One day, shortly after moving from our home in Sacramento, Calif. to Idaho, we went on a road trip to check out our new home. We drove for hours, stunned at the emptiness of wide prairies, jagged mountain ranges, and roads that went on and on and on. I saw a lonely house huddled against a mountainside.
Having lived too long in cities, I was unimpressed by the beauty around me. I looked at my husband and thought, facetiously, “I could just kill him for moving me out here.” My next thought was That would make a great story. I tucked the idea away, thinking I would return to it at some point when my busy life would allow me to indulge my dream of writing novels.
Crime and Paradise isn’t the first book I wrote; it’s actually the third. In 2009, I (ghost) wrote a memoir for a former top executive for Hewlett-Packard called Ray Smelek: Making My Own Luck. Working with Ray on his book was truly a joy and a lesson about building a story – one longer than the typical magazine article – piece by piece.
Parts of the book are now excerpted as part of HP’s history, found here. Next, I tackled historical fiction inspired by a family story, one I’d always wanted to write. Before that one was completed, I took a break to write something fun: a mystery.
The first sentence came quickly, as though it had waited way too long to be set down:
If you’re married, you need to know this: your spouse has thought about killing you.
My Wild Crime series was born.
I loved my life as a journalist, meeting new people and writing about their fascinating lives and events. I’ve interviewed celebrities and top businesspeople, athletes and “the man on the street.” Now I get to return to my grade-school self, making up stories
I’d love to hear what you think, whether it’s about one of the Wild Crime books or Idaho. Or to just say hello.
You can reach me with questions and comments through or from the contact page.