I’m a professional copy writer and editor in the non fiction realm who works in marketing and advertising. Business, technical, academic, PR, magazines, direct mail, newsletters, scripts and so on: that’s my “real life” CV.

After reaching a milestone birthday several years ago, I turned to fiction writing as a new challenge. My basic motivation was to see whether I was capable of it. Fan fiction seemed to be the perfect training ground in which to learn the skills that may someday serve me if I choose to attempt to write a novel. Established characters I knew and cared about…setting and back story already provided. What could be better?

I write Remington Steele fiction exclusively, as you’ve no doubt noticed. The show is an enduring favorite for me; I’ve been a fan since the moment it premiered in 1982. And, like a large number of RS fans, I’ve been inspired to write my response to the question with which we were left when the lights went out on RS, literally and figuratively, in 1987: did Steele and Laura ever get together? And, if they got together, did they stay together?

My favorite season: Though I count episodes from each of the first four seasons among my favorites, I prefer S4 as a whole, and, in general, above the others. There’s something particularly satisfying to me in the way in which the relationship was portrayed at that stage. A friend and fellow fan puts it very aptly: “there were such sweet assumptions of (their) relationship and tolerant affection for one another demonstrated in many ways.” I also preferred the more layered characterization of Steele, which had its roots in S3, and his more active involvement in the business.

My take on the characters: My biggest concern is maintaining character integrity so that readers recognize in my stories the Remington and Laura they know and love. How do I do it? By paying careful attention to traits, characteristics, mannerisms and speech patterns as the writers revealed them in the series, and using them as my guidelines. When creating new situations, I look back at how Remington and Laura acted or reacted in similar situations and extrapolate from there. And I love dipping into the canon to bring back other characters, or to weave in incidents from past episodes as references and/or memories. It's another way of keeping my stories anchored to the original show.

About Steele Inseparable: Steele Inseparable is my look at how a fifth season in which Remington and Laura are happily married, but still adjusting to their life together, could've played out. It preseves everything we loved about RS: same partnership in the agency, mystery, suspense, witty banter, fiery arguments, tender romance...but without the arms-length, will-they-or-won't-they dynamic that fueled the show (and sometimes the viewers' frustration.) In its place: love scenes!

SI picks up at "the morning after" at Ashford Castle and takes the Steeles forward from there. Each story in the series focuses on a different aspect in which the relationship grows and changes. The overarching connection between the stories—the “master story”, if you will--is the conflict with the villain of the piece, Tony Roselli. The mystery will deepen with each installment, until its resolution in…well, that would be telling, wouldn’t it?

The universe also contains a prequel, "Requiem in Steele Major". It's meant to fill in the gaps, as I see them, that the series' writers left in "SWAK2". It takes place between the sequence in which Steele declares of the caskets, "We'll take all three", and ends just after the final scene.

The short story "Notoriously, Steele", and its sequel, "Wife of Steele", are part of the SI universe, as well. They incorporate the character development that's taken place in the series between "Perspective" and "Shadows". However, they don't--nor are they meant to--advance the SI master arc (the conflict with Roselli).

For maximum effect, the stories are meant to be read in this order:
1) Steele in Perspective
2) Steele-In-Law
3) Ancestral Steele
4) Steele in the Shadows
5) Requiem in Steele Major: The Prequel
6) Notoriously, Steele
7) Wife of Steele

A NOTE TO STICKLERS FOR THE RS SERIES CANON -- Steele Inseparable is for the most part faithful to the RS series canon. However, it does depart from the canon in one respect. In "Steele-in-Law" I chose to have Daniel reveal a different version of Remington's beginnings than the one presented in "Steeled with a Kiss 2". It was a deliberate decision to follow an avenue with Remington's character than hasn't been done before. There are so many versions in the RS fandom as it is of Daniel's ill-fated romance with Harry's mother; I wanted to provide a new twist. So, if you find that sort of dramatic license unacceptable, you may want to avoid "Steele-In-Law" and "Ancestral Steele".

Works in progress:
1) Steele Inseparable Part VII "Something Wicked This Way Steeles": Roselli's noose tightens around the Steeles while they work to solve the mysterious death of a Shakesperian actor.

Future: I also have a multi-part AU in the planning stages in which I envision a new, and more satisfying (at least to me), direction for S4's “Bonds of Steele”.

How much longer will I write Remington Steele? Hard to say. As long as the possible adventures of Steele and Laura continue to fire my imagination, I suppose. Considering the number of ideas that have occurred to me, that may be quite a while. I appreciate your interest in my work in the meantime, and hope that you’ve found it as entertaining and satisfying to read as it has been to write.

About my alias: I write under a nom de plume which is combined from my maternal grandparents’ first names. (I also used them, my grandparents, as characters in “Ancestral Steele”). My grandmother, because she was always so eager for the newest “books” my four-, five- and six-year-old self produced, and gave me glowing reviews for I Hate Sandy, The Witch in the Woods, The Mystery of the Green Candles and The Ghost of Oyster Cove; my grandfather, because he’s the one from whom I inherited my love of reading and any gift I may have for storytelling.

Gilbert and Madeleine--"Gib and Dutch"--these are for you.