Christmas. That one word evokes so many feelings, from joy and anticipation to loneliness and loss.  It's a sensitive--and precious--time of year. The pups shown here are remnants of my children's childhoods. I've kept them around to remember the joy of those years, and because you never know when you’re going to need a hug. My dad gave my son the dark brown pup, Poochie, when Matt was a baby. Matt was born in California. We'd moved far away from our East Coast families so my husband could pursue his Hollywood dreams. As December rolled around that first year, I admit it was hard for…

I grew up in suburban Washington D.C., in Maryland.  Thanksgivings were comfortably predictable. The warm smell of a turkey roasting in the oven, crisp fall air, leaves on the ground, and then the gathering of everyone around the table. My mother's menu was fairly static over the years. We liked our sweet potatoes whole and candied, our cranberry sauce straight out of the can, our gravy thick and smooth, our pies and breads delicious. As our family expanded through marriages, and eventually grandchildren,  we outgrew the dining room. My father set up large folding tables in a U-shape in the family room, and…

People often ask me how I write. Honestly, the work of writers always has been interesting to me, too. Why? Because we are all so different. So, in case you’re curious, here’s a look at my writing life. Most of my books began with a “What if...” statement rolling around in my brain. “What if a door-kicking FBI agent finds his life spinning out of control when the drug gang kidnaps his son?” (The Tiger's Cage) “What if a young woman with trauma in her recent past finds the dog she’s training is actually helping her heal?” (All That I…

A number of years ago, my friend Kimberly Meadows Merida introduced me to an unusual place of healing. Hope Reins is a faith-based equine mentorship program in Raleigh, N.C. Recently, some friends of mine and I paid a visit to the ranch. They were blown away by it, as I was so many years ago. Hope Reins began as the vision of Kim Tschirret, who knew, based on her own experience, the healing power of horses. Using mostly rescued horses, Hope Reins offers  traumatized kids the chance to learn trust, communication, boundaries, and leadership, skills needed to help them form…

Ordinary people in the Washington D.C. area were still shaking from the 9/11 attacks when a series of letters laced with anthrax added to the community’s stress. Then, a year later, in October 2002, terror showed its face again. A sniper shooting random people doing everyday things gripped the region in fear for twenty-three days. The D.C. sniper attacks began in Aspen Hill, Maryland, where I was raised and my parents still lived. James Martin was killed by a rifle bullet while walking into a suburban grocery store on October 2, 2002. Then, in the next two hours, four others…

In the beginning… December 1992. I was a mom at home, raising three kids and an assortment of dogs. My husband made training videos for the FBI Academy, so we knew a lot of FBI people and talked a lot about the FBI culture. One night, I had a particularly vivid dream. The next morning, I said to my husband, “What if an in-charge, door-kicking FBI agent found his world spinning out of control because the drug gang he was investigating kidnapped his son. What would he do?” To his eternal credit, my husband replied, “That’s a great story. You…