My friend from the Here Be Magic author group, Jody Wallace, tagged me to participate in this meme. I love to answer questions – we all know that LOL – so here goes and Happy Monday to everyone!

What am I working on? Other than this blog post? And the dayjob stuff I brought home? Well, I’m on the second revision of my new science fiction romance/adventure, MISSION TO MAHJUNDAR. I’m also doing advance thinking for my next paranormal novel set in Ancient Egypt, tentatively entitled GHOST OF THE NILE. I’m mulling ideas for a series, researching books and authors for my USA Today/HEA column “Sci-Fi Encounters”…and kinda feeling overwhelmed. But I LOVE writing!!!

How does my work differ from others of its genre? It’s um written by me??? How does one answer a question like this, seriously? I will say, though, that when it comes to the novels set in Ancient Egypt, I research them as if I was going to write a historical and then I put in paranormal twists involving the gods. I’ve had Readers and Reviewers tell me they enjoy the matter of fact way the Egyptian pantheon takes part in the action and how the everyday warriors, dancers and other characters accept and expect this. So perhaps that’s my unique twist there! I began the series with Priestess of the Nile, featuring the Crocodile God Sobek as a shifter, who falls in love with a human woman…As far as the science fiction, I try to tell a good story, have pretty much nonstop action and of course some romance. Maybe not unique but hopefully enjoyable for the Reader.

Why do I write what I do? I’ve always been fascinated by the ancient world and especially the Egyptians. I loved the YA book Mara, Daughter of the Nile  by Eloise McGraw Jarvis and always wanted more of that kind of fiction to read, but with a lot more romance and magic. So I write those! On the science fiction side, I was heavily influenced by all the SF my Dad kept in the house, especially Andre Norton, and again, I wanted more romance to go with the action…

How does your writing process work? I’m very superstitious about my Muse so I frankly don’t delve too deeply into my process. I sit down, the words flow, the story happens. I usually know the opening, the ending and a few key scenes when I start writing a book and the rest fills itself in as I go. I always know who the hero and heroine are, but the other characters introduce themselves as the story unfolds. I sit here at my great grandmother’s desk, which I inherited, and I bang away on a laptop (learned on an old Royal typewriter to of course I still pound the keys LOL). Periodically my cat Jake will insist on attention. He usually wants me to throw various items for the other cat, Keanu, to chase, which amuses Jake. Eventually I have to get up and retrieve All The Items because Keanu loses interest when the toy stops moving. He doesn’t fetch.

I think this meme is losing steam so I’m only tagging two authors for next week:  Beth Matthews, author of The Beauty’s Beast and Shawna Reppert, author of The Stolen Luck.

Best wishes with your week!