Right now, yes. Each book can be read independently, but all of the stories are connected. The series order is: Ketch-22, The Longest Time, and With Every Breath

Honestly, a mixture of all! Just like real life, I feel that so many emotions and factors come into each person's personal story, and I try to reflect that in my writing.

I really have always felt a personal serendipity to life. An interconnectedness between all of life's events and all of the people we meet. My own life has inspired me, because I've felt this so many times in a real way.

Yes and no. My characters are each uniquely their own, but every writer flavors their characters with hints of people they have known, loved from afar, had troubles with, or made up purely from fantasy. The same with life events. I personally am a romantic, and so people, places and events touch me deeply and linger in me for a long time. They can't help but influence my writing. But it is true, if you talk to an author, you may end up in their book (anonymously)!

I remember writing my first stories as soon as I could hold a pencil and form a sentence, so I guess about age 5-6. Most of my stories involved cats or dogs, falling in love and making babies. I'd like to think my content has evolved a bit beyond that now, but at their heart, my stories ARE all about that - Love.

It may surprise you, but I'm not a huge fan of fiction! I actually prefer biographies and autobiographies. Fiction always imitates real life, and to me, nothing is more fascinating that someone's personal life story. But...

Anne Rice, hands down. I picked up an obsession with vampires after watching The Lost Boys when I was a teenager, and found Interview with the Vampire at my local library. Fascination with her young and handsome Louis (sigh), and bad boy Lestat are what drew me in, but I found myself taken with 1700s historical New Orleans and her philosophical musings on the nature of life and death, love and hate, sensuality and despair. Soon I had read every book in her series that I could get my hands on, and even visited New Orleans to relive the memories from her books. She really impacted me and made me want to publish for myself. Also, I learned some cool new words and phrases like "preternatural" and "savage garden". She was a genius.

Actually, YES! When I sit at my computer, or when I brainstorm, I see my writing as a movie. It's actually hard for me to not write them as a screenplay, because I see it and hear it like that. It's a bit frustrating for me to know that my readers aren't getting my "Director's Cut with Commentary", because I want to make sure they perceive the scenes as I do!

Absolutely. Often when I'm writing, a song or movie reference will come to my mind. Just like real life. We all quote songs and movies and tv when we talk to our friends or have experiences. "Hey, remember when Homer did that on Simpsons?" "Ugh, that song is JUST like you and your ex". Things like that. I can't help but slip that onto the pages of my book. That's just how my mind works.

Some new friends! I hope my characters become people you remember, who you miss after the last page. And remind them to appreciate the beauty, interconnectedness and fragility of all of our lives.