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…

What is the title of your latest release?HOW TO FAKE IT IN SOCIETY What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A quiet shopkeeper accidentally becomes incredibly rich and finds himself targeted by scammers–including a particularly charming conman pretending to be a French count… How did you decide where your book was going to take place?It’s about Regency society, so had to be London! Would you hang out with your heroes in real life?The thing is, there are some people where you go out for a quiet drink at the pub (Titus) and there are some people where you go out for a quiet drink at the pub and then it’s 4am two days later and you’re in a different country (Nico) and I fear I’ve got too old for that. What are three words that describe your hero?Titus: quiet, reliable, alarmed. Nico: loud, erratic, alarming. What’s something you learned while writing this book?I learned a lot about the manufacture of artists’ paints. Specifically, just how poisonous and/or disgusting their ingredients are. Especially the one made from ground-up human bodies. No, really. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?I’m a former editor, so I love…

What is the title of your latest release?A THOUSAND CUTS What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?It is the story of a former CIA officer, Max Starkey, who is down on his luck and working for the mob recovering stolen money. He is pulled into a heist by the woman who broke his heart and his old rival in the agency, who are married to each other now. They are attempting to move four thousand pounds of gold bars out of a Southeast Asian country on behalf of a dictator who is about to be toppled in a coup, but they intend to steal them. Of course everyone has their own agenda and is planning to betray everyone else. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I decided to set the novel in Southeast Asia mainly because I have traveled extensively there and know the region well. Also, it lends itself readily to description, and I believed I could use my words to evoke the feeling of actually being there. I also wanted that cloying feeling of everything closing in on Max, and that’s the jungle. However, I decided to set it in a fictional…

Book Title: JOHN B. PEOPLESCharacter Name: John Peoples How would you describe your family or your childhood?I grew up on a farm in California’s central valley. I was the only child of conservative parents. Life was idyllic, with rodeos and trips up to the Sierra Nevada mountains. What was your greatest talent?I was a terrific football player in high school Significant other?I am divorced and not dating. Biggest challenge in relationships?My lack of confidence. Where do you live?I live in a converted garage in West Los Angeles. Do you have any enemies?Nobody that is “trying to get me” if that’s what you mean. I am very concerned, however, that my boss is trying to screw me out of a big lottery jackpot. How do you feel about the place where you are now?Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place? I like Los Angeles well enough. Being big has its pros and cons. I like the diversity and all the choices of concerts, sports, etc. But there is that traffic, and the noise where I live. There are also a lot of what I would call “plastic people” like actors and some lawyers….

A city that needs no introduction, except that it always needs an introduction because New York City is a city of 8.48 million people, not including the visitors, and therefore New York City is a city of 8.48 million cities, not including every visitor’s version of the city, which would balloon the number of cities that New York City is to a whopping 72.98 million cities total per year. That’s not counting the various fictional versions of New York City that also create entirely other versions of the city in the minds of people who haven’t ever visited, as well as parallel versions of the city in the minds of those who have visited and, in fact, presently live there or have, at one point in their life, lived there. And then there are the remembered versions of the city carried around by the people who used to live there but don’t any longer, and that city that they remember technically no longer exists. And then of course we multiply that city by every year the city has existed, knowing that the visitors to that city each year vary greatly depending on what time period we’re talking about, and that…

What is the title of your latest release?THE ORIGINAL What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?THE ORIGINAL reimagines Katharine Hepburn’s early years – a grieving, fiercely independent young woman who arrives in Hollywood determined to control her own destiny. When a private crisis threatens her ascent, she refuses to be undone, determined to decide for herself who she will become. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?Once I knew I was writing about Katharine Hepburn, I also knew it was going to be 1930s Hollywood. And because it was Hepburn, I also wanted to touch on her life on the East Coast. She is so woven into the fabric of the places she lived. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Huge yes. Both the real and my fictional Hepburn loved so many things I love. Water, friends, family, dogs, brownies and a good laugh. What are three words that describe your hero?Uncompromising, ambitious, forthright What’s something you learned while writing this book?That I can plan out a novel, I can research and take notebooks full of notes, but the manuscript will still change in ways I cannot anticipate when it starts…

Book Title: MISLEDCharacter Name: Victoria Barrón – Protagonist of MISLED – Age 30 How would you describe your family or your childhood?As the only child of my parents, Joaquin and Estima Barrón, growing up in the beautiful Mexican city of Chihuahua, I had an idyllic childhood. My father was the manager of a soda bottling plant, and my mother, a housewife. I loved school, and my little dog, Panchito. But that all changed one terrible night, and afterwards, I went to live in El Paso with my uncle and aunt. What was your greatest talent?My uncle Elias would say it’s my curiosity, but I am most proud of being able to think on my feet. As an immigration attorney, it’s practically a job requirement. Significant other?Hmmm, can we talk about something – anything else? No? In that case, I’m seeing Robert Chilton, general counsel for a large local manufacturer. I knew him in college when all he cared about was tennis. In those days he always seemed to always have a different girl on his arm. But the thing that irritated me the most is that there is not a shred of scandal in his deep-rooted, respectable El Paso family,…

Cozy mysteries are a popular subgenre of crime fiction that combine intriguing puzzles with light, comforting storytelling. Unlike darker mysteries, they focus on solving crimes without graphic violence, making them enjoyable for a wide range of readers. I am currently working on a new cozy mystery, which I’ll talk about when it is closer to the release date. What is a Cozy Mystery? A cozy mystery typically features an amateur sleuth, a small or close-knit setting, and a focus on clues rather than action or violence. The main character is often someone with a regular job – such as a baker, shop owner, or librarian – who becomes involved in solving a crime. These stories emphasize clever problem-solving and community dynamics. Examples of Cozy Mysteries Two well-known examples of cozy mysteries are:• CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MURDER by Joanne FlukeThis novel follows a small-town baker who investigates a murder while running her business. It combines recipes, humor, and mystery, which are common features in cozy mysteries.• STILL LIFE by Louise PennySet in a quiet village, this story focuses on uncovering secrets within a close community. It highlights how relationships and hidden motives play an important role in solving the crime. Why…

What is the title of your latest release?BORING ASIAN FEMALE What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A satirical thriller about a Columbia University senior who gets rejected by all the law schools she applies to, and becomes obsessed with another girl her year who gets into her dream school (Harvard). How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I started writing the novel a couple years after graduating Columbia when I started to realize that the things that felt so high-stakes to me as a college student actually mattered very little in “real” life. Now that I had exited the fog, I wanted to capture the feeling of being a college student in this pressure cooker environment, and what happens when you fully buy into the notion of external achievement at any cost. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Umm…. no. What are three words that describe your hero?Unhinged, ambitious, analytical What’s something you learned while writing this book?It’s relatively easy to write a completely sociopathic character whose crazy decisions can all be explained by her sociopathy. It’s much harder (and more interesting, in my opinion) to write a character whose actions have…