Are those pictures of you?

Yes indeedy.

Do you have an agent?

A fabo agent. Scott Treimel picked me out of the piles of manuscripts and took me on. My brand of dark, unresolved stories weren’t terribly salable at the time, but he did the terrific agent thing and he's still doing it.

Are your books in paperback?

Yes, Simon and Schuster bought the rights to Glass,Dead Girls. and Playing in Traffic and they are published under the Simon Pulse line. They are enthusiastic about the books which is just another great thing that is happening to me. S and S are a great group to work with. My new books are with Little, Brown now and the paperback rights are with them.

After a long time getting this book published how are you feeling about its reception?

Totally giddy. Can’t quite get a handle on the fact that it’s happening to moi!

What’s your next book?

The newest one just came out.  RIGHT BEHIND YOU.  Buy now.  Buy often.

Do you swear that all the Alaska stuff is true?

Hand me a Bible. I can’t even tell you the really crazy stuff. I’d get sued.

Where It All Started

This is what happened. I was in the fourth grade. I wasn’t the best behaved kid in the fourth grade. I tended to do my class work at the speed of light and then, well, cause trouble. I went to Catholic school and the nuns disapproved of trouble.
Finally, the nun came to my desk, checked my work and changed my world. She told me that she was having a bad day and needed a laugh. Could I write her a funny story?
Okay, I’m game. The nun told me to write a story about a family having a holiday dinner. Okay, bored now. But, she said, write it from an ant’s point of view. Back in the game and swinging for the bleachers.
So, I wrote. And erased and wrote some more. And I handed it in. The nun took the paper and began reading. And she chuckled. Then she blushed. I guess because she had chuckled. Then she laughed right out loud.
I was a star! Okay, I was only a legend in my own mind, but something real had happened. I was successful and had won approval. And I hadn’t been in trouble for an entire twenty minutes.
Now, some people say the experience warped me. From that day to this, I can’t just look at something as it is. I see something, look at it from another angle, take it and compare it to something, change it a little, ask “what if.”
That’s what makes a writer, I think. Taking an idea and flipping it over, turning it inside out, seeing if it has holes in it and if it doesn’t--wondering why not.
Now, I do blame the nun for all my lost sunglasses and keys. See, my head is always off in the ether, thinking up a what if, wondering what a character would do if. . . and I can’t remember where I put the keys, or my shoes, or the gas bill, or the dog. It’s all her fault. I swear.

And what's with all the Jimmy Buffett  acknowledgments?

Mostly, I hope he’ll see them and give me a call. Does anyone know him?
Second reason, he’s got this great song called “Changing Channels,” and it starts with Isabella, “from a long line of basket cases.” Now, my first name is Isabel and well, that description just fits me to a fare-the-well. The song tells of Isabella setting sail and changing channels. Honest, the song got to me and set me on the path to submitting my work. I had always wanted to be a writer and you know, no one was going to come invite me to be one. I need to get off my bohonkus and do it. And if Isabella could set sail, by golly, I could.

Dedications

So why are all the books dedicated to the same two people? That’s easy. Some people come into your life and they make you better than you are. First, that was my son, Josh. He’s just the most terrific person. He’s fun and funny and witty and I can rely on him for anything. He’s one of those “come through” guys.
And there’s Jim. My husband. Well, he’s just the best. Always and forever.

What About That Turtle?

There are two reasons I picked a turtle for my logo. First and most important--You just gotta love an animal whose waist is bigger than it's head!

Second, that is my very own watercolor. I took a workshop from the wonderful Karlyn Holman and this is her concept that she taught us in the class. Visit Karlyn's web site. www.karlynholman.com