As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras (click here to buy your ticket) we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions.     Let’s see what Samantha Chase has to say! Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. Two years after one of the steamiest weekends of her life, Megan Montgomery is hoping for a second chance and a happily ever after. What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? Sandra Brown’s 22 INDIGO PLACE. I could read that book over and over and over and to me it captures everything a contemporary romance should be. Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. It’s like picking your favorite child and I always feel guilty when I do this!! But…ONE of my favorite characters is Dylan Anders from ONE MORE PROMISE. Everything about him just felt so incredibly real for me. I’ve been on the fringe of witnessing people dealing with addiction and I wanted Dylan to be real and not a watered down character dealing with the aftermath of it. I loved his vulnerability, his struggles, and…

As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras (click here to buy your ticket) we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions.   Sasha Summers, so relatable. Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. Felicity is still learning how to be a single-mom when tragedy makes her guardian of her ex-husband’s toddler, threatening her family’s stability and any hope of her finding her own happily-ever-after. What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? I love happy endings – they make even the worst day feel better. Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. Oh man, this is tough. I love Graham, the character I’m working on right now. He’s a ‘real man,’ struggling to do better–kind and thoughtful and caring. He’s super easy to fall in love with. What do you do to de-stress when you’re on a writing deadline? Watch Hallmark movies – the low-stress sweetness is soothing. 🙂 What’s one thing you want our Boas & Tiaras guests to know about you? I’m addicted to Emmy’s raspberry and vanilla been coconut cookies and all things Chris…

As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras (click here to buy your ticket) we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions.     Candace Havens has the floor. Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. I can’t do just one. There’s a new cozy mystery series, the second Hex book called ENCHANT, and a super sexy Marine book on the way. What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? Jodi Thomas was a big influence when it comes to writing romance. Her historicals and contemporaries made me want to create worlds of my own. Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. I always say, Bronwyn, from the Charmed & Dangerous series. I will always love her best. But, I just did a cozy, and the heroine, Ainsley McGregor, is giving Bronwyn a run for her money. What do you do to de-stress when you’re on a writing deadline? I don’t know what this means (smile). I don’t know if it’s de-stressing, but I bribe myself with television. Lately it’s been, write this many words you get to…

As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras (click here to buy your ticket) we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions.     Jane Porter is stepping up to the mic. Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. There are consequences when you help your best friend avoid a loveless marriage, especially when its ends up sabotaging your boss’s wedding. What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? Michelle Reid’s PRICE OF A BRIDE (but also, Debbie Macomber’s early romances, and Nora Robert’s Silhouettes). Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. I don’t have just one, but I tend to fall in love with my heroes.  I really adore them, and want to date them, and I so enjoy their banter, and their charm, and masculinity and appeal.  (Now that I think about it I’m terribly fond of Rory Douglas from MIRACLE ON CHANCE AVENUE) What do you do to de-stress when you’re on a writing deadline? Travel, read, and watch reality singing and dancing competitions. I have lots of secret weaknesses and I record my shows…

As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras (click here to buy your ticket) we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions.     Let’s see what Bridget Blackwood has to say. Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. LOST IN PARADISE is a paranormal ocean adventure tale with high stakes, hot nights, and love blooming in the tropics that overshadows any treasure. What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? NIGHT PLEASURES by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I can remember the smell of the bookstore and how everything looked in the mall bookstore when I bought it that day. This was back in 2004. I went back two days later and bought more. LOL! I was hooked. Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. This was really hard. I think my favorite to write is Black Annis. She does what she wants at all times. It is interesting to write a character with no inhibition or conscience to restrict her. Good or bad, her actions are always strategic to a plan. What do you do to de-stress when you’re…

Spotlighting our Boas & Tiaras Authors As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras (click here to buy your ticket) we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions. C.A. Szarek has some cool facts to share with you. Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. Small Town Texas doesn’t always mean small time crime. What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? I write different genres, so I’m not sure. I guess each of my characters draws me in their own ways. When they “introduce” themselves to me, I generally have to get to know them as if they were a real person, which can be as frustrating as it is fun. I like to write real people who are very real to the reader. Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. I can’t pick one. That’s like picking your fave kid. I can say they each speak to me differently and when I’m writing the book, I usually fall for the hero before the book is over, and hope my readers do, too. What do you do…

Spotlighting our Boas & Tiaras Authors As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras (click here to buy your ticket) we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions. Check out what T.M. Smith has to say. Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. There’s a SURVIVOR in all of us. What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? It was a series actually, Shadowhunters by Cassandra Clare. I fell in love with Alec and Magnus and the inner workings of their relationship.  Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. They’re all my favorites, but I do have entirely too much fun with Aiyan and Kaden (Opposites series) and figuring out what they’ll be breaking next. What do you do to de-stress when you’re on a writing deadline? Walk and/or listen to music. What’s one thing you want our Boas & Tiaras guests to know about you? That I can’t wait to meet them! Tables are filling up fast for Boas & Tiaras. Don’t miss your chance to wear a tiara, sit with one of these lovely authors, and…

As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions. First up, one of our Guests of Honor, Jodi Thomas. Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. MORNINGS ON MAIN is a powerful, heartwarming story about generations of family, their lives, their loves and the ironclad bonds they forge. Nominated last week for the National Readers Choice award. (Congratulations!) What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? I learned to write women’s fiction when I wrote THE WIDOWS OF WICHITA COUNTY, but I fell in love with it writing RANSOM CANYON. Strong Texas men, ranching, and a great love story. Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. Tyler Wright was 42, overweight, balding, hadn’t had a date in two years and was the town funeral director, but he loved people. When he stepped on stage in the first book of the Harmony series he came alive. In fact, for that year he often got more fan mail than I did. What do you do to de-stress when you’re on a writing deadline?…

People often ask me where I get the ideas for my books. And I wish I had a response that involved dreams or visions or muses, but I don’t. Because I write contemporary commercial fiction, set in Small Town, America, ideas come at me every day – and often in the most mundane ways. I read a newspaper article. I have a conversation with a friend or a stranger. I hear a song on the car radio. Once the seed is planted, my mind starts to sort through the myriad ways of telling the story. A quick tour of my previous books will help illustrate the process. My first book, THE GOOD LIFE, is a story about the definition of success, as seen through the eyes of a wealthy, mid-western, CEO’s wife. A CHANGING MARRIAGE is a look at what can happen in a marriage after the honeymoon is over and life’s challenges test love’s limits. The Summer Cottage is a novel about competition, sibling rivalry, and the strength of the family bond, set in a beach house on the Connecticut shoreline. And EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY parses what mid-life crisis looks like for three, recent empty-nesters looking for a new…