Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Jean Stone | A Long Writing Career, Thanks to a Teacher
Author Guest / October 1, 2021

“This about the name of the teacher who influenced you the most.” The question came from Kurt Vonnegut, American author and icon. “And don’t say it out loud.” It happened a couple of decades ago; I sat in an auditorium at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where Mr. Vonnegut was holding a public lecture. A jumble of thoughts seemed to whirl through the audience. I, however, did not have to ponder. For me, that teacher was Miss Carroll. Way back in the 1960s, she’d been my English teacher in both sixth and ninth grades, in West Springfield, down the road from Northampton. For some mysterious reason, she’d recognized that writing would be my life. “We’ve had fun,” Miss Carroll wrote in my yearbook. “You have a talent. Write! Write! Write!” She was young, energetic, and clearly loved teaching. (I can still see her long, polished fingernails clicking the beats of iambic pentameter when she taught us to embrace poetry.) Most of all, she encouraged me to daydream, to make up stories, to write them down. In an era when, in many small towns, career opportunities (and expectations) for girls were still limited, Miss Carroll taught me to be me. Did…

Avery Flynn | Exclusive Interview: MAMA’S BOY
Author Guest / October 1, 2021

Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Avery! We are happy to have you here. Please tell us about yourself and your new book, MAMA’S BOY.  Thank you so much for having me! Love getting to hang out with fellow Fresh Fiction book nerds. I have the absolute best memories of FF get-togethers and how nice everyone was and how fun it was to get to talk books with everyone. So. Much. Fun. Speaking of fun, that’s pretty much what you get with MAMA’S BOY. It’s the first book in the Last Man Standing series all coming out together on August 30 (my birthday!). It has Dixon (a billionaire mama’s boy control freak determined to win a bet), Fiona (a Hartigan and a woman on a mission to put this billionaire in his place), attack geese, a hidden room in a library scene that is HOT, and a ghost dog that isn’t a ghost but is most definitely a dog. Basically, it’s a good time in book form.  MAMA’S BOY is the first book in the Last Man Standing series, with NEANDERTHAL and MANSPLAINER are coming soon. I have to admit, the titles are very intriguing, but perhaps more than what they seem on…

Annika Sharma | Exclusive Excerpt: LOVE, CHAI, AND FOUR LETTER WORDS
Author Guest / October 1, 2021

Nash A new start. After driving a moving van fourteen hours, putting his stuff in storage, living out of a suitcase for two weeks while sleeping on his best friend Brandon’s couch, and finally finding an apartment, Nash had a home. It was the size of a shoebox…but it was a home. He closed the door and turned to survey the studio. He didn’t have much stuff—­he’d sold most of it before coming up north. The windows behind his couch overlooked Third Street. His bed was pushed up against the left corner of the apartment, a nook where the living space met the outer walls of the bathroom, creating a dedicated sleeping space. The renovated kitchen lined the right-­side wall, conspicuously smaller than any kitchen Nash had ever seen, with a door at the end for a bathroom. He remembered the nights when the electricity went out and Mom had shouting matches with the electric company about extending their payment period. Memories of his twin mattress against the carpet made him thankful for the fact that he could afford a box spring now. While the walls could have used a new coat of paint, as Brandon so kindly pointed out,…