Amazon.com: Where are you from? How--if at all--has your sense of place colored your writing?

C.M.: I was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Maryland. I lived there most of my life, but I have travelled extensively across the United States and Canada as a travel agent. I have also lived and worked in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Living in the Mid-Atlantic region has provided me with many beautiful--and some memorable but no so beautiful--places to write about. Washington, D.C. is one of the world's most elegant cities, but it also has a warehouse district and a few decaying neighborhoods. I always refer to it as a "big city, small town." It may be a major capital of the world, but it still has a small-town atmosphere.

People differ according to the region where they live, which always makes for interesting writing. In the Washington area, you are surrounded by people of many races and ethnicities, from all around the world. D.C. is a very cosmopolitan town. But if you travel West, you will find yourself in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where people tend to be a little more laid back. Head North and you are in the Pennsylvania mountains. Gettysburg is a small town, but there is a mixture of urban and country people in that area...not to mention tourists. And speaking of tourists, I now live in Florida. This is a great state to write about! I can tell you, based on my experience, that each "region" of Florida is very different.

I can guarantee you I will never run out of places to feature in my books.

Amazon.com: When and why did you begin writing? When did you first consider yourself a writer?

C.M.: I have always written, even as a child, so I have always considered myself to be a writer. If you are asking when I actually decided to pursue a writing career, well, I didn't get really serious about it until I hit my thirties. I was 37 when I began writing my first novel. Before then, I don't think I had enough 'life experience' to make a book interesting. Now, I do.

Amazon.com: Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way? What books have most influenced your life?

C.M.: I love to read Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone mysteries. I think, perhaps, she influenced my writing just by the fact that her stories are very contemporary and they move fast. When I pick up one of Sue's books, I don't put it down until I have finished reading the entire story. I hope my readers will feel the same way about my writing. I wouldn't be comfortable writing a cozy, or a hard-boiled novel. But I am extremely at ease writing about women, in particular women of today. You want me to pinpoint just one writer who has influence my life? Hmmm...this may be a surprise: Shirley MacLaine.

Amazon.com: What is the most romantic book you've ever read? The scariest? The funniest?

C.M.: These are hard questions! Stop making me think! LaVyrle Spencer is my favorite romance writer. It would be hard to choose just one of her books. I'll give you two: SWEET MEMORIES (one of her first) and FORGIVING. Scary? Stephen King is the man! MISERY would have to go to the top of that list. Funny doesn't bring one idea to my mind. Isn't that awful? I guess I need to diversify my reading list.

Amazon.com: What music, if any, most inspires you to write? What do you like to listen to while writing?

C.M.:Truthfully, music inspires me, but it does not inspire me to write. I think some readers would be surprised I said that since DREAM TAPESTRY was written with a song (YOU CAN NEVER KNOW by Charles Aznavour) in mind. But the truth is, I didn't choose the song or the title of the book until I was more than half-finished writing the novel. I never write with music or television in the background. I love to write in silence, with only my character's voices in my mind.

Amazon.com: What are you reading now? What CD is currently in your stereo?

C.M.:I'm reading HARRY POTTER & THE SORCERER'S STONE with my eight-year-old son. We're going to read the entire series together, and we can't wait to see the movie, too. Our CD player has many artists lined up: O-Towne, Michael Jackson, Patsy Cline, Eden's Crush...our taste in music (referring to my husband and me) is very eclectic. We have hundreds of CD's to choose from, including classical, hard rock, heavy metal, pop, jazz, and even country.

Amazon.com: What are you working on?

C.M.: I am working on three...count them THREE...novels right now. The second book I intend to release will be BROKEN ANGEL, which is set in the world of glass blowing. I am also working on a story about an agorophobic woman, and a third story that may be a little too kinky to ever see the light of day. We'll see. I'm full of surprises!

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