Since I was a kid watching Superman on television, the paranormal has always excited me–in its many forms. There are so many cool elements to write about. Here’s where you’ll find my stories about vampires and time travel and all the other wonderful concepts shimmering below the surface of our physical reality. The idea of sharing your consciousness with another person, of communicating mind to mind, has always resonated deeply in my soul. I love the idea of two people who discover that sexual intimacy is the key to psychic intimacy. I began exploring this concept in BEYOND CONTROL. And now I’ve gone back to my sexually linked telepaths with BEYOND FEARLESS.

"The Sacrifice" in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF VAMPIRE ROMANCES (ISBN: 0762434988, Running Press), is coming in August. To save her kingdom from attack by barbarians, a virgin princess gives herself in sacrifice to the blood-drinking monster who has protected her people in the past.  But she gets far more than she bargained for when she meets the vampire/shapeshifter of legend.

BEYOND FEARLESS (ISBN: 042521866X, Berkley Sensation, December 2007) Anna Ridgeway's mind-reading nightclub act takes her to the Caribbean Island of Grand Fernandino. She knows she's being stalked by sinister forces. But she doesn't realize that her destiny hangs in the balance when she meets diver Zachary Robinson. Zach and Anna are inexplicably and powerfully drawn to each other--sexually and psychically. As the physical intimacy between them deepens, so do their psi talents. But island shaman, Raoul San Donato, has plans of his own for Anna. Already a powerful force on Grand Fernandino, he plans to kill Zach and bind Anna to him in a shocking ceremony that will make her his consort and consolidate his hold over the island.

RETURN OF THE WARRIOR (ISBN: 0373692846, 43 Light Street, Harlequin Intrigue, October 2007). From the moment Luke McMillan opens an ancient box that arrived in a shipment of stolen antiques, he’s in trouble. And so is Sidney Weston, the art expert unpacking the consignment. Sinister men will stop at nothing to acquire this object of power, which belongs to an ancient religious cult, the Moon Priests. They’ve been forgotten by modern society, but they’re still around–protecting the interests of the human race.

The spirit of an ancient warrior is locked inside the box, and when he comes roaring out, he enters Luke’s body and forces him to return the chest to the Moon Priests. Of course, Luke must take Sidney with him, since her life is also at risk. Luke was an ordinary guy. Now he’s become an extraordinary combination of his own personality and the warrior’s. He’s forced to deal with this new reality as his growing love for Sidney brings out his protective instincts.

"Huntress Moon" in ELEMENTAL MAGIC (ISBN: 0425217868, Berkley Trade), is coming in November. It tells the story of Zarah, a freeborn woman forced into slavery after her father is convicted of embezzlement and executed. To save her mother's life she agrees to spy on Griffin, a high council member in a neighboring city-state. Although Griffin hides a dark secret, he and Zarah are drawn to each other. But what will happen when he discovers her duplicity? Griffin is a werewolf but not one of the Marshalls. Their story is set in the parallel universe I created for NEW MOON ( ISBN: 0425216020, Berkley Sensation, March 2007). "Huntress Moon" also introduces Quinn, the heroine of the next Moon novel, GHOST MOON, July 2008.

BEYOND CONTROL (ISBN: 0425204421, Berkley Sensation, August 2005) This is my first story of sexually linked telepaths whose powers develop when they meet one of their own kind. They feel compelled to touch each other, and the more physically intimate they become, the deeper their psychic bond. So the sensuality simmering between them is tied to their awakening powers.

Jordan Walker and Lindsay Fleming are the products of a genetics experiment gone wrong. When they begin investigating a murder at a secret government installation, they draw the attention of Kurt MacArthur, the head of a quasi-government agency who discovers their heritage and begins tracking them down. Can Jordan and Lindsay escape from MacArthur–and escape from another pair of bonded telepaths bent on killing them before they can develop their powers?

This is a story where I take strong advantage of the DC milieu. Lindsay is a staffer in a Senate office. Jordan is an investigative reporter who writes Bob Woodward-type exposés. I had fun setting a couple of scenes in the Bishop’s Garden at the National Cathedral and also Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown.

THE SECRET NIGHT (ISBN: 0373229127, Harlequin Intrigue, April 2006) Nicholas Vickers, the hero of THE SECRET NIGHT, storms out of the shadows to hook up with Emma Birmingham, a woman in deep trouble. She’s just escaped from a commune on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Her sister, Margaret, is still there, and her life depends on Emma’s rescuing her.

Emma and Nick are attracted to each other from the first. But can Nick trust her? Or has she been sent by the cult’s sinister leader to trap him? And what will happen when Emma finds out that Nick is a vampire?

SPELLBOUND (ISBN: 0373228287, Harlequin Intrigue, February 2005) Louisiana plantation owner, André Gascon, is an honorable man who finds himself in horrible circumstances because of a voodoo curse laid on his family. And only the love of a good woman can save him. Is Morgan Kirkland the right woman? Can she accept him as he is–with all his dark secrets? What will she think when he is forced to disappear into the bayou every night?

He hopes and prays she can forge a bond with him. But life has made it difficult for him to believe in fairy-tale endings.

Although Morgan has been only half alive since the death of her husband, something fundamental changes when she begins to correspond with André. She trusts him enough to come down to his estate, Belle Vista, and help him investigate a series of murders. But is she brave enough to risk her
heart with him? And is she throwing caution to the wind by trusting a man like André?

I love setting books in the Louisiana bayou country, which I visit frequently. The setting lends itself so well to dark secrets, edge-of-the-chair suspense, and simmering sensuality.

“Bond of Silver” in UNLEASHED (ISBN: 0425212114, Berkley, December 2006) To maintain the force field that protects New Atlantis, young men and women go on dream quests, searching the world for a psychic mate who can join the Caribbean island’s population. In his dream, Alexander finds Claire and knows she is his other half. But Claire is the daughter of a woman scorned by a resident of New Atlantis. Or so she thinks. And she may cause her daughter’s death as she fights to break the bond forming between the young lovers.

I set this story in the Mendocino area, which we visited on a research trip several years ago.
I remember the high cliffs and the ocean crashing below.

“Night Ecstasy” in IMMORTAL BAD BOYS (ISBN: 0758206216, Kensington, September 2004) Vampire Jules DeMario moved to New Orleans after reading the novels of Anne Rice. The city, which stays awake until the small hours of the morning, is the perfect home for a vampire. He loves the “anything goes” atmosphere, but his life is doomed to loneliness since he must break off any sensual relationship before he takes too much blood from his partner and kills her. Then he meets artist Taylor Lawson, the woman he can’t resist, and desperation drives him to extraordinary measures. When Taylor figures out his secret, she leaves him. Yet they are drawn back together by their love for each other. Can they work out their relationship and figure out how to forge a lasting bond?

Once again, in this story, I draw on the wonderfully rich atmosphere of New Orleans, one of my favorite cities.

“Shattered Dreams” in WHAT DREAMS MAY COME (ISBN: 0425202682, Berkley Trade, July 2005) Sculptor Caleb Mancuso never stopped loving Miranda Grove. The son of a gypsy fortune-teller, he’s fought his psychic powers for years. But when he has a vision of Miranda’s car being forced off a mountain road, he speeds to her rescue. Miranda never stopped loving Caleb, but fear for his life made her break up with him. Now they’re back together, but can either one of them survive the killer stalking Miranda. Miranda and Caleb live in the Monterey area, a beautiful section of the California coast.

CHAIN REACTION (ISBN: 0373229461, Harlequin Intrigue, October 2006), the first book in the Security Breach miniseries, starts with a bang–an explosion in Lab 7 at a company called Cranesbrook. Gage Darnell is caught in the lab accident. When he wakes up in Beech Grove, a private mental hospital, he tries to figure out why he’s being held captive and why nobody will give him any information. Escape seems to be his only option, but once he breaks out, he’s in even deeper trouble. And the worst part is that he drags his estranged wife, Lily, into danger with him.

The story is set in two of my favorite locales–Maryland’s picturesque Eastern Shore and the Baltimore area.

“Hero’s Welcome” in THE JOURNEY HOME (ISBN: 0975965352, ImaJinn Books, January 2005) and reprinted in BEST NEW PARANORMAL ROMANCE (ISBN: 0809556537, Juno Books, November 2006) The Journey Home tells the story of Ben-Linkman and Kasimanda of Renfaral who live on a distant planet far in the future. He was from the servant class. She was the daughter of one of the rulers. Then war turned their lives upside down. Although Link’s people are the victors, both he and Kasi are brutally damaged by the war. Yet, their love pulls them into a relationship that would have been impossible earlier.

“Dangerous Seduction” in SILK AND MAGIC, Book One (ISBN: 1893896412, ImaJinn Books, April 2004). A nurse is hired to take care of a comatose patient. When he reaches out to her in his dream state, their relationship sizzles. But can she save him from being murdered before he wakes up?

NOWHERE MAN (ISBN: 0373224737, Harlequin Intrigue, 1998) Psychologist Kathryn Kelley is hired by a secure government installation to socialize a man she’s told is a prison volunteer who has been given new memories. But once she meets Hunter, the subject of the experiment, she knows something’s fishy. As she and Hunter draw closer, sensuality sizzles between them. But she soon discovers his terrible secret. He’s a clone being groomed for a suicide mission in the Middle East.