshelves. Can’t wait to move and have a real office/library.
 
9. Laura, you’re drinking “ridiculous amounts of tea”. Which brands and flavors do you prefer? Lainie, are you a coffee addict or a tea addict? How do you take your beverage of choice?

Laura: Just English Breakfast tea for me, preferably Yorkshire Tea (you can take the girl out of Yorkshire, but you can't stop her drinking the tea...I say, while sat at home, still in Yorkshire!) and I take it strong with a dash of milk. And preferably macaroons on the side. That's the best cup of tea!
Lainie: I do love coffee, but I’m Southern, so sweet, cold, black tea runs through my veins. Unfortunately, I recently went low carb. Most southerners hate unsweet tea, but I enjoy it. But then!  I found the most amazing thing. Bottled diet sweet tea that’s actually delicious. It’s a bloody miracle. (Gold Peak Diet if you’re wondering. It’s like a miracle taste).

1. You were born in Amberg, Germany, and I know you’re a fan of the local food and the splendid castles. Do you have a favorite Bavarian castle?

I don't have a favorite. It's been a long time since I was in Germany. I want to go back to see more of them. It's a beautiful country. The castles were my favorite next to the food, though.

2. If you could pick a destination in the universe where you could spend the rest of your days blissfully, which one would it be? Have you ever been there?

I'm not really sure. I want to be somewhere that's peaceful, but close enough for me to get to different places. I don't want to travel a long ways just to get to a grocery store. I enjoyed living in the state of Washington and I also liked Texas. I guess I would return to one of those.

3. Which genres do you prefer as a reader?

Paranormal romance and thrillers... I like detective novels. Those are always fun.

4. Can you name 3 things you can never live without?

My laptop, eyeliner, and notebooks.

5. How do you sort the titles in your library?

By author, but my library is small. I read on Kindle.

6. We all wish we could be perfect, but perfect characters are boring. Have you ever given any of your main characters one of your personal negative qualities?

My immaturity. Not everyone is a fan lol. I like to give my characters flaws because it makes them more real to the readers.

7. How did you come up with the initial idea for Lucifer?

Lucifer is from my The Daughters of Darkness series. He's a big part of me. He just came out of nowhere. I didn't plan him as a character. He's become a reader favorite because he's so weird and funny. I gave him his own book because he demanded it and you can't say no to him.

8. Authors are all about painting sceneries and setting up the mood through the power of words. If you had to limit yourself to a single word in the English language to describe yourself, which one would it be?

Immature. You can see it in my characters. I make them act the way I wish I could most times.

9. How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, what’s your beverage of choice?

I like flavored coffee. Peppermint mocha is my favorite flavor to put in coffee. I can't drink it with just sugar and milk. It has to have some kind of flavor.

1. When you were a child you wanted to become an astronaut. Would you rather explore the Milky Way or another galaxy?

I don’t want one galaxy, I want all galaxies! Seriously, why stop at just one?

2. If you had a time machine and you could choose between the past and the future, where would you go?

I would absolutely want to go to the future. I want to see what becomes of us.

3. What would be your go-to song if you had to get up on stage and sing karaoke?

I love music. Right now, I have Kermit the Frog’s Rainbow Connection stuck in my head, so I guess I would sing that one.

4. What genres do you prefer as a reader?

Fantasy and Science Fiction. Whenever anyone asks me if I’ve read the such-and-such book, I always counter with “Does it have wizards in it? Does it have a space battle? Then, no, I haven’t read it.”

5. How do you sort the titles in your library?

OMG If you could see my bookshelves. I just stick things wherever they’ll fit. But if you ask me to find a certain book, I always know where it is.

6. If you could wake up with a supernatural power tomorrow, what would it be?

I’ve always wanted the ability to be able to shoot either fire or ice out of the palms of my hands so that when someone cuts me off on the road, I can blast them.

7. Authors are all about painting sceneries and setting up the mood through the power of words. If you had to limit yourself to a single word in the English language to describe yourself, which one would it be?

Pertinacious.

8. What was your most fundamental inspiration behind the Amazing Wolf Boy series?

I recently finished writing the sixth and final book of my Wolf Boy series. The series was inspired by the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Love it or hate it, you have to agree that the Twilight series is a phenomenon, and I wanted to pick it apart to see what made it so popular. I came up with a plotline for The Amazing Wolf Boy.  My main character is a boy instead of a girl, and he’s a werewolf, not a vampire. The series turned out much more humorous than I originally intended. The quirky characters took over. The tagline is What Happens When a Bumbling Nerd Turns Into a Werewolf?

9. How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, what’s your beverage of choice?

Tea, Earl Grey, hot. I was drinking Earl Grey tea long before Captain Picard made that line famous.