A Whole New World

Today, I begin a new circle in my life as a published author. Big deal. Well, it is for me.

Since I was a child, I wrote stories. I have notebooks full of partial stories.

That was the problem. Life seemed to get in the way of what I really wanted to do. Then one day, I realized I was getting older much faster than I anticipated, and I had so many things I still wanted to do.

Fortunately, my Bucket List keeps getting checkmarks, and I'm thoroughly blessed because of it. However, the one thing I kept putting off was writing that novel. Now, that I've published, I believe what truly created the obstacles wasn't life, but my own insecurities.

Interesting because I am a writer. Have been since I graduated college. But, I'm a journalist, and fiction writing is a whole other animal. My background was of little help.

What did help? Well, I found a group of writers, and I joined. I went to meetings. I listened and learned. Every month I came home inspired and encouraged by a terrific group of women who kept telling me "You can do this."

I am forever grateful to the Indiana chapter of the Romance Writers of America. Thank you with all my heart.

Now, a little about Captured Hearts.

Maybe for my first novel, this storyline might not have been the best choice, but this story has rolled around in my head for years. It has a dark element to it, because the initial setting is an operation where women are used as sex slaves.

While not graphic or gratuitous, Allee, my heroine is raped. But that's not her story. Her story is one of healing and forgiveness.

I truly believe that good people make horrible decisions, but in those decisions, I don't believe forgiveness is impossible.

Forgiveness can heal both parties. That's the story I wanted to tell. Not the story about what happened, but the story about how the characters responded to what happened.

Currently, I'm working on two novels. Both are contemporary. One is set in my favorite city, Chicago, and the other is set in my hometown of Indianapolis.

Both are sexy and have a lot of laughs, though one definitely has more hot sexy moments than the other but I'm having a blast writing Adrian and Avery's story and Jordan and Emma's story.

That's all for now.