JAF: This is often how it works. In the case of THE COUNTERFEIT COUNT, the idea came when I was looking through a bookstore and found the book THE CAVALRY MAIDEN which provided the background for my own heroine. I love finding odd tidbits of history ù the Americans in Nicaragua in the mid-19th century was the inspiration for HER ONLY HERO and the Draft Riots in New York City during the Civil War (an incident often ignored in history books) inspired WOVEN DREAMS (written as Joanna Hampton). Other times, I decide I want to write a book about a certain type of character(s). That was how I developed SHADOWS OF THE BASTILLE, a trilogy for Zebra Ballads. I wanted to write about a brother and two sisters who are separated by the French Revolution and learn about each other during the Regency/Napoleonic era.

2.Woven Dreams, your new romance, is a quilting romance. How do your quilting romances differ from your other works? When did you decide to incorporate quilting into your novels?

JAF: WOVEN DREAMS was my second quilting romance ù following THE COMING HOME QUILT. How did I decide to incorporate quilting in the books? I did what I tell my writing students not to do. I jumped on a trend when I saw Berkley/Jove was looking for quilting romances. My mother was a professional seamstress, and my grandmother made quilts for her grandchildren as they married, so IÆve been around needlework all my life. It was fun to put what I had learned from them ù including some unique quilting methods ù into my books.

3. Which romace writers have influenced you? Have any non-romance writers been an influence on your work?

JAF: I think Laurie McBain was the biggest influence on me as a romance author. She combined suspense and adventure with romance. These were the books I loved to read and now love to write. For non-romance authors, I guess I would have to say Elizabeth Peters ù I aspire to develop her humor in some of my books. Anya Seton is a favorite, too ù especially now that I am doing time travels for ImaJinn Books. Madeline LÆEngle has a gift of language I would love to achieve, and C.S. LewisÆs advice to write the books one wants to read has been inside my head since I first read his Narnia books.

4. Do you have a novel outlined pretty much in its entirety when you start writing, or does the plot take shape as you write?

JAF: Can I answer that one yes? I do a synopsis before I start on the chapters, because I now sell on a synopsis to my editors. However, the story still evolves and changes as I write. I call that first synopsis a ôworkingö synopsis ù itÆs part of a work in progress.

5. How much do your characters change as a book progresses?

JAF: IÆm not sure how you mean this question, so IÆll answer it both ways. They change as they reach for their goals and deal with their fears and conflicts. That is a must, in my mind. They must be changed because they have met each other and dared to fall in love. Now, if you are asking, do they change from what I expect when I begin the book, the answer is sometimes. I donÆt know all aspects of their characters when I begin, and more times than I like to remember, the hero or the heroine has planted their feet and said no way to something I planned for them to do. When that happens, I go back to my first three chapters and rediscover where they were when the story began and look at how they have changed and how I can use that effectively to reach the black moment in the book.

6. When did you start writing?

JAF: I have been writing forever. Seriously, I began my first short stories in middle school, where my friends were the heroes and heroines of the stories. I wrote my first novel in high school ù a time travel/romance/dungeon and dragons/paranormal YA. Gee, I wonder why that hasnÆt found a market . I actually used one of the scenes from it ù much rewritten ù in my medieval RIDE THE NIGHT WIND. I began writing for publication in October 1984 and got an agent in late 1985. My first book sold in April 1987, so it went pretty quickly for me.

7. Please tell me more about yourself: What is your educational backgound? Your favorite hobbies?

JAF:I have a BA in American and English history from State University of Potsdam (NY). I have done some post-graduate work in library and media studies. IÆve always loved books, so being a librarian seemed a match for me ù then I discovered I loved writing the papers ù and novels ù more than anything else. In fact, WOVEN DREAMS came out of research I did for a paper my sophomore year of college. Hobbies ù haunting old bookstores, travel, knitting, finding someone else to cook supper and clean the house.

8. Is there anything you're working on now that you'd like to share with readers?

JAF: I just finished up the Zebra Ballad trilogy ù A DAUGHTERÆS DESTINY, A BROTHERÆS HONOR, and A SISTERÆS QUEST. Now I am working on the second book of another trilogy ù the Dreams trilogy for ImaJinn Books. The first book was DREAMSINGER, which was nominated for a PEARL award. The second book is DREAMSHAPER. IÆm excited about these books because they take place on another world where magic is not only all around, but part of the charactersÆ search for romance.