Saving Joe has to be one of my all time faves!!  Nominated for Romantic Times Magazine's 2005 Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Harlequin American, this was the launch title for my US Marshals series. 

While all of that is wonderful, what makes the title special for me is the trip Hubby and I took to research the setting.  At the time, I'd been going through a bit of a personal meltdown--looong story!  Anyway, once we hit the Oregon Coast, the emotional healing began.  We rented a white, Sebring convertible at the Portland Airport, headed south, then over to the Pacific coast.  Gorgeous doesn't begin to describe the area's beauty.  Our fave motel was Moolack Shores located on Highway 101 between Beverly and Agate Beach.  They have themed rooms with stunning views.  Magical, magical place! 

This story was my first stab at a romantic suspense, and upon getting my scores, I found that it'd come heartbreakingly close to being a RITA finalist.  The RITA is the romance world's Academy Award.  Whoever was the one judge who didn't like it--shame on you!!  LOL!! 

Santa Baby was especially fun for me in that it's a couple of different books in one.  There's a complete story in the first three chapters, then the book starts anew in Chapter Four.  I was especially proud of this book, but reviewers slammed it.  Alas, the book has the dubious distinction of being my only 2 Star RT rating. 

Research for the story was killer.  I found a real live Alaskan bush pilot to help answer my gazillion questions, and even one day resorted to calling an Alaskan plant nursury to find out when canteloupe first ripens in the area where the book was set! 

Blue Moon was my first single title romance.  It was nominated for the National Reader's Choice Award, the Phoenix Desert Rose's Gold Quill, the Windy City Choice Award, and the Wisconsin Romance Writer's Write Touch Award.

The scenes with the White River are based upon parts of the White River that flow through Batesville, Arkansas, the town where Hubby grew up.

Also in Blue Moon, some of the beauty pageants Precious enters are real--including the Tontitown Grape Festival pageant.

I wrote Blue Moon while getting one house ready to sell and moving into another house. During the move, my brand new computer crashed and had to be shipped to California. It was under warranty, but I had to pay extra for rush service and shipping.

Oh, they rushed it all right, and ended up fixing the wrong part! It then had to be shipped back to California. Consequently, this book was written in a little over a month in my new office that was at the time so crammed with boxes that getting to my desk felt like hiking the Grand Canyon!!

Since I haven't yet been fortunate enough to hop over to England, I did research through watching movies. Four Weddings and a Funeral has some great English countryside scenes, as does Three Men and a Little Lady.

Lucy's duke is loosely based on Hugh Grant. Getting Brit Speak right was important to me, and for that I had help from effingpot.com.

The Utah setting in Blind Luck Bride is loosely based on a three-month stay we had in Salt Lake City while Terry worked for an engineering firm there. The sunsets were amazing! His firm was located near the city zoo in the foothills, and in the evenings, while waiting to pick him up, me and my then baby-babies had a perfect panoramic view!

Babies and Badges is one of my all-time faves!  While it's no longer in print, you should be able to find plenty of used copies floating around.  The story has an awful lot of the real me in it--thank goodness I at least had my twins in the hospital instead of on the side of the road! For starters, Cassie's yellow Thunderbird actually belongs to my friend, Margaret Daley. We were both bummed that it wasn't on the cover. I grew up about fifty miles east of the fictional town of Riverdale. The burger joint where Noah and Cassie eat at is based on a drive-in in Fayetteville, AR named Brenda's Bigger Burger. It's right off the U of A campus, and has mouth-watering burgers with all the trimmings. Yum!

The War Eagle Craft Fair is a HUGE deal in Northwest Arkansas. The traffic jams are as legendary as the amazing crafts and foods. The quaint War Eagle Mill is the centerpiece for the four-day, twice-annual event. Also fun, are the small fairs that crop up along the country roads you have to take to get to the fair!

Inherited: One Baby!  The hiking scenes from Inherited: One Baby! are based upon Roaring River State Park in southern Missouri. One of the most magical moments of our marriage was spent there one morning hiking through slanted sunbeams. Gorgeous, gorgeous place!

Back in high school, I also used to camp here with my great friend Shelley and her family.

Also in Inherited: One Baby!, my dad invented Jake's boat. Okay, so he didn't really invent it, but he researched it for me. He comes from a long line of Lake Michigan sailors and has owned and sailed countless boats--even built one of his own which Mom and him sailed down the Mississippi. My Uncle Jeff and Uncle Bill sail, too. Jeff races and has won a ton of prestigious Lake Michigan races. Bill's expertise is in boat building. His finish carpentry is exquisite. Uncle Jeff (seated in red/blue jacket) on his boat, RUSH, in the first race of the spring series regatta. Hey ladies--he's single!