This summer I binge watched HAWAII FIVE-O (all 7 seasons) and loved it — great ensemble cast, over-the-top action, great dialogue. It was an all-around fun cop show. Then I binge watched BLUE BLOODS (all 7 seasons) and also loved it. Different than HAWAII FIVE-O, but also with a strong ensemble cast and also a cop show. (Yes, I love my cop shows — always have, always will.) But when I finished BLUE BLOODS, I realized I had nearly a month (or longer!) to wait until all my favorite shows returned. The 8th season of both of these shows; ARROW;… Read More

First, before we get to our irregularly scheduled program, great news! SHATTERED is #67 on the USA Today bestseller list. via GIPHY If you haven’t bought SHATTERED yet, why not? Because it’s a hardcover? Get thee to a library! Or you can wait until May 1, 2018 when it’ll be out in mass market paperback. 🙂 SHATTERED is where Maxine Revere is forced to work with Lucy Kincaid to solve three very cold cases — the murder of three young boys — which began with the death of Lucy’s nephew, Justin Stanton. It’s the book my long-time readers have wanted… Read More

Well, that sounds pessimistic! Truly, I’m jumping up and down for joy (well, sagging tired in my chair) because I’m DONE with BREAKING POINT. I sent the draft off to my editor at the same time I lamented my miserable process. I love my muse, but she’s a total bitch. It took me more than two full months to write the first 85,000 words of BREAKING POINT. And 3 days to write the last 25,000+ words. I have had some 10K+ days, but they are few and far between and NEVER two in a row. In fact, usually when I… Read More

This blog was originally published two years ago today at the Kill Zone, and the link popped up in my facebook feed. It’s not only as relevant as it was two years ago, but perhaps more so as the glut of self-published books has increased. Plus, as I re-read the history behind my first (unpublished) book, it reminded me not only of how far I have come since 2002 when I decided to commit myself to a writing career, but how far I’ve come in the last two years … and how far I still need to go. I’ve been… Read More

I have long been a fan of Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars anyone?) and my dream job (other than what I do now) would be to collaborate with him on a project. (Or, Rob Thomas and Joss Whedon.) Other than the fact that I’m not funny (really — I’m not. I don’t write humor. But I can do the suspense and story really well and have someone else write the humor.) I loved the ComicCon iZombie panel that featured not only the actors, but Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright, his co–creator for the show. These are people who think like I… Read More

When I first started writing the Lucy Kincaid series, I didn’t plan on how many books I would write, but if someone told me I would have 12 books in this series I don’t know that I would have believed them. But I do. As of today. MAKE THEM PAY is the culmination of what I thought this series could be. Lucy has grown from an insecure wannabe FBI agent who questioned her instincts and struggled to move on from a troubled past and feared she could never love; into a mature, confident FBI agent who has found the capacity to… Read More

My first book THE PREY was released on December 27, 2005 and my 30th book, MAKE THEM PAY, will be released on March 7th … only 3 short weeks away. I can write anywhere, by necessity, but I’ve never been on a writer’s retreat before … (You can click through to MAKE THEM PAY for all the pre-order links and whatnot!) Before I sold my first book, I worked full time in the California State Legislature. And, I had kids. At first three … then four … and then five. Before I sold, I wrote at night after the kids… Read More

This weekend, I finished editing my copy edits for SHATTERED, the 4th Maxine Revere cold case mystery (on sale 8.22.17.) I received them on Monday the 9th, but didn’t sit down to work on them until Thursday … and finished them in three days. Trust me when I say I never get through copy edits so quickly. I was worried, so I spent Sunday and Monday morning going through them a second time because for certain I had missed something. I made a few more tweaks, but in the end, I’m very, very happy with this book and will be… Read More

I am a published author. I WRITE books for a living. I love my job, I love writing, I love working from home in my pajamas with a caffeine drip in my veins. Other than my kids, there is nothing I love more than writing. I am NOT a reviewer. I have NEVER reviewed a book on this blog. I have on occasion recommended books that I have read and enjoyed, but I have never reviewed them. “I love your blog, you review so many great books on your blog, I’m hoping you’ll take a look at TITLE. Here’s a… Read More

Ten years ago today, THE PREY was released into the world by Ballantine Books. Last month, my 27th novel, NO GOOD DEED, was published by St. Martin’s Press. It’s been a wild ride, with a lot of ups and downs, but I would never want to do anything else. I was born to be a writer. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. It took awhile to get here … mostly because I thought I had to do something “else” before I could write books. I got married, had kids, had a 13 year career as a consultant in the… Read More