In her haunting debut novel THE UNDERCURRENT, Sarah Sawyer masterfully weaves together the raw complexities of motherhood, long-buried family secrets, and obsession across two drastically different American landscapes. Following protagonist Bee as she navigates the fog of postpartum depression while being pulled back into the mysteries of her Texas childhood, this atmospheric thriller shifts between the scorching streets of Austin and the cold coast of Portland, Maine. In this exclusive Jen’s Jewels interview, Sawyer opens up about drawing from her own experiences of early motherhood, her meticulous approach to crafting multiple timelines and perspectives, and how her current role as a boarding schoolteacher influences her relationship with social media. Join us as we dive deep into the creative currents that shaped this compelling exploration of family bonds, hidden truths, and the transformative power of becoming a parent. Jennifer Vido: THE UNDERCURRENT explores complex themes like motherhood, obsession, and long-buried family secrets. What inspired you to write a story that intertwines these elements, and how did you balance the different timelines? Sarah Sawyer: I think that motherhood is a kind of obsession: in the early days, you’re thinking all the time about when your child eats or sleeps, and then they…

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.

“Don’t go.” I would have had a difficult time explaining why his entreaty softened me. It wasn’t spoken as a command or order. I’d certainly had plenty of those over the last year. Instead he said it like he didn’t want to be parted from me. I knew what he was doing. He was wielding his charm and handsomeness like a sword against me, and despite my earlier declaration, I felt helpless against the onslaught. Maybe I did need someone else to save me. “Why shouldn’t I go?” I asked. “Because you want me to kiss you and I would be happy to oblige.” “What?” My limbs were shaking, my heart pounding so loudly I was sure he could hear it. I couldn’t just kiss some stranger in the courtyard of my parents’ palace. And it was humiliating that he’d correctly read my desire for him. I never would have acted upon it. I couldn’t. My mother would be shocked, my father furious. This was not how people like me were supposed to behave. The smart thing to do would be to leave. To walk away and pretend that this had never happened. I didn’t do that. He sauntered over…

Book Title: The Nightmarchers Character Name: Dr. Lydia Greer How would you describe your family or your childhood? What a dull question. Surely my work in epigenetics would be of more interest. But perhaps that’s just a deflection because my father landed on the wrong side of history, although, ironically enough, we are fast approaching a time when parents will be able to have a say in the genes of their offspring. Designer babies and all that. I do fondly remember the first time I was invited into my father’s laboratory to dissect a piglet. The thrill of cutting into soft flesh preserved by formaldehyde, peering into the secrets of the liver, the intestines, the heart. I was six I believe. What was your greatest talent? Ruthlessness. A quality I share with my father but which skipped entirely over my sisters and great-niece, Julia. I don’t know why our species took this odd detour into sentimentality, but you must be ruthlessly clinical when it comes to research, particularly in regard to “Mother Nature.” Did you know that after copulation, it’s common for the female praying mantis to decapitate her partner and then eat him? And yet we anthropomorphize nature into…

Book Title: Mors Obliviscens Character Name: Flit How would you describe your family or your childhood? I don’t remember anything specific since I…died. I can almost picture their faces, I can see certain rooms in my house, things like that, but it’s like there’s a curtain between me and those memories and I can’t quite pull it back to see more clearly. What was your greatest talent? Currently, it’s talking to the people Grim is sending to the afterlife. He’s not the most extroverted person in the world, so having me there seems to help make things less awkward and scary. Significant other? I don’t think I ever dated anyone while I was alive. My parents may not have allowed it, since I’m only 15. Biggest challenge in relationships? It’s kinda hard to trust anyone when you can’t trust your own memories. It’s not that I don’t want to, but there’s a little voice in the back of my mind that’s constantly trying to warn me not to get too close. Where do you live? I’m haunting a cabin beside a beautiful lake in the mountains somewhere. Nobody’s been here in a long time, from what we can tell, and…

Excerpt from AN INSTRUCTION IN SHADOW by Benedict Jacka I shut my front door behind me and walked out into the London evening. Hobbes bounded away across the street, disappearing behind the cars of Foxden Road. Hunting for Wells is both simple and difficult. Simple, because all you have to do is wander around until you find somewhere with a lot of essentia; difficult, because to detect a Well’s essentia, you have to get close. The finder’s stones that most locators use have to get within twenty feet or so to reliably pick up a Well (more than that for the really powerful ones, but find a really powerful one in London, it’s probably taken already). Which means quartering the city in painstaking detail. It’s a pretty crude method when you think about it—you’d have thought that with all the centuries drucrafters have had to work on the problem, they’d have come up with a better way. Colin had asked me if there was some way to sense Wells at longer ranges, something like radar or sonar, but I hadn’t been able to think of one. Radar and sonar work by sending out waves that hit something and bounce back,…

Dok walked into the house and smelled something wonderful cooking. Simmering tomato sauce, she guessed, hoping Matt had made his famous marinara and meatballs. Her favorite. She set her purse down and breathed in the comforting aroma of a home-cooked meal. He was a great cook. But normally, Matt cooked only on his days off. It was unusual for him to have the time or inclination to cook on a workday. He took cooking very seriously. Dok teased him that he used up every single dish and utensil when he cooked, and she wasn’t entirely teasing. His cooking was worth the mess. Matt was in the kitchen, apron around his waist, stirring a pot. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and peered at the marinara sauce. “Just what I was in the mood for.” “How was your day?” “Long. Long but good. I stopped by Bee’s on the way home. She’s got that third-day postsurgery hit-by-a-Mack-truck feeling.” “Hopefully, Damon can lighten the load for her until she’s back on her feet. He’s determined to help her, whether she wants it or not. On the morning she had surgery, he even called me to make sure she had a…

Join me on a visit to the fabled north short of Prince Edward Island during the most wonderful time of the year! It’s Christmas on the island, and two battered hearts are about to discover hope and healing at the Red Door Inn. M is for Merriment. Of the Christmas variety. E is for Entertaining. Marie and Seth Sloan have opened their inn to entertain two guests this off-season. D is for Daniel. Our hero, who would rather skip the Christmas season altogether. D is for December. When the year is up, so is Daniel’s visit. L is for Love. The thing Aunt Aretha most wants Daniel to find. I is for Island. Prince Edward Island, that is. N is for No Relation to the Singer. Aretha Franklin’s famous greeting. G is for Grumpy. Daniel’s go-to mood—at first. W is for Whitney. Our heroine, who bakes mouth-watering pies but is struggling to find her life’s dream. I is for Inn. The Red Door Inn on PEI’s north shore where Daniel is staying. T is for Turkey Hat. A knitted treasure that begins to show Daniel’s hidden humor. H is for Holiday Spirit. Which Whitney has in spades. M is for…

A is for Apparition. A NEW LEASE ON DEATH introduces Ruby Young, a woman who moves to Boston only to find that her new apartment is haunted by a ghostly apparition named Cordelia Graves. N is for Neighbors. When the across-the-hall neighbor is murdered, recently deceased Cordelia Graves enlists Ruby’s help to solve the mystery and bring his killer to justice. E is for Ethereal. Cordelia was never described as light or delicate while she was alive, but now that she’s dead and can pass through solid objects, she’s the very definition of ethereal. W is for Weird. Long before A NEW LEASE ON DEATH was a book, it was my “weird little ghost story” that I couldn’t wait to tell. And now, I can’t wait for you to read it! L is for Lazy Landlords. The building super didn’t want the hassle of cleaning out Cordelia’s apartment after she died in the bathtub, so the lazy landlord rented it out to Ruby fully furnished. It was a stroke of luck for a woman who moved to Boston with nothing but a few suitcases of silly T-shirts and didn’t have money to buy coffee, much less a couch. E is…

1–What is the title of your latest release? Specters in the Glass House 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Most writers are awful at elevator pitches! LOL But I’ll try. Specters in the Glass House is a dual time novel set in 1921 Prohibition Era and present day. It encapsulates the unsolved and ghostly murder mystery of the “Butterfly Butcher”, and the alluring and terrifying butterfly house set at a Wisconsin manor just outside of Milwaukee. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Because I wanted to set a book in the Prohibition era as well as look at it from a different angle, I set it just outside of Milwaukee, which was a region hit very hard during Prohibition. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Oh, I absolutely would! I think both protagonists—Marian from 1921 and Remy from Present Day—would have a lot to teach me. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Because I have two protagonists, it’s only fair to answer for both. Marian, who is from 1921 would be described as: haunted, unsure, and lost. Remy, from present day, would be described as: solitary,…