Seriously? You want to hear about ME? Well, okay, but I hope your Coke is loaded with caffeine.

I started reading romance by chance. When I was fifteen, I spent a week with my grandma in Kansas City. The day before I was to leave, we spotted a forgotten Harlequin Romance on the seat of a cross-town bus. Since I had a long Greyhound bus ride ahead of me the next day, Grandma handed me the book to while away my time. I couldn't believe my luck and stashed it away, not to be seen again until I'd safely left the Greyhound station..

So started my love of reading romance. I devoured them--historical, contemporary, series or single title. Soon I yearned to write. I wanted to be able to move a reader to laughter and tears and to sigh over the overwhelming passion conveyed with mere words on a page. But I didn't think I could. For one thing, I had to earn a living, and [insert laughter] trust me, one doesn't get into fiction writing, and especially not romance writing, for the money. It's a lonely task, and it's hard work, but believing my book might touch the emotions of a reader is...well, SO COOL. That's the payoff. If you've been bitten by the writing bug, you have to write.

I joined Romance Writers of America and found MORWA, the wonderful local chapter. I soaked in the knowledge these generous writers shared. I attended conferences with workshops so I could improve my craft. I learned about the business side of the industry. When I got THE CALL (one of the top five most incredible days of my life), I was ready.

HA! All the writers and other people who've been on this journey with me are laughing their behinds off. Because as much as I'd learned, there's ten times that I still don't know. And trying to deal with emerging technology (website? blog? online presence? Oh, my!) is mind-boggling. Can't I just write the books and trust readers will go look for me? Nope, not anymore.

Fortunately, I have a very supportive husband and two kids who don't remember a time when Mom didn't write. We live in the Midwest, where the weather has an imagination of its own.