Tell us about the call!  I was standing amidst the chaos of fighting children, barking dogs and melting groceries when my phone rang.

Last year in mid-January, I was packing my family to get ready for a trip to visit my Dad for his 81st birthday. The phone rang and it was my wonderful agent Helen Breitwieser. She usually emails so I knew this was momentous news. She said Harlequin Intrigue really liked my story, but it was too long for their line and would I be willing to cut my single title story to a category length. (This meant cutting about 80 pages of the manuscript.) Was I willing to do that?

"Of course."

Cut to my parent's house at 2 a.m. Everyone was wiped out from the drive, so I didn't want to get into the news just yet. But my Dad has always been such a cheerleader for my writing. Growing up he had always told me I could do whatever I set my mind to. So, when I went to tell my parents good night after the kids were finally in bed, I just had to tell my folks that I thought I "might" be about to sell my book. The looks on their faces were priceless.

I am intrigued by the plot of your novel.  Do you have a personal connection to autism that drew you in or was the idea sparked in some other manner? 

I mentioned earlier that "life got complicated." Eight years ago, my son was diagnosed with autism and we immediately dove into an intensive array of biomedical and traditional therapies for him. He worked hard and responded amazingly well. I will be forever grateful to a multitude of people that I can never repay for giving me back my son. People who worked with him, played with him, prayed for him and for my family. Incredibly generous parents I've met through autism groups online but never met in person who shared their hard won knowledge and advice when we got stuck in various stages of treatment. Doctors, teachers, therapists, and friends who gave so much over the years. It's a very long list. Even with exceptional treatment, you don't always get the kind of results we did. It's been an extraordinarily humbling and overwhelming experience. Today I look at my son when he's yakking away (a miracle in itself), and I think about where we were 9 years ago. I'm completely awed.

I imagine you still had to do some extensive research to write on this subject. 

In this case, I'd done a lot of the vaccine research in seeking treatment options for my son years before I thought of writing a book on the subject. Most of the autism treatments and therapies I talk about in Better Than Bulletproof are things we did first hand with my child. But I do enjoy research and I did have quite a bit to do for other aspects of the story. For the most part, I've found that people are incredibly helpful when you tell them what you are doing. If someone wanted to learn more about autism or become involved in helping where would you recommend they start?

There are many great autism resources on the Internet now. My favorite is www.nationalautismassociation.org, 1-877-NAA-AUTISM. Their motto is "Think Autism. Think Cure." They have fabulous resources for treatment options, conferences, and the latest news in the autism world. Practically every reputable autism site on the web is listed at NAA--Autism Research Institute, Talk about Curing Autism, Generation Rescue, Autism One. Please check them out. And, if you lose the address or can't remember it when you're chatting with someone, I have a list of autism resources on my website under links. NAA is at the top of the list.

You are being published by Harlequin Intrique, a publisher considered more geared toward women readers.  Do you think men should find your books just as appealing, and is there anything you'd like to say to them?

Writing Better Than Bulletproof, I was thinking of the story primarily from a man's POV. The hero is a Marine sniper home on extended medical leave after being injured in Iraq. Haunted by all he's seen and done there, he's also trying to figure out what he's going to do with his life now. He's sustained a terrible back injury and doesn't feel like a hero at all. In fact, he's struggling with figuring out if he makes a difference anymore. He loves kids and he's very driven to help people. And of course, the heroine doesn't want to be helped or saved in any way. But this woman and child need him not because of what he can do physically but because of what his presence provides emotionally. And when people start trying to kill them, they need him to keep them safe. I read on your website that you have sold a second book to Harlequin, due out later this year.

Kay: That's right. Bulletproof Texas is being released April 14, 2009. I had a blast writing and researching it. Caves and rock climbing--very fun stuff. The story pulls in some of the characters from Better Than Bulletproof. The April book is a romantic suspense thriller about a pharmaceutical research scientist and a brooding caving guide who are forced to work together extracting a cancer-eating bacteria from a flooding Texas Hill Country cave. As the sparks fly and the sexual tension increases, so do the dangers when a competitor decides this potential cure shouldn't see the light of day--and is willing to kill anyone who gets in the way.

Do you have any signings coming up that you want The Big Thrill readers to know about?

Yes and thanks for asking.

Clarksdale, Mississippi- Carnegie Public Library- Sunday, January 18th at 2pm

Plano, Texas- Legacy Books - Saturday, January 24th from 2:30-4:30pm

If you're in either area, please come and bring a friend! And visit my website for more details and upcoming signing dates to be announced: www.kaythomas.net

Contributing editor Christine Goff is the award-winning author of the bestselling "Birdwatcher's Mystery" series.  She began her career writing non-fiction for local, regional and national publication.  Chosen Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' 2002 Writer of the Year, two of her novels were named finalists for the prestigious Willa Literary Award for Best Original Paperback Fiction; and her latest novel, DEATH SHOOTS A BIRDIE, was a named finalist for the Colorado Authors League 2008 Best Genre Fiction Award. Currently, she is working on a new stand alone--a thriller set in Israel.