I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and my earliest influences came from my late aunt Marjorie who was a school teaching and taught me how to read and instilled in me the love of books from the age of four. My first published piece of fiction was a romance short story for the confession magazines in 1987. My first novel was published in 1990. Since then I've had 38 novels and 20 (losing count) short stories published. Three of my novels have been aired on television. I write because I love to make a difference with words and challenge myself to make each book better and different from the last one. Sometimes that plan actually works!!

Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times
Zora Neal Hurston Award for Literature
Trailblaizer Award
Key to the city of Lake Charles, La.
Golden Pen Award for Favorite Anthology