Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Jessika Fleck | All’s Fair in Love and War
Author Guest / March 24, 2017

First off, I am thrilled to be here at Fresh Fiction— I love this website! I’ve been following for a while, so, add this to the pinch-me-is-this-really-happening list for this new author. One of my favorite things about writing YA is the relationships. Because, young love. Le sigh. So many ups and downs, butterflies and roller coaster tummy twirls. It can be exhilarating and confusing and… Bloody. Well, when you’re falling in love happens surrounded by war. In my YA debut, THE CASTAWAYS (Entangled TEEN), my main character, Olive, finds herself stranded on a middle-of-nowhere island, trapped in time and space. Now, this would be horrific enough, but there’s a decade’s long war in full-swing between two groups of kids and Olive lands smack dab in the mix of it. Some might say that a love story doesn’t belong entwined in all of that violence and upheaval. I say, bring it. Because, let’s be honest, don’t the best war stories involve romances? If you’re not so sure, here’s a quick list off the top of my head: The Winner’s Series, Divergent, The Grisha Trilogy, Harry Potter, and Angelfall to name a few. And I’m not only talking modern literature. What…

Christina McKnight on why Regency romance excites her
Author Guest / March 22, 2017

I get the sense I’m in an AA or NA meeting every time someone says: Oh, you’re a writer! What do you write? Hello, I’m USA Today Bestselling author, Christina McKnight, and I write historical romance. Narrow that down a bit, I write Regency Romance. What follows is usually wide-eyed stares that evolve into scrunched brows as people ponder what in the heck I just said. I normally go on to explain my books are set in or around London, England in 1816. Next question is always: Why don’t you write ___ ( fill in a genre here)? I smile and laugh as if their question isn’t utterly perplexing to me. Why Regency? Simply because I have not found a period in history (including modern times) that fills me with such a sense of passion, a drive to explore, and a need to envelop myself completely in the time period. One glimpse of Regency era fashion, decorum, and daily activities had me hooked. There is something about the mannerisms, the speech patterns and the grandness of everyday in London, England during the 1810s that holds my attention. Think about it, in 1813 a woman of the ton would never leave…

Lorraine Heath talks about WHEN THE MARQUESS FALLS
Author Guest / March 22, 2017

On the eve of her latest release, WHEN THE MARQUESS FALLS, Lorraine Heath chatted with reviewer Miranda Owen about writing historical romances, her favorite characters, and who she reads to escape. Occasionally, in one of my online book groups, the question comes up asking which books make you teary-eyed. My first instinct is to say that I usually avoid reading romances that do just that – but then I remember that your books frequently tear me up and I adore them. Since so many of your books – THE VISCOUNT AND THE VIXEN included – have such a strong emotional pull, do you intend for readers to have a visceral reaction to them as they’re reading along? Do you enjoy reading books like that as well? Lorraine Heath: I do hope that readers “feel” something when they are reading my books. When I first started writing romance, I had a goal—I wanted to make the reader smile at least once…and to tear up. So many of the books I love to read always make me experience some sort of emotion—joy, sorrow, happiness—while I’m reading them. My very favorites make me smile, laugh, cry, sigh. When I read I want to…

Kat Gamble | The Wonderful Chaos of Weddings
Author Guest / March 21, 2017

Marriage. Commitment. Forever. These words go hand in hand when you think about weddings and they conjure up images of white dresses, tuxedos, friends, family, beautiful locations, nit-picked details and, of course, heightened emotions. And I’m not just talking about the wedding party. Having been to my fair share of weddings as part of the party and as a guest I can say that without a doubt that there is all kinds of crazy that happens at these events. My own wasn’t without it’s hiccups. Our attempt at a low key, drama free celebration turned into anything but. Besides tripping as I walked (or should I say stumbled) down the aisle and bursting into nervous giggles as I tried to say my vows, my new brothers in law who don’t see eye to eye at the best of times couldn’t keep it together and got into an argument at the reception which then turned into a fight which of course ended up involving the food. If that wasn’t enough, our escape from the family drama turned into one of a different kind when we came home to find that our house had been covered with toilet paper and graffiti by…

Shae Ross | Finding the inspiration for BOTTOM OF THE SKY
Author Guest / March 21, 2017

Here’s the quirky mix of inspiration behind my new release, BOTTOM OF THE SKY: THE GOLD COAST, by Nelson DeMille When I finished writing my last book, Rush, I took about a month off to binge read. A friend of mine recommended this book. It tells the story of Long Island attorney John Sutter, who lives a posh life with his beautiful and extremely rich wife, Susan, until a mafia crime boss moves into the mansion next door. Reading this book made me realize how much fun I could have writing about a family engaged in organized crime and my brain started plotting. The documentary COUNTERFEIT CULTURE I wanted my crime family to be involved in something different. This documentary opened my eyes to the dangerous business of fake goods and I started to develop my plot around this theme. We’ve all seen the street vendors selling knock off sunglasses and designer purses, but the world of counterfeiting is much darker and deadlier than think the average person realizes. The Port of Seattle One of the many factors that add to the huge personality of Seattle is the shipping docks at the Port of Seattle. I’ve always wondered “what’s in…

Cozy Corner | Spring is HERE!
Cozy Corner / March 21, 2017

It’s almost here! Can you feel it? Can you smell it in the air? Well, you can definitely see it in all the fresh new cozies popping up everywhere! Take a moment in your day to stop and savor the mysteries—they’re bright, they’re charming, and they’ll lead you on an exciting chase for a killer. AND THEN THERE WERE NUNS by Kylie Logan League of Literary Ladies #4 The national bestselling author of The Legend of Sleepy Harlow returns to South Bass Island, where the League of Literary Ladies has to find out who’s killing off nuns. B and B owner Bea Cartwright has taken on the responsibility of taking meals to ten visiting nuns, who are on retreat at the Water’s Edge Center for Spirit and Renewal on picturesque South Bass Island on Lake Erie. But the peace of the retreat is shattered when one of the nuns is found at the water’s edge—murdered. And when a second nun is killed, Bea and the other members of the League of Literary Ladies—Chandra, Kate, and Luella—start to wonder about eerie parallels with the Agatha Christie mystery classic, And Then There Were None.   Since Bea has the trust of the…

Kendra C. Highley | All’s Fair in Love and Baseball
Author Guest / March 21, 2017

There are three things I really love: baseball season, a good book, and a swoon-worthy love story. So, writing the Suttonville Sentinels series has been a dream come true in a way. The second book SWINGING AT LOVE, features a couple I fell in love with right away. Alyssa is practical, because she has to be, but dreams of a little magic in her life. Tristan is driven, but gets lost and needs an anchor to keep him from drifting. Putting a sassy ballerina together with a “lost his swagger” ball player turned out to be its own kind of magic. These two need each other, even though they don’t know it. Anyone who participates in an activity that requires high skill—whether that’s sports, or dance, music, or art—knows that losing your swing/step/sense of rhythm is one of the most difficult things you’ll face. Finding a muse to bring your skills back online? Priceless. When you think of some of the best sports romances, the muse tends to be regular trope. Take one of my favorites: TIN CUP. If you haven’t seen it, it’s hilarious. Kevin Costner is a washed up golf pro with the skills to make the tour,…

Lindsey Frydman | Why We Need New Adult Books
Author Guest / March 21, 2017

When new adult books exploded a handful of years ago, writers jumped at the chance to explore this new category. Most of these authors self-published and became extremely well known. Then as other authors jumped on the bandwagon, many did so thinking it might be a “get rich quick” scheme. Because of this, the quality of new adult books went down. Readers became disappointed with the overused plot lines that exist in a lot of NA. Even I’ve reduced the amount of NA I read. It’s gotten a bad reputation, which is why almost no agents want these stories and most publishers don’t either. I’ve also heard readers say they don’t read NA because the stories are all the same: predictable contemporary romance with lots of sex. I might agree with the predictability of many NA plots. But I disagree when it comes to claiming the NA category was created simply as a way to add more sex into young adult books and ‘get away with it’. First of all, there’s sex in YA, too. And not all NA stories include sex. (Imagine that!) I’ve read tons of new adult books. (Most of them straight romance.) And yes, I’ve grown…

Casey Griffin | Six Reasons Why You Must be True to Yourself (And Your Date)
Author Guest / March 21, 2017

In SECRETS OF A RELUCTANT PRINCESS, Andy finds her escape from her embarrassing life through live action role-playing. Hidden from the cameras and away from the pressure at school, she feels like she can be herself and get closer to her crush, Kevin. Only she can’t totally be herself. She’s too afraid to take off her mask in case he doesn’t like who he sees: the Porcelain Princess. But what could possibly be wrong with that (famous last words—you’ll have to read it to find out…)? What’s the trouble with pretending to be something you’re not in a relationship? It’s exhausting. It drains you, mentally and emotionally. It can be physically exhausting too—Andy’s hidden secret comes with a lot of wardrobe changes. You could be pretending that you’re more outgoing than you are, funnier, smarter, or maybe you’re trying to hide a secret like Andy. But it’s not normal for you. It doesn’t come naturally, so you feel like you’re always “switched on” like an actor on the stage, constantly planning your next move, your next line. It makes me tired just thinking about it. There’s a wall between you I think people can tell when you’re not being real…

Jody Holford | My Favorite Bad Boys
Author Guest / March 21, 2017

Words are funny and powerful things. Put enough of them together and you have the ability to make some laugh, cry, or play them over in their head on repeat. When I think of the word ‘bad’, I don’t think of any of my characters really. So I started to question, what makes a bad boy, bad? As is true for many questions, there are a LOT of answers in this one little query. To try and figure out how my BAD BOY NEXT DOOR fits in with those fictional men we love to hate and can’t help but like, I’ve made a list of some ‘bad boys’ I love to see where Wyatt Daniels fits in among them. Raylan Givens from JUSTIFIED United States Marshall Raylan Givens is one of the good guys, but he often makes choices just on the boundary lines of good and bad. In essence, he does what needs to be done to achieve his end goal. Though he makes the ladies swoon, he’s not exactly long term commitment material. But there are times when it seems like he wants to be. Damon Salvatore from THE VAMPIRE DIARIES The ultimate bad boy who falls for…