You say on your website that you've always been an avid reader, and that you always had your own characters and storylines in your head, but you'd never really written much. You were working at a major insurance company when you decided to try your hand at writing. What made you decide to make such a drastic career change? Do you ever miss the nine to five world of the office?

I had come to a crossroads in my life. Maybe a mid-life crisis...not sure. I only knew I wasn't happy with my path in life. It was a good job, a great company, but it was a job. One I had no passion for and was quickly losing all interest in. There had to be more. So, after much soul searching, prayer and multiple discussions with my incredibly supportive husband, I decided to quit. I still had no clue what I wanted to do. I just knew that what I was doing wasn't satisfying to me

While I pondered my future, I caught up on my reading. My previous job had kept me from reading as much as I wanted. One day a story idea came to me. Any other time, I might have played around with it in my mind or even jotted down a chapter or two, but nothing more. That day, I issued myself a challenge: Finish an entire manuscript. From then on, I was hooked. I wrote four complete manuscripts before I sold the fourth one.

Do I miss the nine to five world? Absolutely, positively, no. I do miss the people I worked with; it's a great company filled with wonderful people. But I do not miss the corporate world. I've always been a bit of an introvert and being a writer is the perfect career for me.

You made the writing dream come true! What advice would you give for other aspiring writers?

I'm still a relative newbie in this business, but will give you my take, for what it's worth. If this is truly what you want to do, ignore the doubters and critics and just do it. I was most fortunate to have the support of my husband to fall back on. Many don't and have to work full time jobs and try to write during their spare time. But if you have the burn in your gut, you'll find those fifteen minutes here and there to write a page or two. One page a day for a year and you've got a manuscript.

This business is tough, sometimes unrewarding and often quite painful. I wrote for six years, experienced numerous rejections, poor contest scores, harsh critiques and suffered every doubt possible. I'll never say any of it was easy, but I am grateful for every one of those experiences. They taught me so much. So, search your soul and if this is what you want, then go for it.

What have you found most difficult about writing? How do you cope with this difficulty?

I was naïve and idealistic enough to think that many of the doubts would go away once I was published. They don't. Sometimes they seem stronger, but I persevere. This is what I want to do. Nothing worthwhile is easy and I have found this career to be very worthwhile!

In the age of the internet, it is much easier for readers to connect with their favorite authors. What is the best piece of fan mail you've received? What was the strangest?

I love getting emails from readers. With the exception of a couple, all have been enormously uplifting and lovely. I guess the one that touched me the most was a reader who told me her husband was having surgery and one my books got her through those long hours of waiting and worry. What an incredible, wonderful feeling to have taken someone away from that kind of fear, if only for a short while.

I haven't really received any strange ones. Just a couple of chastisements for my love scenes. I find it odd that two to three love scenes between a couple who are in love or are falling in love, approximately 12 pages of a 400+ page book, could offend anyone enough to email me a complaint. However, these kinds of emails are rare.

What books and authors do you enjoy? Are there particular authors or books that you feel have influenced your own writing? What are you reading now?

I love all genres, but romance is my favorite, preferably romantic suspense. Some of my favorite romantic suspense authors are: Allison Brennan, Pamela Clare, Linda Howard, Sandra Brown, and Karen Rose. I'm sure I'm leaving out at least a dozen more, but those are the ones that pop into my head immediately. I also adore Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood and one of my all time favorite books is Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.

I grew up reading Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. In high school, I discovered romance with Kathleen Woodiwiss, Laurie McBain and all the wonderful Harlequins. In college, I read John Grisham and Stephen King. Then, I fell back in love with romance with the help of authors like Linda Howard, Sandra Brown and Judith McNaught. So, I would say all of these fabulous authors and their books have had a profound influence on my writing.

I'm in the midst of reading books for the Rita contest for RWA, so I can't give the titles. However, I am finding that a lot of good books were published in 2009!

No Chance is the first of your second trilogy in the Last Chance Rescue series; Second Chance and Last Chance will release in the next two months. After Last Chance, what's next for Christy Reece?

I'm working on another Last Chance Rescue trilogy, scheduled for release spring/summer 2011.

Julie Compton is the author of the critically acclaimed legal thriller, TELL NO LIES, and the recently released RESCUING OLIVIA, which Kirkus called "a pleasing hybrid of modern-day fairy tale and contemporary thriller." She lives and writes near Orlando. To learn more, go to www.julie-compton.com.