Frequently Asked Questions

 (Updated September 2023)

YOU (FINALLY!) HAVE A NEW BOOK COMING OUT! TELL US EVERYTHING!

SIMPLY THE BEST arrives February 13, 2023 in hardback, e-book, and audio. Yes, I’m delighted to deliver another Chicago Stars book to you. SIMPLY THE BEST is loosely linked to my last novel, WHEN STARS COLLIDE. I hope you’ve all read that—it’s one of my favorites—but if you haven’t, no worries. All of my series books can stand alone.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER CHARACTERS IN SIMPLY THE BEST FROM YOUR PAST BOOKS?

Yep! You’re definitely going to be seeing Heath Champion and Annabell Granger from MATCH ME IF YOU CAN.  Heath is the hero’s boss, and let’s just say it’s very important for our new hero to hide the fact that he’s much too personally involved with the sister of Champion Sports Management’s biggest client.

I LIKE TO READ BOOKS IN ORDER. WHICH OF YOUR BOOKS COMES FIRST?
You really, really, really don’t have to read my books, including the series books, in order. Each one stands on its own. But if you’d like to see how the books relate to each other, here is the “SEP Family Tree.” Now let me argue with myself… I do think THE GREAT ESCAPE is a bit more fun if you’ve read CALL ME IRRESISTIBLE first, but other than that….

IS SIMPLY THE BEST GOING TO BE THE LAST BOOK IN THE CHICAGO STARS SERIES?
The Stars’ series was originally supposed to end with THIS HEART OF MINE, a book that pulled all the pieces together and let everyone take a curtain call. And yet, the series didn’t end. Not only were there more Stars’ books—MATCH ME IF YOU CANNATURAL BORN CHARMER, and FIRST STAR I SEE TONIGHT, and WHEN STARS COLLIDE, but Stars’ characters pop up in some of my stand alone books. (Did you spot April Robillard from NATURAL BORN CHARMER in WHAT I DID FOR LOVE.) That’s because all my characters exist in the same creative universe. For example, Bobby Tom Denton from HEAVEN, TEXAS, makes an off-screen appearance in LADY BE GOOD. There’s also a reference to GLITTER BABY’s Fleur Savagar in NATURAL BORN CHARMER. (Did you catch it?) Will familiar characters continue to wander into new books? Definitely. Does it make any difference if you haven’t read the book? Not one bit.

WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE CHIP AND ROSIE’S BOOK FROM DREAM A LITTLE DREAM? (Or Hannah’s story from THIS HEART OF MINE? Or Heather from KISS AN ANGEL? Or Pippi from MATCH ME IF YOU CAN? Or Riley from NATURAL BORN CHARMER?)
No plans for any of them at the present time. These characters need a chance to grow up. (Chip, for example, is going to need a lot of maturity to deal with Rosie.)

ANY PLANS TO TURN YOUR BOOKS INTO MOVIES?
Every time I download my e-mail, I hear from a reader who wants one of my books to become a movie. It would be both lovely and perilous. We all want to see a movie that actually duplicates the book in our heads, and most scripts bear little resemblance to the original book.  So for now, let’s keep enjoying the ever delightful Bridgerton.

DO YOU HAVE ANY VIDEOS POSTED ON THE WEB?
So glad you asked! Here are a few and even more on my YouTube and TikTok pages.

HEROES Video

A video letter to my readers

Good Day Tulsa

What I Did for Love trailer

Very informal (!) interview with Heather Graham

SEP on Glitter Baby

SEP on the Chicago Stars

SEP on Flawed Heroines

I’VE HEARD YOU POST LOTS OF PERSONAL PHOTOS AND DO AN AMAZING JOB KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH YOUR READERS?
(Okay. I made that last part up, but I do love my readers.) I post a lot on Facebook and Instagram. I love being able to create an online community where we can share our lives, as well as the books we love. Please join us.

IS THE CURRENT EDITION OF GLITTER BABY SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT FROM THE ORIGINAL?
Yes and no. The story is the same, but I developed the characters a bit more, cleaned up some of the prose, and added a few new scenes. I’m delighted with the outcome. (And thanks for all your lovely e-mail about this edition.)

WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND JUST IMAGINE? IS THIS THE SAME BOOK AS YOUR OLD HISTORICAL ROMANCE RISEN GLORY?
Yes and no. JUST IMAGINE is a reissue of RISEN GLORY, which has been out of print for many years. It’s not your ordinary reissue, however, which is why we changed the title. I made substantial revisions—fleshing out the characters of Kit Weston (a total scamp) and Baron Cain (his name says it all), as well as adding new scenes. The book has a special “Dear Reader” letter at the beginning that explains why I decided to polish up the original.

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS?
Quoting Colin Byrne, in AIN’T SHE SWEET?, “A warehouse in Tulsa!” I dread this question because I never have a succinct answer. Sometimes an intriguing premise will occur to me. For example, what if a woman who knows nothing about football inherits an NFL team? (IT HAD TO BE YOU) Sometimes an idea for a character will start jiggling around in my brain, like a good ol’ boy Texas golf pro. (FANCY PANTS) I love so many of the traditional elements of romance, but maybe my favorite is the marriage of convenience. It’s an extremely difficult plot device to bring off in contemporary romance, but I had to try. (KISS AN ANGEL) And try again… (WHAT I DID FOR LOVE) Frequently, a secondary character will catch my attention, and I’ll realize I have to tell his story. This happened with Bobby Tom Denton (HEAVEN, TEXAS), Gabe and Ethan Bonner (DREAM A LITTLE DREAM), Kevin Tucker (THIS HEART OF MINE), and Dean Robillard (NATURAL BORN CHARMER). I’ve always been fascinated by child actors, and that led to HONEY MOON as well as WHAT I DID FOR LOVE. Looking through one of my notebooks, I spotted two words: “opera singer.” Thus, WHEN STARS COLLIDE was born.  The only book I’ve written with a real structure in mind right from the beginning was the incredibly challenging HOT SHOT because so many of the plot points were dictated by historical fact. Basically, my brain is a garbage dump. Please don’t embarrass me by asking this question again!

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE A BOOK?
Writing gets harder for me instead of easier, so it’s taking me around two years now. I know I write slowly compared to other writers, but we’re all wired differently. It takes me a long time to get to know my characters in-depth and understand their behavior.

WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE ANOTHER BOOK LIKE [FILL IN THE BLANK WITH ANY OF MY TITLES]?
AARGH!!! This is the sound of me screaming, laughing, and kissing all of you opinionated readers. I love the fact that so many of you have a favorite book of mine, but…and this is the important part…there’s no one book that the majority of you pick as your favorite. Readers bring a set of expectations with them, and my readers seem to be divided into three fairly distinct groups. One group expects that I’ll always make them laugh and aren’t looking for anything too serious. Another group loves the more serious stuff and doesn’t want anything too “silly.” The great majority of you, however, are blessedly adaptable. You know you’ll find a good love story and a happy ending, and you’re glad to go wherever I want to take you. (Confidentially, I love you best.) How do I handle this? The only way I know how. I write only to please myself and pray you’ll come with me on my journey.

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR TITLES?
Everywhere. HEAVEN, TEXAS came to me right away. KISS AN ANGEL had a ton of titles, none of which we liked, and we were lukewarm about that one at first. NOBODY’S BABY BUT MINE came to me out of thin air one day, and we all fell instantly in love with it. LADY BE GOOD was titled even before I wrote the first chapter because it was perfect for the story I had in mind. BREATHING ROOM hit me one day when I came across the Oprah magazine feature “Breathing Space.” My darling husband came up with MATCH ME IF YOU CAN and FIRST STAR I SEE TONIGHT. He also brainstormed NATURAL BORN CHARMER with me during a tedious trip on one of Chicago’s ever-congested tollways. IT HAD TO BE YOU is the only book I didn’t title myself.

HAVE YOU WRITTEN ANY BOOKS THAT DIDN’T END UP IN PRINT?
I’m fortunate never to have had a book rejected by a publisher, but in the early days of my career, I started two books that I abandoned.

WHAT AUTHORS DO YOU READ?
Like many of you, my reading tastes have changed over the years. I’m drawn to “relationship” books, both by romance and literary authors, but I have no patience for the depressing ones, what I call “dead baby books.” Some of the many authors I enjoy—and by the time you read this, I’m sure there will be a dozen more I could add—Mary Balogh, Robyn Carr, Katherine Center, Megan Chance, Tessa Dare, Christina Dodd, Kristin Hannah, Kristan Higgins, Eloisa James, Beverly Jenkins, Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick, Sarah Maclean, Susan Mallery, Monica McInerney, Liane Moriarty, Amy Poeppel, Julia Quinn, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Margaret Watson. And I know I’ve left out a zillion others. I’m also a big non-fiction fan, including memoires like Trevor Noah’s BORN A CRIME, Tara Westover’s EDUCATED, and Michelle Obama’s BECOMING.

I’M ALWAYS GETTING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AVAILABILITY OF MY OLDER TITLES AND THE ORDER OF THE CHICAGO STARS BOOKS. PLEASE SEE THE BOOKS LINK FOR THAT INFORMATION.