Travelog By Jenny Wilson O’Raghallaigh In the voice Jonah Smith, an American student and character in MANDATORY REPORTING, A Dublin Mystery It turns out there is an art to picking the right pub for the right moment. I’m living in Dublin now, with twins from Tipperary who have spent the majority of their bachelor’s degrees perfecting their expertise on the quality of pints, the quality of authenticity, the quality of the finer sex present, and the ease of proximity to the pubs in this town. I’m not sure what their grade point averages are, but I’ve never spent an evening with them that didn’t feel right. At first, I thought they drank too much. Then I realised that they didn’t always drink a lot in each venue—they just drank the right thing. In some pubs, like the Stag’s Head, where we went for our first drinking session together, you must drink Guinness. But in other pubs-which-cannot-be-named, the quality of the Guinness is such that you should probably switch to Smithwick’s, Five Lamps, Murphy’s, or if in complete desperation, something German or American. If you don’t mind the side glances you could have a cider, or if, like me, you don’t…

Book Title: 70 NORTH Character Name: Tracie Hunter How would you describe your family or your childhood? My family is incredible. I’m so thankful for them. My dad was in the Army – so we traveled all over the world when I was young. Getting to see some of the wonderful sights and museums and cultures was one of my favorite things about being an “Army Brat.” It fed my natural curiosity, and my parents were very supportive of that. But my family is situated in D.C. now. I don’t get to see them as much as when I lived at home, but we talk all the time. I won’t lie though, I miss a good Mom hug and watching the Army/Navy football game with my dad. Go Army! What was your greatest talent? Asking questions. LOL. Remember what I said about natural curiosity? That meant constant questions. I am fascinated by how things work – specifically the human body. That’s why I went into medicine—first as a medical examiner and then a surgeon. Seeing how God made the human body, what happens when it breaks down, and being able to help put it back together is… well it’s something…

The open road, scenic views, quirky roadside attractions…what’s not to love about a road trip? Add in some forced proximity—days together in a car—and a snowed-in, just-one-bed situation, and you’ve got one of my favorite tropes: road-trip romance. Stuck in my house during the pandemic, I dreamed of travel, and those imaginings turned into my new romantic comedy, 23 and You and Me. The heroine, Sunny, and the hero, Gabe, drive together from Columbus, Ohio, to Las Vegas to meet the three siblings Gabe doesn’t know he has until a DNA test reveals that the people who raised him were not his biological parents. Sunny and Gabe begin the journey as strangers and complete opposites, but during the interminable cross-country drive, they become friends and eventually lovers. What’s an essential part of any good road trip (besides gallons of coffee)? The music, of course! Sunny is an actress, and her playlist is full of Broadway tunes she loves to sing, from jazz standards to “Let It Go.” Gabe is enchanted from the first moment he hears her carpool karaoke. (Yes, it’s a he-falls-first trope—my personal fave!) Here are five songs you’ll find in 23 and You and Me. “Don’t Rain…

1–What is the title of your latest release? Love You a Latke 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Fake dating meets grumpy/sunshine during the holiday season! 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The book takes place in small-town Vermont and in NYC. I knew first that I wanted part of it to take place in NYC, where I live—the holiday season here is truly magical, and I wanted to showcase everything I love about it—and I needed somewhere within driving distance but that had a minuscule Jewish population, so I settled on Vermont. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Sure! We’d have fun going on a Hanukkah food tour and eating all the doughnuts. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Pragmatic, guarded, prickly. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? All the different ways to eat a latke! I did a deep dive into Hanukkah food, because the protagonists eat a ton of it and most of my latke experience has been limited to the standard sour cream or applesauce. The things people are doing to latkes these days are amazing and I want to…

Excerpt from The Slate, Matthew FitzSimmons Felix rapped lightly on the congressman’s office door, and the sound echoed in the hallway’s high, vaulted ceilings. Paxton’s chief of staff, Tina Lu, opened the door and shook his hand warmly. She didn’t like him much, which he attributed to his passing her on the career ladder despite being twelve years her junior. He took her antipathy as a compliment, and besides, the feeling was mutual. The thing about Tina Lu was that she was exceptionally good at her job. She stood a hair under five feet, but woe unto anyone foolish enough to take that as an invitation to underestimate her. She’d more than earned her reputation as one of the toughest backroom negotiators in Congress. What Tina Lu wanted, Tina Lu generally got. Coming up, Felix had been outmaneuvered by Tina time and again. Painful, hard-earned lessons. He would have been grateful to her if she hadn’t made it a priority to kick him when he was down. Well, those days were over now, and he looked forward to reminding her and Prince Paul of the new pecking order. Speaking of which, where was the congressman? Felix glanced around the empty…

1–What is the title of your latest release? Soul of the Stone 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Texas, a slayer who’s faster, stronger, and ready to take down evil bloodsuckers is facing her toughest battle yet in the thrilling sequel to Sign of the Slayer. As vampire treachery rises and the weight of responsibility grows, Texas is haunted by mysterious voices and betrayed by those she trusted most. Now, the greatest threat to humanity is alive, and the only person who can help her is the one she’s falling for – again – the same vampire who broke her heart. Saving the world might require following him into the underworld, but will her soul survive the journey? 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? When I decided my vampires would do alchemy and I researched its origins I knew I had to visit Egypt so I can describe the setting just right. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? No, because she’s a vampire magnet. But personality wise, yes! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Strong, snarky, sensational 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? The…

1–What is the title of your latest release? The Burning of Rosemont Abbey 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Everyone in Wilbeth Green has something to hide, but she’s about to uncover their secrets. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The setting was pretty much settled from the start. I focused on British literature in college and graduate school, and I have a pretty longstanding fondness for British settings in general, whether I’m reading books or watching movies and shows. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Most definitely! Especially if Mrs. Watson is puttering around town with us, too. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Louisa is plucky, loyal, and—at times—endearingly awkward 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned how to plan the perfect fancy dinner party! The Constance Spry Cookery Book, which was published in 1956, was the perfect resource as I wrote the dinner party scenes. I started by listing out all the recipes that sounded particularly intriguing and then narrowed everything down into the various courses. Most, though not quite all, of the dishes from the menu I designed are…

From Blue Christmas Bones by Carolyn Haines. Copyright © 2024 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group. 2 We finished lunch and walked over to the Cadence Bank Arena, where the competitions and festivities would be centered. Tupelo’s downtown was blocked off to cars, and folks were milling about. Elvises—some the spitting image of the King, and some so far from the svelte Elvis of my dreams that it took a moment for their posture and pose to convey the essence of the singer—performed wherever they could drum up an audience. Some signed autographs as if they were really the King. It was all about believing in oneself and the power of the Elvis transformation. At the Arena Center, we went inside to view the incredible bejeweled belt that a local woman had allowed the festival to display. It was a perfect replica of Elvis’s Las Vegas belt and was worth a fortune. We gathered around the glass case and inspected the work of art. “Who owns this?” Cece asked as she walked around the display with her camera on. She was filming for a newspaper story. I knew how her brain worked. “Someone local,”…

D is for Deceased.  Which, unfortunately, both of our main character’s parents are. E is for Eliza, our main character A is for Alone, which is how Eliza feels in the predicament her mom’s letter leaves her in. R is for Relationships, which are at the center of Eliza’s story. E is for Education, which is the focus of the non-profit Eliza works for. L is for Love, which Eliza doesn’t entirely believe she deserves. I is for Intoxicated, which is the state Eliza is in when she blurts out something she doesn’t mean to at her father’s shiva. Z is for Zero, the number of cups of coffee that tea-loving Eliza drinks! A is for Abandonment, the fear of which is what keeps Eliza from getting too close to people. DEAR ELIZA by Andrea J. Stein Ten years after her mother’s death, Eliza Levinger never imagined she’d hear from her again. But then The Letter arrived.  Eliza’s world broke apart when she was sixteen and her mom died of cancer. Now, years later, she has rebuilt her life to include a director-of-development job at a nonprofit, a Manhattan apartment, and an easy-on-the-eyes bedroom buddy—just the kind of no-strings relationship she wants,…

It should be said that I love music. I am almost never without it playing, including when I write. In fact, I’ve written all my novels to the same Pandora station that I created way back in 2008, when I wrote the first one. Perhaps it’s superstition, perhaps it’s Pavlovian, but I write better when those same songs are filling my mind and fueling my words. Today I am sharing five songs that in some way tie into my latest novel, EVERY MOMENT SINCE. The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News In the book an 11-year-old boy named Davy goes missing in the fall of 1985 and is never seen again. At the time of his disappearance, he is wearing a jacket his mother made for him, meant to match the one Marty McFly wore in Davy’s favorite movie Back to the Future. It is that same jacket that is discovered at the beginning of the book, igniting the cold case investigation and affecting four people who have lasting ties to the night Davy disappeared. While writing, any time I heard this song I felt that little nudge to keep at it, to keep believing in this…