People often ask me why I would trade the blissful ubiquitous sunshine of California for the lousy weather in the Northeast. Yes, our summers are hot and humid, our winters frigid and snowy, and often downright brutal. But  as this suffering builds character, and as the song goes, I love that "Dirty Water.” Boston has become my home, which is why I chose to set the Macy Adams series right here in our little city that visiting tourists call "Beantown."

My original move to Boston came after a job offer from Bain & Company. Doing consulting work in high-tech, and specifically in the biotech industry, provided the backdrop for DARK WATERS, as did dating a professor at an unnamed institution of higher learning.

Is Macy my alter-ego? Well, yes and no. She’s younger, more gutsy, and taller than me. Dare I mention she also weighs less? Her love life is much more entertaining than mine. But I get to read more books and play more tennis than Macy. Works for me.

Happy moments? There’s always your wedding day and the birth of a child. But right up there has to be the day I found out my first novel would be published. Also the morning I received an award from Sue Grafton for the second book in the Macy Adams series. Being a finalist in the “St. Martins Press Best Private Eye Novel Contest” (twice) was pretty terrific as well.

Other writing credits: Bad Boys and Bad Girls in the Badlands, an anthology about mysteries set in the Southwest. My chapter is about an area I know well: Southern California. I also wrote book reviews for “New Mystery Magazine.”

Affiliations: Served as Program Chair for the New England Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, steering committee member for the New England Crimebake for four years, Debut Author of the International Thriller Writers. I’m also a “Sister in Crime.”

Residence: I live in Boston with my husband and son. In my spare time, I play great tennis and terrible golf.