Sandra Crowley, Romantic Suspense Author

Hi y’all, I usually don’t yak about myself, but I’ll make an exception for this post. Hopefully, you won’t regret it.

Many of you may already know I spent a good deal of my childhood moving with my family. The constant change of environments and schools--thirteen in twelve years--taught me “home” isn’t necessarily defined by a location or the length of time spent there; it can be a state of mind nurtured by those who love each other. I believe that conviction flavors the stories I write.

Instead of boring you with a list of places we lived, learning which I believe impacted me most and why might interest you more. We had always lived in town until we moved to Oregon. We still lived on a street lined side by side by side with houses, yet who could resist the outdoor pleasures of an area called Treasure Valley?  It was there I fell in love with mountains and the wildness that offered me peace at the same time it demanded strength of body and soul. Riding horses became an extension of that for me. I wish I’d had opportunities to explore the high country more often from the back of a quarter horse during those years. But, now, that latent regret encourages me to seize each opportunity to saddle up and follow a narrow trail through alpine grasses, tall trees, or strike across country with only a cold stream or maybe a craggy peak to guide me.   

Treks like that, where experience, faith and trust carry one along, are what love is all about.

The love I treasure with my husband of many years sets up Texas as the place with the greatest impact on my adult life because it’s my husband’s birthplace as well as that of our children. Who could ignore that? Certainly not me! Even though I was happy to leave the heat and explore new areas such as Alaska, Puerto Rico, and others in between. Our current home is a high valley along Colorado’s western slope--it may hold us or we may eventually look for new horizons.

You probably want to know how I started writing. When our children reached their teen years, I seized the time to pursue my own interests. A need to send characters along paths I thought essential to stories I was reading convinced me to take extension courses in creative writing. Through those, I learned about Romance Writers of America. I joined its Yellow Rose chapter, a local Texas organization for me at that time. I quickly realized my imagination suited romantic suspense, and I joined the specialty chapter Kiss of Death. Workshops, online classes, and conferences offered by those organizations and others raised my confidence. I began to enter contests and then volunteered as a judge. Both help me improve my craft and create characters driven to danger. I hope my stories of murder, betrayal and redemption produce that Ahhh factor readers desire.

My first book, Caughtby a Clown, has received several strong reviews. The story follows a spontaneous freelance journalist on a mission of mercy who finds herself entangled with a methodical undercover agent out to settle a score. The Wild Rose Press published Caught by a Clown in both paperback and ebook. (It's also available at other online book outlets.) This spicy romantic suspense novel leads off three linked stories I hope will be published in the near future. Check my blog site Driven 2 Danger and website frequently for news of their progress. 

You’ll find bits of my life, past and present, as well as other subjects that catch my attention at Driven 2 Danger www.driven2danger.blogspot.com in posts I loosely describe as Trivia Tuesdays.  Fridays are reserved for interviews of people willing to share unique experiences. D2D’s visitors have met a rancher/blacksmith/metal artist, a CSI agent, a breast cancer survivor, and others. Even though I’m still relishing my summer hiatus, please stop in and scroll through earlier writings. I hope you’ll discover the site is like chocolate, a treat you want to indulge in often. (Driven2Danger posts will resume this fall.)

Visit my website www.sandracrowley.com  to read a little about the shyness that plagued my childhood. I’m learning to overcome it. Networking and marketing hammers away at it on a daily basis. Who would have guessed that the solitary craft of writing could generate the daunting tasks that line me front and center of audiences both live and virtual? Yikes!! Talk about shivers and racing heartbeats! Publishers still handled publicity when I started writing. Fortunately, virtual appearances occur far more often than live ones. Nevertheless, requests for book signings and how-to or inspirational presentations are increasing. I keep telling myself that’s a good thing. I wish I believed it.

Thanks for spending time with me. If you have questions or comments, please contact me through my blog Driven 2 Danger or my website.