1–What is the title of your latest release? THE DARK WE KNOW 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? THE DARK WE KNOW is a queer YA horror about an art student who reluctantly returns to the haunted small town she ran away from, where she reunites with her estranged childhood friend to stop a supernatural evil that killed their friends two years earlier. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The setting, an old mining town buried in the mountains called Slater, sort of developed over time. I knew from the start it was going to be a secluded small town surrounded by forest, but in the first draft it was a generic mining town. Then at the encouragement of my agent and editor, it got progressively stranger and more isolated. I think as a writer I’ve also become more and more drawn to weird fantasy/horror, so if I wrote it again I’d probably push it even further. It’s vaguely American, but I didn’t want it to be anywhere you could exactly pinpoint. I wanted it to be a little folkloric and surreal, while also being grounded in real characters. 4–Would you hang…

What is the title of your latest release? PEACH TEA SMASH is the 28th book in my New York Times bestselling Tea Shop Mystery series. Though each book is written as a stand-alone, they all feature the same cast of characters. What’s the elevator pitch for your new book? Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop in Charleston, gets pulled into a grisly murder at the Mad Hatter Masquerade, a black-tie fundraiser for the Opera Society. When the police seem content to question only the board members, Theodosia’s fierce curiosity and sense of justice prompts her to launch her own shadow investigation. How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Since Theodosia owns a tea shop, it only stands to reason the mystery should take place in Charleston, SC, home of a 200-year-old tea garden. Also, Charleston is a highly atmospheric old city perched on a peninsula with haunted graveyards, hidden lanes, and old families with skeletons in the closet. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! Theodosia is a girl after my own heart. She’s feisty, inquisitive, rides horses, loves sports cars, and doesn’t mind a bit of high fashion….

1–What is the title of your latest release? NO PAW TO STAND ON 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? When a heat wave hits northern Michigan, Minnie, Eddie, and their bookmobile head to the beach to catch some rays and some customers. But library business is put on hold when Minnie’s restaurant-owning best friend, Kristen, calls. The specialty ice cream cone treat she’d been serving to patrons was sabotaged, making some customers horribly sick. Kristen needs Minnie to sniff out the culprit fast, or the restaurant’s reputation will be destroyed forever. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I went with the “write what you know” mantra and set all 12 books in the bookmobile cat mystery series where I live, which is northwest lower Michigan. It’s a fictional county, but I do insert real places every so often, which is a lot of fun. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely yes! Minnie is smarter than I am, way funnier, and although she wouldn’t believe this, she’s far better with social interactions than I am. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Insightful, curious, and kind-hearted. 6–What’s…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Amanda Cox.   Writes: Amanda writes award-winning and best-selling inspirational women’s fiction. She takes characters on a journey of hope, healing, and finding a place to belong. Her background is in professional counseling, and she loves using her education and experiences as a counselor to create characters who work through the trials of the past to find a healthier way forward. Her latest book, BETWEEN THE SOUND AND THE SEA, is about a Tennessee girl who takes a temporary position restoring an abandoned lighthouse in the Outer Banks of North Carolina to escape scandal in her small town. She discovers that the old beacon holds more than a few mysteries from the 1940s, aching to be solved. She hopes that while restoring the lighthouse and untangling secrets of the past, she’ll figure out how to get her life back on course.   About: A Tennessee girl, through and through, I love exploring new places, but the foothills of east Tennessee will always be my…

Book Title:  THE MAD BARON’S BRIDE Character Name: Leda Wroth (formerly Caledonia Toplady, formerly Caledonia Hill)   How would you describe your family or your childhood? I would describe my childhood as idyllic, I suppose, though I certainly had no comparison. My father called himself a gentleman and owned an estate near Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire. I adored my older sister, Emilia. She managed the ladylike accomplishments that so pleased our mother while I, sadly, was ever escaping my governess to romp out of doors, preferably with a book of poetry in hand. I used to pen poems myself and pin them to trees for the fairies to find. Those were innocent days.   What was your greatest talent? Not poetry, certainly! I have a talent for…hmm. How shall I say this? Resolving thorny, yet delicate personal matters. Dealing with scandal and gossip. Unearthing the truth behind a man’s façade. Discerning whether a woman’s love interest will guard her heart or turn out to betray her. I like to think I set young people on the path to true love, though it’s more often I find myself advising a young woman to harden her heart to someone unworthy or set her…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE RULE OF THREE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? When she comes to believe that seemingly unrelated tragedies share a sinister connection, a young woman must solve the mysterious urban legend known as the Rule of Three or be the next one to die. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The book has a deliberately ambiguous setting because of the way the story is told. Written as a journal, or “survival guide,” as one character calls it, there are no named locations or even dates. The book is a puzzle to solve, so a specific setting or location would be the antithesis to that. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely not! She is very troubled and fearing for her life, convinced she is doomed to die because of the Rule of Three. When people keep dying around her, I would want to stay as far away from her as possible. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Unstable, terrified, and determined. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned that apophenia is the tendency to…

Book Title: THE GHOSTKEEPER Character Name: Dorian Leith   How would you describe your family or your childhood? It was rather lonely. My older sister was adventurous and fun, but passed away when we were young. My parents are florists by trade; my father is traditional and strict, and my mother is kind but overly concerned about the business and our family’s social reputation. I remember my home was always filled with flowers. When I was five years old, I found myself in a… situation, where my left eye formed a permanent glowing white ring around the pupil which causes me to see ghosts. Doctors could not figure out the how or why of it. In fact, no one really knew what to do about me. I struggled to distinguish the living from the dead back then, so I would often chat with ghosts in public. Mother forbade me from talking about or acting on my “condition,” and everywhere we went, she apologized for my behavior and told people I suffered from hysteria. Friendships were difficult to make, as you can imagine.   What was your greatest talent? I think I’m quite skilled at understanding peoples’ feelings and calming their…

1–What is the title of your latest release? IN EVERY LIFE   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? What happens when a newlywed couple is faced with an unexpected diagnosis… and a possible second chance to do it all over again?   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I love setting my books in both familiar and unfamiliar locations. I set this book in Chattanooga and Brooklyn, two cities I love!   4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I would totally hang out with Harper. I love that she adores teaching, but she really wants to become an artist. I think I could positively influence her to go after her dreams!   5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Loyal. Passionate. Torn.   6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I have done a lot of research on quantum healing and have learned that sick people can have spontaneous remissions. It’s not “woo-woo.” It’s science. There’s actual data to prove that miracles can happen if we are open to it.   7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? Typically, I…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE WIDOW ON DWYER COURT 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Sex-averse suburban soccer mom writes bestselling erotica based on her husband’s affairs. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I live in Vermont, one of this country’s most beautiful and bounteous states. Given that the fictional character whom Kate is writing about is a Vermont cheesemaker, I had no choice but to set my thriller here! 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. Kate is so multi-faceted. Plus, her life is aswirl with drama. I would love to witness the thrilling trajectories her life takes. Just thinking about having coffee with Kate and hearing her stories gets my heart beating faster. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Determined, suspicious, creative 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Writing erotica is hard. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I am a total pantser: I edit as I write. 8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? White truffles 9–Describe your writing space/office! I write in a small upstairs room in our 1925 Craftsman house…

Book Title: NOT WHAT SHE SEEMS Character Name:  Faye Arden   How would you describe your family or your childhood? My family was mediocre, and my childhood was relatively underwhelming. In high school is when things started to get a bit more interesting.   What was your greatest talent? Our local pastor gave a sermon during church one Sunday when I was a kid and said something that has stayed with me to this day. He said that the devil’s greatest trick was convincing the world he didn’t exist. I remember thinking those were the most useful words the pastor ever touted from his pulpit – Convincing others that what they really are seeing, they aren’t. Now, I’m not the devil or anything, but I’m going to borrow his old trick as my very own talent and superpower.   Significant other? Mayor Tate. For now.   Biggest challenge in relationships? Sometimes having to constantly play the role becomes tiring.   Where do you live? At the moment, Brook Haven, South Carolina   Do you have any enemies? LOL, is this a real question? There is no one good enough to be my enemy.   How do you feel about the…