Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
S.B. Alexander | My inspiration for DARE TO KISS
Author Guest / April 5, 2016

Baseball has always been a sport I’ve loved. I grew up collecting baseball cards, watching the Boston Red Sox whenever a game was on TV, and playing with the boys in the schoolyard. And still after many, many years, the love of the game is still embedded me. So much so, that my home office is riddled with pictures and memorabilia of the game. My inspiration for DARE TO KISS goes a bit deeper. As a little girl I fought hard to play baseball on a boys’ city league. But back in the late sixties and early seventies, girls weren’t allowed to play on boys’ team. It was then I came up with the plot for DARE TO KISS on how a high school girl breaks through barriers to play on an all boys’ baseball team. It didn’t take me long once I started writing. The protagonist, Lacey Robinson is a girl, who is a lot like myself. She loves the energy of the ball field. She loves hearing the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd. She loves striking a batter out, but most of all she loves the game, and no matter the consequences, and…

Risa Leigh | What’s real in SURRENDER AT THE BORDER?
Author Guest / April 5, 2016

In addition to my love for romantic suspense, I have a fondness for non-fiction. Really, truth can be stranger than fiction. I think research is fun, but more importantly, I wanted my story to feel as real as possible. SURRENDER AT THE BORDER takes place mostly in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico, and my research led to some fascinating and scary things that really exist. Here are six things about SURRENDER AT THE BORDER that are real: The Feds vs. the Librarians. Surrender opens with B.J., an ATF agent, investigating a case by getting information from library computers. This is in opposition of everything Callie, the head librarian, believes in. This conflict comes directly from my own days as a librarian. Even before the Patriot Act, law enforcement officials targeted the reading habits of people who were, for one reason or another, suspicious. Librarians saw this as a violation of every citizen’s constitutionally protected right to privacy and developed policies and procedures to handle just this kind of situation. So if you see a television program where a cop goes up to a librarian and asks what so-and-so has been reading, a real librarian would refuse or at least make a fuss….

Sarah Ballance | Dropping the Ball
Author Guest / April 5, 2016

The adage that life is a juggling act is a cliché for a reason. It’s true. It’s so stupendously true that it’s a joke. I mean, seriously, is there anyone out there who is actually on top of said ball, at least without the stupid thing periodically rolling out from under them and putting them on their butts? (Exercise balls, I’m looking at you.) The truth is, we juggle. And my juggling goes something like this. Monday: I have all week to do all the things. I make a schedule…on a spreadsheet. Writing, homeschooling, meal prep, housework…it’s all neatly partitioned by day and allotted with help from the weather forecast. Beautiful day? The kids will spend it outside, so that is when I’ll write all the words. I’ll get ahead, I will! Cold rainy day? Homemade soup it is! I got this. Tuesday: I spent Monday making that pretty spreadsheet. I’m behind, a little, but all is not lost. Only the kids can smell “flustered” like they can smell burgers grilling, so suddenly I’m the most popular person in the world. Even my teenagers won’t stop talking to me. This feels like one of those awesome parenting wins, so I…

SPOTLIGHT: Mary Ellis and WHAT HAPPENED ON BEALE STREET
Author Spotlight / April 5, 2016

A New Southern Mystery from Mary Ellis A cryptic plea from a childhood friend sends Price Investigations to Memphis, land of the Delta blues. When they arrive they find Danny dead and a lifestyle not in keeping with the choirboy they remember. Nate and Nicki follow clues into smoky clubs, trail potential stalkers, and confront drug traffickers to find a killer, in a world where your friends are all you have left. About WHAT HAPPENED ON BEALE STREET WHAT HAPPENED ON BEALE STREET is an exciting addition to the Secrets of the South Mysteries from bestselling author Mary Ellis. These standalone, complex crime dramas follow a private investigator’s quest to make the world a better place solving one case at a time. A cryptic plea for help from a childhood friend sends cousins Nate and Nicki Price from New Orleans to Memphis, the home of scrumptious barbecue and soulful blues music. When they arrive at Danny Andre’s last known address, they discover signs of a struggle and a lifestyle not in keeping with the former choirboy they fondly remember. Danny’s sister, Isabelle, reluctantly accepts their help. She and Nate aren’t on the best of terms due to a complicated past,…

Elizabeth Harmon | Road Trip To Inspiration
Author Guest / April 5, 2016

A run-down motel in a small town isn’t the most likely place for a romance novel to begin. But the moment I saw it, I knew it was the perfect starting point for GETTING IT BACK, the third book in my Red Hot Russians series. One thing I love about being a writer is that thunderclap of inspiration, when vague ideas suddenly crystalize into characters, scenes and conflicts. In the spring of 2014, ideas had been turning in my head for weeks. I knew GETTING IT BACK’s hero was Misha, an Olympic champion skater whose post-skating life hadn’t gone as planned. But I didn’t know much else. A road trip, on a dark and stormy day—on my way to a wake, no less—provided the answer. A detour took me off the interstate onto a two lane highway running through Midwestern farm country. The weather was ominous—dark, low hanging clouds that can spawn thunderstorms and even tornadoes. Listening to static-y country music on the radio, I drove into a small town, and passed an old motel. Its sign was lit and glowed against the gloomy sky. An empty swimming pool was surrounded by a fence and looked like it hadn’t been…