People often ask me how I started writing. To tell the truth, one morning I got out of bed and announced to my husband, Robert, that I was going to write children's books. He opened his eyes, looked at me and broke into a gale of laughter. So I took his laughter as a kind of dare and began to write picture books. I dove in head first and learned all I could about the technique and tried my hand. Some of my stories were really cute, but I soon learned that it was a hard field to crack into. I took a correspondence course and my instructor, a wonderful, supportive lady by the name of Jean Soule, became my mentor and one of my dearest friends. The world lost a wonderful, warm and most talented lady when she died. I know how much she meant just to me.

As time progressed, my writing evolved and the audience I was soon targeting grew older until I took a plunge into the adult world of confessions. And from there my work blossomed. Even though I've had several novels published and over two-hundred short stories,
my biggest thrill will always be when the Chicken Soup people contacted me and asked if I had a story to contribute to their CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE KID'S SOUL ANTHOLOGY. I actually didn't and banged out a story. It was accepted and I ended up having two book signings, one at the Book Revue in Huntington, NY and Borders in Stony Brook, NY on September 19, 1998. It was part of a nationwide book signing event where every author in the book took part to raise money for charity. It was a lot of fun and I met many people who enjoyed my story, Daddy's Girl, at Long Last. I guess that was exactly what it's all about. Touching people with your work. In fact, one young girl became my penpal for a short time and another won first prize in a writing contest in which they had to select their favorite story and write why they liked it.

Even though I've left the children's market behind, I never stopped loving children's books. One day, I'll pick up where I left off. But for now, Candy Caine will continue writing her erotica and Candace Gold will do her less edgier work. And that's where I am today.