When I tell people I’m a writer, one of the first questions they ask me is: “How do you dream this stuff up?” Well, in the case of Where Dreams are Made, that’s precisely how—the idea came to me in a dream. I woke up in the morning with a knot of excitement in the pit of my stomach and that energizing heat in my bloodstream that told me I simply had to write this book. Thoughts of Pretty Woman meets Beauty and the Beast danced around in my head. It didn’t matter that at the time all the market wanted was chick lit. This dark, compelling tale of a young woman about to be forced into prostitution took root inside me, driving me to my keyboard day after day, and Jenny and Daniel were born.

My goal when writing this story was to create characters that went against stereotype. Jenny has suffered from violence, abuse and an endless streak of bad luck, yet she’s not hard or jaded. There’s a warmth and innocence about her, an insecurity that makes her refreshingly human and all the more courageous. It is these very traits that compel Daniel’s grandfather to secretly hire her to impersonate his grandson’s assistant, hoping to save him from a life of self-imposed isolation.

Daniel—a scarred, reclusive toymaker—is trying to escape his memories. Burdened by guilt over a violent car accident that killed his father and brother, he believes loneliness is the only way to atone for his sins. Still, he is not your typical alpha male. He’s strong, guarded, but there’s a gentleness in him that makes him precisely the man Jenny needs.

In each other, Jenny and Daniel find acceptance, love, and the strength to heal. But the secret she conceals and the man who is determined to own her threaten to tear them apart. When Jenny’s past invades the sanctuary she’s found, putting their lives in danger, she must lie to Daniel yet again to protect him. With courage she never knew she possessed, she confronts her greatest fear in the name of love. Will Daniel be able to do the same, finding forgiveness in his heart, even if it means forgiving himself?

Where Dreams are Made may not have been the story the market wanted when I wrote it, but it still met with a bolstering level of success. Over the years, it placed in numerous RWA contests, including the highly coveted Golden Heart. However, it wasn’t until I sent the manuscript to Samhain that it found a home. Where Dreams are Made is now available in digital form from Samhain Publishing and the print release is scheduled for August 2009. I am very excited to finally be able to share this story with you and hope it will touch your heart and haunt your dreams the way it did mine.

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