What can you tell us about your new release, Until You Say I Do?
This is the third book in the Until You Series and the conclusion of Joseph and Samantha’s epic love story. We find them 1.5 years after the end of book 2, Until You Are Mine, with Joseph graduated and working to find his footing as VP of Product and Technology at MCI, and Samantha getting ready to start her last year of college. If you think the drama was all used up in books 1 & 2, you would be wrong. Although the story line is not as life threatening as it was in their earlier books, it is a perilous journey of the heart with a heavy mix of trust and belief.
What's on your writing desk?
My laptop (docked), two widescreen monitors, a phone (the land-line type), a wireless keyboard, mouse (purple, of course), a dolphin mouse pad (see question about what I wanted to be when I grew up), a doc for my iPhone/iPad, coaster (grapes, no dolphins…darnit!), a plush smiley-face keychain (from my daughter), a Pixel of my likeness (from my daughter), a small pink plastic horse (from my daughter), and a TY Beanie Baby puppy with purple eyes keychain (also from my daughter…she thinks I need company when I write), and a box of Kleenex for all those emotional moments (or when allergies get the best of me). Oh, and I nearly forgot—a clear glass mug with my logo on it. It was a gift from my web designer as a thank you. I put a candle in it since I don’t drink coffee, but I also keep it in here because it was the first thing I ever got with my logo on it, so it’s sentimental. I like to turn the candle on (battery operated) when I write.
What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?
This is in no particular order:
- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
- A Stone in the Sea by A.L. Jackson
- Bared to You by Sylvia Day
- Fixed on You by Laurelin Paige
- Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning (but start with her Highlander series, Beyond the Highland Mist, as it feeds into her Fever series)
All of these are the first book of the series—I am a diehard series lover—and consider all of the books in that series to be included in the above list of best books I’ve ever read.
Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?
A.L. Jackson would be my first guest. If I could manage not to gush or cry, I would ask her how she infuses such depth into her characters, her stories. She has a way of weaving angst and heartache as a running current below the surface of the story. It’s like an underground spring that runs turbulent just out of sight, but its effects are obvious in her lush writing and turn of a phrase. I’m in awe of her writing style. It’s one of the most unique that I’ve found —and related to—and I most definitely aspire to achieve that depth in my own writing.
BAM. You're a superhero. What's your superpower?
You know, my kids and I have this conversation all the time. It’s easier to pick my favorite super hero (Superman, by the way. Though Loki is a strong runner up with his bad-boy/good-boy angst—don’t even mention the last Marvel movie. I can’t even bear to discuss it!) than it is to choose just one superpower for myself. I bounce between flying and being able to breath underwater, both of which I dreamt repeatedly about being able to do as a kid. I’m sure that says something about my psyche in the world of dream interpretation. Anyway, back to the question at hand—I would choose flying, though the ability to be invisible has it’s perks too!
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be Jacques Cousteau, which I interpreted to mean I would be a marine biologist, though I’m not sure that is entirely accurate. I wanted to study, swim, live with the dolphins and whales. So, whatever profession allowed me to do that, that was what I wanted to be.
What scene in Until You Say I Do was your favorite to write?
This is a terribly unfair question. I have so many favorite scenes, though perhaps, they are more my favorite to read after the fact. It is the writing of those scenes that can be more difficult to get just right.
So, I will choose a favorite to write that is still my favorite to read. It’s the beginning of Chapter 19: I Get To Love You where we find Joseph standing at the alter waiting on his Samantha to walk down the isle to marry him. It’s the accumulation of all the joy and heartache that brought these two to this point—the pinnacle of all three of their books.
It starts out, “MY HEART IS POUNDING, thundering like a champion racehorse at the starting gate, biting at the bit for the race to begin. It’s been two years, four weeks, three days, and seventeen hours since I first laid eyes on Samantha Lilian Cavanagh. It was the Friday before Thanksgiving, my family out of town for the holiday. I took the standing offer from my then-roommate, Jace, to spend the holiday with his family. I’d met his parents before, many times, in fact. But the illustrious Samantha was known to me only through Jace’s words and actions when he talked to her or about her.
Even then, she stood out in my mind as someone important. Important enough to be spoken of in awe by a man who chased women like a stud working for his next meal. Jace revered his sister, and though his actions didn’t always equal his love for her, it was obvious, even to me, that she was the most important person in his life.
He wasn’t wrong.”
You’ll have to buy the book to see how it ends.
