Thank you for having me today at Fresh Fiction to talk about my current book A Marquis To Marry. I’m happy to tell you that this book is the second of in series called The Rogues’ Dynasty. The first book of the series, A Duke To Die For, came out in April 2009 and is still available at your favorite local or online bookstore, and the third book is An Earl to Enchant will be published in April 2010. I started the Rogues’ Dynasty series with this premise: Everyone in the ton knew that Lady Elder had tried many times by fair and foul means to force her grandsons to marry. After all, she had been happily married . . . four times. Decades earlier she had successfully married off each of her three daughters to titled gentlemen. And in turn, each daughter had given her a grandson all in the same year To read more of Amelia’s blog please click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.
St. Just Mystery #1July 2008On Sale: July 1, 2008Featuring: DCI Arthur St. Just312 pages ISBN: 0738712485EAN: 9780738712482Paperback$13.95 Mystery Police Procedural Buy at Amazon.com 2009 Anthony Award Nominee for Best First Novel Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet From deep in the heart of his eighteenth century English manor, millionaire Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk writes mystery novels and torments his four spoiled children with threats of disinheritance. Tiring of this device, the portly patriarch decides to weave a malicious twist into his well-worn plot. Gathering them all together for a family dinner, he announces his latest blow — a secret elopement with the beautiful Violet… who was once suspected of murdering her husband. Within hours, eldest son and appointed heir Ruthven is found cleaved to death by a medieval mace. Since Ruthven is generally hated, no one seems too surprised or upset — least of all his cold-blooded wife Lillian. When Detective Chief Inspector St. Just is brought in to investigate, he meets with a deadly calm that goes beyond the usual English reserve. And soon Sir Adrian himself is found slumped over his writing desk — an ornate knife thrust into his heart. Trapped amid leering gargoyles and concrete…
September 2008On Sale: September 16, 2008480 pages ISBN: 0307269752EAN: 9780307269751Hardcover$24.95 Thriller Crime, Suspense Psychological Buy at Amazon.com 2009 Anthony Award Nominee for Best Novel The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson A sensation across Europe—millions of copies sold A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue. It’s about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder. It’s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet’s disappearance . . . and about Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age—and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness to go with it—who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism—and an unexpected connection between themselves. It’s a contagiously exciting, stunningly intelligent novel about society at its most hidden, and…
When I knew I’d be writing a little something about steampunk, I thought I’d try to figure out what people still wanted to know on the subject. Steampunk has been around for a while now, and certainly the internet has taken notice. So I took my request, as I do with most things these days, to the web. Here’s what I was asked:1. What’s the best way to explain steampunk to someone totally unfamiliar with the genre? One can simply say that steampunk is the future as the Victorians imagined it, where steam power never died, and electricity never dominated. Think hot air balloons flying to the moon. If they still seem interested at that point, one can prattle on about Jules Verne and the birth of science fiction; the current aesthetic overtones (which I describe as the love child of a BBC costume drama and Hot Topic); and the importance of creativity, found object art, and the maker mentality in spearheading the movement. If they still seem interested I suggest pointing them to this brilliant overview article by Jeff VanderMeer, which pretty much covers everything. steampunk__an_overview To read more about the steampunk question and answer with Gail please click…
I’ve always loved reading. The standard family joke, when I was growing up, was that you could count on me to have my nose in a book. I had stashes of books everywhere: in the car, my bedroom, every other room of the house. I didn’t walk from Point A to Point Z unless I could crack a book open first and thumb through pages as I walked. I probably missed out on quite a few other interesting sights, but I was hooked. I was a reader. It never seriously occurred to me to try my hand at writing until life interfered and quite literally slapped that book out of my hands. I’d been working my dream job for two years at Pixar Animation Studios (I was a technical writer, thank you very much, which meant that I wrote the instructions for the software the studio used to create their movies), when, out of the blue, my boss called me into his office and informed me that I was a tad bit superfluous. And was being laid off. Have a nice day. Oh MY! click here to read the rest, you’ve got to know! Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about…
Prequel to THE LAST QUARRY October 2008On Sale: September 30, 2008Featuring: Quarry256 pages ISBN: 0843959657EAN: 9780843959659Mass Market Paperback$6.99 Mystery Hard Boiled Buy at Amazon.com 2009 Anthony Award Nominee for Best Paperback Original The First Quarry by Max Allan Collins Killing is a young man’s game… BIG MAN ON CAMPUS Crime fiction readers know Quarry, the ruthless killer-for-hire, from Max Allan Collins’ acclaimed novels—most recently THE LAST QUARRY, which told the story of the assassin’s final assignment (and was the basis for the feature film The Last Lullaby). But where did Quarry’s story start? For the first time ever, the best-selling author of ROAD TO PERDITION takes us back to the beginning, revealing the never-before-told story of Quarry’s first job: infiltrating a college town and eliminating a professor whose affair with one of his beautiful, young students is the least of his sins… Previous Picks Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.
Leigh Bridger Soul CatcherSomeone’s got to catch Hell. Otherwise, reincarnation will get you killed…again.Belle BridgeOctober 2009On Sale: October 1, 2009Featuring: Livia Belane200 pages ISBN: 098217568XEAN: 9780982175682Trade Size Ian’s blood seeped from the gashes in his side onto the gray, weathered floor. This time I couldn’t heal him. I could only free him. Outside, in the strangely bright sunshine of a North Carolina morning, things you don’t want to imagine in your worst nightmares tried to rip the building’s big windows out of their aging brick sills. Downstairs, the broad chestnut doors of the old Asheville Bible printing shop bulged inward as Pig Face slammed it again. The wood began to splinter. I cocked the pistol. Everything inside me screamed against pointing it at Ian’s heart. I hated his body; I ought to be able to kill that body without caring. But a funny thing had happened on the way to that moment. I’d fallen in love with my husband again. I knelt over Ian, straddling him. I put both hands on the shaking gun to steady my aim. My tears fell on his blood-stained face. He managed a rueful smile. “Now, that’s a sight I’ll remember to death and back,”…
This last week my seventeen year old high school senior finished the first six weeks of school. I can remember quite clearly when I found out I was pregnant with him, and now he’s preparing to graduate from high school at Christmas. Yes, he’s going to be an early graduate, and we couldn’t be prouder, but where did the time go? I can also remember being in second grade and the teacher reading Charlotte’s Web and Mr. Popper’s Penguins to us. I don’t recall the teacher’s name, but do recall having to hurry home to ask for my own personal copies of these books. As I’ve aged many things have changed, but I still have and will never willingly part with copies of Charlotte’s Web and Mr. Popper’s Penguins. To read more of Sandi’s blog please click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.
June 2009On Sale: May 26, 2009Featuring: Jack McEvoy448 pages ISBN: 0316166308EAN: 9780316166300Hardcover$27.99 Thriller Buy at Amazon.com Bouchercon 2009 Guest of Honor The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly The instant #1 bestseller from author Michael Connelly–“the best mystery writer in the world” (GQ)–brings back the hero of The Poet in a terrifying new thriller. Forced out of the Los Angeles Times amid the latest budget cuts, newspaperman Jack McEvoy decides to go out with a bang, using his final days at the paperto write the definitive murder story of his career. He focuses on Alonzo Winslow, a 16-year-old drug dealer in jail after confessing to a brutal murder. But as he delves into the story, Jack realizes that Winslow’s so-called confession is bogus. The kid might actually be innocent. Jack is soon running with his biggest story since The Poetmade his career years ago. He is tracking a killer who operates completely below police radar–and with perfect knowledge of any move against him. Including Jack’s. An excellent thriller that’s fast-paced and hard to put down. Previous Picks Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.
I was reading the latest by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, WHAT I DID FOR LOVE, last month and as I finished I was so pleasantly surprised at how much she has grown as a writer and how much I have enjoyed reading (and watching) it evolve. The way that she weaves two stories into a single arc, and the way she can develop a character as been a joy to read. I have the same feeling with Nora Roberts, who I have read for a very long time now. VISIONS IN WHITE starts a new quartet by Nora, which is a step up as the norm is triplets. From way back when with DANCE UPON THE AIR, the strength of her characters and plot lines only gets better each year. There are a lot more on my list of must haves (Madeline Hunter, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Karen Marie Moning to name a few), but listing them would make this a very long blog. Click here to read the rest and learn how to win a bundle of books from Fresh Fiction Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.