What is the title of your latest release?DOWN ON THE SOUTH BEACH DRAG What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?It’s 1972 and eighteen-year-old Maeve O’Connor must win a photography contest to escape her suffocating, conservative family and attend her dream college in Manhattan. But where can she find arresting subjects? She sets her sights on Asbury Park, New Jersey, a once-thriving seaside resort where artists, musicians, side-show entertainers, carnies and alternative lifestyles thrive on the boardwalk in plain sight. After convincing her parents to let her go, Maeve falls in love with Georgie, a talented and androgynous young man, and connects with other artists. But as she embraces the bohemian lifestyle, Maeve must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to live her truth. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?DOWN ON THE SOUTH BEACH DRAG is set at the Jersey Shore in 1972. The early 70s were the most colorful period of my life. I always knew that I would want to revisit that kind of carnival life on the boardwalk. When I decided to write about marginalized people of that time and place, I thought, “Where better than down the shore?” Would you…

Merry Christmas in July! Once upon a time I was asked if I’d like to write a sweet Christmas story and could I include a dog. Since I was out of contract at the time, I, of course, said yes. As I hunted for inspiration for the story, I came across a photo of a Burnese Mountain dog next to a toppled Christmas tree and the idea for A Family Under the Christmas Tree was born.  My mother had just passed, and I wanted to write a story where I could name a character after her. The grandmother in A Family Under the Christmas Tree’s name is Louise, which is my mother’s middle name. Still feeling nostalgic, I named the hero David after one of my favorite great uncles, the boy’s name came from one of my maternal grandmother’s brother, and the last name Murphy was my paternal grandmother’s maiden name. This story is dear to my heart, and I hope you have a chance to enjoy the book. And watch the movie adaption! That’s right, the book was adapted into a Hallmark movie and retitled Picture a Perfect Christmas, starring Merrit Patterson and John Cor. I was blessed to…

What is the title of your latest release?THESE BLUE MOUNTAINS What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?North Carolina’s mountains hide the secrets of a war long past and a young love cut short in this atmospheric tale of unexpected hope. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?My research often decides where my books take place. I find an intriguing tidbit and follow to see where it takes me! While researching the flood of 1916 in western North Carolina for another novel—These Tangled Threads—I came across information about a German POW camp in Hot Springs, NC. German sailors who were in US waters when war was declared were sent to North Carolina for the duration of the war. While there, they built an amazing Bavarian village almost entirely from flood debris. While digging into the history of that camp, I discovered a story about a German woman whose brother was taken prisoner and then disappeared and was presumed dead. Fifteen years later she saw his name on a cross in a photograph of a monument to German sailors who died at the camp in Hot Springs. Finally, she learned what happened to her brother. That…

What is the title of your latest release?WHEN FORTY BLOOMS What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?WHEN FORTY BLOOMS is about a woman on the brink of turning 40 who has to decide what happiness really looks like for her—and whether it includes a husband she thought she’d outgrown. It’s real, it’s messy, and it’s full of love. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?Deciding the book would take place in Atlanta was super easy. I’ve been living in the city and covering Atlanta culture for a long time. Writing about this town–especially the sides of the city that you don’t see on reality TV or hear about in Lil Baby albums (no diss) is actually pretty important to me. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Yup. Simone is the homie. What are three words that describe your protagonist?Quirky. Kind-hearted. Introspective. What’s something you learned while writing this book?Writing this book made me think about areas in my own life where I may’ve overcorrected in reacting to things I went through growing up. I also learned about succulents. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?I…

Taking a break from my usual listicles to talk about tropes. They are so prominent in the romance genre that one cannot escape them in one way or another. But I say this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Tropes are like ice cream flavors, and I don’t know about you, but I’ll often buy books because I’m craving a certain trope. Sometimes that backfires miserably. And sometimes I’ll read a book that features a trope I usually loathe, but this time I enjoy it. It all depends on how the trope is handled. So here’s my first trope I want to discuss: the guardian and ward romance. It’s usually found in historical romance, though sometimes it’s in paranormal and fantasy books. What is appealing about this trope? The aspect of the forbidden: The hero is responsible for the heroine’s well-being and often it’s his job to ensure she has a successful marriage…to anyone but him. Delicious!The characters often get more “screen time” alone together and have the opportunity for more intimacy…and hilarious hijinks. Some readers like older men. (I think that’s part of why I like vampires.) When this trope goes wrong:• When the hero was the heroine’s guardian for…

What is the title of your latest release?ONE YELLOW EYE What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?After a viral apocalypse, one scientist will risk everything to save the life of the only zombie remaining: her husband. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?The book is about one woman’s increasingly unhinged fight to bring her husband back from the undead, and it’s set in London, UK. It was inspired by my experiences of caring for my dad when he was terminally ill with a rare type of blood cancer. We had to keep venturing out across London during the Covid lockdown for his chemotherapy appointments, just the two of us driving through the empty city together, trying to make light of an unbearably grim situation. I spent over twenty years living in London. It’s a city I love for all its faults. It’s still home even though I moved away four years ago. I love the chaos there, the energy, that juxtaposition of the historic and the contemporary. It’s a city full of stories, full of secrets, ever-changing. It made sense to base One Yellow Eye there because for a first novel, I found it…

Book Title: A WITCH’S GUIDE MAGICAL INNKEEPINGCharacter Name: Sera Swan Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Sera. You didn’t give me much of a choice. Right. Shall we just jump right in then? What was it like being the most powerful witch of your generation? Well, for a start, I wasn’t. I mean, I was, but only in Britain. The rest of the world exists too. Have you noticed the Guild always seems to forget that? They’d like to pretend we have the best and brightest, but I have no doubt there are other witches in other places who are just as powerful as I was. Sorry, what was the question again? Oh, right. What was it like? I’m not sure how to answer that, to be honest. Having all that magical power was incredible. It was everything to me. Having it came with challenges, though. When you have so much magic, that’s all people see. They don’t see you. And what are you up to these days? Did Albert Grey tell you to ask me that? I’m not up to anything. I’m definitely not trying to get my magic back. Er, okay. I meant more like what’s your life…

If you love stories packed with small-town secrets, messy family drama, and a good dose of Southern grit, you won’t want to miss my chat with Polly Stewart about her latest novel, THE FELONS’ BALL. Polly shares the real-life places that inspired Ewald, Virginia, the colorful Macready clan, and why she’d personally rather keep the past buried. From moonshine cocktails to dream casting and her next twisty mystery, this interview is like swapping stories on a front porch — come join us! Jen: This story has a lot of Southern grit and family drama. Did you grow up hearing wild stories like Trey’s Felons’ Ball? What sparked the idea for this cast of characters?Polly: I wish I could say that I came from a family of great storytellers and big personalities like the Macreadys, but that wouldn’t be true. My parents are both academics, and while my dad’s roots go deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, my mom is from the Midwest and was always a little surprised that she ended up living in Appalachia. Like a lot of people, I spent most of my childhood wishing I could get away from the small-town South, although there’s nowhere I’d rather…

What is the title of your latest release?HER MANY FACES What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?It’s the story of Katie, a waitress on trial for poisoning four powerful, wealthy members of the private club where she works – but it’s told from the perspectives of the five men who think they know her best. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I wanted the private members’ club where Katie works to be a very exclusive, secretive one that has politicians and celebrities among the clientele – that had to be London. And London also offers an anonymity that really suits both Katie and Gabriel, her childhood best friend who is one of the narrative voices, as they both come from a small seaside town and have their own reasons for escaping into the crowds of the city. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Definitely… but with my guard up. What are three words that describe your protagonist?Unpredictable, passionate, misunderstood What’s something you learned while writing this book?One of the narrative voices is Tarun, Katie’s lawyer, and I spent time working with a real criminal barrister to make sure those sections were…

Pepper Reece here, owner of the Spice Shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. And no, I don’t mind one bit if you call me Spice Girl or the Mistress of Spices. I started coming to the Market with my mother when I was little. (I just turned 44, so you do the math.) We lived in Grace House, a peace and justice community up the hill, and she did most of the cooking. That was the whole-wheat era, not long after the Market was saved from “urban removal.” Founded in 1907 with the mission of bringing producers and customers face to face, it’s the longest continuously operating farmers’ market in the country, open 363 days a year. Thanks to the voters, the Market became a city-within-a-city, with its own governing council and historical commission. I admit, I have struggled with their rules a time or two. But every day, I’m grateful for the citizens of the Emerald City who saw that our past was the key to our future. It was the perfect time for enterprising young people tempted by the Market’s low rents and the intriguing spaces to found businesses, many still thriving. Among them was Jane, who founded…