GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

My mother Regina, the inspiration for Fiona

On June 15, 2019, my mother passed away.
She was 81, and in declining health, but she was a huge (huge!) inspiration for the character of Fiona Wheeler in my books. I could go on and on in tribute, and go wild with memories, but to be brief I'll just say a lot of her is in Fiona. Sometimes I make up the words that come out of her mouth and the situations that take place around her and the other characters, but honestly she's the easiest for me to write, because when I write about her, I just think "what would my mother say?" My mother, never being shy of offering an opinion, seems to "speak" freely from my fingertips.
​I will add Fiona is a bit different from my mother (Fiona is born and raised in the U.S., while my mother was born in Germany and came to the U.S. in her 20s), but the opinions, the love of animals, the sometimes inappropriate comments, the love of sumptuous and flashy fabrics and sparkly things, that is all my mother. Honestly the best tribute I can make to her is to make her as loud and sassy and glittery as can be in my books. 
The photo I've posted here is one of my mother from probably around Christmas-time 1989 or 1990. She found these sparkly stilettos and a feather-trimmed satin robe, and decided she needed to ham it up for the camera. It's a lot how I see her in my mind, too, except as a blond, because she would rotate hair colors a lot, but most frequently went back to being blond. 
RIP, Mama. I'll always love you, and never forget you. 

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