According to my children, at long last, I’m having my kitchen redone. They have offered suggestions over the years, but never any money. The 1980s kitchen does need many upgrades and updates, but so many choices. Strip the walls to the studs and start over. Cabinets, flooring, appliances, oh my. I have looked at the project as an exercise in functionality. I have no opinion about tables and chairs. Color and style are secondary. I’m the same way with any big purchase. I’ve bought a succession of white cars. I take what’s available, I’m not picky, but I do hate waiting. My whole house now looks dated. A small change is a pebble thrown in the lake. Many ripples to contend with, namely the family room. The kitchen’s neighbor would like some love too. Renovation is growing into a major overhaul. Knocking down a wall has entered the conversation. Because of all the looming decisions, I’ve turned inward. It could be time to step out of availability into what else is there. Avoiding online shopping is one of my hallmarks. Now, I have tabs open for sinks, countertops, and dishes. I’m thinking blue. About Mary Jo Burke Mary Jo is a…

Each Monday the Smashwords store lists the top ten most highly anticipated indie fiction ebooks based on the previous week’s preorder accumulations. Each title on the list is scheduled to release within the next week. To help the talented authors on this list accumulate even more preorders, click the title of the book. The hyperlink will bring you to a Books2Read page where you can order from your preferred ebook retailer. If the preorder is part of a series, click the hyperlinked series title to learn about the other books in the series. Be sure to check back Friday for a list of the Top 25 Bestselling Indie Ebooks.

In this week’s Jen’s Jewels, I am pleased to welcome back fan-favorite, Anthony Horowitz. His latest release, A DEADLY EPISODE, is the sixth book in the bestselling Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery series. If you’re a fan of dry humor and whodunits, this one is for you.   LIGHTNING ROUND  • What’s your favorite writing season: hopeful spring, beachy summer, reflective fall, or cozy winter, and why? I write all year round but my favourite time has to be the end of winter: January and February. I sit in my tiny house in Suffolk and I watch the clouds racing past and the horizontal rain beating at the windows. I light a fire and make a pot of tea. What else can I do but write? • What’s one snack or treat that always appears when you’re deep in writing mode? Chocolate. Chocolate cookies. With green tea. • What’s one small thing that instantly puts you in a creative mood? My Tintin rocket. I have a model that’s 35 cms high and it always takes me into orbit. THE SPRING SPARK  * May often signifies the start of something new. In what ways did this story represent a new chapter for you…

What is the title of your latest release?THE SAMURAI’S OCTOPUS What’s the “elevator pitch” for THE SAMURAI’S OCTOPUS?Shōgun meets Memoirs of a Geisha in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter of the 1790s. How did you decide to start writing historical mysteries set in Japan?I started out writing modern day mysteries set in Japan, but the past is still so present here in every way—from how people dress to the way they give foreigners the side-eye, as if 300 years of samurai-era isolation had barely ended—and you can’t really write about the present here without writing about the past. Then the characters in the flashbacks became too interesting to keep off the stage, and once they were there, they kind of took over. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Absolutely. Like most writers, I write what I read, and what really hooks me on a book is if I love being in that world and spending time with those characters. When someone tells me they dragged their feet as they got near the end of one of my books because they didn’t want it to end, I go around with a grin on my face all day long. What…

Excerpted from MS. MEBEL GOES BACK TO THE CHOPPING BLOCK by Jesse Q. Sutanto: All her life, Mebel Tanadi has always had a fear of-not so much death as much as situations that eventually lead to death. Like getting lost in a desert, for example. It’ll hit her when she drinks a glass of water and sees a tiny bit remaining at the bottom of the glass. Her brain will go: When you are wandering around a desert without any water, you will think back to this moment and wish you’d drank every drop. And Mebel will lift the glass once more and make sure she gets every single drop. Or when she is swimming, treading water in the deep end of the pool, her brain might say: Check for sharks. And she’d look over her shoulder just in case a great white somehow found its way into the swimming pool in their backyard. Sometimes, when Mebel cuts off a piece of steak a little too big, her brain says: I wonder if your face will remain purple after you die from choking on that bite. It would make for an interesting topic of conversation at the funeral anyway. And Mebel would…

Paint It, Black – The Rolling StonesAt the start of THE LAST SUNDAY IN MAY, Mack is so close to getting everything she’d ever wanted, but she quickly loses her shot at her racing dreams. Circumstances and her own choices lead her to a dark place. She’s angry, she’s hurt, and she’s lonely. I look inside myselfAnd see my heart is black…Maybe then, I’ll fade awayAnd not have to face the factsIt’s not easy facing upWhen your whole world is black More than anything, Mack is full of self-loathing, and I think this stanza from “Paint It Black” perfectly sums her internal state for most of her twenties. She hates herself for the choices she made, she hates the things that happened in her life, but most of all she hates that she still longs for the things she thinks she can’t have. Living the Dream – Sturgill SimpsonTime and time again Lord I keep going through the motionsA means to an end but the ends don’t seem to meetWalking around living the dream anytime I take the notionTil the truth comes bubbling up so bittersweet I can imagine Mack rage cleaning while blasting this song through her headphones. She’s…

Each Friday the Smashwords store reports the bestselling indie fiction titles based on the previous week’s sales. If an author has more than one title eligible for the list, only the highest performing title will be included. This ensures high-performing titles receive the accolades they deserve, while providing up-and-coming authors the visibility they have earned. Don’t miss Monday’s Top 10 Hot Preorders List, where Smashwords will provide a list of the most highly anticipated ebook preorders.

What is the title of your latest release?DOCTOR WHO: 1001 NIGHTS IN TIME AND SPACE What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?What if the whole galaxy was erased – apart from one storyteller and his friends? Could he re-instate the whole universe by telling all his favorite stories one after the next and wishing everyone back into existence…? How did you decide where your book was going to take place?Because it’s Doctor Who we had all of time and space to play with – and everywhere the TARDIS had visited in 63 years. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Ruby Sunday would be a great friend, particularly in the event of an alien invasion What are three words that describe your hero?Fabulous. Fabular. Timely. What’s something you learned while writing this book?That there’s nothing you can’t do within the format of Doctor Who Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?We swapped the stories back and forth as we went, editing each other before anyone else got involved. What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?Always the Doctor’s favorite, fish-fingers in custard! Describe your writing space/office!It’s a brightly lit white space with a hexagonal…

What is the title of your latest release?THE SEA SPINNER (Reign of Remnants Trilogy, Book #2) What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Four elemental souls scattered to distant corners of their war-torn world must reunite and restore the balance of magic before it dies out completely. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?Since this is a high fantasy trilogy, I was able to create a whole world from the ground up. I had a lot of fun designing the map for the series in tandem with writing the first book. The world building was actually one of my favorite things about crafting this series, constantly expanding, giving me an endless sandbox to play around in as more characters were added and plots grew more complex. Due to the nature of the story, I knew from the very start that the realm needed to be vast, with many different geographical formations, climates, and landscapes… all of which play a pivotal role in different ways. The battle scenes, for instance, are highly dependent on location, and their outcomes vary wildly because of the surrounding terrain. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?That sounds…

Excerpt from 51% by Matt Witten: Chapter One: 4:32 am Haylee and Juke In her tiny one-bedroom speck on 20th Street, Haylee Navarro tossed and turned. Finally she got out of bed, threw cold water on her face, and made coffee and oatmeal to fortify herself. She’d been eating this exact same breakfast for weeks and was stupefyingly sick of it, but her income had been pathetic lately – her last murder paid less than twenty dollars! – and oatmeal was all she could afford. Especially with her syndicate taking so much off the top. She glugged down the coffee, pushed her short, no-nonsense brown hair off her forehead, and banged her fist on the kitchen table. “You are tough and you are ready,” she said out loud. She ripped open the kit she’d bought last night off the interdrone, taking out a Q-tip and a shiny green sheet of chemical paper. All she had to do was swab the Q-tip inside her cheek, roll it on the paper, and within seconds she’d know. Either the paper would stay green, or it would turn holy-shit-I’m-pregnant red. Or to be precise, she thought, holy-shit-I’m-pregnant-broke-and-single red. A picture of Harrison came into…