I can’t believe it. I seriously can’t believe it.” Cori rolled her eyes and handed Ava another martini. It was her third, but she still hadn’t shut up about how her attorney’s advice had been to simply go to Bliss and do what Rudy wanted. “All he said was that it was the easiest thing,” Brynn commented, her words soft and a little slurry. She was definitely mellowed out from her one martini. But then Brynn was a lightweight. It would take another couple of rounds for Ava to start to relax. The woman was so tightly wound that Cori was seriously concerned. Ava had always been driven and worked nearly nonstop, but this whole trust and Bliss, Kansas thing might just be the final straw. Brynn waited until Ava had taken a huge drink, then said, “I think this could be a good thing.” Ava lifted one perfectly waxed brow, her glass poised before her shiny Coral Crush lips. She was in loose cotton pants and a tank top just as Cori and Brynn were, but where Brynn never wore makeup and Cori had already taken hers off—shoes, bra, makeup were the first things to come off when she…

Being that I was a shy child, I’d always escaped into books to soothe myself after experiencing a socially awkward or painful situation. As I grew older, I often fantasized different outcomes for such situations, such as smart remarks I could have said (the first of many rewrites). I loved writing letters to relatives overseas and thought myself quite good at it. But writing actual stories didn’t occur to me until I’d read the book Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. As if a creative dam had broken, after I’d finished the book, I awoke the next morning from a vivid dream, went to my computer, and began to write a story. At first, writing stories was just a creative outlet. While I knew I needed to learn more about the craft of writing, I finally dared to have someone else read what I’d written. From the positive feedback, I felt encouraged enough to keep at it. After I had a dream about a man who appeared to be made from plant materials, I wrote a few paragraphs of my impressions. Then I went back to the story I’d been writing at the time and forgot…

I’m very excited to be here at Fresh Fiction. I have been a part of the FF community for a long time. Probably since my first Harlequin Nocturne was published way back in 2006, under my penname Vivi Anna. I’ve been away for a while, so it’s nice to be back and share the things that influenced me to write LIONS AND TIGERS AND BOYS. The Wizard of Oz: Which I imagine you gathered from the title alone. My book isn’t a retelling, but more of an alternate reality Wizard of Oz, with some elements in place and others absent. I liked the premise of an all-powerful Wizard, but wanted to play on how he traveled to Oz and why. Throughout the book, you’ll see sprinkles and tidbits from the original tale, like flying monkeys and magic and red ruby slippers, but others I made my own, like a shapeshifting lion and tiger, and a girl named Dani Gale. Harry Potter: One of the greatest series of books written, it’s hard not to draw from its brilliance, especially when you have a school populated with gifted students. In my case that school is the Oswald Zinzendorf School of Circus Arts,…

You know that edge-of-your-seat, what’s-going-to-happen-next, feeling? That’s one of the best parts of a thriller novel. They’re unpredictable. Exciting. Razor sharp. I could go on forever, but here are ten reasons you’ll want to pick up a thriller as your next read. They keep you guessing. Really…what difficulty will arise? Who is responsible? I adore how thrillers spin perfectly ordinary things, like a stroll through the woods, into something sinister. You can tuck yourself between the pages and get lost for hours, curled under the covers, looking over your shoulder as you read. The settings are usually eerie. Dark nights. Deserted roads. Spooky swamps. Sleepy islands. A sprawling, empty house. Ghostly coves. Shadows. Mystery. The setting itself becomes a living thing, with a heartbeat of its own. Like if you reach out, it just might grab you. The characters are sly. A thriller never fails to give you a mischievous character. You can’t figure out what they’re really up to, and that’s a good thing. Parts of them are hidden—perhaps it’s their past, possibly where they disappear to at certain hours of the day, or even their closely guarded thoughts. They make you wonder if maybe, just maybe, they could…