At the age of 14, a friend shattered her knee and destroyed her dreams of becoming an Olympic runner. During the time she was recuperating, her mother purchased Harlequin to keep her company. One afternoon, her father stepped in to check on her, saw all the romance books strewn across her bed then turned and left without a word. A few minutes later, he returned with Iceberg by Cliver Cussler. "You need to broaden your reading horizons," was all he said. That day, she fell in love with the written word and determined that she wanted to entertain readers also. She's been writing ever since.