2008 Book Buyer's Best Award Finalist - Romantic suspense/Mystery - Undercover in High Heels
2008 Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense finalist - Undercover in High Heels
2007 National Readers Choice Award Finalist - Best Mainstream Novel - Undercover in High Heels
2007 Preditors & Editors Readers' Poll - Best Mainstream Short Story - "Confessions of a Bombshell Bandit"
2007 RITA finalist - Best First Book - Spying In High Heels
2007 RITA finalist - Best Mainstream Novel with Strong Romantic Elements - Spying In High Heels
2007 Anne-Bonney Readers’ Choice Award 2nd place - Most Humorous - Spying in HIgh Heels
2007 Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense finalist - Spying In High Heels
2007 Cameo Award, Best Contemporary Book trailer - "Confessions of a Bombshell Bandit"
2007 Booksellers Best Award, 3rd place - Spying In High Heels
2006 National Readers Choice Award, Best Mainstream Novel - Spying In High Heels
2006 Judge A Book By Its Cover Contest, 4th Place - Spying In High Heels
2005 Golden Heart Winner - Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements Manuscript

How did you start writing?

One fine summer day I had read everything in the house and needed a book to take to the beach. Then I spied a romance novel tucked in between my Agatha Christie volumes and the latest Janet Evanovich books. It had come free with some promotion in the mail. I picked it up, and into my beach bag it went. Sadly, this book was not indicative of the romance genre as a whole. As I lay there on the beach I realized it stunk. Really badly. It was the worst thing I had ever read. So, after chucking it across the sand during one particularly horrifying chapter, I said to myself, “Well, even I can do better than that.” So I did. Okay, well, first I wrote a couple of incredibly stinky manuscripts myself – it was a lot harder than I thought to write a terrible book let alone a good one! – but eventually I got better and sold one of them to a fabulous editor who has kept me on the non-stinky path ever since.


Where do you get your inspiration?

Everywhere. I know, cop-out answer, but it’s so true. Any little bit of dialogue I hear at Starbucks, song I hear on the radio, or guy in line at the grocery store can inspire a new idea. The only thing I can say for certain is that I steal from the people I know a lot. A. Lot. To know me is to be character fodder. Thankfully my family and friends get a kick out of seeing me exaggerate their finer traits on paper, but there are a few ex-boyfriends that probably shouldn’t read my books. I do write about murders after all. ;)


Which books are in your High Heels series and do I have to read them in order?

#1 Spying in High Heels
#2 Killer in High Heels
#3 Undercover in High Heels
#4 Alibi in High Heels
#5 Mayhem in High Heels

Each book in the series follows was the same character, shoe designer turned crime fighter, Maddie Springer, as she unravels a murder mystery while trying to sort out her own screwed up love life as well. The series follows her on-again-off-again relationship with homicide detective Jack Ramirez, but each book stands alone as its own story and I try to catch readers starting in the middle of the series up to where the characters are now. So, no, you certainly don’t have to read them in order.


Is it true Spying in High Heels is going to be a TV show?

Yes! Spying in High Heels is currently in development with the USA Network for a TV series. Unfortunately, it got caught square in the middle of this year’s Writer’s Guild Strike, so that’s delayed things down considerably. I don’t have any information on when it might be hitting the small screen at this point, but I do know that the producers and writers involved in the project are all very enthusiastic about it and are doing everything in their power to get Maddie, Ramirez and the whole gang into your living rooms every week.


Who would you like to see cast in the High Heels TV show?

I am so not a casting director. That’s a whole job in itself. But… I will tell you that Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods character from Legally Blonde pops into my head all the time when I think of Maddie. As for Ramirez, any one of those hot Latin soap stars would do the trick for me. And Felix, well, he’d have to Hugh Grant now, wouldn’t he?


What are the Dreams & Desires books all about?

Freya’s Bower is a small independent publisher that puts out some fabulous e- and print books. In 2007 they decided to give something back to the community by putting together an anthology of stories and giving all proceeds from the sale of the book to a shelter for victim of domestic violence. All the authors, editors, and artists involved volunteered their time and efforts to this great project. The anthology was such a success, and inspired so many, that they’ve continued to do the same thing each year, with the proceeds from each anthology going to help victims of domestic violence in different shelters around the country. They have done amazing things to raise awareness about how prevalent this epidemic is, and I’m honored to have been a part of all their Dreams & Desires volumes.

“Confessions of a Bombshell Bandit” in Dream & Desires Vol.1
“Mark of a Bond Girl” in Dreams & Desires Vol. 2
“Watching You” in Dreams & Desires Vol. 3


What new projects are you working on?

I’m currently working on a new series that will be hitting bookstores in late 2009. It’s called the Hollywood Headlines series and the stories all center around the L.A. Informer, Los Angeles’s premier tabloid magazine, reporting on all the latest celebrity gossip, scandals and dirt. They’re not above a little sensational exaggeration and have even been known, on occasion, to bend the law in pursuit of a hot story. Their ace reporter, Felix Dunn (whom you may recognize from the High Heels series), has just been promoted to managing editor. Now, he’s got his work cut out for him keeping the magazine running smoothly while keeping his staff in line, because each book in the series will follow a different one of the Informer's reporters as she investigates a story, unravels a mystery, and falls for her own fabulous hero. The first book is tentatively titled Scandal Sheet, with at least two more to follow in the coming months.