What a great author visit.  Linda really is right that Taylor Stevens is a great speaker.  I hope everyone enjoyed the meeting as much as I did.
I think most of us knew before the meeting that she grew up in a cult and didn't have any formal education past the sixth grade.  When she finally left the cult it was really a coin toss for her husband and herself to decide who would go to work and who would stay home to take care of children.  She shopped at garage sales for household items and clothing and also bought things, including books, to sell on Ebay.  She starting reading the books, especially about business, but was hooked when she read a book by Robert Ludlum (Bourne Identity).  She decided to try her hand at writing her own book,
Long story short, she finished the book, found an agant, was published and had a bestseller.  The original plan was 3 Vanessa Monroe books, but that has turned into 5, plus an ebook and plans for more books.  She writes 4 or 5 days a week and usually has a loose outline for the direction of a book so she can spend more time developing the characters.
Her book, the Innocent, draws the most from her experience growing up and her ebook, the Vessel, is her favorite right now. When she is writing she uses experts to make sure that her characters are accurate in their actions, and travels to locations to get a real feel for the place.  Taylor says "You can look at pictures, but they don't show you how a place smells."
If you would like to know more and get emails from Taylor about what is up with her, go to www.taylorstevensbooks.com and sign up.