I've wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I used to get in trouble in school because I was writing when I should have been paying attention in class. I foolishly sent a handwritten manuscript to a publisher when I was sixteen. It was rejected, of course—but an editor actually took the time to look at it and wrote me, saying I had talent but wasn't ready for publication yet. Some years later, I found an agent and sold my first novel within six months. Six months later, Berkley bought two more books from me—for a six-figure advance. In all, I published five bestellers with Berkley, nine romances through Silhouette, and—obsessed with having creative control—I made the move to self-publishing for my latest two. I write under my own name and two pseudonyms: Scarlett Martin and Toni Collins.