Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Lynnette Austin | Why Do We Love Weddings?
Author Guest / May 4, 2016

Have you ever searched for books with the word wedding in the title? On Amazon alone, there are over 22,000. Add in bride, and you’ll have a mini-explosion on your screen. We have runaway brides, mail-order brides, princess brides, virgin brides, substitute brides, pretend brides, and, yes, bridezillas! There are right at 29,000 book titles that include the word bride. Groom? Another 2,000. I know. A lot less. Sorry, guys, but it’s best you understand right now that it’s all about the bride. Why so many books about weddings? Because we love to read them! We get to vicariously share that magic moment with the bride and groom, their families and friends. The reader is given a front row seat at the affair…and through all the ups and downs it takes to reach that moment. In Magnolia Brides, my new series, we’re right there when wedding planner Jenni Beth Beaumont (THE BEST LAID WEDDING PLANS) and florist Cricket O’Malley (EVERY BRIDE HAS HER DAY) meet their brides and plan that perfect-for-her event…and smile when, along the way, each finds her own special someone. We love the little pink purses bursting with sweetheart roses, calla lilies, Bells of Ireland, and strands…

MISHAPS by Jade Lee / Kathy Lyons
News / May 4, 2016

I’ve had a few mishaps lately. Nothing serious, but annoying. I hurt my wrist, requiring it to be in a sling. And then I chipped a front tooth. No picture for that because I really hate looking at my mouth right now. Anyway, guess how these injuries happened. I was defending the world from evil aliens. After leaping over the nearest baddy, I used my tablet to knock the worst alien unconscious. Sadly,the impact of breaking his skull shattered my tablet, my current manuscript, and my wrist. Aliens did it to me in my sleep. Yup, I just woke up one day and there was a huge bump on my wrist. Racquetball—I stepped too close to my opponent and his racquet slammed into my wrist. Totally his fault! Racquetball – I stepped too close to my opponent and his racquet slammed into my wrist. Totally MY fault! Carpal tunnel from writing so much, so fast. I’m an author on fire! Answer: D – I really wish I’d been fighting aliens or writing so fast that my wrist exploded. Sadly, the truth is that I was playing racquetball, inched too close to my opponent, and got whacked. And yes—big sigh—it was…