1–What’s the name of your latest release?  Worth the Wait 2–What is it about?  It’s about a flighty actress who returns to her hometown after her mother passes away and discovers she’s inherited half a house with the ex-stepbrother she hasn’t seen in ten years. They each have different goals for the house. She wants to sell it and use the money to move to Hollywood. He wants to keep it and renovate it to prove he’s still capable after a life-altering injury shattered the future he’d had planned for himself. There’s a definite opposites-attract vibe to the story, but it also deal with some complex issues like grief and mental illness and how sometimes the things you least expect are the ones that make all the difference. 3–What word best describes your heroine?  Optimistic 4–What makes your hero irresistible?  He’s got that whole brooding, wounded-warrior alpha-male thing going on. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?  For my heroine, it’s her half-sister, Gina. For my hero, it’s his siblings-Dave and Nicole, and also his two best friends-Mark and Jack. 6–What do you love about the setting of your book?  Heavenly Falls, the fictional…

I get asked a lot of questions as a writer, but one of the most common ones is what my process for writing each story looks like. Because I’m an organized soul, it’s typically the same for each book. I’m here today to share what that process looks like for me. I’ve written a lot of stories over the years, and after the first several, I started to develop a process that worked for me as I created a story from beginning to end. The beginning doesn’t start with writing, it starts with plotting. In fact, it just starts with an idea. A big idea. For example, with STING, I thought of one of my favorite classic stories, The Count of Monte Cristo, and knew I wanted to write a retelling. But I wanted to have a female heroine and a dystopian twist. So first I get my big idea. Then I test it. Testing it means making sure there’s a big enough conflict to sustain a whole story with twists and turns. With STING, it was a little easier because I wanted to stick close to the original plot, but typically I figure it all out from scratch. I…

Jen: What inspired you to explore Jackie O’s life through a work of fiction? Stephanie: After writing American Princess, I wanted my next story to be about another iconic American woman and Jackie Kennedy was the first to come to mind. I found that while people think they know her story, many of the details of her life–the deaths of her children, the monuments she saved, her many tumultuous family relationships–have already started to gather dust. Also, while there are enough nonfiction books about her and the rest of the Kennedys to fill an entire library, I quickly realized that there was an opportunity to transform her momentous life into historical fiction, to really let the reader feel what it was like to be Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. While I love a good nonfiction read, there’s something special about experiencing life through the eyes of the person who lived it. (I often joke that historical fiction is the closest thing to a time machine, but it’s true!) I loved being able to transport readers to see what it would have been like to be the one and only Jackie-O.   In order for the novel to be historically based, how…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-ReaderMatch” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Catherine Bybee! Writes: My newest novel, My Way To You, has a central romance between Parker, a strong, independent heroine and Colin a man who helps her get through the tragedies she faces. But beyond that, it’s about the journey of allowing Parker to love herself. About: I was born in Southern California. However, my parents divorced when I was two and my mother moved us to Washington State where I was raised. Four days after I graduated from high school I returned to So. Cal and never left. I was an RN who spent the majority of my career in a level 2 trauma center until a career ending injury.  I have always been a gifted storyteller. But it wasn’t until I was back in school to become a nurse that I was told I had the ability to ‘write’ a story. I had taken a creative writing course in college for my English credit and it was that teacher who pulled me aside and told me I should…

Thank you for having me here to talk tropes, recs and my latest release, Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, fourth of the Big Bad Wolf series! One of the joys of writing a series is being able to put my characters through more than a couple of my favorite tropes. Hoo boy, have I taken advantage of that! When grumpy, human agent Cooper Dayton is unexpectedly partnered with werewolf Oliver Park to investigate a series of mysterious deaths in the first book, The Wolf at the Door, the guys are mutually suspicious to say the least (that must be why they can’t take their eyes off one another. . .right. . .?). It’s a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers story to its core. But throughout the series Cooper and Park have gone on to meet the family, return to the hometown, and uncover a secret, dark past before getting to this latest release. In Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, I was able to do my own personal take on two of my favorite tropes: Trapped by a Storm and the Fake Relationship. How do you manage to put a real, established couple through the fake relationship trope? By sending them undercover to a couple’s…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?    CRIES FROM THE LOST ISLAND  2–What is it about?   It’s about a brokenhearted teenage boy who has just lost the love of his life, a young woman who believed she was the reincarnation of Cleopatra. The story is set against the magnificent ruins of ancient Egypt and brings to life the greatest love story of all time.   The leading character is Hal Stevens. He’s sixteen and a budding historical scholar from a small town in Colorado. Hal has only two friends, Roberto the Biker Witch and Cleopatra Mallawi. Cleo believes she’s being stalked by an ancient Egyptian demon, Ammut, the Devourer of the Dead. When Hal gets a desperate call from Cleo saying the demon has found her, he and Roberto rush to her house, but find her dying. Cleo’s last request sends Hal and Roberto on the journey of a lifetime with famed archaeologist Dr. James Moriarity. To save Cleo’s soul, they must find the lost grave of Cleopatra. . . and then discover a way to open the path to the legendary Island of the Two Flames.   But they are not alone in their search. They are being watched by others–and…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  A MURDEROUS RELATION, the fifth Veronica Speedwell mystery. 2–What is it about?  My Victorian butterfly hunting sleuth, Veronica Speedwell, joins with her detecting partner, Stoker, to investigate a potential royal scandal during Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror in London. 3–What word best describes your heroine?  Intrepid. Veronica has a zero-tolerance policy for other people’s nonsense and she is never afraid to seize an opportunity or take on a foe. 4–What makes your hero irresistible?  Stoker is a walking contradiction; he’s big and fit and dangerous, but he’s also the guy who needs a constant supply of candy and who reads French romance novels and cuddles stray dogs. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?  My characters are always adding to their found family. They have a mentor–an elderly noblewoman who is the power behind the English throne–as well as a resourceful female reporter, a Black master pastry chef from Martinique, and a police detective who is just as likely to arrest them as take a bullet for them. But, always and above all, they turn to each other. 6–What do you love about the setting of…

Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Gretchen! Please tell us about yourself and your new novel, THE OPERATOR. The Operator is the story of Vivian Dalton, a nosy switchboard operator who eavesdrops on all the conversations of the residents in her small town.   Set in Wooster, Ohio in the 1950s, I read that this story is inspired by your own family’s history! Can you share the background and inspiration for THE OPERATOR? I’d been doing genealogy research on my mom’s side of the family, and combined a little of that with my grandmother’s occupation.       Vivian Dalton is one of the town’s switchboard operators and knows everything about everyone because she and the other operators secretly listen in on conversations. If you were in a similar occupation, would you listen in on conversations? Why or why not? I really don’t think I would. It’s so invasive. Vivian overhears a conversation that could be her downfall – she’d be humiliated in front of the entire town and she’s desperate to stop it from getting out. What do you think readers will love about Vivian? What do you think they will find frustrating about her? I know different readers will love & find frustrating…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-ReaderMatch” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Jus Accardo! Writes: Pulse-pounding Young Adult fiction that will make you linger on the edge of your seat. Have a savage love of unfailingly loyal friendships, intense love that will stick with you for days after reading the last page, and action that will have you holding your breath? We might be Book Soul Mates. About: Music-loving caffeine junkie with a fierce love of books, dogs, photography, and ink. Low maintenance and no real-world drama as I’m usually absorbed in the lives and trials of fictional characters. I’m dog obsessed–but this can only benefit you because, dogs. Shy at first but get to know me and we’ll be friends for life. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Someone who thrives on love stories with a paranormal, scifi, or fantasy twist. Appreciators of snarky, sometimes dark, humor. Lovers of strong, independent girls that fight for what they want and those they love. Admirers of quirky, flawed characters that have room to grow….

1–What’s the name of your latest release? Love Around the Corner 2–What is it about? It’s about Gemma Romano, the oldest of three Italian American sisters in Brooklyn. There’s a lot of change happening in her life, some good, some bad. And now her first love, the boy who broke her heart, has moved back home. They have a lot of baggage to unpack. 3–What word best describes your heroine? Tough. But she’s also so big-hearted. 4–What makes your hero irresistible? He tries SO hard to do the right thing, and to take care of everyone in his life. He’s made mistakes, but now he’s determined to do the right thing. Gemma describes him at one point as George Bailey from It’s a Wonderful Life, and that’s pretty spot on. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help? Gemma’s Number One is her dad, John. Since her mother died when she was a teenager, the two of them have relied on each other. They’re more than father and daughter. They’re business partners and best friends. Brendan could stand to rely on a few more people. He’s stubborn and insists on shouldering every burden himself. But…