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 you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Stephanie Vance!   Writes: Among other things (e-mails, postcards, the occasional grocery list) I write romantic comedy featuring smart, feisty, often sarcastic heroines who absolutely devastate men who are used to having their own way. Across the Aisle features Dallas McGrath, a female lobbyist working to succeed in a career dominated by men. She’s up against fellow lobbyist Grant Pierce, a handsome charmer who’s sure he’s just one flirt away from defeating Dallas in the lobbying game. Spoiler alert: he’s wrong.   About: Wise (a.k.a. old), witty (a.k.a. snarky), and wine-loving (that speaks for itself) woman seeks partner who appreciates slow burn enemies-to-lovers romcoms featuring strong women who, to put it bluntly, won’t put up with anyone’s crap. Must share my love of travel, romcoms, and dogs, not in that order. I’m a scuba-diver, a business-owner, and a non-sanctimonious vegetarian; I have no problem watching you eat steak (my characters do it all the time), if you’re not pairing it with a Sauvignon Blanc instead of a…

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 you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Victoria Thompson! Writes: Victoria Thompson writes historical mystery, notably the Gaslight Mystery Series, which has been nominated for an Edgar Award and 6 times for an Agatha Award.  The 25th book in that series is MURDER ON MADISON SQUARE! If you enjoy complicated mysteries with a lot of human interest and a really slow-burn romance, this series is for you! About: Victoria spends long hours at her computer thinking of creative ways to murder people at the turn of the last century in New York City. In her spare time, she watches true crime shows on TV and matches wits with her scary-smart grandchildren. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: My ideal reader for MURDER ON MADISON SQUARE would: Love being misled Enjoy witty dialogue Revel in watching characters develop over the long haul Crave learning obscure historical facts Be determined to guess the killer but not mind if they are fooled! What to expect if we’re compatible: Falling in love…

1–What is the title of your latest release? MAGIC, LIES, AND DEADLY PIES 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? ML&DP is about a vigilante baker who kills bad men with good pies. In TV terms, it’s Pushing Daisies meets Dexter. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The book is set in a fictional Massachusetts college town because I wanted a cozy and politically progressive place to for my murder girl to set down roots. 4–Would you hang out with your sleuth in real life? Absolutely! Why would I not when murder and pie is on the menu?? 5–What are three words that describe your sleuth? Whimsical, fashionable, and murdery 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That titles are incredibly hard to come up with!! ML&DP started life as PIES BEFORE GUYS but I had to come up with a bunch of alternative options when the publisher wanted to change it. (And I still mostly just call it ‘the murder pie book’!) 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? Draft first, then edit. I’m an outliner, so the actual drafting can go pretty quick if…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE BANGALORE DETECTIVES CLUB 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? If you’re interested in historical mysteries with feisty women protagonists, this is the book for you! 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I grew up and live in Bangalore, India, which is my favorite city. I’ve lived in many parts of the world, but always chose to return here. My academic research (in my day job as an ecologist and university professor) is also focused on Bangalore, and I have fifteen years of research to draw on, plus my own family’s rich personal experience. With such a wealth of information, there was nowhere else I would have located the book! 4–Would you hang out with your sleuth in real life? Absolutely. Kaveri is such a mold-breaker. She lives in colonial India, in a time and place when ‘good’ women were expected to conform to societal norms and expectations that kept them in their place, i.e. mostly within the home. But she’s a budding mathematician who loves swimming and driving cars, gets involved in solving a murder, and blazes her own path. What’s not to…

Tell me about your choice of setting for this Kate Hamilton mystery series. (setting, history, characters) THE SHADOW OF MEMORY is set in the fictional village of Long Barston in Suffolk as well as the Suffolk coastline, site of a holiday camp where Kate’s friend Vivian Bunn spent her girlhood summers. Near the camp is Netherfield Sanatorium, a derelict Victorian mental hospital being converted into deluxe flats and townhouses. The developer and board of directors have asked Kate and her colleague Ivor Tweedy to appraise a fine collection of antiques that once filled the institution, including a painting attributed to the fifteenth-century Netherlandish painter Jan Van Eyck. But is the painting what it seems to be? And could there be a connection between the hospital and the mysterious deaths of a doctor and his wife? Why Suffolk? I fell in love with the British Isles when I was a student at St. Clare’s College, Oxford. Writing a book means spending a lot of time in the setting you’ve chosen, and Suffolk is one of England’s hidden gems—England the way you picture it in your mind. The “Suffolk Pink” cottages with their thatched roofs and the ancient villages with their cobbled…

PIPER’S PURGATORY evolved from an old recollection. Really old. A million years ago—back when I was in high school. Creative Writing was my favorite class. Our teacher was innovative and kept all the students engaged. I wrote an 8-page short story called WIDOW’S TALE in that high school course. Flash forward many years, and that short story evolved into a 300-page romantic suspense novel that finalized at the RWA’s Golden Heart awards.   But, let’s get back to that class. It was high school. I was young. Too young to appreciate the classics. We were assigned to read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. And wow, love it, I did! But, this class was more than just about reading a classic. To help us fully grasp the characters, our teacher turned the class into Purgatory, and we held a trial on whether Heathcliff should head north or south. This wasn’t a philosophical or an inspirational class. The assignment was to dissect Heathcliff and delve deep into his motivations. Each student played a character in the book and took turns questioning the poor student who portrayed Heathcliff. I was Joseph, the old servant. It wasn’t a reach for me to portray an…

The last thing she said to me was why? Why have our swords always been locked in battle, why have we always been fighting? I said we had locked shields not swords. Patsy talking about her mother, Absolutely Fabulous (TV show)   I’ve often thought that a relationship between a mother and daughter can be a little more complex than the relationship between a mother and son. One of the common taunts (depending on your perspective) to daughters is that eventually all daughters become their mothers. That can often be a frightening thought for some young women. From personal experience, things I’ve read, and anecdotes from friends and others, I’ve noticed that there is often an inescapable antagonism between mothers and daughters while the daughters are teenagers or in their early twenties – especially if they are still living together. Thankfully, usually, once the daughters are older and there has been a little time, space, and perspective, the relationships self-correct and get better. As a reader, I’ve enjoyed having this mother-daughter dynamic explored in many ways.   You love your daughter as she is. I failed to do that with you when you were growing up, and it almost killed…

What made you want to do a reimagining of the classic Peter Pan story? Was it always a favorite or, given the dark turn this story takes, not-so-favorite of yours? I’ve always loved fairy tales in general, especially the dark ones. And I’ve always loved Peter Pan — the original is such a slim volume, but so beautiful and complex. But I hadn’t thought of it in years, until I had a crazy dream featuring a Wendy in a stone tower and Peter Pan boys flying in and out of the windows. When I woke up, I thought “Hmmm. That’s interesting,” and started reading everything I could about J.M. Barrie and his work.   Besides Wendy and Peter Pan, do you bring back any of the other characters from the classic? Yes. Tinker Bell makes an appearance, as well as one or two other characters I don’t want to give away!   Your story, like many fairy tales, taps into deep fears that many people have – sickness, a child’s disappearance, aging. Have you entertained the idea of using these elements in a more traditional thriller? Fairy tales were some of the original thrillers. Think about it — missing children,…

Luke Dempsey, your hero in TURN TO ME, is a man who’s been to prison. What made you decide on a hero with that history? Luke’s younger brother died when Luke was 14.  Luke tried to save him, couldn’t, and then blamed himself for Ethan’s death.  That trauma sent him on a reckless and self-destructive path.  I had that path end with a stint in prison for two reasons: One, because I wanted the challenge of prison to toughen him. Two, because I wanted prison to serve as his motivation to get his life in order. When Turn to Me begins, he’s been out for a few months.  He’s cynical and withdrawn but he’s also dead set on never breaking another law.   How would you describe the dynamic between Luke and Finley? Grump and sunshine!  I had a ball writing these two.  Luke’s an irritable bad boy hero type and Finley’s an idealistic, Boho animal lover.   Because there’s some treasure hunting in this story, is there a mix of romance and suspense? Or does one dominate the story more than the other? There’s definitely a blend of romance and mystery with a dash of suspense thrown in.  But…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE SWEET LIFE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A mom and daughter start an ice cream shop on Cape Cod, with high hopes for success…but you know how complicated that relationship can be. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? My dad grew up on Cape Cod. I’ve traveled there several times and have relatives in Chatham—the jewel of the Cape. What could be better than a summer day in Chatham, Mass? 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? I would definitely hang out with Marnie Dixon, the mom in this story. She’s kind of a middle-aged hippie. Opposite of her daughter Dawn, who’s very literal, very detail minded. On the other hand, I would happily eat Dawn’s ice cream. I’d worry that Marnie would be careless and accidentally cause food poisoning. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Actually, two heroes. Marnie: Spontaneous. Creative. Adventurous. Dawn: Logical. Attention-to-detail. Risk-adverse. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned a lot about the making of ice cream. Quite a lot. My husband attended Penn State’s Ice Cream School (yes…there’s…