As a stay-at-home mom, Lauren Dane had lots of conversations in a singsong voice but no real outlet for adult thoughts and words. Armed with a secondhand laptop, she decided to "give that writing thing a serious go." Nearly a decade and several dozen books later, including the Brown Family novels and the Delicious series, she's well aware of her good fortune and is loving every moment of it, even when she has to edit and put Barbie's dresses back on over and over again.