Here’s my secret recipe: write a romantic comedy which includes all your favorite ingredients—a gorgeous chef who seduces the heroine with fabulous food, a quirky leading lady who is the “normal” one in her family, a romantic Australian setting, and lots of laughs.

Writing Party of Three was so enjoyable for me that I couldn’t wait to get to my computer every day to see what my characters would do next. Since I love cooking myself it seemed natural to create a chef hero named Ben. All Ben wants to do is cook great meals and bond with his son, Danny. It all seems simple enough until he encounters his landlady Ally who is funny and flawed and likes to do things her way.

Researching the book was almost the best part. I interviewed a real-life chef and got the low down on what goes on behind the scenes of a trendy restaurant kitchen. Then he sat me down and sent out course after course of delicious food for me to sample. Talk about fringe benefits!

I wasn’t always a writer. I used to be a marine biologist. Then as a new mum on maternity leave I heard a radio interview with a Mills and Boon author and thought, that’s what I’ll do with my spare time while at home with the baby. You can tell I was a really new mum. Spare time? Ha! But once I got started telling stories, I was hooked.

I never did go back to my day job—it’s more fun making up characters and putting them in situations which will test  their mettle. Knowing there is always a happy ending is the icing on the cake.

People often ask where I get my inspiration—aside from food, that is. J Like love, it’s all around—in an overheard conversation, a snippet from a newspaper article, a chance meeting with a stranger. Almost anything can spark the imagination to wonder, What if?

In the case of Party of Three for example, What if Ally, a control freak looking for a very specific Mr. Right suddenly finds herself falling in love with a man who is All Wrong? What if Ben discovers that earning a chef hat in the Good Food guide isn’t quite enough in life?