After Merry Christmas, Marcie was published, a spin-off evolved--Summer Magic.  Now an older Marcie has emerged (I changed her name to Lisa), plus the central conflict has taken on on a slightly different twist.  Lisa, now a certified veterinarian assistant, accepts a job to work for the circus vet whom we met in the first story.  Although she realizes the earlier assistants had lasted only a short time because the vet was so difficult to please, Lisa is willing to take on the challenge.  She needs money to pay off medical bills following a serious snowboarding accident.  Soon, however, Lisa questions her ability to pass her probation, especially as one calamity with the circus animals follows another.  Even Michael, the dashing trapeze artist whom she’s strongly attracted to, expresses his doubts, which disheartens her further.  Still worse, Michael will not follow her if she leaves.  Recently, he’d given up circus life to work on "the outside" and was totally miserable.  He knew he had to get back to the circus, no matter what.  Again a barrier looms between Lisa and Michael:  she, the “townie” who will always most likely end up on the outside again, and he, the devoted circus performer who will always stay. 

     Readers ask me where I get ideas for stories.  Ideas come from everywhere, and often at times when I least expect them--from   newspaper and magazine articles, dreams, personal experiences, books, and movies--and so forth.  Yet from that germ of an idea my characters have sprung to life, fought their “dragons,” and won the battle!   

     Okay, now for an example.  One day back when I first started writing, I read a magazine article about a circus family who performed as trapeze artists.  The son who’d been interviewed for the article said he was always careful not to make friends with teens “on the outside” because soon the circus would move on and he might never see that friend again. What a perfect conflict between an everyday teen gal and a guy who is committed to travel and perform with the circus! I decided. I told my critique group, “I think I can do this!” So I started researching the realities of circus life, trapeze artists, and circus veterinary medicine. Then I began writing and rewriting.  Several months later Merry Christmas, Marcie was born.  Imagine my surprise when I received a phone call from Silhouette’s YA editor only three days after I’d submitted the manuscript.  I nearly jumped for joy when she offered me a contract!