Julie Anne Long’s latest novel WILD AT WHISKEY CREEK releases today. To make the characters feel real, Long spent time curating the perfect playlist to inspire her writing. She stopped by Fresh Fiction to share her secrets. Long, Long Time — Linda Ronstadt We first meet Glory at an open Mic night in HOT IN HELLCAT CANYON, and this is the song she riveted the audience with…and walked out in the middle of…when she saw Eli standing in the doorway. We learn in Wild at Whiskey Creek that this is the first time they’d seen each other in nearly a year. She knows this beautiful song of unrequited love is one of Glenn Harwood’s favorites, and she loves to make crusty Glenn cry. Hey Hey What Can I Do — Led Zeppelin Pivotal to the story, this Led Zeppelin song is a bit of a paradox—enormously popular on FM radio, it was the flipside of The Immigrant Song but never appeared on any album, so it’s nearly impossible to buy it or own it. It’s the White Whale for many Led Zeppelin fans. Glory catches Eli singing this off key at the top of his lungs in his car when…

Giveaway: $10 Amazon Gift Card Hello, I’m thrilled to be here on Fresh Fiction and to talk to you about two of my favorite subjects: Cowboy Heroes, and Military Heroes. I write hot, humorous, heartwarming, contemporary romances, and nine times out of ten my hero is either a cowboy or military hero…or both. When I’m asked which is my favorite to write I always answer with both. It’s way too hard to choose one over the other. I even made a long list of their attributes to help. Here are the top 4 of each: Cowboys: Respectful. The cowboy heroes I write about are contemporary, but modeled after the John Wayne, Audie Murphy, Roy Roger cowboys of the big screen. They are righteous and live by a code of honor. Even when they go all alpha and my heroines knock them down a peg, they remain respectful. Loyal. Cowboys put family first, their women, their friends, sacrificing their needs to help those they care about. Swoon-worthy drawl. It doesn’t take much imagination on my part at all to hear the handsome cowboy in my head whisper, “Darlin’”, in a deep sexy tone to my heroine. It’s goose-bump city for me….