Stolen Secrets follows a determined ranch manager with a deep-seated distrust of oil companies who reluctantly forms a partnership with a former special ops man when vandalism and murder show up on her doorstep. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The book is a fictionalized mash-up of three separate situations that occurred in different parts of the state in different decades.

Down in South Texas in the late 1990s, I had the privilege of taking a lease from a severed mineral owner (only in this case, a very nice person). The surface owner and ranch manager was a super- smart, capable woman who was an ardent environmentalist and totally hated oil companies. She was not a happy rancher when I came along. She has since passed away, but I was lucky to have known both her and the person I took the lease from.

I spent a lot of time in West Texas in Menard County, Texas, where the annual festival is Jim Bowie Days. Everyone in the two counties in every direction has heard about the lost silver mine. I loved the story.

The terrible corruption comes from Duval County in deep South Texas, where George Parr, and later his son, Archer Parr, and Archer’s one-time henchman, Clinton Manges, ruled the county with horrendous corruption from the 1940s through the 1980s. George and, later, Archer were called the Dukes of Duval. Archer went to prison and then committed suicide. Clinton died penniless in a nursing home in San Antonio. One of my closest colleagues worked for the Trustee as the land manager for the Manges Liquidating Trust when the ranch was forced into bankruptcy and liquidated to pay Manges’s creditors.

I enjoyed the romantic enemies-to-lovers relationship between Sarah and Ethan. How did their relationship develop while you were writing it? Did you have an idea of where you wanted to take it, or was it organic?

I am not a pantser. I can’t imagine how mysteries can be written without clue maps, chapter outlines, scene details, etc. Every aspect of the story is planned to the nth detail before I ever start writing. I have a fantastic editor who helps me box the entire outline into shape, scene by scene, before I even write the first sentence.

How did you balance the action scenes with the story elements and still keep a fast pace in the story?

Pacing is not my strong suit. I rely on my editor, Laura Barth, to crack the whip on me for pacing. She’s a task master on story structure and keeping things moving. I tend to meandering wordiness without adult supervision.

When will Book Two be available? Can you give us an idea of where that book will take readers?

The whole trilogy is out. All three books are standalones featuring women in science, heroes who think they’re cool, and intricate mysteries inspired by events in my career or experiences of my colleagues. They can be read in any order. They are all enemies-to-lovers stories.

Book 2, Burning Secrets, is the story of a chemical engineer working to shut down a polluting paper mill in East Texas. To save the town, she is forced into an uneasy alliance with the undercover PI hired by the mill’s lawyer to stop her.

Book 3, Buried Secrets, is set in my hometown of San Antonio. It is the story of a straight- laced architect/city historic preservationist dealing with the discovery of old (and new) skeletons during excavation for new construction in the historic King William area of town. To identify the victims, she is forced to work with a disgraced homicide detective whose career is hanging on by a thread.

All three books are available individually on Amazon and as a box set.

The hero and the Deputy Chief of Police in Buried Secrets carry over to the new Iris Raines mystery series, and both appear in the series debut novel, Hell to Pay.

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Her brother is missing. Her ranch is burning.
And the only man who can save her…is the one she swore she’d never trust.

🔥 Enemies-to-Lovers
🔥 Forced Trust
🔥 Romantic Suspense

When West Texas rancher Sarah Chandler finds herself battling an oilfield fire and the sudden disappearance of her brother, the last person she wants by her side is Ethan Tanner—a former special ops soldier turned oil company man with secrets of his own.

But when a murderer strikes on her land, Sarah and Ethan are forced into a dangerous partnership. Every step closer to the truth puts them deeper in the killer’s crosshairs—and every stolen glance ignites a passion neither can resist.

As the fires close in and the killer circles closer, will Sarah and Ethan uncover the truth before it consumes them both?

Love edge-of-your-seat suspense, enemies-to-lovers tension, and the rugged grit of Texas? Stolen Secrets delivers heart-pounding danger, fiery romance, and a story you won’t forget.

Dive into Stolen Secrets, Book 1 of the Deadly Secrets Texas Trilogy today—and discover a complete, standalone romantic suspense series you won’t want to put down.

🏆Award-Winning Finalist — Next Best Read Writing Contest, June 2025
🏆Gold Book Award — Literary Titan Book Award for Fiction, December 2025