Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Kris Thompson | BLACK ROSE Cover Reveal
Author Guest / August 29, 2014

PRESENTS. . . A Cover Reveal for Black Rose by Kris Thompson Release Date: November 13 , 2014 Published by The Writers Coffee Shop “It’s better to die on your feet than beg on your knees.” Lillian Locke had the perfect life in Boulder, Colorado. She had the boyfriend of her dreams, a wonderful family, awesome friends, and a spot on the track team at a great college. There wasn’t anything life could throw at her that she couldn’t get through . . . until he found her. Lillian never could have imagined being abducted and chained up in the dark. Worse yet, being just one of many girls kidnapped and held captive by a madman. All she can do now is hope that she survives the brutality of their captor long enough to find a way to free herself and her new captive friends. When Richard Haines’ girlfriend goes missing, he makes it his personal mission to find the woman he loves and bring her home to the safety of their loved ones. Seeking the help of friends and family, Richard abandons everything except for his pursuit of Lillian. But when someone else close to Richard goes missing, and…

Nina Croft | I Need a Hero
Author Guest / August 28, 2014

I was out running this morning trying to think of subjects to blog about when Bonnie Tyler came on my shuffle with “I Need a Hero.” I love the song and it made me smile and run faster (no mean feat as I am not a very good runner) so I thought I’d write a little about my take on what I need in a hero. According to Bonnie, a hero needs to be strong, fast, fresh from the fight, and larger than life. According to the dictionary “he’s a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.” I agree with both to a certain extent. I write romance, and so, by “hero” I mean the male protagonist in my stories. And because I write romance, my heroes have to be romantically appealing. They have to be someone I can imagine myself falling in love with, making love with, wanting to spend eternity with. And I have to somehow inspire the same reaction in my readers. That’s not always easy. The type of man we find attractive, swoon-worthy… heroic, is a very personal thing. My preference, in both reading and writing, (because I’m a…

Maggie LaCroix | Not Your Average Zombie
Author Guest / August 28, 2014

Maggie LaCroix is here for the ZOMBIFIED blog tour to tell us about how and why her zombies are different than the usual kind of zombies. Welcome, Maggie! For ZOMBIFIED, it all started in a bar with a few girlfriends from work talking about Twilight and True Blood and what was so fascinating about vampires anyway? Sexy, yes. But kind of manipulative jerks. Not like the simple, honest zombie whose brain-eating intentions are clear. The zombie is a nice guy, really, if you get past the drooling, lumbering and brain eating… And yet, in the hierarchy of the undead, vampires get to be sexy jerks; zombies just decompose. This didn’t seem fair, we agreed, and went back to our Martinis. But I couldn’t get that inebriated conversation out of my head. What if we found a way to make zombies sexy? What if sexy zombies were the new vampires? For the next few days, I turned this puzzle inside my head. First, we’d have to find a way to stop their flesh from rotting and preserve their mental abilities. Only one thing could do the trick: Magic. My sexy zombies were people who had been killed and put under a…

Shannon Leigh | Texas BBQ
Author Guest / August 27, 2014

In Texas, BBQ is a part of life. And it certainly is for the characters that reside in Hannington, the small Central Texas town where DECONSTRUCTING LILA is set. The best moments of life for some of the characters take place in an outdoor patio—mandatory for BBQ dining—and love altering discussions are had over a cold beer. So lemme take a minute to brief you on the background and importance of our BBQ. Ya know, just so y’all will be educated and stuff. So grab a schooner, pour a Shiner Bock and settle in. Texas BBQ is old. Like, really old. Some of the first joints to open in Texas were Elgin’s Southside Market in 1886 and Lockhart’s Kreuz Market in 1900. Both of which are still open today, in Elgin and Lockhart respectively. They represent the best of Texas BBQ traditions: brisket. Here in Texas, we don’t fuss over molasses sauces or vinegar based drizzles, or pulled pork or ribs even. It’s all about the brisket! Yes, it’s all about the beef. And the German meat market style that is uniquely Texas. How is that, you ask? German style BBQ in the Lone Star state? Well, it’s from the…

Joan Johnston | What’s New This Fall
Author Guest / August 27, 2014

Dear Reader, Having just put my grandson on a plane back to Florida, I’m thinking how lucky I am to live in a place with such great opportunities for adventure. We had a blast! From the challenging white water of the Cache la Poudre River to the wave pool at Water World, Denver Broncos football, bowling, games, movies, and an American Idol Concert, it was a crazy, hectic, amazing week. I’ve been traveling a lot this summer, so the release of UNFORGETTABLE has been delayed, but it will be available soon. I’ll be sure to let you know when it’s (finally!) online. Meanwhile, my novels I PROMISE and HEARTBEAT are now available both in ebook form and as audio books from Recorded Books. New Hawk’s Way reissue . . . HAWK’S WAY GROOMS—which contains two books, THE VIRGIN GROOM and THE SUBSTITUTE GROOM—is available in paperback this month. The latter title contains the sexiest scene I’ve ever written! Read More… For those of you anxiously waiting for Josie’s story, BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE, I’m writing as fast as I can. I appreciate your patience! I know school starts soon, so enjoy the rest of your summer! Take care and happy reading, Joan…

Avery Flynn | Back to Reality
Author Guest / August 27, 2014

I don’t know about you but it’s been a long, hot summer in the Flynn household with three kids running around like banshees. I love the little monsters, but boy do they keep me running! 🙂 They’re all excited for the first day of school—the soon-to-be sixth grader already has her first-day outfit picked out—and we recently made the traditional run to Target to buy all of the school supplies. We stuck to the list (plastic folders with brads in red, yellow and blue = check!) and our cart filled up faster than a jaguar on espresso. By the time all was said and done, we walked out of the store with a bazillion bags and a big hole in my wallet where there used to be money. I know all of you parents out there know exactly what I’m talking about. That got me thinking. I grew up with a single mom and without a money tree spouting dollar bills. So I broke out my Google Fu skills and found several charities that help kids who can’t afford school supplies. One of them, the Kids in Need Foundation, has a four star ranking from Charity Navigator and gives nearly…

Christine Bell | Inside Christine Bell (*not literally)
Author Guest / August 27, 2014

So, rather than do a regular post to celebrate the release of my latest Brazen novel, DIRTY DEAL, I decided to do something a little different. I called in my best friend since birthdom, author Mike Wood, to ask me questions so you could get to know the real me. He agreed, if I agreed to answer every question as written, no edits allowed. Here are the results (and a picture of us back in the day. I’m the cute one in the pink, Mikey is the one on the left that looks like a monkey). MW: This is awesome. Okay, so Question #1: Remember that time when we were like nine and you threw a padlock at my head when we were playing Happy Days because I wouldn’t call you Pinky Tuscadero? CB: Uh, yes. I have a vague recollection of said event. What about it? MW: Nothing. I just wanted to make sure the readers know the type of person they’re dealing with. Next question: Mad Men or Good Wife? CB: Game of Thrones. MW: As a child, you used to “borrow” your mom’s books and read the dirty parts. Since your books are MOSTLY dirty parts, how…

Victoria Roberts | MY HIGHLAND SPY Teaser Tour
Author Guest / August 27, 2014

I’m so happy to be here today at Fresh Fiction, the eighth stop on the MY HIGHLAND SPY Teaser Tour! MY HIGHLAND SPY is the first book in my new Highland Spies series, and I hope you enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. We left off yesterday where Laird Ruairi Sutherland met his new English governess. Let’s see what Ravenna thinks of this Highland laird. Excerpt Eight: Chapter Two With all her might, Ravenna held back a groan. The laird didn’t speak a word of English. How would she be able to figure out if the man conspired against the Crown if she didn’t understand a word of Gaelic? Praise the saints. This was nothing short of a disaster. She was stuck in the Highlands with a widowed laird and his son. She didn’t like this at all. As she stood in the great hall trying to suppress the urge to flee, Ravenna noticed tapestries hung on the walls that depicted swords, shields, and men in the throes of battle. Laird Sutherland certainly had an odd way of making his guests feel at home. Perhaps that was his intention. A stone fireplace dominated the far wall, and…

Abby Niles | What I Learned by Writing WINNING LOVE
Author Guest / August 26, 2014

Weather has always fascinated me. I am one of those people who will actually sit and watch The Weather Channel—and not just for the local on the eights. They have some seriously killer programs that cover a wide range of weather phenomenon from hurricanes to blizzards to hailstorms. But my favorite shows are the ones about tornadoes. I don’t have an explanation as to why I find these the most engrossing. If I had to come up with one, I would blame the movie Twister. After seeing the movie in 1996, I devoured anything about tornadoes and storm chasers. Almost twenty years later, I still devour the subject. Any documentary, movie, or live coverage will keep me in front of the television for hours. I will re-watch programs I’ve seen multiple times without batting an eyelash. Because of this, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the subject. I mean, almost twenty years of fascination I had to know something, right? I didn’t know diddly squat. I understand now why, even though I’ve wanted to write a storm chaser character for years, I haven’t. I wasn’t ready. Deep down I knew this would be one of the most…

Louise Reynolds | The Outback, A State of Mind?
Author Guest / August 26, 2014

It was a huge surprise to this inner-urban Melbourne girl who wears too much black, when I stopped jumping on long-distance inter-continental flights and had a look in my own backyard instead. Actually, I had to be dragged, grumbling and protesting, by my then-new partner who was determined to show me what I was missing. Not only were we going to see this great country, we were going to bush camp while we did it and within 24 hours I was hooked. Our great love is Australia’s outback, an area that is sometimes hard to define. Is it geographical or a state of mind? Either way, the intersection of endless red dirt, brilliant blue skies and the grey-green of saltbush and mallee is what makes us happy. We’ve camped up and down some of Australia’s great rivers; the Darling, the Murray and the 1300km long Cooper “Creek”, the setting for RED DIRT DUCHESS. During flood years wildlife abounds; waterbirds, huge flocks of parrots, moths as big as your hand. After years of drought, a sudden sluice of floodwater can awaken a landscape poised for renewal within a week. After a couple of days alone in the bush, we ‘go into…