Congratulations on your premiere novel – Cassie’s Space! 
You’re new here, so tell us about yourself
Thanks for inviting me Donna, this is my first book and I do love talking about it. I appreciate your letting me visit here. Now about me, I’ve been married to a wonderful man for the past thirty years. We have two grown children and to me they’ve turned out perfectly. I hope to soon retire from a long teaching career and spend more time reading and writing.
What’s your favorite thing to do to relax?
I’m extremely good at relaxing. I love to read, I watch TV and I write. All these are very relaxing for me.
Do you prefer…
Public speaking or public singing?
I’ll take public speaking any day. Get me on a topic I like and I’ll speechify to anyone who will listen. Sadly, despite my dreams, singing is not something I do in public.
Writing in a notebook or typing on the computer?
I usually prefer the computer, but when that’s not possible I sometimes enjoy writing things longhand.
Coke or Pepsi?
Coke products – Sundrop for me!
Living without your cell phone or living without your computer?
NO! ‘nuff said.
Now about you as an author…
Did you always want to be an author?
No, I never considered it. Writing seemed like schoolwork. I daydreamed. I never really believed my stories would go beyond that.
Did anyone in your life influence you or encouraged you to be a writer? (teacher, family member, friend)
I can’t say that they did. But there was no reason anyone should have when I was younger. Writing was just never on my radar. I guess my biggest influence were the readers of my blogs once I did begin writing. They were so very encouraging. When I did begin taking writing seriously, my sister encouraged me a great deal.
What is your favorite aspect or writing? Your least favorite?
I just love the flow of a good story, it’s often pretty well written in my head before I begin typing. I enjoy all that, but I suppose the very best part is when a story veers off course and goes in a direction that I never expected or a new character I knew nothing about shows up.
Least favorite, getting started. To love writing as much as I do, I understand why I put off starting. I’m a procrastinator from way back, but you’d think, as much as I enjoy telling the story I wouldn’t drag my feet so.
What aspect of writing would you most like to improve on?
Time management and speed, I’ve heard others saying how many words they’ve written in a day, and evidently I write slower than most.
Do you have any “must haves” with you while you’re writing?
I can write anywhere, the shower, driving, mopping the floor (ha, as if I ever do that) so I don’t guess I have any ‘must haves’, but I have many ‘wants’. I want everyone in the family to be out of the house and happily engaged in an activity of their choice, I want to settle into my chair with a good cup of coffee, and I want the fire going. And just to keep me from getting distracted, maybe the internet should be down for a little while.
Do you have a common theme or item that appears in each of your books?
Well yes, you might say so. I write about domestic discipline, that is consensual adult spanking. I know many might find this offensive – but maybe not as many as you’d think. My friends and I had been exchanging stories of this nature for years when Fifty Shades of Grey came out. We all laughed to see it take off, but it did show that this is a fantasy for many women. I’m not saying every woman wants it in real life, but having a strong man who loves her, protects her and even sometimes takes her across his knee – well, that the stuff fantasies are made of.
What’s been the most difficult or frustrating part of writing?
Time! I desperately need more hours in the day. I need time to let stories roam through my mind and form. I need time to actually get them typed. I need time promoting the book that’s coming out. I need time to read the fantastic books written by all the wonderful authors I’m meeting. I need time to write my blogs and read and comment to my friends. As I said, they were the one who encouraged my writing in the very beginning. I want to get a new books ready and, and, and… Retirement cannot possibly come soon enough to suit me!
What have you learned the most from being in the writing business?
That there’s way more involved than anyone would imagine! I’ve been stunned to realize the writing was the easy part. Editing – getting it ‘right’ is tough. And networking with other authors to let people know about your book and helping others do the same. It ends up being overwhelming at times.
Tell us about your latest release:
My first book, Cassie’s Space, is out now. In this book you’ll meet Cassie and Tom, a couple married for decades. Their marriage has always included spanking – sometimes erotic, sometimes in play, and yes, sometimes for discipline.
Cassie shares many stories of their early marriage, as she tried to adjust to Tom’s belief in the power of the hairbrush. Although Cassie agrees in theory that Tom is the head of their home, she spends much of her time doing exactly what she wants and hoping Tom won’t catch on. Over thirty years later, she still does what she wants and Tom still catches on.
Cassie still doesn’t always act like the perfect lady and doesn’t always manage to follow Tom’s rules. She sneaks off with friends to visit an ‘adult’ toy store and she has begun talking to ‘strangers’ online and blogging about the private life she and Tom share, knowing full well if Tom ever does find out she’ll be sitting sensitively for days to come.
Cassie wouldn’t change her life for anything. As she says, “There are two things I want everyone to take away from our stories. First there is nothing wrong with an old fashioned marriage where the husband guides and protects the wife. There is nothing wrong with him being in charge. There is nothing wrong with him giving the occasional spanking to make sure his wife is fully aware of who is in charge. And, there is certainly nothing wrong with the wife trying to get away with as much as possible.
Second, and most important, I hope our stories convey that love and passion are not the sole property of the young. Love and passion grows and changes with age. While aging may bring on challenges – the love and passion between two people only grows stronger.
Blurb
Meet Cassie, a former wild child, who meets her match, and creates the match of a lifetime. Cassie has survived emotionally distant parents and an abusive marriage. Widowed young, with plenty of money, she turns her energies to partying twenty-four/seven, until Tom spots her at a party. To nearly all who know her now, Cassie is a vivacious, sweet southern lady, who is the epitome of grace and proper behavior. Look a tiny bit closer and you’ll see Cassie has another side – the one whose language could make a sailor blush as she drinks him under the table. Thanks to her loving husband Tom, who never hesitates to put Cassie over his knee when she strays too far from his view of ladylike behavior, few people other than close old friends know this side of Cassie exists.
Excerpt
I had on only my bra and panties when Tom took my arm and pulled me across his knee. He only used his hand, but managed to create quite a sting. He stopped and rubbed for a minute, slipped my panties down, and began again. The spanks came fast and furious and the burn became intense. I knew it couldn’t last much longer. We had to get ready, and neither of us ever wanted to be late.
Finally he stopped and began to rub gently. “Let’s use a little lotion,” Tom commented as I felt him rub in the cooling lotion. But it only took a second to realize something was terribly wrong. That devil had not used lotion – he had used BenGay! And let me tell you, their claim of deep, penetrating heat: not false advertising.
Tom grinned like a schoolboy who had gotten away with a delightful prank. We had used this before because I like after burn, but I always knew when he planned to use it. We only used it at bedtime when I wouldn’t be wearing anything. Now I felt I was on fire and I had to put on that darn – shoot, Tom’s not going to read this – that damn rubberized, skin-tight, heat-retaining girdle. I felt like I was burning up.
Arriving at the wedding, I felt like my rear sent off pulsing waves of redness and pain, much like you’d see after a cartoon spanking. The wedding absolutely gorgeous, I still could barely sit without squirming. I kept shooting dirty looks at Tom and he kept silently laughing at me.
