I’ve been reading romances since…honestly, I can’t remember when I first picked them up. Probably somewhere around high school. I used to read a lot of Harlequins, along with John Saul and Dean Koontz. Diana Gabaldon is my absolute favorite author. But my all-time favorite read is a good, heartwarming romance. I write what I prefer to read—heartwarming and sweet, but sensual. There's just something about reading a romance. It warms my heart and gives my soul a bit of hope. Reading them is an escape for me. I started writing novels somewhere around twelve years ago now. It started out as a dream I had early one morning that begged to be written down. It was a simple image, but something about it intrigued me. This boy in this wheelchair seemed to have a story to tell. The more I wrote, the more the story unfolded, and the more addicted I became to the process. I eventually found a message board on ivillage.com (which no longer exists) where several more experienced writers showed me the ropes. Four books and many rejections later, I published my first book back in 2010.  What writers have influenced my writing? Every Harlequin category author who ever published a book. Honesty, there for a while, I devoured them and they were all I read.