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.

1–What is the title of your latest release? BLOOD BENEATH THE SNOW 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Revna is the only member of the royal family without magic. To save her best friends, she enters the competition to the death between her four older brothers for the throne. But when she’s kidnapped by a mysterious enemy general with the power to kill with a flick of his wrist, he declares he will train her to win. Because others want Revna on the throne for their own furtive reasons, and the question of who to trust is not as easy as it seems. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I knew from the beginning that I wanted the book to take place in a secondary fantasy world, but in the early renditions of the book it was a pretty vague kind of place! Once I decided on the main character’s name—Revna—I knew I wanted other character names to have a similar feel. I decided to stick with Nordic names, and that’s what sparked the idea of a wintery setting. The northern wastes specifically, where the front lines of the war in the…

For Me This Is Heaven – Jimmy Eat World LOVE AND OTHER PARADOXES is set in the early 2000s, when aspiring poet Joe finds his life – and his love life – upended by the arrival of Esi, a time traveler from the future. Jimmy Eat World is a band that defines the era for me, and I love how the syncopated drums and guitars in this song sound like a clock going backwards. The lyrics also make me think of Esi, torn between her mission to change the past and her growing feelings for Joe: ‘If I don’t let myself be happy now, then when?’ The Wrote & the Writ – Johnny Flynn At the beginning of the book, Joe is so focused on writing the perfect love poem that it gets in the way of his actual relationships. This song, about a lover who writes beautiful letters, but can’t communicate honestly with their partner in the here and now, is the ultimate anthem for him, and for anyone who tends to channel their feelings into books and writing: If you’re born with a love for the wrote and the writ People of letters, your warning stands clear: Pay…

This month’s column is all about the irresistible allure of the villain love interest in paranormal romance. Whether it’s their dangerous confidence, possessive nature, or the smoldering chemistry with their love interests, villains add a level of tension and excitement that heroes can’t match. Think of characters like Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses, Cardan from The Cruel Prince, or Wrath from Kingdom of the Wicked—all of whom combine power, passion, and a touch of danger that make them unforgettable and undeniably hot. The rise of the villain love interest in paranormal romance has captivated readers by blurring the lines between attraction and danger. These characters, often dark, morally ambiguous, and complex, bring a sense of mystery and allure to the story. Readers are drawn to the tension that arises from forbidden love and the internal struggle of loving someone who embodies danger. Villains offer something different from the typical “hero,” allowing the romance to explore themes of power, manipulation, and redemption, often with a twist of irresistible charm. What makes these villains so compelling is their transformation throughout the story. Whether it’s a cold, calculated figure or someone with a tortured past, the villain’s journey is often…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE LAST DAYS OF KIRA MULLAN 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? How do you prove a murder when no-one else believes it happened; how can people trust you when you don’t even trust yourself? 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Some of our books need to have rural settings; this thriller, which is about paranoia and intimate dread, had to be urban. It is set in a crowded part of London where people rent rooms in cheaply converted houses that have thin walls, where there are eyes everywhere, where strangers press up against each other and where friends can’t be trusted. We set it in an area of London called Harlesden, that has a diverse, shifting population and felt perfect. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Yes! Nancy is full of passion and determination. What’s more, she is a very good cook. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Stubborn, courageous, alone 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That many ‘normal’ people hear voices; it is far more common than most of us assume 7–Do you…

The ways we have traveled with our motorhome have changed in the years since 2020 when we began living our on the road adventure. One question we’re often asked is, what do you do with your car, or truck/do you pull it or drive it? Or a variation of this question. We’ve tried several ways.   The day we drove away in our new motorhome to start our adventure, my husband drove the motorhome while I drove my convertible behind him. It’s a different feeling driving away from your old land-based house while following your new home drive down the road. I felt like I was chasing it but never catching up and wanted to be in there with him, going down the road. Since then, I’ve only driven behind him when necessary. Everything we owned was either inside the motorhome or in a storage unit. Our house sold seven days after we listed it, my husband closed his business on a Friday and moved all business equipment and office things into a storage unit the following day. It would take more time to downsize everything.  We would return to finish that process. In the meantime, we were headed down…

Dublin It was the thirtieth of July, 1658, the summer of her twenty-third year, and she couldn’t have asked for a better day on which to start the Plan. The morning had dawned with a brilliant sunrise, scattering the heavy rain clouds that had long plagued the city, filling the sky, the very air around them, with a burst of renewing light. Seven years. Seven long and difficult years she had been waiting for this day. This fated day. And now it was upon them. She wanted to leap with joy and sing with the knowledge of it. Even the air seemed to smell crisper, and the rhododendrons lining the park walkways along St. Stephen’s Green flourished in bright and brilliant bloom as if celebrating the fact that soon she would have her due revenge. It was market day, and the area around Merchants’ Quay was, as usual, a scene of chaos and confusion. Everyone, it seemed, had emerged from beneath their rooftops to revel in the unusual summer clemency. Dockworkers called out to young ladies as they strolled between shop stalls surveying the goods for sale. Hucksters pushing crude wooden carts filled with every sort of notion cried out…

1–What is the title of your latest release? JANE AND DAN AT THE END OF THE WORLD 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A couple out to dinner celebrating their 19th wedding anniversary find themselves in the middle of a hostage situation right out of the pages of a novel. Her novel, to be exact. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I knew I needed to create an isolated restaurant that was off the beaten path, where diners could realistically be taken hostage and there wouldn’t be help for miles. I kept picturing a coastal cliff and liked the idea of the restaurant being frequented by celebrities, so California north of LA made sense to me. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. Although Jane is neurotic as I am at times, so we’d likely get on each other’s nerves. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Mid-40s, anxious, mom 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That creativity ebbs and flows. And when it ebbs, it’s important to be kind to yourself and find ways back to your creative center. For me, that was taking…

1–What is the title of your latest release? AND THEY HAD A GREAT FALL 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? For fans of Robinne Lee’s The Idea of You, a debut contemporary romance about a celebrity and a single mother who push and pull against each other as they teeter between a carrying on a secret affair and living an authentic life. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I really believe the location can be its own character. The setting of Copenhagen was selected because it reflected my couple – Kat and Jake. Kat and Jake are what I call a Monday/Friday couple. Kat is all business, practical and controlled.  She’s not grumpy, but she certainly has little time for frivolity and does not take risks.  Jake is the exact opposite – he’s fun and takes life in the moment.  He’s not all sunshine, but he believes life is one big exploration.  At times they spar because they can’t really understand each other, but at other times, the very reason they are attracted to each other is their differences. Copenhagen was a very intentional choice because Danish design is all about Form…

For 20 years and more than one million books, readers have watched our Coffeehouse Mystery characters face down cold-blooded criminals, fight past personal failures, and survive the dazzling lights and dark alleys of New York City with the strength of camaraderie and good strong coffee. Why did we last this long? Our readers tell us one reason is because our stories are much more than murder-mystery puzzles. From the publication of our very first Coffeehouse adventure, ON WHAT GROUNDS, our cozy crime fiction has been character driven. Watching our amateur sleuth, Clare Cosi, navigate the peaks and valleys of her personal and romantic relationships, run her charming historic shop, and wrangle her quirky crew of baristas is as much fun as watching her follow clues to solve a perplexing crime. Another reason we’re still going strong is our series’ setting. When we conceived our Coffeehouse world, we took an offbeat approach to cozy crime fiction, which traditionally sets its stories in small towns and villages. We set our series in a village, too, the charming, historically preserved neighborhood of New York’s Greenwich Village. This cheeky choice of setting a cozy series in the Big Apple was quickly embraced by readers and even helped…