HelenKay Dimon is an award-winning author of more than a dozen novels and novellas. Her first single title, Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy, was excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine in August '07 and spotlighted at E! Online. She made Cosmopolitan a second time in December 2009 with her novella "It's Hotter At Christmas" from the Kissing Santa Claus anthology. Her books also have been published by Doubleday Book Club and Rhapsody Book Club and translated into several languages.

HelenKay's road to publication took a few turns. She's not one of those authors who burst out of the womb with a notepad in one hand and a pen in the other. She didn’t know she wanted to write until much later in life. She tried international travel and journalism and enjoyed careers in politics and law first. After graduating from Syracuse University with a double major in newspaper journalism and political science, she landed in Washington, D.C. A few years as a legislative assistant to a member of the House of Representatives convinced her law school might be a good idea. Three years at Wake Forest University and one bar exam later and HelenKay moved back to the D.C. metro area as a lawyer. General civil litigation gave way to a specialty in family law and an eventual partnership in a highly respected boutique firm.

After twelve years as a divorce lawyer specializing in unhappy endings, HelenKay now writes romance for a living. The sudden career change resulted from her husband getting one of those "can't turn it down" job offers. With only a few months' notice, his work took the family from Maryland to their current home in California. So, instead of days filled with court, clients and a great deal of whining and complaining, HelenKay now writes for a living. She thinks of herself as a "recovering lawyer" and is grateful every day for the ability to write full time.

Why did you stop being a divorce lawyer and start writing full time?

I'm actually still a lawyer...unless you know something I don't. It's true I'm not practicing law right now but that's mostly due to a relocation from Maryland (where I passed the bar exam) to California (where I would have to take another bar exam to be licensed). The idea of going through another bar exam makes me kind of ill, so I'm taking full advantage of having a book contract and staying out of a courtroom. Feel free to buy my books so that I can keep that streak going.

How long did it take you to get published?

It felt like 100 years. But, really, in the world of publishing it was not that long. I wrote on and off for about three years between family stuff and my full-time job. When I got serious about being published – i.e., stopped making excuses about being busy and spent the time writing instead – it took me 18 months. Huge credit goes to fellow author Lori Foster who ran an online contest and picked me as a finalist. That break put my name in front of my now Kensington editor. I am forever grateful for Lori's assist.

How do you stay on track for deadlines?

What makes you think I do...? Oh, I get them done on time. Somehow. It's the "on track" part that's not quite true.

Will there be books for Josh & Derek (from Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy) or Doug (from Right Here, Right Now)?

Josh makes an appearance in It's Hotter in Hawaii (April '09) but he gets his own happy ending in Holding Out For A Hero (October '09). Check out my BOOKSHELF page for more information about those releases. I'm hoping to write stories for Derek and Doug in the future. Derek needs to grow up a bit first. In my head he is 20-something and not quite ready to find his heroine match. And Doug, well, I'm not sure what woman could handle him. I'll work on that one.

Do you still write novellas?

Whenever I can. Anthologies tend to be by editor invitation only. If I'm asked, I usually say yes because I love writing them.

Any plans to write paranormal or historical romance?

None. There are a bunch of potential future books bouncing around in my head. Some of the ideas are for romantic suspense plots, there are a few pure mysteries, one or two nuggets with supernatural issues (think X-Files) and some others. But I'll leave vampires, werewolves and other creatures of the night, along with anything in a historical setting, up to those authors who write them so well.

Where do your ideas come from?

Everywhere. Honestly, coming up with the ideas is not the problem. Putting my butt in the chair and writing the book – yeah, that's the tough part.