The Story of Dani (aka: Stay in School, Kids)

When I was 18, I left college and moved into a crappy little apartment with my boyfriend. Times were tough. Living paycheck to paycheck would have been a luxury. The credit cards were maxed out, the rent was always late, and the debt kept snowballing. We blinked, and our world was an eviction notice away from ending.

And so I did something horrible. I traded my soul for a career. I killed the woman I was, the one who dreamed of changing the world with the beautiful things she created. Nearly two decades later, I can't say I'm sorry. That bitch needed to die.

Even so, I'd committed murder. And when one does the crime, one must also do the time.

I began serving a life sentence in the penal colony known as corporate America. Books offered a rare chance to escape from vicious wardens, cruel guards, and an army of shiv-wielding, back-stabbing inmates. Words were my lifeline—they bandaged my wounds, lit the darkness of solitary confinement, and kept the fragile elastic of my sanity from stretching too far. It's no surprise, then, that I turned to them in 2005, when my sentence was commuted. The moment I was granted parole, I went straight to the bookstore. I found new authors, visited old favorites, and spent time in nearly every genre. That's when I realized something was missing. I could never quite find The Perfect Book.

I love mysteries, with their twisting plots and clever characters. Yet no matter how satisfying it was to know the who in whodunit, I still wanted more. A touch of romance, perhaps.

I tried romantic suspense and found all the lovely UST (unresolved/unfulfilled sexual tension) I'd been missing. And more. Too much more, in fact. After the first hook-up, I was done. I wanted to dive back into the action, not wade through several more sex scenes.

Thrillers gave me an exciting, fast-paced storyline but held the same drawback as mystery. I yearned for emotional depth and an element of romance.

After much fruitless searching, I decided to write the books I wanted to read. I'd written novels before, although they shall forever remain in a dark and scary sector of my hard-drive (you're welcome). It is my hope that I am not the only one who looks for a story with a thrilling plot, a dash of mystery, and non-explicit romance. And if I am? Meh. At least I've entertained the hell out of myself!