Ten years ago my very first book, Take Me To Heart was published by BET’s Arabesque imprint. It was not one of my favorites. The heroine, Marguerite, annoyed me, and Dexter, the hero, was just too passive. The story took a different turn when the acquiring editor deleted some eighty pages and worked her editorial magic to make it a romance novel. But die-hard romance fans hated it because it didn’t follow the romance formula and one well-known reviewer commented that I might not want to give up my day job. But for every one who didn’t care for the story there were many others who gave it rave reviews. It was many years later when it hit me that the original story really wasn’t about Marguerite and Dexter, or at least it wasn’t supposed to be. They just got the spot light in the final edition. And that final edition kicked off my career. Ten years, some twenty-plus books, multiple literary nominations and one or two book awards later and I’m still trying to perfect my craft