Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Kristi Belcamino on BLESSED ARE THE DEAD
Author Guest / July 9, 2014

We at Fresh Fiction are thrilled to host Kristi Belcamino, author of  BLESSED ARE THE DEAD, which is her first novel to feature San Francisco Bay Area newspaper reporter and crime-solver Gabriella Giovanni. The second book in the series, BLESSED ARE THE MEEK, releases at the end of July, so Kristi is here to talk to us about this series and how her career as a crime reporter has influenced her writing. What first drew you to the field of crime reporting? During my first newspaper job at a small weekly newspaper in Minnesota, a big story, a heartbreaking story, broke on my beat. A young woman from the town I covered was kidnapped off a Texas military base. Traci McBride had been on the payphone on the base talking to someone back home when the line went dead. I met her family and later grieved with them when her body was found. I attended her funeral. The emotional weight and gravity of reporting and writing about something so tragic did not escape me. I realized that I had a knack for writing these stories that other reporters shied away from. I felt a sacred duty to write about tragedy…

Revisiting Favorite Characters
Author Guest / July 9, 2014

The internet has been buzzing this week about the return of Harry Potter! On July 8, 2014, J.K. Rowling released a new short story on the extensive Pottermore website that offers a glimpse into Harry’s life as he attends the Quidditch World Cup with his family. He’s 34, has a few gray hairs, still wears his signature glasses, and of course, he’s an Auror, but I can’t help but wonder if this is a return fans really want. Should Harry’s story have been finished at the end of THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (without the epilogue, thank you very much) or do new short stories about a different chapter in Harry’s life add to the original joy of the series? There’s really no wrong or right answer. Revisiting familiar characters is often one of the most enjoyable and imaginative forms of storytelling. Sometimes the visit takes us to the same story-world like the new Harry Potter short story. Sometimes the visit offers us a new world for familiar characters to navigate. Characters like Batman, Robin Hood, Captain Kirk, and Sherlock Holmes have all been re-imagined and adapted to fit modern society. The trick is to remain true to the nature of the…

DiAnn Mills | Brainstorming Your Novel
Author Guest / July 9, 2014

Every novelist reaches a plateau in which the perfect story idea isn’t coming together. The plot germ is there, but the theme, setting, characters, and storyline seem to spin out of control. By using the acronym, BRAINSTORM, you can bring the whirling to a halt and anchor your writing onto a firm foundation. Believe in yourself. You’ve been given the gift of writing, and you’re pretty good at it. You understand the craft, and you’re continuously educating yourself to add more tools and techniques. Realistic writing is what sells. No matter the genre, your storyline must be credible with identifiable characters who react and respond according to the traits you’ve assigned them. Analyze your basic idea. How can you grow your characters by making their goals difficult, perhaps impossible to reach? Inspire your readers to attempt and achieve great things. Fiction is truth. Jesus spoke in parables and through His stories, people gleaned meaning and purpose for their lives. Don’t preach your message. Let the reader see who your characters are by the way they tackle life’s challenges. Name your book and your characters. Why is this important? Because the title of a book gives the writer passion for the…

Kristina Mathews | It’s Obviously Not JUST a Game
Author Guest / July 9, 2014

I’m a sports fan. Anyone who follows me on Twitter already knows this. Sometimes, I get a little too passionate about my teams. Okay, I get way too passionate about my teams. Like when the Giants won the World Series in 2010 and again in 2012. Or when Matt Cain pitched a perfect game and my father-in-law called me up to celebrate over the phone together. Then I called my husband, who was in Hawaii for work, to share the news. Is it wrong I was kind of glad I didn’t go with him? I still remember the Nevada football game against Weber State. Greatest comeback ever. Ok, so it’s been 20+ years, there may have been bigger comebacks, but that was the best. It was really cold in Reno that day, and we were down 35 points at the half. The students who’d stuck around were chanting “Five more touchdowns.” Then “Four more touchdowns.” Then “Three more …” and then we were thinking Holy smokes we might actually pull this off. The Wolf Pack ended up winning 55-49 and I have never willingly left a game early ever since. Except for the one Giants baseball game we took my…

Crista McHugh | For the Love of Con… (and notice, I didn’t say Khan)
Author Guest / July 9, 2014

When I was plotting my Kelly Brothers series, I jumped at the chance to write a “geek” romance. I’m true geek myself. I mean, the pick-up line I used on my husband was, “Want to check out my anime collection?” (And just for clarification, we didn’t end up watching anime. We watched The Princess Bride instead. That’s when I knew he was a keeper.) Geek cons are fascinating things. They are some of the few times where dressing like a Storm Trooper could score you a date and being a red shirt doesn’t automatically equate to death sentence. They are places where the “un-cool” kids are suddenly cool, and you’re surrounded by people who get your jokes and understand what you’re talking about when you wish you had a sonic screwdriver. So it was no trouble for me to come up with two geeks who meet at San Diego Comic-Con and fall in love in my latest release, THE HEART’S GAME. The big challenge was toning down all the geek references. There are D&D references. There’s a continual debate over Star Wars vs. Star Trek. There are even electrical engineering jokes. But alas, if I could go back, I’d have…

J.K. Coi | How Gabriel Macht Inspired Me to Write Contemporary Romance
Author Guest / July 9, 2014

I’ve been getting this question a lot. “Why did you decide to a contemporary?” I guess that’s because I’ve already built a pretty good brand as a paranormal author, and I’m glad for it, but I also don’t like to be tied down to anything, and I love to challenge myself. And then there came the show Suits. Damn. I can’t believe I missed this for two whole seasons. I gobbled that up in one massive television-watching binge. It was like Gabriel-Macht-Crack and I couldn’t get enough of it. When it was all done, I just knew I had to write a character like him. Oh, not a lawyer…at least not for this book…but everything else I saw in Harvey Specter I wanted to draw on for Benjamin Harrison: enterprising playboy of the tech world. I infused Ben with that same confidence that borders on cocky, the smooth sex appeal, the brutal intelligence hiding behind a veneer of sophistication and nonchalance. And as I was writing, I knew that even if the television show hadn’t yet shown me all of the cracks in Harvey Specter’s shell…they were there, and Ben had them too. At the same time, I knew that…