Q: To start with tell us a little bit about yourself

I am a passionate individual who loves to write, who is obsessed with miniature golf/badminton, and who is a perfectionist. I am addicted to knowledge, and attracted to intellect. There’s nothing sexier than a man who is intelligent…genuinely intelligent. I’m vocal and will defend my point to the death. Anyone in my immediate circle will attest to that. I’m a person who explicates just about everything when it comes to inspirational quotes – or any quotes for that matter. I think people say, and post things all the time just because they sound good without really challenging the words or looking at it critically. I don’t care whose quote it is, I need to fully assess it first before I go, “Liking/Sharing”, or otherwise. Oh! I’m an admitted control freak. And a Leo. I think that’s it. No, wait! I love life and am the kind of person who will come down really hard on myself if I feel like I’ve gone through the day without identifying something different/new about myself and those around me. Weird, huh?

Q: What is the most frustrating thing about being a writer?

The most frustrating part about writing to me, is not the actual writing itself, but the worrying about whether anyone will like my work or not. So much so that whenever I write a story, I never go back and read it again for fear I will find something that would give any reader ammunition to hate me and chalk me up to a wannabe. Don’t get me wrong, I know I can write and I have total faith in my writing, it’s the “acceptance” factor. I’m slowly shaking that and simply reveling in a place of finding comfort in the fact that I’m writing after having put it off so long because of fear.

Q: Your two novellas Rendezvous & The Color of Lies? Where did the inspiration for these titles come from?

Oh! I love talking about that! Rendezvous was actually part of an anthology with the instruction to just “go for it…make it no longer than 10,000 words…setting Mardi Gras…start it out with a bang!” Enter the limousine scene. I came up with the bang first and built from there. I had a complete ball writing that story because it took even me to another place and it was what I wanted for the reader as well. Gabriella Alexis Sandoval, the main character in my debut novel, was introduced in this novella. Rendezvous tells a small portion of her life – the secret portion of her life – and that is her time spent in Brazil as a high priced call girl. This particular piece of her lifestyle is something that she’s held onto since a young adult because it was a release there for her during a tumultuous time in her life. She has her own wealth and a full life outside of that secret life, but continues it because for her it’s a place of comfort for her that was there for her when she felt she was at the end.

Now The Color of Lies is my absolute favorite story. I think it’s my favorite because of how it was developed. There are so many memories with that story. Let’s begin with the fact that it was written in four days out of a nervous energy. Imagine working every day all day on a book and then all of a sudden you’re done. It’s the one thing you’ve done every day for months – morning, noon, and night. Then it’s off to be edited and you’re inside your own head about what the feedback will be and wondering if the editors and beta readers will hate it. Since I’m a girl who wants the truth, and sugarcoating, I was prepared for the worst and I had nowhere to put that energy. So what did I do? I wrote a story and honestly as I wrote TCoL, it flowed so fluidly I was scared. That had never happened to me before and I was deathly afraid of what it meant instead of embracing it as a talent (something I have a hard time doing). The story has several characters, but its focus is on an agency called Pandora’s Box that outs the cheaters of the world. In this particular installment, we had Erik Warren a super dog! He is a married man living a single life and when his wife’s women’s intuition kicks in, she enlists the help of the beautiful Brooklyn Kellogg, and her agency to get to the bottom of things. The Color of Lies is my best seller to date, ironically and I am currently at work on the next installment which closes up some loose ends with a few characters, and introduces some new ones along the way.

Q: What made you decide to continue Gabriella’s story in Revolving Doors?

I knew early on that I wanted to give her a full story. I wanted to read her story! Lol! I wanted to see what led her to that secret life in Brazil, and what else she had going on in addition to that life. Gabriella told me that she wanted her story told and it was my job to tell it. There’s depth to her and it needed to be revealed alongside her life at the beautiful resort of Paraiso Belo. I wanted to tell the story of how heartbreak led her to become one of Valentina’s girls, how she found herself there, and how she developed as both a woman and a businesswoman from that experience.

Q: What do you want readers to take away from your work?

I want them to see that I work extremely hard to make my stories, and characters individuals. I don’t look at other author’s characters and take from them, I build these characters…these stories from scratch, and I feel that I owe it to them to tell their stories as thorough as possible, from the glorious to the imperfections. I want them to take from my work that I put my all into it because it’s important for me that I deliver a fine piece of work.