Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Sara Reyes | Reading Habits and What’s New for me…
Uncategorized / January 31, 2009

Wow, the end of January and so many more books to read! Do you ever feel that way? That there are so many books out there and so little time to get to all of them? And do you feel really excited when you stumble on a new author or do you feel a wee bit depressed because that means you have to make room in your reading schedule for the new one? I’m always curious to how people manage their “reading.” Buy Your Copy today Buy Your Copy today Buy Your Copy today Personally, I read whenever I get a chance or so I thought, but when I look back over my past reading I see patterns or the schema of a reading pattern! Who knew? Maybe it’s this new WW momentum program where I have to write down every thing I eat and how I feel when eating, but I’ve been noticing other things I do including reading. (I’d say ‘such as’ but then as Gwen says so fondly, I sound “Dutchy”) So, I must read every night before I go to bed. That is just something I have to do. Otherwise my mind races endlessly and I…

Helen Scott Taylor | Mystical Countryside
Uncategorized / January 30, 2009

Many paranormal stories are set in urban settings. The genre of Urban Fantasy even indicates in its name that stories falling into this genre should have a cityscape setting. Much as I enjoy paranormals that are set in cities, especially cities rich in history, what I really enjoy is a country setting. Many rural areas are imbued with a mysticism that an urban setting can never hope to match. Imagine a tiny Scottish hamlet, the home to generations of families living in stone-built cottages, where the history of magical belief and violence from the past breathes with the wind whistling along the valleys between the mountains, or an ancient manor house sitting like a huge slumbering beast among the desolate windswept hills of Dartmoor. Or my favorite, a verdant Cornish valley full of wild flowers where a tiny stream trickles between the abandoned tin mines from its rocky spring on Bodmin Moor down to the Atlantic. Read the rest of blog… Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Jordan Dane | Sweet Justice Is Coming
Uncategorized / January 29, 2009

Imagine the horror of going to your teenager’s bedroom one morning only to find her missing. Her bed hadn’t been slept in and her clothes are gone. In 2000, that’s what one mother in Florida faced. Her only child had conspired against her and ran away. And worse, she later discovered that her daughter had left the country—without having a passport. From the moment I read this news story, I was hooked and had to know more about how such an atrocity could happen. The teen’s trail might have gone ice cold, but her mother pushed authorities in a direction. Click here to read the rest and enter Jordan’s one day blog contest. FIVE Winners!!!! Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Alexis Morgan | Jarvis Donahue, A Gift From My Muse . . .
Uncategorized / January 28, 2009

I’d like to thank everyone here at Fresh Fiction for inviting me to join them today to help celebrate the release of my fifth Paladin book, Darkness Unknown, from Pocket Star! Like most authors, every book I write is special to me in some way, but this particular one is more so than most.   For me, some stories are harder to bring into focus than others.   I usually see the opening scenes of a new book pretty clearly,  and I know where the story needs to end up.   The middle of the book, though, is often lost in fog, with my clear sight limited only as far as the next page I’m about to write.  But from the moment I first “met” Jarvis Donahue in the second Paladin book, it was as if I’d known him for years.   By the time he’d spoken no more than a handful of words, I knew that he liked classic rock, drove a muscle car he’d restored himself, and would do anything for those who mattered to him.   I truly felt like his presence in the world of the Paladins was an extra special gift from my muse. When it came time to give…

Cathie Linz | The Appeal of the wild bad boy hero
Romance / January 27, 2009

What is it about wild bad boys that is so appealing? One multi-published author friend of mine told me early on in my career that if a hero is perfect then the heroine is pretty dense not to fall for him right away. But bad boys are always tempting good girl heroines to cross over to their wicked side of the street. They create the conflict and sparks of opposites attracting. Click To Read More…. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Beth Kery | Beth Blabbers About Book Marketing
Uncategorized / January 26, 2009

I not only have to write this darn book, but sell it too? My sweet husband bought me several books about marketing my book for Christmas. I’m relatively new at the business of writing, having first been published at Ellora’s Cave in 2007. My New York debut, Wicked Burn, came out in December of 2008. The amount of time (and money) that a writer spends marketing a book came as quite a shock to me, as it must for many authors. Before I entered the writing arena, I always envisioned an author plucking her next novel out on her keyboard, not plugging her published works. Click here to read the complete blog and enter her One Day contest. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Sandi Shilhanek | Contests
Sundays with Sandi / January 25, 2009

I feel fairly confident in saying that everyone’s attention is on the economy these days. I know that it is the focal point at our house. This must surely mean that more readers are entering contests in the hopes of winning their favorite author’s newest title, or perhaps a backlist title in a new to them author. I have been lucky this week, and won a one-day blog contest, one a guess the number contest in a chat, and today attempted to win an email contest, and while I supposedly did not win, the author was nice enough to send me an e-copy of a book from her backlist anyway, because in my email I mentioned that I had not yet read her, so anything would be new to me. So, as you see I have entered a variety of contests this week, and been very lucky! The contests I have entered have all been easy to enter, and the prizes have all been books. Is there a certain type of contest that calls to you? Is there a certain prize you prefer to win? To me, the simpler the contest the more likely I am to enter, and we…

Sara Reyes | What’s a book club?
Uncategorized / January 24, 2009

Book club dynamics. Hmm, interesting topic. This past Wednesday I realized we’ve been meeting at my house for four years. A long time but something has evolved. As people come and go we have a core group of women who monthly come and spend three to five hours every third Wednesday at my house. First putting together a meal, followed by eating, followed by a talk with an author on a speaker phone then followed by lots more time “visiting.” I also watched as the dinner was put together. We’ve been meeting so long it’s like a family: everyone assumes a role, chore and position. And you don’t mess with the status too much. We’ve had new people come every month, so we have a “hostess” who makes them feel at home and puts a drink in their hand. Also gets them out of the temperamental chefs way. (I say this with GREAT affection, so if you’re one of those temperamental chefs you will NOT kill me in the near or far future! okay?) I’ve learned my place is to sit at the breakfast table aka my office desk and observe. I no longer make any comments about the cooking,…

Jessica Andersen | DAWNKEEPERS… Novels of the Final Prophecy
Uncategorized / January 23, 2009

Hi!  Jessica Andersen here, author of the Novels of the Final Prophecy.  Thanks for joining me today! Here’s a quick blurb on the series, and particularly Dawnkeepers, which came out this month to rave reviews (yay!): The final four-year countdown to the end of days has begun.  According to ancient Maya prophecy, demons from the underworld will arise on December 21, 2012.  Only the Nightkeepers, mortal descendants of an ancient race of magic-wielding warrior-priests, can prevent the apocalypse by stopping the demons from bringing the old legends to life. Order DAWNKEEPERS today Unlike his fellow Nightkeepers, Nate Blackhawk isn’t about to let the gods determine his destiny- especially when it comes to his feelings for Alexis Gray, his ex-lover and nemesis.  But when they’re forced to work together, racing to recover seven antiquities before the demons get their claws on the vital artifacts, Nate and Alexis will have to face their feelings – and their past – in order to defeat a dire and ancient enemy. One of the questions I’m frequently asked about these books is whether I set out to write strong heroines, and the answer is: absolutely, yes!  In part, that’s because I write the sort of…

Kelley Armstrong | The Joys of Serialized Storytelling
Uncategorized / January 22, 2009

January marks two big milestones in my e-serial writing career.  On the 15th, I posted the prologue for the first e-serial in my YA series.  And next week will see the release of Men of the Otherworld, containing three of my early e-serials (and a new story.) For those who aren’t familiar with the term, an e-serial is a story published in segments on the internet.  When I do them, I’m posting as I write, on a set schedule, usually a chapter every couple of weeks.  There are ways to charge for the downloads, but most—like mine—are done as reader freebies. I started writing e-serials shortly after launching my website in 2002.  A web guru at my publisher suggested I find ways to make my site “sticky”—bring people back between books.  It was a time in my life when I was looking for more storytelling opportunities.  I’d finished maternity leave and decided to quit my job (two kids under the age of two plus a new career as a novelist meant something had to give.)  I decided to write an e-serial novella for my site.  I polled readers for a topic, then started Savage, a prequel telling the back-story of…