When I arrived at the idea of writing ‘Disfigured‘, my book about the relationship between Sylvie, a private cook, and  Erik, AKA the Phantom, I had three important premises that I felt strongly about.  First, I knew I did not want to write about any male character that was, shall we say, not exactly human.  So no vampires, no werewolves, no time-traveling from the past or future, no ghosts, no superpowers.  I just wanted my good bad guy (or bad good guy) to be a man.  Albeit a very clever, even brilliant, man.

At the time I was writing… Read More

First let me make a confession:  I have absolutely no recollection of ever picking up a book by Dumas in my entire life, not even back in my school days.  I didn’t know what I was missing!  I knew the titles, of course, and most of his novels were made into movies here and there.  But it was not until I wrote ‘Disfigured’ that I discovered this great author and very interesting Frenchman.  I was on the hunt for a favorite author for Sylvie, my heroine, who loves to read. … Read More

I know I’ve said elsewhere that the idea for my book arrived after watching the movie, Phantom of the Opera.  And also how truly terrible my first efforts were, but practice makes, if not perfect, at least better!  There were many little improvements along the way, starting with the title.  I imagine I am not alone as a writer, in the elusive search for the perfect title.  So here is how I arrived at mine.

I had read ‘Twilight’ when it came out, and I knew that title was not Stephenie Meyers‘ first choice for her book –… Read More