Favorite books?

As I was writing away the other day, I had one of those "How did I get here?" moments. You know, the kind of moment where everything just stops and you're compelled to take a look at your career or your life or your home or whatever and analyze what trigger, what moment, what event landed you where you are today.

For me, THAT particular moment was all about what got me started writing. And I basically realized that what got me started writing had everything to do with reading. There were certain books that had such impact, evoked such emotion or made such a lasting impression that I was compelled to read them and reread them several times. The lingering feelings I had from those books, the connections I felt with the characters, the joy in their happily ever afters were what eventually led me to trying my hand at writing a book myself.

Did I embark on this journey knowing what I was getting into? Heck no. I did it purely for the joy of it. For the discovery of what I could create, the fun of 'having' created and then later the excitement and anticipation of wondering if I could actually sell.

Wonder of wonders, somewhere along the way ... I became a writer. And it was all because of those special books and those special authors who touched me so deeply that I was driven to attempt to create something that might possibly move another reader in the same way.
For me, there are three authors who stand out in a sea of creative geniuses who led me down this path.


LaVryle Spencer. What can I say? I devoured every single title, but the one that remains closest to my heart and was the catalyst for my own career was THE HUMMINGBIRD. I must have reread that book half a dozen times. It's just so full of human drama and emotion and triumph.




Tom and Sharon Curtis. OMG. If you have never read THE WINDFLOWER, find a copy of this book and indulge yourself in pure, unadulterated pleasure. (It might also be listed as written by Laura London)











Sandra Brown. Before Sandra became the mainstream sensation that she is, she wrote not only category romance but historical romance. Go find ANOTHER DAWN, the most amazing western historical of all time. Just .... stunning.










Oddly enough, as you can see, it was historical romance that got me writing and yet, contemporary romantic suspense is where I landed. True, the time and setting are nothing alike, but the emotions these amazing authors evoked in their pages are the same emotions I attempt to evoke on mine. Do I come close? Not even! But I do try and their amazing books are the bedrock on which I built my 'character' first, 'story' second writing philosophy.

So how about you? If you're a writer, who inspired you to write? And for you lovely, lovely readers, what books or authors live on your keeper shelf and compel you to 'reread' them from time to time?

First Sale and Patriot Day

Good bad or otherwise, you’re getting a twofer from me today. First things first – my first sale. It falls into the ‘if I knew then what I know now’ category, I probably wouldn’t be published. I was so naïve. Such a baby – rhetorically speaking – and so ignorant of the business. Long story short, I was in love with LaVryle Spencer’s work – who among us doesn’t love and miss seeing new work from LaVyrle?? Anyway, I’d exhausted her complete library – or so I thought until I discovered some old titles but couldn’t find them on the shelves anywhere. So I wrote to her. That was before the days of e-mail (yes, Virginia, there is a pre-web era many of us survived, but just barely). Wonder of wonders, she wrote back to me. Told me she wrote to me personally because my letter was so articulate. In my 'star-struck' mind that equated to: “LaVryle Spencer thinks I’m articulate. I bet I could write a book.”

You laugh but that’s just how it all started. I sat down with a portable manual typewriter with a sticky E and set out to write the great American novel. From that moment on I was a gonner. Bitten bad by the writing bug. That manuscript was rejected by the best editors in the business (many of whom I enjoy seeing at RWA nationals) but the rejection letters were very encouraging so I kept at it. I wrote two more books. Farmed them all over NYC and finally got the call one pretty fall afternoon from Elizabeth Barrett (yes that’s her name) from Bantam Doubleday Dell’s now defunct Loveswept line.

My hubby was helping a farmer friend of his so I was home alone. I was screaming and buzzed with excitement so I hopped in the car, drove out to the farm, bounced across a fall-plowed field or two until I found Tom behind the wheel of a HUGE combine picking corn. He saw me coming, jumped out of the cab and ran to the car. “Who died?” he asked frantically. In his mind, nothing else warranted the beating my poor car was taking.

We still laugh about that day but MAVERICK was my very first title and came out in July of 1991. Now- wow - 17 years and 41 books later, I still get a little tickle of excitement when I think about that first sale.

My question for you all is, if you're a writer, was there a particular author who inspired you? A particular book? Have you always wanted to be a writer? Or if you're not a writer, what compels you to take a chance on a new author?

On a more somber note, today is Patriot Day. Seven years ago today our lives were forever changed by the horrors of the 9/11 attacks. Please stop with me and take a moment to remember with both sorrow and pride all we endured as a nation that day. In honor of those lost then and in the days that followed as our military fight and defend all that we hold dear, if you fly a flag please display it at half-staff today and observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. eastern daylight time to honor the innocent victims who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

In peace…

Cindy