Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Janalyn Voigt | The Real American West
Author Guest / May 23, 2017

My mother has a picture of me as a little girl, smiling into the camera on the back of a pony. With my hair cascading in ringlets beneath a cowgirl hat, freckles sprinkled across my nose, a missing front tooth, and my six-shooter by my side, I was ready at seven to take on the Wild West. In reality, an out-of-work photographer had taken a pony, cowboy hat, bandana, and toy guns around our neighborhood, looking to make a buck. Fast forward a couple of years, and you’d find me on a typical Sunday afternoon parked with my father in front of the television. I treasured our shared passion for vintage westerns, never noticing such flaws as poor acting, overblown plots, or camera angles that gave away feinted punches. Born in California’s Big Valley, land of the Barclays, I am a daughter of the American West. I have a vivid memory of walking home from high school in a dust storm with tumbleweeds blowing across the road. I’d grown up steeped in western mythos, but the grit I washed from my hair that day wasn’t so romantic. A fascination with the Oregon Trail took hold of me as an adult,…

MK Meredith | Beaches, Beauty, Barcelona…and Pick Pockets?
Author Guest / May 23, 2017

Though the threat of pickpockets is real, the beauty and sensuality and brilliance of Barcelona is a character all unto itself in this story. Because when it comes to Barcelona, anyone who has ever been there raves of the culture, the beauty of the people, and the extraordinary art. Barcelona boasts some of the most spectacular beaches in the world, amazing cuisine, and has been home to some of the most renown artists in history. It, rightly so, holds high priority on many a bucket lists. My own included! You can tour the Sagrada Família and sunbathe on a nude beach all in the same day. Or maybe walk the streets of the Gothic Quarter then shop for goods at La Boqueria. I’d love to go on a Vermouth bar hop. They do Vermouth very different than we do here in the states. And hello…hunky Spanish men. Ummmm…Álex González anyone? How about Javier Bardem, Antonio Banderas, or Enrique Iglesias? Phew! But in all my research, the overwhelmingly repeated advice was to keep your belongings locked down, at all times. Due to the mild climate and the expansive tourism, Barcelona is known as the #1 city in the world for pickpocketing….

Erin McCarthy | Rookie Mistakes
Author Guest / May 23, 2017

This is my first amateur sleuth novel, though I’ve written mysteries into romance novels. But Bailey Burke, home stager extraordinaire, is the first heroine I’ve actually thrust into the role of having to solve crimes, and she’s inconveniently afraid of blood, but at least she’s always dressed to the nines. I like to think that given my interest (hubby would call obsession) with crime TV, I would be able to figure out the clues and solve a crime or two. But you never know until you’re in the situation and I’ll stick to fiction, thanks. No true crime for me. So what are the rookie mistakes Bailey makes? Wrong uniform. It’s a bitch to run from the bad guy in heels. Not spotting a liar from twenty feet. Sure, we have to trust someone but not every cockamamie story she’s told. A genuine people pleaser, she is worried about hurting the detective’s feelings by prying. Growing up reading Agatha Christie novels, which I loved, I had this idea the sleuths intrinsically have information we the readers did not. I wanted a heroine more like a Stephanie Plum character, who stumbles from situation to situation, but somehow manages to hold her…

Ruth Cardello | Character Perspective Guest Post
Author Guest / May 23, 2017

Meet Brett Westerly: Interviewer: Are you comfortable? Brett Westerly: Does it matter? My grandmother wants this interview for her memories, so ask away. Interviewer: You and your grandmother have always been close, haven’t you? Brett: Yes, she essentially raised me. Interviewer: Do you support her offer to give any of her grandchild their inheritance early as long as they marry and invite all of your immediate family to the wedding? Brett (squares his broad shoulders): My grandmother has the best of intentions even if her chosen method is misguided. Interviewer: Your younger brother, Spencer, jumped at the idea and is already engaged. Brett: I am painfully aware of that. Interviewer: What do you think of his fiancée? Brett: What I think of her doesn’t matter because it’ll be a cold day in hell before I let him do anything as stupid as getting married for money. Interviewer: So, you don’t approve of Alisha Coventry? Do you feel that she isn’t good enough for your brother? Brett: My brother’s head is so far up his own ass lately that he won’t realize that he’ll never find better until after he breaks her heart. She beautiful, loyal, intelligent. She came into my…