I've written for as long as I can remember. In Junior High my best girlfriends and I used to pass around a notebook, each of us adding different parts to an on-going story, and I think that's where it all began. I used to make my best friend listen to the stories I wrote, and I wrote myself to sleep usually. I finished my first full-length novel at 17, in my English class, while the rest of the class was studying Watership Down. Through my early college years, I wrote here and there, and eventually, when I was at home with my firstborn son, I decided to do something about it professionally.

I was first published in 2009, with the book Seduction's Stakes. The Wild Rose Press offered me a contract, after a friend urged me to submit. I debated for a long while, namely because it was a contemporary romance, written on more-or-less a dare, and I wasn't sure I wanted to write more contemporary. Eventually, I accepted, and went on to publish several more contemporaries through them.

First, understand I live in a small community and my neighbors already know too much about me.

Second, when Berkley offered to buy what would become STRIPPED, I didn't want my readers to pick it up and be shocked by the vastly different content. To that end, Tori St. Claire was born.

As I've expanded into different genres, I feel that need to keep the expectations clear for readers. It also helps to keep the right audience focused on the right works. For instance: I write Middle Grade as G.P. Charles, and would not want a child to stumble onto my erotic romances as Tori St. Claire.

This is entirely book dependent. On average it takes me about thirty days to write a 90K word book. Sure, life can happen and influence that (and it has frequently). But I plot heavily before I start, which answers a lot of story questions and speeds up the writing.

The fastest I have composed a full-length novel has been about three weeks. The longest it's taken me to write a book was one full year.

My workday varies every day. The one thing I try to do is commit to 2000 words daily, if I am actively working on a book. In general:
     Get up, get ready for school, teach all day
     Farm chores after school; family stuff
     I'll spend anywhere from 1-2 hours working on editing projects
     I'll then spend another 1-2 hours working on my own projects

Because I have my fingers in so many different pots, the best way to keep up on what's going on is to follow my Untamed Spirit Blog, or my Facebook Page. (Links at the top.) All the news about what I'm working on and new releases I publish there.

If you'd rather have news come directly to you, sign up for my newsletter. I only publish it when I have something important to say!

All of my stories are 100% fiction. I can't even say, honestly, there are people from my real life transformed into characters.

There are a few experiences I've put in as background information here and there (like delivering flowers to my HS boyfriend's other girlfriend, as mentioned in TIMELESS VALENTINE), or as backstory filler, and of course our life experiences help shape our personalities, which allows us to build relatable characters. As a rule though, it's all just creativity!

Right now, my publishing focus is on G.P. Charles and Tori St. Claire. My books as Claire will be largely self-published, which means I'll be adding Templar, Flying Gang, and Windwalker works as my contracted obligations allow. You can expect 1 or 2 new releases as Claire annually.

With Tori, I'll be adding new life into the Black Opals and working on some more suspense-related projects. I'm excited, very excited, about the plans there!

With G.P., I'll be working on Middle Grade fantasy and Adult Epic Fantasy, which is my ultimate writing passion and something I've been looking forward to for many years.

I hope you'll check those projects out!

The core series consists of 6 full-length novels and 1 novella. They are, in order:
Immortal Hope
Immortal Surrender
Immortal Protector
Immortal Trust
Immortal Sacrifice
Immortal Temptation
Immortal Salvation

When I finished Salvation, however, I felt the need to resolve some other threads I left open and piddle with some more Templar lives. I've since added on new books, beginning with IMMORTAL PURPOSE. While these can be read as stand-alones, you'll probably be better off if you've read the core series to understand some of the things the knights have overcome.

No, absolutely not. There is Christian mythos tied heavily into the story--they're the Templar Knights, you can't expect otherwise. But I do not believe Fiction is a place for preaching, and you will never find me trying to impose my beliefs or steer you into thinking as I do. I'll leave those efforts to Literary works, Non-Fiction, and classrooms.

When I'm juggling different genres, and different contracts, something has to give. To that end, self-publishing efforts can't take priority. The Templars have been my most recent commitment, but also bear in mind there isn't a huge market at this time for paranormal. I'm writing these books for myself and for the readers who fell in love with the series. It's a tough call to make in prioritizing things, but at the end of the day, the bills have to be paid, and I will focus where that most likely accomplishes that need.

From day one, I've always kept what's coming very close to the sleeve. I don't like to spill the beans until I'm ready to start announcing that something is coming down the pipe. On this one, you'll just have to wait!

To my own particular annoyance, Book II was pushed to the bottom of the stack of things to do. I know you're anxious, and I am too! However, I can't tell you exactly when it will come. What I can say is...

When Book II is ready, you'll see a re-launch effort on BEFORE THE STORM, complete with a new cover I'm totally excited to share. It is actively in the list of things to do now, and I hope to resolve this matter very soon!

I'll be honest--I don't really know. Right now I have planned Halle's journey over the course of three books. Anything that follows will also be in trilogy form. So, as the series moves along, you can expect everything to come in trios. I don't like never-ending series, and I think it's easier to jump into the middle if there aren't several to read before the one that catches your attention.

BEFORE THE STORM crosses genres, a fact that will become more evident with Book II. The classes that have been introduced are not typical Paranormal classes--they're traditional Fantasy classes. However, because of the romantic content, it still falls into Romance, and the modern day setting pushed it toward Urban Fantasy. Add into that the age of my heroine, and the book is also New Adult (vastly different than romance, folks!) So, it's quite a different endeavor and should appeal to many readers.