Needless to say, I love writing romance novels. It's an exciting challenge to create memorable characters and infuse them with enough flavor to make you feel as if you know them. Character development is something I work at constantly because I want my readers to connect with my characters. Without reader empathy, it's a pretty empty read.
I had been writing fiction for seven years before I met with success when Kensington pioneered the Encanto line featuring Hispanic characters. Besides my Encanto debut novel, IN HOT PURSUIT, I have sold two more novels to that line which will appear in 2001: WILD FOR YOU and HOLIDAY HEAVEN. I'm also excited to announce that my novella, "Treading Dangerous Waters," will be published in HOT AND BOTHERED, St. Martin's Summer Anthology, available July 2001.
I was born in Philadelphia, but raised in Miami so being bilingual in Spanish and English has helped me enjoy the predominantly Latin cultural diversity in my hometown. I have always loved words, and hearing them spoken in other languages intrigues me. That's what prompted me to study French and Portuguese, which I have conversational ability in.
My mother was born in Bogota, Colombia and my father in Naples, Italy. I treasure the customs from both countries and feel thankful that I was also raised to enjoy and participate in American customs equally. Holidays were especially memorable given the joy of celebrating with different foods and traditions.
I have been married for the past twenty-six years and have two beautiful daughters. My previous jobs have included travel agent, airline reservations agent, model and TV commercial actress. When I'm not writing or reading, I can be found antique shopping, traveling, or attending musicals, plays and movies. Last summer, I started kickboxing classes. But one of my favorite pastimes remains simply watching people, especially the ones in love!