#HiddenLight
“Enthralling political drama.” — literary fiction review
How to Introduce Yourself with Confidence
It’s summer. Also known as the Season of Author Conferences and Book Festivals. This means that I’ll be introducing myself to lots of strangers. In noisy situations, dull situations, spur-of-the-moment situations. But even if you aren’t an author at a bookish event,...
Sound of Freedom movie producer wants to be president of Mexico
I guess he won't have time to star in the film adaptation of my book. Eduardo Verástegui, the impossibly handsome Mexican actor and film producer, announced 8 September on Instagram that he’s running for president of Mexico as an independent candidate. His platform is...
Sound of Freedom Movie Delivers One Surprise after Another
I saw Sound of Freedom on the 4th of July, grabbing the last seat for the first showing. I knew that it was based on a true story of Tim Ballard (played by Jim Caviezel) and the start of ourrescue.org. The mission of Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) is “We exist...
The lost chapter of THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY
My "Simplify" theme for 2019 led to some housekeeping and that in turn led to the discovery of a lost chapter of THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY. Backstory The novel was originally an 800 page (Not. Kidding.) all written from the point of view of the...
Itzel’s story, or how she came to be in a thriller
Many of the pivotal moments in my life have happened over a good meal. One time, however, the meal wasn’t even cooked. There was a thriving expatriate community in Mexico City when we lived there. Soon after arriving, I met Delia from South Carolina. Her...
Swimming lessons, or how he got into a thriller
I’ve always liked to be in the water, but by no stretch of the imagination can I call myself a strong swimmer. I didn’t take swimming lessons until I was in 5th grade, when I learned to do a passable crawl and a backstroke that always sent me into the next...
El Cid: A literary hero’s literary hero
Everybody has heard of Don Quixote. The image of the fictional tilter-at-windmills is everywhere in Mexico, which has long adopted Spanish literature and legends as its own. But when I went looking for the literary hero for my fictional Mexican hero in THE...
The Great Madonna Mistake
It took me five years to realize the mistake. The Madonna mistake. In THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY, Luz de Maria is a maid in Mexico City who returns home to the small town of Soledad de Doblado after losing her job. There she sees a news report that...
Romantic Suspense Who’s Who: Brilliant Academic Meets Iraq War Vet
AWAKENING MACBETH was recently reviewed by Kirkus Reviews and there was so much emphasis placed on the characters that it read like a Who's Who guide to romantic suspense. The book's premise of an academic falling for an Iraq War vet ("Both Brodie and Joe are...
Travelling in Dreams with AWAKENING MACBETH
AWAKENING MACBETH, is full of secrets. My family secrets become my character's secrets. Their secrets become a frightening truth. "A page turning paranormal romance"-- KIRKUS REVIEWS. Cue the trailer! https://youtu.be/i0JwaqVbEqI Family secrets My grandmother used to...
Romance’s Newest Hero is a Wounded Warrior
Two weeks ago, I posted this picture on my Facebook page. (You can thank me again later, dearest reader Karen) The wounded warrior in the picture is Brian Taylor "BT" Urruela, taken by photographer Michael Stokes, and he serves as visual inspiration for the character...
NEW RELEASE! Romantic Thriller with a #Paranormal Twist
AWAKENING MACBETH is out now for kindle readers, with the paperback coming 10 January! It's a romantic suspense thriller with a paranormal twist set in Charlottesville, Virginia and Edinburgh, Scotland. Related: Read the first chapter of AWAKENING MACBETH here All...