My background is simple. Growing up on a small farm in southern California, as a child, I spent much of my time immersed in tales of horror and fantasy. As I grew, I discovered the treasures of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches, Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series, and of course good old Neil Gaiman. The first novel I ever wrote was about a fairy princess who falls in love with the captain of the royal guard. It was rubbish. But that's how we all start...with stories of fantastic scenes, short or long. I had been writing short stories since I was about twelve, but my first attempt into a novel was absolutely horrible (which I discovered when I went back and reread all 50,00 words). But I kept at it and with each story got better. The thing I quickly discovered, when trying to take a stab at being a published author, is that the publishing world is brutal. One has to be almost masochistic to partake in it. But I kept at it, collecting enough rejections to wallpaper my bathroom and perhaps tile the floor as well. Now my novel, The Witching Hour, has been sold to Lyrical Press. In the meantime, I am working on another novel, Dancing with Devils.