"Where do I get my ideas?  This is the one question readers most often ask.  Sometimes, as was the case with Family Tree, the answer isn't simple, in that the idea may be a composite of several different threads.  Not so with The Secret Between Us.  The inspiration for this book came from a distinct source, once that has been brewing in my mind for years.

Remember Grace Kelly?  Born into Philadelphia society, she became an actress who starred in such movies as "Dial M For Murder," "Rear Window," and "To Catch a Thief."  Known as much for her elegance, beauty, and - yes - grace, she left acting after a mere five years and eleven films, to marry Prince Ranier of Monaco.

As a princess, she was widely revered.  She died suddenly and tragically, at the age of 52, when her car plunged down an embankment.  Her daughter Stephanie, who was seventeen at the time, survived the accident with only minor injuries.

I remember this very clearly.  Having lost my own mother when I was young, I felt deeply for Stephanie.  But I always wondered about that accident, particularly when the girl spent much of the next decade acting out.  My imaginative mind conjured a scenario that was very different from the official one.  In mine, Stephanie was at the wheel that fateful day.

I write fiction.  I think fiction.  Still, Grace's death and its aftermath stuck with me.  The facts of the opening scenario of The Secret Between Us are different from that of Grace Kelly's death, but readers will definitely see the connection."