1–What is the title of your latest release? STINGS AND STONES   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Stings and Stones is a collection of 10 stories set in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy world. The stories are told from the point of view of Gin Blanco, my assassin heroine the Spider, and several fan-favorite secondary characters like Finnegan Lane.   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Most of my Elemental Assassin books are set in my fictional southern city of Ashland.   4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! I would love to go to my fictional Pork Pit barbecue restaurant and have Gin cook for me. Plus, Gin could handle any villains who barge into the restaurant, as they so often do in my books. LOL.   5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Assassin. Elemental. Protective.   6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Just how much I enjoy writing stories from the secondary character’s points of view and seeing how they view Gin and all the other characters in my Elemental Assassin world.   7–Do you edit as you draft or wait…

Book Title: A DEMON’S GUIDE TO WOOING A WITCH Character Name: Astaroth of the Nine   How would you describe your family or your childhood? I’m missing two centuries of memories due to a recent case of amnesia, but I thankfully do remember my earliest years. I was born in the early 15th century to the demoness Lilith, courtesy of a traveling minstrel. Lilith provided me with a well-rounded education in philosophy, swordplay, manipulation, deceit, and judicious violence. It was a delightful childhood.   What do you do for a living? I am—or was—a member of the demonic high council, the nine demons who oversee demon society. I was also the species’ premier soul bargainer, responsible for harvesting the mortal souls that keep our realm alive. I can’t remember what happened to depose me, but I fully plan on reclaiming my position of power.   What is your greatest talent? I have so many. How can I choose? Swordfighting, sex, speech-making, sex, looking good no matter the circumstances, sex…   Significant other? Right now the most significant “other” in my life is the very hostile human witch I’m on a road trip with. Calladia Cunnington. She’s obstinate, beautiful, very powerful,…

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 Karen Rose Smith!   Writes: Karen Rose Smith wrote award-winning romances for decades, then decided to switch her talents to cozy mysteries. She will give you intricate mysteries to solve as well as family-based plots with characters who will draw you into their lives. After reading each cozy, you will feel you have a new group of friends.   About: Working on her 112th novel, Karen spends time writing, cooking, having tea with friends and caring for her six rescued cats. Her husband agrees she could be a crazy cat lady! She treats her felines like children. A highlight in her career was having a romance transformed into a TV movie. MURDER WITH CHOCOLATE TEA by Karen Rose Smith Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery #10 Daisy Swanson, bride-to-be and owner of Daisy’s Tea Garden in Pennsylvania’s Amish country, may have one or two more murders to solve before she says “ I do . . .” Daisy has a lot to celebrate this summer. She’s supervising a…

1–What is the title of your latest release? A GLOOMING PEACE THIS MORNING 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A Glooming Peace This Morning is a short, morally ambiguous coming-of-age tragedy that has all the traditional themes of the Southern Gothic: race, sexuality, justice, religion, class, love, hate, and the juxtaposition of gentility and the grotesque. This book should be banned! 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The setting is a complex amalgamation of several Southern towns where I’ve lived, all in Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia, or Alabama. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? No. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Intelligent, disturbed, and indignant. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I’m an extrovert, but melancholy is my natural state. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? As I draft. And after I’m done. I could tinker in perpetuity. 8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? Fried mac and cheese. 9–Describe your writing space/office! I write everywhere I go – airplanes, airports, cars, my home and work office, libraries, coffee shops. I’m a compulsive writer. 10–Who is an author…

In the opening scene of KNITMARE ON BEECH STREET, my amateur sleuths Pamela Paterson and Bettina Fraser are shocked to discover a dead body when they accompany the town’s welcome committee on a visit to a new resident. After the group has finished talking to the police about the grisly find, a member of the committee invites everyone to her house, where they regain their composure with the aid of coffee and lemon poppy-seed muffins. I thought it would be fun to invent a cookie version of this popular muffin variety. Pamela loves to bake and prefers to start from scratch when she embarks on one of her yummy creations, but some cooks appreciate short cuts. Here’s a recipe that comes together very quickly, thanks to the fact that it’s based on ready-made cookie dough. Poppy seeds can be quite expensive if you buy them in the small jars sold with other herbs and spices at the supermarket, but they can be found in bulk online and at some ethnic groceries. I buy mine in bulk and store them in the freezer between baking projects. They keep for ages. This recipe makes 16 very large cookies. You can divide the…

Book Title: MURDER IN A CUP Character Name: Shay Myers   How would you describe your family or your childhood? My childhood was amazing. I was lucky to have had two very loving parents who were there for myself and my older sister, Jen. Sadly, though, on my eighteenth birthday, a boating accident took them away from us. After that, life was pretty much a blur for a few years.   What was your greatest talent? I’m not sure if it’s a talent or a curse, but I’ve always had what my sister called “inky feelings.” I could and still can sense things about people or situations, but I often struggle to know what to do with them.   Significant other? There was one until I discovered my ex-husband, Brad, and my assistant were having an affair for two years and had, during that time, stolen all my money and my gemstone and jewelry company out from under me and destroyed my reputation and. Yes, I was naive, but, in my defense, Brad was my accountant, and I loved him and trusted him right up until I couldn’t.   Biggest challenge in relationships? Trust to be sure.   Where do…

1–What is the title of your latest release?  A TWISTED SKEIN (A Seaside Knitters Society mystery) 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? In the series seventeenth mystery, Nell, Izzy, Birdie, and Cass become involved in helping repair a rift between twin sisters, whose parents have both died, but the mother’s spirit seems to be inhibiting one of the twins. The seaside knitters’ efforts inadvertently pull them into an equally perplexing close-to-home mystery when one of the knitters stumbles on the body of a well-loved high school teacher, a murder that pulls the town apart. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Seaside Knitters mysteries are set on Cape Ann, MA, in a fictional town called Sea Harbor. Initially I chose the Massachusetts North Shore area because I love the ocean and the northeast. Another, very important reason, was because my daughter lives on Cape Ann, and as I was beginning Death by Cashmere, the first in the series, she became pregnant with our first amazing grandchild. Setting my mysteries where she lived provided me with even more incentive to visit the beautiful area. But eventually, as the grandchildren and the seaside mysteries…

Book Title: NOT TO SCALE Character Name: Elodie Pettipas   How would you describe your family or your childhood? I had an unconventional childhood, growing up on a movie ranch in Wyoming where my mother moved us to live out her romantic cowboy fantasies. I was mentored by an art director on a series that shot there annually. It’s thanks to him I started on my career path in film/TV production design.   What was your greatest talent? I have a passion for bringing history to life onscreen. Research is my jam. My version of time travel is visually resurrecting the past through my designs.   Significant other?   No one serious in the past, but I’ve got a lot of hope that Bobby Provost, the showrunner of The Chieftain’s Son, and I may have a shot at something important.   Biggest challenge in relationships? It may be cliché, but trust with a capital T. I’m tentative to let someone close to the inner me. I live with the daily challenges of bipolar disorder. It’s not a truth I readily share because in the past, I’ve had potential romantic partners make unwanted generalizations about my mental illness. I look forward…

Fangs, Frost, and Folios: A New Elemental Mysteries Adventure by Elizabeth Hunter Kingston’s Obsession Book 6 Kingston Security by Carole Mortimer Merry Christmas Murder Book 29 Merry Wrath Mysteries by Leslie Langtry The Alpha’s Daughter Book 20 The Alpha Shifter Collection by Sam Crescent Ending the Fight Book 4 Gloves Off – Next Generation by L.P. Dover Ouch! My Vampire Doms Have Really Long…Fangs Book 4 My Vampire Doms by Calista Jayne Creatus Unyielding Book 6 Creatus by Carmen DeSousa Twisted Magic by Jeffe Kennedy Murder at the Polo Club Book 7 Cleopatra Fox Mysteries by C.J. Archer Ruin and Afterlight Book 4 Australian Supernatural: High Country by Nicole R. Taylor   Each Monday the Smashwords store lists the top ten most highly anticipated indie fiction ebooks based on the previous week’s preorder accumulations. Each title on the list is scheduled to release within the next week. To help the talented authors on this list accumulate even more preorders, click the title of the book. The hyperlink will bring you to a Books2Read page where you can order from your preferred ebook retailer. If the preorder is part of a series, click the hyperlinked series title to learn about the…

Scorch by Abbi Glines She’s Got a Duke to Keep Her Warm by She’s Got a Duke to Keep Her Warm Mated to the Enforcer, Book 2, Portal City Protectors Series by Georgette St. Clair Prisoners of Love: Becky, Book 3, Prisoners of Love Series by Callie Hutton Quentin Security Series Box Set 1 by Morgan James Christmas Blizzard, Book 4, Southern Storms Series by Lexie Nicholas Heartless, Book 2, Lonely Souls Series by Autumn Reed Too Good to Be True by Kristen Ashley Sparks Fly by Josephine Skylar Twisted Proposal, Book 3, Central Florida Stories by Victoria Saccenti Brute’s Revenge by Sam Crescent Sleepless Pact by Alexa Riley Whispering Wood by Sharon Shinn Tempest in a Teapot, Book 1, SerendipiTea Series by Kate Valent The Housemaid by Sarah A. Denzil The Chosen, Book 3, Black Arrowhead Series by Dannika Dark Sweet and Swoony Holiday Anthology by Abbey Easton et al. Get In My Swamp: An Ogre Love Story by G.M. Fairy Moments of Mayhem, Book 3, The Hunters Series by T.L Smith An Accidental Fling, Book 2, Green Valley Series by Noelle Adams     Each Friday the Smashwords store reports the bestselling indie fiction titles based on the…