Book Title: THE CODEBREAKER’S DAUGHTER Character Name: Lillian Kendall How would you describe your family or your childhood? In my forties now, I try to think about my family and my childhood as little as possible. To most of my acquaintances and friends, my life began when I came to Riverbank at age seventeen during the Great War. What was your greatest talent? All of my talents are what my daughter Dinah would call “dull”—creating and solving crossword puzzles, handling finances, keeping the home clean and organized, predicting any number of possible disasters… Significant other? Roger. You likely know him; everyone in our hometown does. He can talk to anyone about anything and be genuinely interested, too. I don’t know what I would do without him, despite the rocky start to our relationship. Biggest challenge in relationships? Letting people in. I find it difficult to trust others. However, I would argue that’s not a fault, but a strength, given how few people are, in fact, trustworthy. Where do you live? At the moment, I am temporarily living in Washington D.C. Just until the Friedmans…well, just to help out some old friends of mine in an emergency. Then I’ll return home…

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 Katharine Schellman! Writes: Katharine Schellman writes mysteries with puzzling plots and determined sleuths. She likes to focus on the stories of women and queer folks in historical settings. And she can’t resist adding in things like swoony love triangles, found families, and clues hidden in plain sight that you’ll be determined to spot before the characters do. About: I’m Katharine Schellman, an award-winning author of historical crime fiction. My novels, which reviewers have called “worthy of Rex Stout or Agatha Christie,” have been named one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of the Year, a Library Journal Best Crime Fiction of the Year, and a New York Times editor’s pick. My work has been nominated for the Silver Falchion award and won the Zibby Media National Book Award for Best Book for the History Lover. Weird past jobs: Political consultant, professional actor, lingerie salesperson Not good at: Keeping houseplants alive, buying a reasonable number of books Loves: Libraries, beaches, champagne, naps. Currently lives: In the mountains of Virginia with…

1–What is the title of your latest release? EAT POST LIKE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? EAT POST LIKE is a story about Cassie Brooks, a lawyer who has spent her entire life myopically focused on her career. After her boyfriend dies, she realizes that he has been living a double life, one that she grows more and more curious about. She accepts an invitation to an all-expenses paid trip to Europe on his behalf and finds herself immersed in a world she was grossly unprepared for. While eating her way through Europe she must confront everything she thought she knew – about her lost love and about herself.   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? EAT POST LIKE is inspired by just a handful of trips I took as a cocktail and spirits writer. I remember sitting in these incredible restaurants, eating once in a life-time meals, and thinking that they would be incredibly visceral scenes for a drama. Some of the restaurants I’ve visited, and some I still want to visit. Strangely, writing about the ones I haven’t been to yet, brought them to life for me anyway. I had…

Book Title: THE VERY BEST OF CARE Character Name: Dr. Mitch Wagner How would you describe your family or your childhood?   Dysfunctional and self-centered. I grew up in New York City, son of a renowned orthopedic surgeon and professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. For as long as I can remember, my father was grooming me to be a physician, just like himself. I was close to becoming his vision of a perfect physician son, until I decided I was not going to specialize in orthopedics. Instead, I chose obstetrics and gynecology – apparently a blasphemous choice coming from a long lineage of orthopedic surgeons. From the day I announced my decision, I lost any hope for acceptance from my father. According to him, I had chosen “sissy” medicine, which he occasionally called “pussy” medicine when he was deep into his bottle of Scotch. But I wasn’t going to give up on him or us – I would show him that I was worthy, every bit as smart as he, and someday I would be equally respected in my specialty. What was your greatest talent?  I’m brilliant. School was ridiculously easy for me. In 6th grade I’d…

1–What is the title of your latest release? I DID WARN HER 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A luxurious yacht, a gorgeous crew with secrets and rivalries…and murder! To use Sara Ochs’ fantastic blurb, it is Below Deck with a body count. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? After my debut, I wanted to write another isolated setting, and the idea of something on the water was appealing. I am a massive fan of Below Deck and after watching it I knew a superyacht would be perfect for a thriller. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Maybe?! I DID WARN HER takes a multi-POV focus, with all the stewardesses having a voice, but for Sasha, the newbie who comes aboard with good intentions at the beginning of the book, I think she’d be the easiest to hang out with for sure. Whether she’d be someone I’d actively choose to hang out with might be telling! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Good-willed. Naive. Secretive. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Something that particularly shocked me was how well superyachts can evade legal action….

1–What is the title of your latest release? JUST BEACHY 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Sydney Ryan has played a police detective on the hit show Murder 101 for so long that when she’s booted off the show everyone expects her to be able to solve crimes. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I grew up on St. Pete Beach and lived on Treasure Island before moving to Atlanta where we lived for almost thirty years. I moved back down about four years ago after my husband died. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. I love Sydney Ryan and her grandmother. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Smart, “plucky” and determined. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? The different branches of law enforcement. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? It varies. I try to send in the best first draft possible, but once the book is turned in there will be revisions, copyedits, and a number of other opportunities to tweak things. It takes a while to be “totally done.” 8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?…

1–What is the title of your latest release? IN DEFENSE OF GOOD WOMEN 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A successful, small-town lawyer is court appointed to represent a seventeen-year-old minister’s daughter accused of hiding her pregnancy and drowning her newborn in the St. Clair River, the shipping channel between Ontario and Michigan. The girl denies being pregnant and giving birth and the lawyer must unravel the truth of the case. As she does, memories of her own life that she has suppressed are unearthed.    3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I lived on the banks of the St. Clair River for ten years and was always fascinated by Michigan’s proximity to Canada.  I always knew that if I wrote a novel, the river would be a character in it. It plays a major role in my novel. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I absolutely would.  I practiced law in the area where my book is set.  Although my style was different from Victoria’s, I always enjoyed spending time with female lawyers (who were few in number) who were brash, tough, and successful. 5–What are three words…

1–What is the title of your latest release? FROM THE VALLEY WE RISE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? French Resistance agent Isabelle Seauve, US Army Chaplain Peter Christiansen, and young maquisard René Amblard each face danger and harrowing choices when the town of Sisteron is bombed during Operation Dragoon in the final summer of World War II. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Setting is always an important part of my novels. Living in France, I was able to visit Sisteron, the city where much of the novel takes place. But my first inspiration (unbeknownst to me at the time) started way back in 1983 when my teammates and I, newly arrived in France, took a group of college-aged Americans to a village near Sisteron called Entrepierres where we spent two weeks lifting stones and digging ditches to help build back this dilapidated village. Heading up the work project was a visionary British missionary who lifted his hands to the sky and challenged us in our thoughts about faith, work, and love. His vision, which became a reality, was to create a retreat center for full-time French pastors and missionaries. God…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE MARRIAGE VENDETTA 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? When resentful stay-at-home mom Eliza is sent a suggestive photo of her husband Richard with another woman, she’s just about ready to file for divorce. As a last resort, she visits a marriage therapist, Ms. Early, who Eliza quickly learns is a bit… alternative in her approach. As their sessions unfold, Ms. Early spurs Eliza on to commit a series of bizarre, vengeful acts against Richard, all in the name of “retraining” him. But when therapy takes a risky turn, suspicions grow and alliances shift… How far is Eliza willing to go to save her marriage? 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? THE MARRIAGE VENDETTA is a (loose) modern retelling of the doomed relationship between the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan and his wife Eliza. I had considered setting the book in Bath in England where the real Eliza grew up, and where she first met Richard. In the end, I changed my mind and decided to set it in Dublin because I’ve lived here more than half my life now and love this city so…

The songs on this list all have, in small or significant ways, a theme of reinvention, either lyrically or in relation to a movie or TV show they’re related to. Reinvention isn’t always about a makeover or moving to Paris. Sometimes, it’s simply about looking inward and re-evaluating how you’ve always done things, the truths you’ve always believed, and seeing it all different.  “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You,” Lick the Tins I actually created the character Dawn 30 years ago, in a screenplay no one ever read that I wrote longhand in a spiral notebook. Originally, she was a backup singer in a garage band who was more talented and badass than anyone gave her credit before until she just went for it. She’s a little baby version of the Dawn we know now, but she was inspired, in part by Watts, the talented tomboy drummer on “Some Kind of Wonderful” – another young woman whose image is framed by what other people think until she decides otherwise. This spirited Celtic version of the Elvis classic is in that 1987 movie’s closing credits, and it was in my head while writing FAMILY & OTHER CALAMITIES. Perfect theme song…