Conflict drives romance, but my favorite scenes to write (and read) are those that show the hero and heroine discovering why they’re perfect for one another. Whether it’s hot sex, similar histories, or realizing they’re more alike than different, the moment when the hero and heroine make their first real connection, brings the feels that make me fall in love with romance. Because of it’s short length, my new release, HEATING IT UP: A Red Hot Russians novella, offered a unique challenge. Widowed artist Nora and Russian adventurer Alexei don’t have months to fall in love, it has to happen in just three days. Attraction sparks when they’re trapped together during a storm and grows as Nora decides to help Alexei save close-knit Antarctic outpost he calls home from closing. But will the truth about Nora’s role in Amity Bay’s demise doom their romance? Though Nora has her secrets, these five things help her see that Alexei is the perfect man. He loves the outdoors – Nora’s military family lived all over the world, and one of the places she loved most was the icy but beautiful island of Greenland. When she comes to Antarctica, she encounters green icebergs and…

Between third and sixth grade, I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on. I followed Nancy through haunted mansions and inside treacherous caves, I rode along in her cute-as-ever convertible and traveled to far-away lands on thrilling adventures. I admired her sleuthing abilities, how she ultimately saved the day and of course, how she seemed to always have the perfect dress for any occasion. Never mind that she was fictional and a bit unrealistic—whose parent would give them all the money they want and let them travel the world to take on hardened criminals? Not mine!—Still, Nancy was one of my favorite childhood heroes and I learned a lot from her. Here’s what Nancy taught me: Be inquisitive, don’t be afraid to ask for what you want, and be tenacious Nancy never backed down from a good mystery, even when it put her in danger. She hung in there, pursuing truth and justice with dogged determination. She went after what she wanted, unapologetic and unabashed. Yes, Nancy was the ultimate get-it-done gal. Women can be both forceful and beautiful Who else but Nancy could slip into a cotton sheath, don pretty patent leather pumps and kick…

Criminal profiling is a fascinating process, a mix of psychology and criminology that tends to create divided reactions: people seem to think it’s either magic or complete BS. The reality is that it’s neither. Profiling takes a crime and predicts the type of person most likely to have committed it – profiles can be as vague as a “white male in his twenties” (which has become a bit of a joke about profiling serial killers) or as specific as “a man in his forties who works a blue-collar job during the second shift, is divorced, has at least one child, and drives a dark-colored sedan.” Narrowing down type of person helps law enforcement center their search and the FBI has an entire unit devoted to the job. Now called the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), it’s been memorialized in both fiction and non-fiction: CRIMINAL MINDS: Although some of the details of the show are just literary license for the sake of fast-moving plot (the BAU’s own private jet, all the profilers flying to consult on each big case, the active “door-kicking” roles the agents take in most of the cases), the profiles themselves are pretty solid. And they should be –…

Julie Anne Long’s latest novel WILD AT WHISKEY CREEK releases today. To make the characters feel real, Long spent time curating the perfect playlist to inspire her writing. She stopped by Fresh Fiction to share her secrets. Long, Long Time — Linda Ronstadt We first meet Glory at an open Mic night in HOT IN HELLCAT CANYON, and this is the song she riveted the audience with…and walked out in the middle of…when she saw Eli standing in the doorway. We learn in Wild at Whiskey Creek that this is the first time they’d seen each other in nearly a year. She knows this beautiful song of unrequited love is one of Glenn Harwood’s favorites, and she loves to make crusty Glenn cry. Hey Hey What Can I Do — Led Zeppelin Pivotal to the story, this Led Zeppelin song is a bit of a paradox—enormously popular on FM radio, it was the flipside of The Immigrant Song but never appeared on any album, so it’s nearly impossible to buy it or own it. It’s the White Whale for many Led Zeppelin fans. Glory catches Eli singing this off key at the top of his lungs in his car when…

In real life, when there’s a horrible, seemingly inexplicable crime, people crowd around the TV to watch interviews with the people who knew the perpetrator best, wanting to know: How could this seemingly normal person do something so shocking? And even more, why did he do it? Did those around him know something was off or was everyone surprised? In real life, we like to speculate about motive and it’s often a key component in criminal trials when it comes to putting the person behind bars. Often, it’s hard to believe someone is guilty until we’re told why he would do it. In fiction, the same thing is true. I’d venture to say that if you’ve ever thrown a mystery against the wall because you don’t buy who the bad guy turns out to be, it probably has to do with motive. You don’t buy into the big reveal because this person didn’t seem to have a strong enough reason to commit the crime. Traditionally, “police procedurals” have really focused on the who and the how, but the why is just as important – and I think, often the most interesting piece. That’s one of the reasons I love writing…