(Photo courtesy of @JAJance)

The Ali number nine book "Moving Target" comes out Feb.18 An early look at the cover.

Even if most of us have dreamed about writing the great American novel or any novel for that matter, getting books published does not come easily. Mystery writer J.A. Jance, who lives part of the year in southern Arizona, started writing when she was working at an insurance office. She would wake up a little early for work and write before getting her kids ready for school.

Jance may have had an unromantic beginning to her writing career, but now with "Moving Target" in bookstores, Jance has had 50 books published. She focuses on three different protagonists in her books, J.P. Beaumont is in Seattle, while Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds are based in Arizona. I asked Jance how she can write so many books and rotate her lead characters.