Many thanks to Trisha Ratliff, editor and creator of Readers Life Magazine for this interview!How long have you been writing?I have been making up stories since I was a little girl. My imagination has always been an escape for me.  My parents divorced when I was seven and creating a safe, happy place became the norm for me. When the real world became more than I could handle, I zoned out, went into my stories and stayed until I was ready to come back to reality. As I grew older, I created characters, places and plots I could relate to and gave them happy endings. Writing is my therapy, and without it I would go crazy.Why did you decide to publish?I didn’t have any ambitions towards publication. In fact, I kept my writing a secret from my family until a couple of years ago when my husband found out. He read Sullivan’s Way and urged me to submit. I was totally against it, but agreed to do so if he would never bring it up again. I submitted to five publishers and expected five refusals. I was in shock when I received an email from 5 Prince Publishing saying they were interested in the manuscript. I stared at that email for at least a half an hour wondering how to respond. Again, my husband nudged me to take the contract and I did. After I signed it, I received three more emails expressing an interest in it. Who knew?Why did you choose to write romance?It is a fantastic genre to write, and I think it is unique because the endings are always happy. No matter what the hero or heroine go through, as readers we know that ending is coming. For the span of an hour or two, I can take you out of this world and let you live that story. Break your heart, put you through hell and then have you crying with happiness by the last page.How do you come up with your characters?The key ingredient to any good story are the characters. Readers must be able to connect with them by emotion. Any emotion. I loathed the character Shane from the Walking Dead. I wanted him to dye so bad that I actually jumped to my feet and screamed, “Yes!” when he did. The emotion was hate, but I connected. My characters are based on the personalities of the people I know or have known. Each one is unique and I spend a lot of time getting to know them before I start writing. I ask what are their faults, insecurities, hopes and dreams? What has happened in their life to make them the person they are today? This helps me write scenes based on their personalities and reactions. It creates a chemistry between the characters and really revs up the dialogue. In my current WIP, my heroine is terrified of marriage because her mother has been married three times. Her fear helps set the stage for conflict when the hero hits her with an unexpected proposal. As an author, you may think you have control, but you don’t. I am always asking, “What would he/she do?”. Characters drive the story and that’s the way it has to be. Otherwise, you have one dimensional characters wondering through the story chapter by grueling chapterHow did you come up with the "Way of Hearts Saga"?I love history and genealogy. When my children were small, I spent a lot of time combing through our family history and the history of the area we live in. My overactive imagination saw every letter or picture as a “what if”. It was the same way with Sullivan’s Way. It started with an old journal from a distant relative.Do you have a writing process and what is it?My writing process starts with the story. What is the troupe? When I know that, I limit my planning to two sheets of paper. The first sheet has the beginning (time period/ setting/ opening hook), climax and resolution. The second sheet helps me nail down external conflicts, secondary characters, foreshadowing, symbolism, links to other books in the series, and the internal conflicts and physical descriptions of the hero and heroine. Once its complete, I start writing the first draft. I put it away for a couple of weeks, and don’t look at it, read it or think about it. I usually spend this time outlining the next book in the series. With fresh eyes, I read through it, do my re-writes and edits and send it off to my beta readers. When they send it back, I go over it again, make changes if I feel they are necessary and submit it to my editor.How do you deal with writers block?When the words won’t flow, I turn off my computer and read. I take a break, go for a long walk and have lunch with my friends. I make myself forget about the story for a little while.The "Way of Hearts Saga" is historical romance how do you do research for your novels?There are all kinds of ways to research a topic. When I’m working on a historical, I frequent the library and area historical society. Through social media, I am connected with a network of experts, authors and history enthusiasts who are always more than happy to answer my questions and hear my ideas.How do you feel the Sullivan family changed from book one to book two?The saga is about two families, the Sullivan’s and the Coldiron’s. They share a secret and the second book reveals parts of that secret. Sullivan’s Way centered around the Sullivan family while Love Finds Its Way takes Lucas, the adopted son to Texas in search of his past, and introduces the Coldiron family into the saga. Callie Sullivan, the youngest daughter has matured into a strong young woman with aspirations and capabilities far beyond the average woman of 1870. She is instrumental in the day to day operations of the Sullivan Mining Company, the lifeblood of the newly established town of Honesty, Virginia.With two books published in the series and two more to go before your saga is complete what can fans expect from the series?I had planned on six books in the saga, but decided to cut it down to four. The last two contemporaries will bring the story started in 1865 to the present, and will wrap up questions about the secret they share. I’m also working on outlines for Sutton Mackenna and Walter Delaney. Two of my favourite characters from Love Finds Its Way.Way to Redemption is the first contemporary and will be out in the fall. The blurb and an excerpt can be found on my website at www.wilhelminastolen.com It is a continuation of the Coldiron family and is by far my favorite of the three. It also gives readers a peek at Justice Rebel, the leading man in the second book in my Bad Boys of Rebel Road erotic series written under the pseudonym Edee Monroe.