Denise is a Southern girl who has lived in Louisiana all her life, and yes, she has a drawl. She has a wonderful husband and two incredible children, who not only endure her writing moods, but who also encourage her to indulge her writing passion. Besides writing romantic suspense, she enjoys traveling, reading, and cooking. Accounting is a skill she has learned to earn a little money to support her writing habit.
She wrote her first story when she was a teen, seventeen handwritten pages on school-ruled paper and an obvious rip-off of the last romance novel she had read. She's been writing off and on ever since, and with more than a few full-length manuscripts already completed, she has no desire to slow down.
Desperate to begin a new life, Jerilyn Bowman changes her name and goes off the grid. Sparks fly when Det. Nick Moreau confronts her about her identity and then seems to follow her wherever she goes. When a stranger dies while gripping her chin in his hand, passing to her the gift of prescience, she begins to witness awful crimes before they happen.
Jerilyn’s claim that she’s able to see the future both frustrates and fascinates Nick to the point he can’t get her out of his mind. Are Jerilyn’s claims of second sight a cover for her own crimes? Will Nick discover the truth before Jerilyn becomes the killer’s next victim?
Q&A with the Author:
1. When did you start writing, and was there a specific event or person who influenced you to become an author?
I started writing about twelve years ago. I’ve always had a very active imagination, and sometimes, I felt guilty spending so much time daydreaming. Then one day, I got the idea to turn those daydreams into plots ideas for books. So I floated the idea to my husband. I remember talking to him one night about a premise I had for a book, and he gave me so much encouragement that I ended up writing the book. That book was Purgatory, and it was published several years ago.
2. Are you currently working on a project, and if so, can you tell us anything about it?
I’m actually working on three projects right now.
Blind Sight is the third book in the Prescience series. All of the books in this series have main characters that have the gift of clairvoyance in one form or another. In Blind Sight, the hero Luke Kingston is a DEA agent with a strong sense of what will happen in the future. He knows things, as in sixth sense, without really seeing them, as in a vision. He knows someone is going to try to kill the new woman in his life because of him and it hurts and angers him because he also knows there’s nothing he can to prevent it. That doesn’t stop him from trying though.
Oceans Apart is about the former lead singer of Caine’s Brother, a nineties alt-rock bank, and the woman that loved him. The bank broke up years ago after a nasty fistfight between the brothers. The band’s front man, Aidan Caine, disappeared shortly after that, and his girlfriend, Lucy Landau, has spent the last twenty years looking for him. She’s pretty sure he’s dead because his ghost keeps trying to guide her in her search for answers about what happened to him.
The House on Dare Island is about a woman who moves to Dare, Colorado, to search for her grandfather’s missing fortune. Things get rather complicated when Dellanee Mason discovers she’s not the only person who thinks Jackie Mason’s ill-gotten fortune is hidden on Dare Island. To her dismay, the sexy new stranger in town is a true crime writer trying to uncover the real story of mob hit man Jackie Mason and his leads have brought him to Dare. Dellanee suspects he might be after more than just the story.
3. What is your favorite writing snack?
Coffee. Just coffee.
4. If you could have dinner with any of your characters, which ones would you choose? Why? What food would you serve?
I would love to share a meal with the ensemble of characters from the second five books of my Haunted Hearts series, the River Road set. Despite their struggles and their differences, that bunch knew how to have a good time. There would never be a dull moment. We would have a mix of Cajun and Creole dishes because we’re all from Louisiana. And of course, there would be music and dancing. Laissez bon temps rouler!
5. Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Because I took a few trips to south Louisiana to soak in the locale and the culture, I learned a lot about New Orleans and the parishes along the River Road. For instance, when I had previously gone to New Orleans, I had never ventured much further than the French Quarter as far as absorbing the locale. That is a very limited perspective. There is so much more to New Orleans than Bourbon Street. I fell in love with Magazine Street and the Irish Channel, and those areas are featured heavily in my books set in New Orleans now.
6. How do you relax, or what do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?
I like to snuggle under a blanket with a cup of coffee and either a good book or a good show to binge watch. Okay, I confess, I might be just a wee bit addicted to Minecraft.
7. What is your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?
Hmmm. For years, I wanted to be a singer/song-writer and perform in front of an audience, a big audience. Well, I’m—a lot of years old – so I know that’s never going to happen. My dream of being a singer may have gone unfulfilled, but I’m not resentful or sad about it. Not anymore. I’m living a fulfilled life. So I’m not looking back to things that might have been and never were. I channeled all my creative and artistic energy into writing. I can still remember my squeal of joy when I was offered my first publishing contract. The feeling I get on release day of a new book never gets old.
8. What do you fear most?
I’m not sure I should tell you that. Big Brother used that information against the protagonist in 1984.
One time I went white water rafting, and the guide told me not to be scared of falling out of the raft. I told him I wasn’t scared of falling out; I was scared of not being able to get back in.
I think I’m more afraid of things I might not be able to do than things that might happen to me. I really dislike feeling powerless.
9. What was your favorite Halloween Costume?
I can’t remember a single costume. Not one. But if I had the nerve to wear one now, I think I’d dress up like an old west dance hall girl.
