Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Vivien Jackson | Gadgets / Techno / Magical What’s YOUR favorite?
Author Guest / April 11, 2017

I love gadgets, bonus for futuristic technomagical ones. If a given gizmo could conceivably appear in both a James Bond film and a Bruce Sterling story, it is sure to twitterpate my fangirl heart. So of course my hero for WANTED AND WIRED had to be plugged in. But this is a romance, right, so less gore and more hotness. Which of made me think of cars. My first car was a 1966 Mustang (4-barrel 289), and I loved the way that girl roared when she topped out. So, keeping that feeling in mind, the manuscript and I played a bit of what-if. What if Heron, the hero of WANTED AND WIRED, had a really, really fast car? A supercar, in fact? And he could switch between wireless and manual control of that car? What if the car was both armored and armed? What if the control mechanism for the weapon was disguised as a gearshift? But also, because Heron is integrated with the machine, what if that gearshift served other sensory functions for my control-freak, technologically modified dude? Well, then it might be the hottest car in the history of hot cars. And heroine Mari? Gets to ride shotgun….

Abbie Roads | The Twelve Perks Being a Writer
Author Guest / April 11, 2017

Being a writer in today’s market is harder than it’s ever been. You have to be a social media guru—you have to be constantly marketing and promoting and available to your fans. All the while working on your next novel. It’s tough to not get overwhelmed by all the demands. But the rewards of being a writer are many! The twelve perks of being a writer: There is something amazing about creating a world and characters. It’s like an alternate reality inside your head where you get to dictate every single thing that happens or doesn’t happen. You are Master of the Universe. Well, the universe in your mind. Sometimes the words flow like water and you just know they are pure golden goodness. That feels great. There’s a weird writer’s high that some authors get when they are creating. It’s like being in the zone—or so into your book—that you lose track of time and space. Eventually, you emerge back into a reality that seems foreign compared to the world in which you were just immersed. Connecting with other writers who are as weird as you are is like finding your home. They get you and the quirks of…

Fiona Quinn | The Kitchen Grandmother
Author Guest / April 11, 2017

Lynx is a special operative who helps solve the riddle in WASP, the first book in the Uncommon Enemies Series (2017, SilverHart Publishing) Lexi Sobado (AKA Lynx) Lexi was an un-schooler. Un-schooling is homeschool on steroids, where everything and everyone could present a learning experience. Now that she’s an adult, her non-traditional upbringing gives her a unique world view — different from those around her. She doesn’t stand out as weird or awkward; she just stands out. I thought you might like to get to know one aspect of Lexi’s un-schooling experience, her Kitchen Grandmothers. I’ll let Lexi introduce you to her Kitchen Grandmothers in her own words: So much of my education happened around the stove, under the watchful eyes of my Kitchen Grandmothers, so much warmth and goodness. It was Snow Bird Wang who decided that I needed the Kitchen Grandmothers. She was worried that I would lack women’s skills, making it hard for me to find an honorable husband. She knew that my mother’s illness, that had left her bedridden since I was twelve, would keep her from teaching me “wifely” skills. So Snow Bird chose, amongst her friends at our apartment building, five grandmothers who were…

Meet Sonia Taitz, author of GREAT WITH CHILD
Interviews / April 11, 2017

GREAT WITH CHILD tells the story of ambitious, driven Abigail Thomas. The hard working daughter of immigrants, Abigail is up for partnership at a prestigious law firm. But then she is thrown by an accidental pregnancy that threatens to upend her life. While tempted by a new man she meets, she’s also secretly pining for the man who is the father of her child. Witty, warm, and wise, this novel confronts the true meanings of love, morality, and duty. Below, Taitz shares her thoughts on work, love and motherhood with Writing a Woman’s Life columnist, Yona Zeldis McDonough. About Sonia Taitz Sonia Taitz is a playwright, essayist, and author of three novels and two works of non-fiction. An award-winning writer, her work has been praised by The New York Times Book Review, The Chicago Tribune, People, Vanity Fair, and many other publications. WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS YZM: You have a law degree from Yale; how did that inform the novel in general and Abigail’s character in particular? ST: Like my plucky heroine, Abigail Thomas, I was raised as the ambitious daughter of immigrants. My parents came over to this country without a nickel to their name, and…