Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Layla Reyne | Southern Food Cravings
Author Guest / March 6, 2017

Thanks for hosting me on Fresh Fiction’s Romantic Suspense Monday, as I celebrate my debut release, SINGLE MALT, Book 1 of the Agents Irish and Whiskey male/male romantic suspense series. AIW features widowed FBI agent and Irish ex-pat, Aidan Talley, who falls hard for handsome, younger Cyber agent, Jameson “Whiskey” Walker, as they investigate cybercrimes and the murder of Aidan’s late husband. While there are plenty of car chases, gunfights and explosions in AIW, there’s also a lot of food. I’m a foodie, and a displaced Southerner, and I’d be lying if I said Jamie, a North Carolina native now living in San Francisco, didn’t bear some resemblance in those respects. And like me, Southern-boy Jamie’s got a hankering for certain foods he just can’t get in California. Jamie’s Top Five Southern Food Cravings North Carolina Barbecue When Tar Heels say “barbecue,” we don’t mean meat cooked on a grill. We mean pork, slow-cooked on a smoker, then pulled and chopped. Being from eastern NC, Jamie prefers whole hog style, vinegar sauce (little-to-no ketchup), red slaw, AND ALL THE HUSHPUPPIES (dipped in honey butter). A proper eastern NC barbecue plate right here: Southern Peaches While peaches in California are perfectly…

Living in a Small Town Rocks by Sonya Weiss
Author Guest / March 6, 2017

Living in a small town rocks. Living in a small town set in the South really rocks. I don’t live in one now, but I used to and it was awesome. There were some pretty quirky characters and a lot of friendly people. These people that you may have known all your life can sometimes be a little hard to put up with when the tell-a-friend chain gets going and nothing you do is kept on the down low. You can’t get away with anything because you know someone’s going to tell your mom or one of your other relatives. Of course, every town has that one person who hates change because “this is the way it’s always been done” and they’re resistant to anything that might shake up tradition. Yet, when one of their own suffers any kind of adversity, the townspeople rush to help, settling around you like a warm, comforting blanket of love and support. And you remember that they’re always there for you when it counts. That’s why I like setting stories in small towns which is what I did for my newest book WEDDING DATE RESCUE. I wanted to write a series about firefighters and…

Diana Rodriguez Wallach | Suspense in the Real World
Author Guest / March 6, 2017

Suspense—it’s just a fancy word for “drama,” and we’ve all experienced our fair share of drama. Whether you’re waiting for a career-changing email, sitting by the phone desperate for a text from you-know-who, or dreading going to a family party because you’re fighting with all your siblings, suspense is what makes life interesting. As much as we all might say we “hate drama,” life would be pretty boring if we just woke up, ate cereal, went to school, came home, and went to bed. So for me, writing suspense means letting the everyday grit of reality bleed into my novels. My latest book, PROOF OF LIES, is an international spy thriller and while I’ve never actually chased a dangerous criminal through the murky canals of Venice, that doesn’t mean I haven’t experienced my fair share of crazy. So here are three ways that I’ve used my own life to create suspense in the lives of my characters. No Instalove—I don’t know about you, but I’ve never spilled a milkshake on a guy in a food court and then instantly become obsessed with winning his heart. I need to actually have a conversation with a person and find something in common….

Amber Mitchell | Top 5 Fantasy Crushes
Author Guest / March 6, 2017

Fantasy has always been my genre of choice because of its sweeping scale and the idea that magic lurks around every unexplored corner of the world. Because most adventures are epic, it’s usually populated with robust characters, ones that feel special in a book or film where even the world is a character. And the romances are usually a slow burn, lasting over countless pages (or minutes) and miles of landscape. You get a chance to see these characters fall for each other as they struggle to survive and by the end of it, I’ve fallen for them too. Here are my top 5 crushes from fantasy books and movies in no particular order. The Darkling from The Grisha series by Leigh Bardugo- I’m not usually into the bad guy. I know some folks love them but I always root for the hero. Except in this book. The Darkling was one of the most charismatic and tempting baddies I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting in a fantasy novel and I was captivated. The moment he was on the page, I couldn’t stop reading about his darkly enigmatic presence and found myself skimming through the book for when he was…

Lindsay McKenna gives readers a sneak peek at NEVER ENOUGH
Author Guest / March 1, 2017

This is a sample of Lindsay McKenna’s latest romantic suspense, NEVER ENOUGH, the novella sequel to FORGED IN FIRE. Both are part of the Delos Series. Can a vacation in paradise heal her trauma and allow love to shine through… Matt ambled down the busy hall of the Delos Charity in Waianae, Ohau, Hawaii. There was nothing but women here, and he liked the low-key, warm, nurturing energy that pervaded the place. All of the people he saw were women working under Alani’s direction. Running this place took a lot of paperwork, a lot of people who knew the law enforcement and other governmental systems that were in place to help women who were trying to escape abuse. He located the examination room and saw ten women with squirming babies or toddlers in hand, waiting patiently in line. They gave him a wary look, and Matt felt bad for them. He was male and a stranger to them. Therefore, a potential menace and threat. He saw the door to the examination room open as a mother with a six-month-old baby in her arms left, smiling, relief in her expression. Matt smiled and nodded hello in her direction as he came…

Coleen Kwan | Goal, Motivation, and Conflict in KISSING HER ENEMY
Author Guest / March 1, 2017

One of the first things an author learns when creating her characters is the concept of GMC, or Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. Goal is simply what the character wants. Motivation is why he or she wants that goal. Conflict is what’s standing in the way of that goal. The goal of a character is something to be achieved in the future, whereas motivation is rooted in a character’s backstory or past. In my new book, KISSING HER ENEMY, backstory plays an important part in both my heroine (Amber) and hero (Logan). Amber grew up in a trailer park, raised by her single mom, whereas Logan was born into one of the wealthiest families in town, wanting for nothing. Amber quickly learned to fend for herself, using her natural feistiness as a defense against bullying and put-downs at school. But then she met Logan in her senior year and developed a secret crush on the rich and popular jock. Against all odds, it seemed Logan liked her too. Until she caught him with his girlfriend and caused an almighty public scene that had Logan embarrassed, seething, and avoiding her like the plague. Twelve years later, Amber is the proud owner of…

My Recent Tailspin by Jade Lee / Kathy Lyons
Author Guest / March 1, 2017

A few days ago, a friend of mine sent me a political cartoon. She was blithely unaware that our politics are polar opposites. Usually I ignore her political commentary, but this cartoon hit a nerve. It insulted President Obama and glorified Trump’s pussy grabbing comment. I emailed back that she needed to stop sending me such things because I don’t consider sexual attacks funny, and certainly not ones bragged about by our current president. She responded by saying that was rich considering the trash/filth I write. This woman has known me for years, has read my books and said she liked them, and I even named one of my heroes after her husband. Her one emailed comment destroyed me. I know she was lashing back, I know it’s a reflection of her generation and upbringing. I know that, but she sent me into a tailspin nonetheless. Why? There’s the obvious dismissal of my life’s work, but that’s not unusual. The world is full of people who dismiss romance novels as porn for silly women. They’re wrong and I’m not going to waste my breath arguing with them. There’s the unexpected attack from a friend, but let’s face it, we’re not…

Rhys Bowen Takes Us Back in Time to Bletchley Park
Author Guest / March 1, 2017

One of the fun things for me about starting a new book is the research. When I started IN FARLEIGH FIELD, my stand-alone novel set in WWII, I knew the story would involve Bletchley Park. In case you don’t know, Bletchley Park was the headquarters of British code breaking, where the German Enigma code was cracked and the first computer was invented. I was top, top secret. If you worked there you signed a paper saying you would never reveal to anyone what you did. Not anyone, husband, mother, lover. That ban was only lifted in the 1990s and I find that sad. Think of all the parents who died never knowing that their child had done something game-changing and heroic when all the time they thought he or she was a slacker, not fighting but doing office work. I spent a fascinating couple of days at Bletchley, examining the code breaking machines, seeing the dismal conditions the code breakers worked in and admiring the main house of the estate, such a contrast from the dreary huts around it. I even saw Alan Turing’s teddy bear that he kept on his desk! So you can imagine how excited I was,…