I was a librarian for several years, and librarian, of course, equals book lover! I enjoy curling up with a good book when not writing, or daydreaming about a new novel to write. I'm a sucker for a good love story, and live on a steady reading diet of romantic suspense, thrillers, mysteries, historical fiction and non-fiction, true crime and biographies.
Being in an interracial marriage (I'm black and my husband's white), one of the provocative subjects I like to explore is interracial love through history.
In the past, and sometimes even today, mixed race love can be an explosive topic that causes heart wrenching conflict, as well as incredible pain, and those elements combined can create some amazing stories.
My historical fiction can be emotionally gut-wrenching at times, but I really do love to laugh. My humorous Black OOps Mysteries written under the pen name Marissa Allen, give me that opportunity! I grew up loving detective shows, now I've put a funny spin on my own detective series featuring ex-FBI agent turned detective Tracy Black, of Black Ops Detective Agency, and her partner, ex-Navy SEAL and all-around tough guy Adam Slade. She's black, he's white, but the situations they stumble into are hardly just black and white!
I graduated from Wittenberg University with a bachelor's degree in English, then received a master's in Library Science from Atlanta University. Before becoming a small business owner and author, I worked in public library systems in Georgia and North Carolina.
I live in Cincinnati with my incredibly supportive husband. I'm a foodie, love old movies, history, travel, museums and antiquing. I'm also a fitness fanatic and enjoy running/walking, weight training and Pilates My morning runs provide a great time for generating story ideas, as long as I'm not listening to an audio book!
My Blog
I post once a week, usually on Mondays. The intention of my blog is (1) to entertain by sharing stories of historical and human interest, (2) to help writers by providing useful information regarding publishing and craft, and (3) to provide easy recipes that'll give you more time during the day to do something fun--like read or write!