What's the last book you read that completely wowed you?

Michael Connelly's A DARKNESS MORE THAN NIGHT.  It wowed me because I didn't see the end coming, and seeing the end coming is always a game for me when I read. But because I was so drawn into the world of Connelly's Harry Bosch, I flowed with the story, not dissecting and trying to predict the way I normally did.  In essence, the story let me be a reader.

What's the best book-signing story you have?

It would have to be the first time I met the "Jersey Girls."  They are a wonderful group of women who are part of a book club in NJ.  It was a booksigning in 2004 at a writers' convention in NYC.  I was newly published - my second book had just been released - and nobody really knew my books or me.  All of the sudden this horde of women descended, maybe five or six of them, all with matching t-shirts, hand decorated.  They said, "Karen Rose!" and I was a little stunned.  They'd come to see me and had brought gifts - including my own matching t-shirt, which I still have.  I've seen them several times since, and each time is a delight.  They are true booklovers and we can discuss our favorite characters like they are mutual friends.

How did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I didn't, really.  I started writing as a hobby when my engineering job required I travel extensively.  I couldn't carry enough books in my luggage to last a whole trip, and stories began to spin in my head.  I wrote to keep myself company in hotel rooms and airports all over the world, then after some time, my husband urged me to submit my work.  It was after meeting other writers in my local Romance Writer of America chapter back in 1999 that I actually considered writing as a potential career.

What part of writing surprises you the most?

The way little details I don't even know I've included become very important.  It's like there's a subconscious pre-planning that's going on that enables everything to come together at the end.

How do you balance suspense and romance?

I'm not sure how to answer that. I don't normally evaluate the balance - it just ends up feeling right.  One important aspect as the story unfolds is that the romance must feed the suspense and vice-versa.  If you take out either element, the story would not be complete.  So, as I'm writing I'm always aware of how the romance scenes advance the suspense plot. Sometimes it's as simple as the romance scenes building a character's personality so that he/she is equipped to fight the evil.  Sometimes the romantic scenes set up future events. The romance should be appropriately placed and should offer the reader a moment to breathe, to regroup from the suspense. Appropriate placement (i.e. romantic interludes) isn't always easy when your hero and heroine are on the run or trying to save potential victims.

Contributing editor Tasha Alexander attended the University of Notre Dame, where she signed on as an English major in order to have a legitimate excuse for spending all her time reading. Following graduation, she played nomad for several years, eventually settling with her family in Tennessee. When not reading, she can be found hard at work on her next book.