- I grew up in an old house without central heat or running hot water. We had to pump oil into a can in an even colder basement and light an antiquated oil stove which took hours to heat up a room. As much as I complain about the Texas heat, I doubt I'll ever move to a colder climate.
- I have always believed that walking equals brainstorming; the forward motion as you walk propels the mind to advance as well and a recent Stanford study backed up my conviction that walking promotes creativity.
- I collect physical items that play a part in my novels. Some I simply find on my walks, some at flea markets, and some I purchase online. It's neither muse nor superstition, just something I feel compelled to do. And they make for great conversations at book signings.
- I talked to a squirrel once, in the park. It jabbered back at me and we went back and forth for a while-I'm not entirely sure what the conversation was all about-but it prompted my dog to jealously jump up at me and interrupt the conversation. It's a true story, I have witnesses.
- While in college, I worked at a travelling carnival. Unprompted, a gypsy grabbed my hand and foretold my future. She revealed the year of my death, unfortunately I can't remember the order of the digits; let's just say if live to see my 69th birthday, I'm good to go until 86.
- I have extremely ticklish feet and by extremely I mean I can't even touch my own feet. I dread pedicures and I welcome any suggestions. Numbing creams do not work.
- As a bilingual person I am often asked which language I think in. I'm not sure how to answer that because I'd like to believe I think in concepts rather than languages but here's an odd fact: I only count up to 12 in English and switch to German at 13.
- I am the third generation of women in my family to leave their homeland and live in a foreign country. It's an interesting family history to have but I secretly hope that my daughter won't follow in my footsteps.
- I suffer from an extreme aversion to sounds, a condition called misophonia. The sounds of people eating and breathing and many other types of sounds produce anxiety and a fight/flight response. There's no cure for the condition and I spend most of my life with earplugs and headphones and white noise.
- I love the way my dogs smell. I don't mean when they're wet or rolled in the mud, but their everyday scent. I love to sniff their paws, they are my favorite. Their necks smell particularly pleasant and very comforting.
Little Girl Gone is out now in Ebook and paperback