The Internet can be a valuable resource. Whether researching a topic for school or keeping abreast of the latest political news, we always seem to be connected in one way or another. It’s hard to remember what our lives were like before its conception! Nowadays, we even have Face Book and Twitter. The advances in technology are truly amazing. Just as we have embraced this new movement comes the alarming reality of the dangers associated with these networking sites, especially for our youth. The number of predators lurking in cyberspace is disheartening. From prostitution rings to drug trafficking, the Internet has become a very nefarious place. This month’s Jen’s Jewels Alafair Burke tackles this very controversial topic in her latest release, 212. The third installment of her highly popular The Ellie Hatchet Series, Alafair takes us through the streets of New York in search of a cyber killer. Fast-paced and brutally honest, she exposes the secret lives of women caught up in the Internet sex industry. As part of this interview, Harper, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, has generously donated five copies for you, my favorite readers, to try to win. So, don’t forget to look for the trivia…

If you haven’t had a chance to check out Rosemary Clement-Moore’s books, you should. Yes, they are young adult novels, but they are fun for all ages. Highway to Hell, the third book in her Maggie Quinn: Girl versus Evil series. “Maggie and Lisa are away from parental supervisions when they head for Spring Break on the Texas Coast,” says Clement Moore. “Oh, the college freshman days, when you think you know everything. They never make it to the beach. They wreck the Jeep when they hit a cow in the middle of the road, and get stranded in a one-horse town, where folks are convinced El Chupacabra is killing their livestock. After facing demons at the prom and sorcerous sorority sisters (say that three times fast!), Maggie and Lisa think they can take on this Mexican version of Bigfoot. But it’s bigger and badder than they realize. “ Clement Moore says this book is personal. “It takes place where I was raised,” she says. “I get to incorporate South Texas culture and legends, and I’ve thrown in a hot cowboy or two. Come on, and an El Chupacabra. What’s not to love?” Highway to Hell was named one of…

Hi and welcome to Fresh Thrills, a column for new releases in romantic suspense. Nail biting suspense, new romance, hot sex, great stories— what thrills you? STRONG, SLEEK AND SINFUL By Lorie O’Clare St. Martin’s Paperbacks, $7.99 The third book in O’Clare FBI series features Kylie Donovan who is a pro at catching online predators. When someone starts targeting teenage girls on the internet, she goes undercover as a college student. When she befriends the niece of Lieutenant Perry Flynn she must not only try to keep her cover a secret but also her lust for the sexy Lieutenant. THE KILLING EDGE by Heather Graham Mira, $24.95 Chloe Marin was lucky. She was just a teenager when a party at a Florida beachside mansion turned into a savage killing spree, and she was one of the few to survive. Ten years later Chloe works as a psychologist specializing in art therapy to help traumatized victims, and on the side she finds release in her passion for the martial arts. Police who hire her as a consultant know she’s a literal kick-ass advocate for victims who can’t always speak for themselves. When a young swimsuit model disappears, Chloe suspects a killer…

The Deconstruction Of Humorous Fiction In A Reactionary Postmodern World, Or From Chaos To Conformity: How To Write The Comedic Novel When I was a graduate student at the University of Gussberry-on-Hornsplat reading for my doctorate in “Humor and Humorlessness in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Proto-European Monographs,” my professors often referred to a theory they loosely called “The Banana Peel Slide.”  This meme postulated that a humorous trope—such as the man-falling-on-banana-peel— loses its ability to trigger amusement after it becomes part of the greater eco-social-spiritual consciousness, leading to a revolt by sophisticated elites against populist humor grounded in laughing at another’s misfortune, and eventually coming round to popularity again throughout the entire societal continuum when the joke takes on a wry postmodern irony encapsulating the laughing-at-the-laughter-of-those-who-laugh at such simplistic slapstick (See I.M. Gully-Bull, “They’re Laughing With Me, Not At Me, an essay on the struggles of a stand-up comic in the world of spelunking,” Psychiatric Journal of the Criminal Mind, Jan. 09, 43-57). In other words, slipping on a banana peel was HIGH-LAIR-EE-YUS when first viewed by Cro-Magnon Man until his momma rapped him on the knuckles for laughing at another Cro-Mag hurting himself, and then became funny again when Momma…

February 2010 On Sale: February 2, 2010 Featuring: Jessica Taylor 368 pages ISBN: 038534399XEAN: 9780385343992Trade Size$15.00 Romance Contemporary Buy at Amazon.com Life As I Know It by Melanie Rose Jessica Taylor wakes up in a hospital room only to find that everyone around her thinks she is somebody else. Not only that, she seems to have a husband and four children she doesn’t remember anything about. What she does remember is her quiet single life with her dog Frankie, going to work at her comfortable job, and meeting the man of her dreams in the park just before she was hit by lightning. Soon she discovers that when she goes to sleep she alternates between her two lives, that of Jessica and that of Lauren Richardson. Jessica has no idea what’s happened to her or whether she can get back to life s she knows it. Meanwhile, she has her hands full being a mother to Laurens’ four heartbroken children and a wife to her demanding husband. But as she digs deeper int Lauren’s life, Jessica unearths some secrets, secrets which may tea the family apart. Previous Picks Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

April 2010On Sale: April 6, 2010Featuring: Veronica Czaplicki; Haley Rush; Brady Ellis336 pages ISBN: 0425232484EAN: 9780425232484Paperback$14.00 Romance Contemporary Buy at Amazon.com Just Like Me, Only Betterby Carol Snow Veronica’s life was over… until she jumped into someone else’s… From the author of Here Today, Gone to Maui, the story of a woman who finally got a life…some else’s. Ever since Veronica’s husband found the love of his life- not her-she’s been a walking zombie with runny mascara. It doesn’t help that she keeps getting mistaken for Haley Rush- the Hollywood starlet whose dazzling life is plastered on every magazine. When Haley’s manager offers Veronica a job as a celebrity double, it only takes a moment before she says yes. Veronica gets to drive Haley’s car, wear her phenomenal clothes-and have fun with her hot celebrity boyfriend, Brady Ellis. Too bad the job’s only part-time, and at the end of the day she has to return to her life as a cash- strapped substitute teacher and cub scout mom. But when real sparks fly with Brady, is it a fantasy come true or a disaster in disguise? Excerpt I remember the exact moment when Haley Rush’s fame reached its tipping point….

Ever since I began writing I’ve heard numerous writers and editors say that books need to be one thing … because then it’s easier to sell them. The reader needs to see one emotion emblazoned across the cover, scary, funny, mysterious, sweet, sexy — to name just a few. Books that blend these elements tend to be more difficult to cover and to market. Which has always been a problem for me, because I love nothing more than blending elements and complicating my stories. I was writing emotionally poignant contemporaries when the cartoon cover came to life and kicked all the other contemp covers out of the pool. Suddenly every single author and every single contemporary had that cartoon cover look, legs, silhouettes, and stilettos that were fun, fun, fun. I personally liked the covers very much, because they jumped out at you and practically screamed, “read me, I’m going to be a good time”. The quieter covers began to fade away and where once on the shelves there was nothing but Adirondack chairs, now it was all legs. But as we all discovered over time, not all contemps were particularly funny or fit that look. At some point I…

Character? Who’s calling me a character? Characters are unfortunately an essential part of writing a novel. I say unfortunately, because they’re the most troublesome creatures alive. Did I say alive? Well, that’s the main issue right here. It would be much easier if they stayed flat on the page, but do they? No. No sooner have I started writing them than they leap onto their own two feet and start running. Which leads to all kinds of unexpected consequences. If only for self-protection, I’ve discovered five essential rules that I have to follow if I’m ever going to get my writing done. 1. The people that populate your novel know a lot more about themselves than you do. So give them the chance to reveal themselves, and you might get a few surprises. You’re right in the middle of the novel when a sudden bit of information about them comes up, something you didn’t know until they revealed it. Take Mr Darcy, for example. We know how he behaves with Elizabeth, we know how he is from a romantic perspective. But take him out of the context of Pride and Prejudice and put him with his cousin, or see him…

August 2008On Sale: July 22, 2008Featuring: Aaron Findley; Beth Diamond; Mindy Sherman319 pages ISBN: 0061253774EAN: 9780061253775Trade Size$13.95 Women’s Fiction Contemporary Buy at Amazon.com Dear Neighbor, Drop Deadby Saralee Rosenberg “A “for sale” sign on our lawn is fine unless you’re not the one who put it there.” Nora Ephron hates her neck, but Mindy Sherman hates her whole body. A forty-one year old mother of three, she is still trying to squeeze into jaws-of-life jeans, for in her Long Island neighborhood, size four is, well, fat. Not even her husband, Artie, is immune. “Someone called us Shrek and Fiona,” she cried. That someone is next door neighbor, Beth Diamond, a tall, toned *MILF who seeks perfection in everything from her kids to her carpools, referring to her BlackBerry for infractions when Mindy disregards either. Lucy and Ethel they are not, so can they play nice when they both enter Downtown Greetings’ talent search and realize they have to compete as a team? Exactly. In this story of fences and defenses, two women who have never shared a recipe suddenly must join forces in order to keep their messy plates spinning. It’s a delicate balancing act, what with out-of-their mind in-laws,…

This is the first weekend of April, so that means it’s time to tell you some of what I read in March. I can’t believe it but I managed to read eleven books in March, and listen to 3 audios. So here’s three books that struck me for one reason or another… I read the debut novel from author Kimberly Fisk, Lake Magic. I bought this book because I liked the cover, the blurb sounded good, and the topper…it had a cover quote from a favorite author, Susan Wiggs. When I finished Lake Magic I knew I had a new author to be looking for, and would recommend this title to one and all. I also was surprised by the fact that I read Big Girl by Danielle Steel, and overall enjoyed it. It didn’t take long for some of the things that annoy me in Steel’s work to come forward, but if you could ignore that, and concentrate on the story and lesson that was within the pages Big Girlbecomes a book that has a good lesson about comparing siblings, and how it can affect them long term in a variety of ways. If you are or were a…