Every year from Halloween to Christmas, people begin the frantic schedule of Holiday parties, shopping, family visits, and the marathon of sugary, sweet Christmas movies and romances that play 24/7. Sometimes I feel like the Grinch at the top of Mount Crumpit, “hating the Whos” because of all the “noise, noise, noise, noise” that has become Christmas. Like most of you, I feel the commercialization of the Holiday is out-of-hand. This is apparent in the production of Christmas stories that are put out each year where there are plenty of Christmas miracles but not very many substantial plots. Don’t get me wrong, I watch Christmas movies. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the cartoon not the other), The Nightmare Before Christmas, and A Christmas Story are part of my yearly tradition. I also happen to think that all three have depth, cleverness, and really fantastic plots That’s why this list isn’t going to be Christmas stories where wishes and Christmas miracles solve all problems. This is a list for the heartbreaking, the damaged, and the wonderful resilience of the human spirit. LOVE AND OTHER UNKNOWN VARIABLES by Shannon Lee Alexander LOVE AND OTHER UNKNOWN VARIABLES Charlie Hanson has a clear vision…

Cynthia, congrats on being halfway through your 12-month serial Sinful Rewards! Can you tell us a bit about the trials and tribulations of writing in this story world non-stop for a year? Cynthia Sax: Thank you, Fresh Fiction, for being so supportive of writers. (big hugs) We really appreciate it! I knew when Avon Impulse entrusted me with this assignment, that it would be an adventure. And it has been. Writing a 12 novella serial is very different from writing 12 novellas. One small example: There were deep revisions in story 1 and that changed stories 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Then a month later, I’d receive deep revisions in story 2 and have to change stories 3 to 12 yet again. The links between the stories are so tight that the minor details can change the future. But to be able to play in one world, with one story for over 1,200 pages was amazing. I could properly write a love triangle. That requires quite a few pages. And I could thoroughly examine the complex characters. I had the room, which is a real luxury. What has been the most exciting part…

The Something New series was never intended to be a series at all. My original idea was a runaway bride walks into a dive bar, hooks up with a hot bartender for one night in her quest for self-discovery, ending with her continuing on her journey a wiser, more sexually awakened woman.  My projected word count was 15,000. But, then, Maddie sat down at the bar and Mitch walked up to her and 15,000 words later they were still sitting at the bar and wouldn’t shut up.  It didn’t matter what I tried to write, they pretty much refused to be contained to a few short words.  I conceded, and agreed with them that they deserved a full length, fully fleshed out story.  However, I still didn’t intend to write a series. A lot has changed since that initial writing.  Other than her wedding dress, and a few key facts, the story doesn’t remotely resemble those first scenes. And the more I wrote Mitch and Maddie, the more complex their stories became, and characters just started showing up as I was writing.  It started very organically.  I’d sit down to write X and come away with entirely new information, including…

I did things in my wilding days that make me wince and suck in a slow, tight breath of sadder-but-wiser air. The most humiliating among them is this: I let a man put me on my knees. I let him break me. And he did not deserve that piece of my soul. I was driving through a parking lot when I realized I wanted to put those dark memories into MAKE ME, TAKE ME, and I had to pull over, close my eyes, and go slack in my seat belt until I figured out how to do it. I wanted my heroine to refuse to get anywhere near her knees. The phrase “Not gonna do it” rings through the book. Betsy doesn’t trust anyone, not friends and not family. Growing up in a bar as the daughter of a starry-eyed romantic bartender mom who believes Prince Charming might walk in the door any night made Betsy deeply suspicious of happiness not directly under her control. In her observation, every Prince Charming who walked into her mom’s life also walked out, leaving devastation in his wake. Betsy isn’t ever going to let that happen to her. You and I both know…