A. I'm an artist. I used to be afraid to use that word, thinking it pretentious. Now I say it with pride. I create, I'm always creating in one form or another. My house is my art. I have paintings on the wall on canvas and murals. I create in my writing, characters who live and breathe.

A. I started Would I Lie to You with one goal in mind...to answer a simple question. Is Venus happy? This character was left without the brass ring in Nappily Ever After. Because she didn't marry the doctor at the end, most readers thought she got the short end of the stick. It's a constant with women, believing that getting the man is all that matters. Getting the right man is what matters.

A. Game playing. A pivotal scene in the book is when Venus is seeing more than one man at a time. She has to wear her playa playa hat, shifting between men with a straight face. She has to lie here and there to maintain her relationship with her fiance' while falling in love with someone else behind his back.

A. She's my alter ego. I love her and hate her for being so stupid sometimes.

A. I had a lumpectomy when I was 26 year old. My grandmother had both her breast removed around the same time. Then recently my mother had to go through a major battle with her doctor to get a proper diagnosis after a questionable mammogram. The doctor wouldn't grant certain tests that would have answered questions quickly without putting her life in danger. Because of her insurance, she was restricted in care. The whole process sent me into a rage where I had no control or ability to help. There are two doctors in my family, my sister, and my brother, and they couldn't help. It was all consuming. I had to filter alot of that into the book just to get it off my chest.

A. It took a solid year. I write in spurts, like straight for three months, then nothing until I feel a burst of emotion again.

A. I've written six. Only three have been published, Nappily Ever After, Roadrunner, and Would I lie To you.

A. Yes, absolutely. I'm completing the third installment of Venus Johnston's Journey, currently titled Permanently Yours. Venus is going back to the perm chair. I'm also working on a script called Family Girl with Tyra Banks attached. I try to stay busy.

A. Give real love a chance. It doesn't always come as planned or by a certain time-table. It most definitely comes when you least expect it. The other point, and this is a biggy, Venus finally gets married in this story and coincidentally, it's the first time she didn't live with the guy first. Why buy the cow if you can get the cottage cheese for free.