Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, LSA! This may be a loaded question, but how are things going?  Marissa Backlin, co-owner of LSA:  It’s going, haha. It hasn’t been easy, but every month we can pay the bills, we breathe a sigh of relief. I keep saying, if we can hang on until the holiday season and stay healthy, we’ll have some wiggle room. Of course, now that schools are starting to go hybrid and in-person (I’m also a kindergarten teacher), the risk level goes up, but we’re trying to pack up anticipated holiday trope boxes in advance and we’re doing a preorder campaign for them so we can get as many as possible boxed up before Thanksgiving. What are some of the ways you’ve adapted your bookstore to the pandemic? Definitely focusing on online sales and pushing preorders. Before March, aside from November/December, most of our sales were in person. Now, most of our sales are online, which does benefit us because we can sell books we don’t have in store. Now that the store is open to the public, we’re very strict on mask-wearing and we have hand sanitizer at the door, and we have changed our checkout process…

1–What’s the name of your latest release? SEND ME THEIR SOULS! 2–What is it about? Zera, a Heartless who can’t die, races to save the world from an incursion of mythical wyrms with her love Prince Lucien and her friends by her side. 3–What word best describes your heroine? Sassy, for sure. 4–What makes your hero irresistible? Lucien is kind, caring, and fiercely devoted to protecting those he loves! 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help? Zera really hates asking for help, but in this book she’s finally learned to accept it from Lucien and her friends. 6–What do you love about the setting of your book? Arathess is just such a cool fantasy world – floating witch-cities, subterranean cities made of gems, a library made out of a hollowed-out volcano! 7–Are you a plotter (follow an outline) or a pantster (write by the seat of your pants)? I’m absolutely a pantser! Plotting bores me and makes me feel like I’ve already written the book – a dangerous pitfall! 8–What is an ideal writing day for you? A quiet one, with lots of tea and pastries. 9–Do you listen to music while you write,…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Stephanie Rowe! *** Writes: I write contemporary romance across a range of genres: dark paranormal, funny paranormal, small-town Maine, cowboy, and suspense. The genres may change, but all of my stories have women who find the strength we are all fighting to find in ourselves. Women who find the love they deserve, but long ago gave up finding. The heroes are dangerous, but they are loyal, honorable, and treat their women with all the reverence, support, and kindness any woman would dream of. There’s always a bit of humor as well because sometimes we need a spark of laughter to get through the day. My newest book, a dark paranormal romance titled, Darkness Awakened: Reimagined is a stunningly sexy, action-packed paranormal romance between forced mates which reveals the power of true love against the darkest evil. About: I’ve been writing romance novels for ages, and I’ve been a reader for even longer! I have three awesome dogs who snuggle on the couch…

Flambé rose slowly, but without hesitation, although she seemed a little wobbly, and crossed to his side. He slid his arm around her, pulling her beneath his shoulder so she could fit snugly into the window frame with him. He could have easily moved over to give her room, but he wanted to see her reaction to his proprietary claim on her. She seemed to accept him, just the way her leopard accepted his close proximity. The man coming toward the house was still a distance away and was striding boldly up the walkway, two men on either side of him. He acted as if he owned the property, and no one would ever think to oppose him. “He has more men with him. They’re hidden from view in the shrubbery on either side of the house. I’ve counted at least six, but most likely there are more.” Sevastyan was matter-of-fact. Calm. He kept his arm around her. A little shudder went through her body and she took an involuntary step back as if to get away from the window. At the same time, she tried to tug on his waist to take him with her. Her little leopard pushed…

“Bébé, what are you doing?” I called from the bed as I looked at Yin fussing around in our little kitchen on the other side of our studio apartment. I bit back a smile when he whipped around toting two mugs in a candy cane motif. “I was trying to bring you some coffee with peppermint creamer, Mr. Sleepy Head.” The attempt at sounding stern was thwarted by the grin on his face. He closed the space between us in a few steps and handed me the steaming mug. I reached out for the drink knowing it would probably be too sweet. And that I would drink it anyway, because how could I not, when it was made for me with such love? It was still hard to believe sometimes that I had this life. I patted the spot on the bed next to me, as Yin blew on his own cup. “Come sit with me.” He held up a finger and looked down at his drink. “Let me wait until this cools down, because you know me, I’ll probably spill this all over the bed and then we’ll spend Christmas at the ER.” I had to bite back a…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  SLOW BURN 2–What is it about?  After a terrible tragedy, Jake Lowell flees his home. But he leaves behind the girl he loves. 3–What word best describes your heroine?  Adaptable. . . 4–What makes your hero irresistible?  He feels things deeply, even when he can’t show his emotions. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?  For Nikki, it’s her mom. Jake turns to no one. He lives life on his own. 6–What do you love about the setting of your book?  I had to brush up on New Jersey, because I haven’t spent time there. 7–Are you a plotter (follow an outline) or a pantster (write by the seat of your pants)? Pantser all the way! 8–What is an ideal writing day for you? Putter in the morning, chores, email, etc. Then hit the writing hard in the afternoon. If my husband has night meetings, I’ll write a lot more after dinner. 9–Do you listen to music while you write, need total silence, or do you have the TV on? Total silence. . . 10– How do you approach research?  I Google everything!! And I mostly write…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  The Man in the Microwave Oven 2–What is it about? Theo Bogart is hiding out in San Francisco to escape the tabloid press after a family tragedy in her native England. For the past year she’s lived a secret life, concealing her identity from her new friends and neighbors.  Dangerous family secrets follow her and when the woman who threatens to expose her is murdered, Theo is plunged into the kind of danger she fled 5,000 miles to escape. 3–What word best describes your main character(s)?  Conflicted. 4–What makes your story relatable? Theo thinks she’s alone but finds good friends and even love where she least expects it. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?  Theo relies on her gruff and secretive grandfather and her best friend, Nat, who owns a neighborhood coffee shop. 6–What do you love about the setting of your book?  Are you kidding?  It’s San Francisco! I love everything about the city, lived there for years, and enjoy revisiting it through Theo’s adventures. 7–Are you a plotter (follow an outline) or a pantster (write by the seat of your pants)? Definitely a pantster–even…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to the authors as a reader you may fall in love with… It’s our great pleasure to present LISA HARRIS!  Writes:  Lisa Harris writes adrenaline-fueled suspense laced with romance. Her latest novel, THE ESCAP, is book one in a brand-new US Marshals series and explores the dangerous job of chasing down fugitives. Lisa has been compared to the thriller style of J.T. Ellison and Julie Garwood and is known for crafting fast-paced adventures with complex suspects, romance, and messages of faith. d About:  While many people love an adrenalin rush–anything from extreme sports to amusement parks to high-stress jobs–Lisa’s perfectly content to spend her days sitting behind the safety of her computer screen while she puts her hero and heroine’s lives on the line. But she’ll never pass up a safari and a close-up encounter with wild animals in the African bush, as she’s lived on the African continent for almost two decades. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Someone who lives for getting tangled up in a suspense novel filled with twists and turns…

Ethan was staring at the moon. He sat up, gasping and choking. He rolled off the padding and clawed at the raw planks of the floor. Then he heard the water. A soft summer breeze blew up tiny waves. They splashed like cymbals against the pilings that rose to either side of where he lay. He gripped the nearest strut and forced himself to his feet. The night was utterly dark. He was dressed in a pair of raggedy cutoffs and a T-shirt. On his feet were leather sandals curled and cracked by salt and hard days. He was completely alone. Ethan cried out, a choking sound wrenched from the terror and confusion that filled him. He knew where he was. What was more, he knew when. The summer before his final year at the university, when he and his best friend had wrangled jobs at the Holiday Marina. The long pier ran back to the shore, every plank in place, the pilings straight as arrows. The marina’s unmistakable form was silhouetted by yellow streetlights. Four A-frames housed the sailing classes, the repair shop, the store, and the stockrooms. An old canvas inflatable raft lay on the pier, with a…