Marcus Lemonis

The weirdest place someone has asked me for advice was at a party where there were a lot of A-list celebrities and super-wealthy people. There were people in the middle of mingling asking for investment advice, and I'm like, 'Hey, I'm just here to dance. I'm here to have fun!'

I sold my first short story while I was home on maternity leave, then began working on novels. Since I was reading and enjoying romance novels at the time, the first two unpublished manuscripts I wrote were both romances. I sold my third novel, 'Call After Midnight,' to Harlequin Intrigue after submitting it unagented.

The historical novelist has to consider what has actually happened, while the SF writer is dealing in possibilities, but they are both in the business of imagining a world unlike our own and yet connected to it.