Once upon a time, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I used to lie in bed at night and make up stories in my head. At the age of eight, seduced by the feel and smell of a fresh sheet of lined writing paper, I began writing them down. Those first stories, heavily influenced by the "Lad" books of Albert Payson Terhune, were usually about the grand and glorious relationship between a dog and its human. But by the time I reached the age of twelve, a curious thing happened to those man/dog relationship stories: I started writing about human relationships instead. Love stories. And although there have been many variations on that theme in the years since, I'm still writing love stories. I can't imagine writing anything else. As a matter of fact, when people ask, as they occasionally do, why I write what I write, I refer them to a quote attributed to the amazing Stephen King: "What makes you think I have a choice?" Yes. Exactly!

Although I now write on a computer, I still find myself unable to resist the siren's call of a new pen and a writing tablet. I collect those pretty little bound journals that I find in Barnes & Noble and Rite-Aid. The problem is, I never end up writing in them. They're just too perfect and pristine. So they sit on my bookshelf, gathering dust, while I do all my writing at the keyboard. And the next time I'm in a bookstore, and I see another one, with its lovely blank pages and colorful cover...well, let's just say it's an addiction I can't explain!

I've written and published thirteen books, the first three with small publishers; the six that followed were published by MIRA Books, a division of Harlequin Enterprises. My first book for MIRA hit the USA Today bestseller list, and several of my romantic suspense novels also made the Waldenbooks romance bestseller list. I'm self-publishing now, and loving it. My Jackson Falls Series is now six books long. All six are available for Kindle and in trade paperback, and the first three have also been made into audiobooks. Life is good.

I've lived my entire life in Maine, although my heart resides in Boston. I must have been born to the wrong parents; I was supposed to be a city girl! But my husband likes it here in Maine, and I like my husband, so there you have it. We have two grown kids, two smart and beautiful grandchildren, and several adorable grand-dogs.

When I'm not writing, I can often be found at my easel, painting with acrylics, or shooting sunrises and sunsets with my Canon camera. Day trips to Boston help to keep the writing well filled, and I get most of my story ideas driving around the back roads of Maine.

I love to hear from readers! You can e-mail me at lauriebreton@gmail.com