“I guess that officially makes us neighbors, then.” He smiled. “Nick Silva. I live at the end of the street. The only house that isn’t the color of an Easter egg, by the way.” Jess was tempted to smile back, but something told her it would only encourage him to linger. Not that Nick needed encouragement. He extended his hand. “And you are…” “Jessica Keaton.” Jess recreated Nita Warrior Princess’s brisk handshake. The rosebush tried to hinder Jess’s final quickstep to the patio, but she made it. Nick followed, Chuck Taylor high-tops trampling violas left and right. “Does that Buick out front belong to you?” Without thinking, Jess shook her head. As far as she was concerned, it wasn’t a lie. The Buick belonged to Jessie Keaton, an eighteen-year-old escapee from a small town much like Winsome Lake. The car had aided and abetted her flight to freedom a decade ago until it eventually made its way to an outbuilding on the Donovan estate. Safely locked away. Like everything else in Jess’s past. But as much as she wished a tow truck would haul the thing to the nearest scrapyard, Jess doubted a vehicle was part of her new benefit…
Jen: What inspired you to write OTHER PEOPLE’S THINGS? Kerry: Get ready for a two-part answer! The first hit of inspiration is thanks to the wonderful people who come in and clean my house every other week. I hate cleaning, so this is a little gift I give myself. The Viking and I go out for breakfast, and when we come home it’s like the magical elves have been there. Anyway. This one morning as I was putting my key in the lock and thinking about the cleaners, this little blip of an idea flitted through my brain: What if there was a cleaning person who could read the energy on objects in a person’s house that let her know things about the people who lived there? So I sort of filed that away somewhere in my brain. Much later, I was ready to start writing a new book but didn’t really have any good ideas. So I sat down, opened my journal, and wrote on a blank page: Auditioning for New Ideas. And then I started scribbling and Nickle, the main character in OTHER PEOPLE’S THINGS, showed up and started talking to me. Not that she told me much…
It was quitting time, and Bridgette was shutting down her office when Wade appeared in the doorway. “Hey, darlin’. Wanna go with me to get a Christmas tree for the store? I’ll throw in a snow cone for your trouble.” “Oooh, yes!” Bridgette said. “Do you want to take your car home first, or leave it here and I bring you back to get it later?” “Are you going to bring the tree back here to the store?” He nodded. “Then I’ll leave it here.” She grabbed her jacket and purse and followed him through the store as he locked up access doors and made sure the security cameras were working. Wade noticed the pensive look on her face and stopped long enough to give her a quick hug. “This was a weird day, wasn’t it, honey? Are you okay about everything that happened?” She sighed. “Yes. Just sorry for Josh’s family. I know LaJune and the kids well enough to visit with them when I see them around. This makes me sad for them.” Wade pushed a curl from her forehead, then brushed a kiss across her lips. “I think Uncle Dub was feeling the same. He called me…
Danielle: Hi, Roan! Welcome back to Fresh Fiction. For readers who might not be familiar, can you give us a little rundown about your Garnet Run series? Roan: Totally! The Garnet Run series is what I’d call cozy romance. It’s set in the small town of Garnet Run, Wyoming where (in my head canon, at least) everyone is queer unless explicitly stated. We start with Better Than People, in which Jack, a grouchy and antisocial artist, breaks his leg and can no longer walk his pack of rescue animals. Enter Simon, a super-shy, virgin animal lover who takes over the task. As they get to know each other, Simon falls in love with Jack’s menagerie—and then with Jack himself. Jack, of course, is already smitten. We also meet Jack’s older brother, Charlie, who raised him after their parents died when they were teenagers. The second book, Best Laid Plans, is Charlie’s love story. Forced to grow up at 18, when he had to raise Jack, run the family business, and pay the rent, Charlie missed out on the whole self-discovery part of being young. Now in his thirties, he’s never had a relationship—he doesn’t even know if he has…