“There is no agony like having an untold story inside you.” — Zora Neale Hurston
Born in Newport, Rhode Island, I grew up in neighboring Middletown with parents who lived to be on the water. In fact, that’s the Newport Bridge gracing the banner on my website. While running his aviation repair business with my mother as his bookkeeper, my father restored a progression of wooden powerboats that graduated over the years from 22 to 36 feet. Today, the boat is 36 feet and made of fiberglass, it has a shower, hot water, a microwave, and a T.V.—all things we never dreamed of having as kids—but the boat has gotten a bit more crowded than it used to be, and Dad is still at the helm.
After graduating from Middletown High School in 1984, I attended the University of Rhode Island where I double majored in journalism and political science. I graduated in 1988 and went to work for a small community newspaper—the writing equivalent of boot camp. We worked like dogs for almost no money, but we had a lot of fun and learned so much about writing, editing and life.
I lived in Rhode Island until I was 26 when I did something I had vowed to never do while growing up in a Navy town—I married a Navy guy and moved from the smallest state in the U.S. to Rota, Spain, where he was stationed. To say the change in my life was dramatic is putting it mildly! We had the time of our lives in Spain from 1992 to 1995, where I also earned a master’s degree in public administration through a program offered to the military by the University of Maryland. Our daughter Emily was born there three months before we returned to the states with her and the two dogs we had rescued from the pound—Consuela and Roscoe. (Consuela—my office mate and constant companion—died at 17 on May 5, 2009. Roscoe died at 14 in July 2006.)
Next stop Maryland, where Dan was stationed at the National Security Agency. I answered a tiny ad in The Washington Post, which landed me the job I still have today as the communications director for a nonprofit in Alexandria, Virginia. My company is devoted to the advancement of government accountability and supports the careers of people in the government financial management profession. I serve as editor-in-chief of a national trade magazine and oversee many other publications throughout the year. Our son Jake was born at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in October 1998. When Dan was transferred to the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, an aircraft carrier stationed in Jacksonville, Florida, in November 1998, my company retained me as a full-time telecommuter.
Dan spent a big chunk of the three years he was stationed on the Kennedy at sea, which was a barrel of laughs for a mom with an infant, a toddler, two dogs, a full-time job and one of those fabulous palatial houses you used to be able to buy for a song in Florida. Needless to say, the Jacksonville years passed in a blur of activity and late nights at work! Dan retired from the Navy in December 2001, and the following summer we decided to move back to Rhode Island where we reside today in Portsmouth—the town right next door to Middletown. We sold the McMansion and paid twice as much for this old house in Rhode Island. Never go from brand new to old. Don’t do it. Eight years later, I still haven’t recovered from the trauma.
When we lived in Jacksonville, the kids and I would drive down to Ft. Lauderdale to visit my parents who spent winters there. My dad and I would take long walks through the marinas where he would show me the boats we were going to buy someday. “You need to get busy writing that book,” he would say. My reply was always the same: “When exactly do you think I could fit that in? Between changing diapers and publishing magazines?” With a big grin, he would say, “Three to six a.m. is available.” A pipe dream. That’s all it was. But there was this character running around in my head. A man with thick dark hair, gray-blue eyes, an engaging grin, a quick wit . . . His name was Jack, and he was an architect. I’d find myself talking to him in the shower, when I was doing dishes or bathing babies. He’d crop up on days at the beach or on walks through the neighborhood. Someday, I said. Someday, I’ll write Jack’s story.
In 2002, I began to make some notes. I stumbled upon those notes recently and laughed so hard I cried. It was God-awful. Clearly, I wasn’t ready. Once in a while, though, I’d reopen that file, take another look, and make some more notes. I vividly remember outlining the story I had in mind to Dan when we were out to dinner one night. He loved it and encouraged me to pursue it. I knew I wanted something to happen to Jack’s wife, Clare, something that would incapacitate her but not kill her. I had great plans to put Jack through the wringer, but inevitably, life would interfere, and he’d get relegated to the back burner.
After we moved to Rhode Island in August 2002, I started to get more serious about the book but still wasn’t able to get very far. A year later, in November 2003, my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The next nine months were a roller coaster ride, during which I turned to the book more and more often, seeking an escape from the nightmare of my mother’s illness. By early August 2004, I had four solid chapters that my mother was the first to read. I made her cry, she said. She died on August 31, 2004.
Something that had lain dormant for years kicked into gear in the aftermath of my mother’s death. I asked myself—what are you waiting for? What meaning will it have to finally write that book if you wait until neither of your parents—the two people who always said you had it in you—aren’t around to read it? I firmly believe my mother is sending me these amazing characters who continue to pop up out of nowhere and lead me on one great adventure after another. How else can I possibly explain the incredible things that have happened in the sixy years since she died?
I finished Jack’s book, “Treading Water,” on May 18, 2005, and it’s my fondest hope to one day see it published. (Read more about The House That Jack Built.) I’ve finished a few since then, including “Line of Scrimmage,” which was the first to be published in September 2008, but no accomplishment will ever mean more to me than writing “The End” on that first one. You sort of expect the world to at least have the decency to tip on its axis in tribute to your enormous accomplishment. But alas, kids still have homework, there’s work and laundry and bills and dinner to make. Life goes on, but nothing is ever the same again. Since then, I've sold "Love at First Flight" (July 2009), "Fatal Affair" (June 2010 and in print July 2011), "Fatal Justice" (January 2011), "Everyone Loves A Hero" (February, 2011), "Fatal Consequences" (July 2011), "Fatal Destiny" (September 2011) and "Fatal Flaw" (February 2012). I sold "Fatal Justice," on May 18, 2010, the fifth anniversary of the day I wrote "The End" for the very first time. I've also recently published some of my unsold contemporaries on my own. When someone asked me what led me to that decision, my reply was, "No one was interested in these books except my readers." And boy have they shown me the love for "True North" and "The Fall." Thank you so much to the wonderful readers who have made my writing journey so fulfilling. I've been blessed beyond all expectation by readers who have connected with my books and, in many cases, become my friends.
Oh and by the way, my dad has read and enjoyed most of my books.
—December 2010
Update!
Wow, things have certainly been happening since I last updated this page! I've had a wild 2011 with books out just about every month: Fatal Series Book 2, Fatal Justice (January), Everyone Loves a Hero (February), The Wreck (March), The McCarthys of Gansett Island Book 1, Maid for Love (April),The McCarthys of Gansett Island Book 2, Fool for Love (May), The McCarthys of Gansett Island Book 3, Ready for Love (June), Fatal Series Book 3, Fatal Consequences (July), Fatal Series Wedding Novella, Fatal Destiny (September), Georgia on My Mind (September). The year ended with the publication of the first three books I ever wrote (and still my favorites) Treading Water (October), Marking Time (November) and Starting Over (December).
What has all this activity done for my writing career? Well, quite frankly it has sent it into orbit. I've been so blessed by the outpouring of reader mail, reviews and Facebook comments that have let me know how much you enjoy my books. I've had readers write to tell me my books transport them out of their own difficult lives into a place where love and romance and excitement prevail. What a compliment that is! The McCarthys of Gansett Island have been particularly well received by readers, which makes me chuckle considering that Maid for Love was rejected all over the place before I decided to publish it—and its sequels—on my own.
Rejection is a big part of being an author. Even after you are published, you're still rejected—regularly. I won't lie to you and say that doesn't hurt. Of course it does. But I've come to see that all the rejection has paved a new path that I never would've taken without all those "NO" replies. And this new path is a good one for me. I love having all the control over my books, from the content to the cover to the distribution and publication dates. I've discovered an entrepreneurial side to myself that I didn't realize I possessed and now it seems that anything is possible. The best part of my new reality is the ability to regularly communicate with readers, to hear what they think of my books and to listen to their suggestions for future books. That is quite thrilling!
What's Next?
Coming up will be at least four more books from Gansett Island as well as the ongoing Fatal Series. I'm contemplating a second series set on Gansett Island featuring characters introduced in book 4, Falling for Love. I have ideas for other series that I'd love to explore as well as some follow-on stories to earlier books that readers have asked me to write. As of January 1, 2012, I'm a full-time writer, so we're just getting started. Thanks for taking this wild ride with me!
—January 2012
The Latest
Coming Feb. 6, 2012
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