Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Dete Meserve | What would you do if you could spend an hour in your past?
Author Guest / May 22, 2025

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE MEMORY COLLECTORS      2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? What would you do if you could spend an hour in your past? Four strangers in the beach town of Ventura, California, step back into their pasts only to find themselves trapped in time. As their paths intertwine unexpectedly, they unearth shocking secrets hidden in the shadows of their shared history. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’d been visiting my friend Kes Trester, whose beach home in Ventura, California, inspired the setting of this story. Its sundrenched beaches and serene waves contrast beautifully with the winding highways that vanish into pitch-black nights, making it the perfect backdrop for this story. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? There are four protagonists in THE MEMORY COLLECTORS, and I feel like I know them so well that they’re real. I would definitely want to experience an ordinary day in their lives with them. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? There are four protagonists, so I’ll share something for each: Elizabeth: Heartbroken Logan: Craving former freedom Andy: Seeking vanished love Brooke: Haunted…

Gabrielle Meyer | A race against time to stop a killer
Author Guest / May 22, 2025

1–What is the title of your latest release? EVERY HOUR UNTIL THEN 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? As a time-crosser, Kathryn Voland lives in 1888 England and pre-World War II Washington, DC. In the 1930s, when she curates a museum exhibit about Jack the Ripper, she discovers that her sister will become his last victim in 1888. Kathryn must race against time to save her, knowing it will cost her everything–including the only man she’s ever loved. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Every Hour Until Then is the 5th book in my Timeless Series. Each book is set in a unique historical time and place, and when I had the idea for the Jack the Ripper plot, I knew it would be set in London in 1888. My heroine lives in both 1888 and 1938, and I knew I needed her to have access to the Jack the Ripper files, so I decided that she would be a visiting curator who would put together an exhibit about the notorious killer. It was fun to set the story in the same city, fifty years apart, and see how much, and how…

Linwood Barclay | A supernatural chiller that will do for toy trains what Chucky did for dolls
Author Guest / May 22, 2025

1–What is the title of your latest release? WHISTLE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Whistle is a horror/supernatural chiller that will do for toy trains what Chucky did for dolls. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Given the main character’s profession, New York City made sense as a starting place, and the other locations needed to be within driving distance. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? For sure. Annie is a very talented artist and writer. A very interesting person. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Creative, resilient, protective. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Sometimes the story you’re writing is actually two novels in one. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? Answer: Both. 8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? Popcorn. 9–Describe your writing space/office! There’s a big window beyond my desk, so I know FedEx is here before they ring the bell. Book posters and a framed photo of Alfred Hitchcock on the wall, toys based on TV shows from the 60s, an old Royal manual typewriter that’s just for show, and lots and lots of…

Jenny Morris | Conversations in Character with Thea Greaves
Author Guest / May 22, 2025

Book Title: AN ETHICAL GUIDE TO MURDER Character Name: Thea Greaves How would you describe your family or your childhood? Not ideal. Dead parents. Deep seated need for revenge—Opps, I mean justice. Raised by a granddad who thinks ‘How are you?’ is a personal question. What was your greatest talent? Most people would say it’s my ability to tell when people are going to die just by touching them and redistribute that life from one person to another. But I’d say it’s my extensive chorological knowledge of Busted and S Club 7. Significant other? Sam, my partner in life, death and murder. He doesn’t want to put a label on it though. It’s cool, I’m very chill about it. Biggest challenge in relationships? I can’t think of anything. As I said I’m just a very chill person. Why, did someone say I wasn’t? Give me their name. Where do you live? In Clapham with my real significant other, best friend of seventeen years, Ruth. She gives me subsidized rent and I steal her food. To be fair, I did save her life. Sure, I killed someone else in the process, but it was an accident, to begin with… Do you…

Jane Kirkpatrick | Exploring Crying Sands Beach
Author Guest / May 21, 2025

Good morning!  It’s early because that’s when I saddle my horse Jake, and ready myself to deliver the mail across the rugged North Oregon Coast. My name is Mary Gerritse and I’m the first woman to carry mail bags along the beach, wary of the tides and careful on the treacherous trails over the mountain. I didn’t always have this job but that’s another story. I’d like to introduce you to a town on the Crying Sands Beach – known by some as Cannon Beach – but no town existed there when my story begins. So I can’t tell you about the salt water taffy shoppe or the boarding house because they came later. Instead I’ll introduce you to some of the landscape features that affected my life. An Austrian poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, who lived before me, wrote once that “I describe myself as a landscape, studied at length and in detail.” Every day on my route, I have the privilege of studying this remarkable landscape where tall timber marches down to the sea and the Pacific rolls in to surround the rocks. I’ve learned about myself through the challenges of navigating those rocks and ridges. And through homesteading…

Playlist | RIDE WITH ME by Simone Soltani
Author Guest / May 21, 2025

Creating a playlist for each book I write is a key part of my process. Honestly, I don’t think I could write without music driving me along! So here are five songs that I listened to on repeat while writing and that fit the vibes of RIDE WITH ME, a Formula 1 romance that kicks off with an accidental Las Vegas wedding, perfectly. Marry You – Bruno Mars “It’s a beautiful night, we’re lookin’ for somethin’ dumb to do Hey, baby, I think I wanna marry you” When it comes to upbeat anthems about getting married on a whim, this has to be the go-to. Considering our main characters, Stella and Thomas, put very little (drunken) thought into their decision, this is definitely fitting! Married in Vegas – The Vamps “Under the neon lights I think we might get married in Vegas” How could I have a book about getting married in Vegas without the song “Married in Vegas”? This one from The Vamps is such a bop and has plenty of nods to taking a gamble on someone, which is exactly what Stella and Thomas do for each other—and it certainly pays off in the end. Olivia Rodrigo –…

Mimi Matthews | Great Expectations meets Peaky Blinders, with a dark academia vibe
Author Guest / May 21, 2025

1–What is the title of your latest release? RULES FOR RUIN (Crinoline Academy, book 1) 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Great Expectations meets Peaky Blinders, with a dark academia vibe. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Victorian era is my favorite period in history. I love the grit and the atmosphere, and the social and political dynamics at play. It was a period of great change, when people had to either learn to adapt or be left behind. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. Effie Flite is witty, loyal, and possessed of a keen sense of fashion. All qualities I admire! She’s also a girl’s girl, with a strong sense of sisterhood. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do for her friends. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Clever, courageous, determined. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? During the course of my research, I learned just how revolutionary it was for mid-Victorian women to be thoroughly educated, and to be taught things like basic self-defense. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I edit as I draft….

Meg Napier | So many books, so little time
Author Guest / May 21, 2025

You’ve heard it before, but let me scream it again: “So many books … so little time!” And I’m yelling not just about any old books but about great reads that will appeal to story lovers everywhere. First off, the always brilliant Emily Henry delivers a wonderfully captivating and engrossing tale in her new novel, GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL LIFE. Her previous romantic titles served as descriptors for her various enamored couples, but the “life” embedded in this title refers not to Alice or Hayden—two journalists competing to author a biography—but to an aging former celebrity who’s been missing from public view for decades. Margaret Ives’s story, as she meters it out in imprecise drips and drabs, does, indeed, describe a “big” life, but just how “beautiful” it was puzzles Alice and Hayden as they simultaneously struggle to decipher the disingenuous octogenarian’s stories and manage the growing passion they feel for each other. I’ve enjoyed many of Ms. Henry’s books, but I truly loved this newest offering, as much a fine and rewarding mystery as a satisfying romance. Kennedy Ryan has a new book out, and I was lucky to get an early copy of the astounding CAN’T GET ENOUGH. As…

Tasha Coryell | LOVE LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER
Author Guest / May 20, 2025

1–What is the title of your latest release? LOVE LETTERS TO A SERIAL KILLER 2–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota and recently moved back after living in Alabama for 11 years. I always like to take the opportunity to set books in the Midwest and South, places that don’t normally get a ton of coverage. 3–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? We would absolutely watch reality shows together. I think she would be obsessed with the Craig Conover and Paige DeSorbo break up. 4–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Driven, paranoid, and lonely. 5–What’s something you learned while writing this book? There are a lot more psychopaths than I thought, and the traits weren’t always what I expected. For instance, I didn’t realize that impulsiveness is associated with psychopathy. 6–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I wait until I’m totally done. I’m more of big, structural reviser than someone who fixates on line edits. I’m very grateful for what copy editors do! 7–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? I eat breakfast sandwiches nearly every day….

Liz Johnson | Life on the road can’t provide true friendship and love
Author Guest / May 20, 2025

1–What is the title of your latest release? SOMETIMES YOU STAY 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? When digital content creator and professional traveler Cretia Martin accidentally loses the tools of her trade on Prince Edward Island, she’s forced to stay put until she can replace them. But the longer she stays, the more she discovers that her life on the road can’t provide true friendship—and love. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I was so excited to return to the Red Door Inn on PEI’s fabled north shore. North Rustico is one of my favorite places in the world, and I loved getting to write another book set there and visit some old (fictional) friends. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Definitely! Cretia has a wealth of stories from her trips around the world, and I’d love to hear those and compare hilarious travel stories. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Nomadic. Adventurous. Hopeful. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I would personally make a very terrible travel content creator, especially one who can pack everything she owns into a carry-on. I’m a…