I have a thing for all things pumpkin spice, and it has nothing to do with the taste.

(I mean, it helps that it doesn't taste like broccoli or liver.)

No, I love pumpkin spice because it means that fall is no longer just sometime in the future. No, it's just around the corner. It's right over the horizon. It's knocking at the door.

In other words, summer is about to get the boot and fall is about to walk onstage in all of its cool, crisp, leaf-falling, pumpkin-spice-brewing glory.

In fact, when the first day of fall actually hits, we celebrate it in three ways:

1) The fall wreaths go up on the door.

2) We all get new toothbrushes (which we do at each change of the season since you're supposed to do that every three months).

3) I go to Trader Joe's and Target and buy every single thing that says Pumpkin Spice on the label. Donuts, cookies, pasta, pasta sauce, chips, nuts, coffee, tea, protein bars. You name it, we get it. (Minus the pumpkin spice flavored Clorox. That's just a money grab. 

So how does Pumpkin Spice Day fit into my next subject: writing what I love?

I wrote two Pumpkin Spice books out of eight. That's 1/4 of my books, or 25%. 

Not many authors out there can say that a quarter of their books have been about Pumpkin Spice. 

But when you have turned The First Day of Fall into Pumpkin Spice Day, you might just love pumpkin spice more than those at the top of the bell curve.

I also love: 

• strong women in romances who don't have romance on their mind as their top priority.

• men who mess up, and when they do, it's because of a moment of human silliness and not testosterone psychosis.

• dialogue that sounds like real people, not fiction people who we wish we could talk like. Including how men talk. Growing up with two older brothers, I know that there is never a monologue just waiting to see the light of day when the right woman comes along.

• Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas stories. I have one book about Thanksgiving AND Christmas, one short story about Thanksgiving, and an upcoming mystery collection about Christmas. Next year, I have one coming out about Halloween (it's already written, so I feel good promising this)!

• Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, and New York City as my settings. 

• Sweden. I love using Swedish culture, food, language, and people in my books after being a foreign exchange student in Sweden.

• cats, of course! I always have a cat in my mysteries. A mystery isn't complete without one!

I'd love to hear your thoughts about Pumpkin Spice Day and what you love about your world. Send me an email if you have thoughts!