How long have you been writing?
For about three years.

Where were you when you got your first contract? 
I was at home. The funny thing was that I had just signed with my agent, Laura Bradford, and was sort of ‘settling in’ for another long, unbearable wait while she tried to sell it. Two weeks after she called to say she’d represent me, she called and said, “Guess what? Berkley offered you a contract.” I was floored. A rush still goes through me when I tell that story.

What was the first thing you did? Scream? Cry? Sit in stunned silence?
Oh, definitely the latter. Except for every once in awhile, I’d break the silence by saying, “Are you sure?”

Who did you tell first?
My husband. He was thrilled, of course, but unless you’re in the publishing business, it’s kind of hard to convey just how unbelievable it was that not only had WICKED BURN sold, but it had sold in two weeks.

Does music influence your writing?  If so, do you have a playlist that goes with each book?
For some of them, most definitely. Since my romance GATEWAY TO HEAVEN was about a rock star, I had a specific playlist for that one: Audioslave—the first CD.

If your books were optioned for a movie, who would play your characters?
Sam Sheperd, circa the early eighties—like he looked in the movie The Right Stuff. I actually based Vic Savian’s appearance off of Sam in that movie—sexy little cowboy, naughty grin and that just slightly overlapped front tooth. Strangely, I thought the cover model really was reminiscent of a young Sam. For Niall, my heroine—hmmm, that’s a tough one. She’s a natural beauty, elegant and petite. Gwenyth Paltrow, maybe. Although Niall is not as tall and statuesque, they both share that aura of graceful sophistication, kind of an ‘approachable elegance.’

Do you like a neat workspace?  Or are you comfortably disorganized?
I occasionally become disorganized, and it drives me batty. Neatness is sort of an ideal that I strive for, and rarely succeed at attaining.

Tell me a little about Wicked Burn from Berkeley Sensation.
WICKED BURN is my New York debut novel. I actually wrote it for the Berkeley Heat line, and that was where it was originally placed. My editor switched it, though, saying that although it was extremely hot, the emotional core to the story made it a very, very sexy Sensation. It made sense to me. WICKED BURN has graphic, detailed sex scenes in it, but it’s first and foremost a love story.

How long did it take you to write it?
Let’s see…about five months, I believe.

What are your favorite things about these characters?
I love Vic because he’s a paradox: an intellectual playwright and an alpha male on a horse. He lives in the city a few days out of the week, and rushes to the country the first chance he gets. He makes his living with words, and yet, as Niall puts it, “he hardly talks at all.” Vic wears his sexuality like his own skin; he’s supremely comfortable with it. His lazy little smile is at odds with his intensity. He’s fierce about getting what he wants.

Niall is special because she’s so strong, and she doesn’t even realize it. Many people would have collapsed under the weight of a tragedy that she endured, but she kept going, even if it meant freezing off her heart. She takes a chance with Vic…and he burns her with his passion, wakes her up again to the world of the living.

Tell us something about you that nobody knows…
Well, let’s see. I’m a cozy-holic. I love hot baths with bubble bath or salts, checking my e-mails and reading books while I’m propped up in bed, sitting by a fire, homemade macaroni and cheese, taking naps. It’ a wonder I ever get anything done. I’d be in heaven if I could write on my computer while I soaked in a hot bath and not have to worry about electrocution.

Thanks for the fun questions, Vivian!