1–What is the title of your latest release? SEX ROMP GONE WRONG 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? It’s a collection of short stories about women and girls navigating relationships, love, desire, sex, motherhood, work, marriage, female friendship—all the things. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Most of the stories happen in my home state of North Carolina. Place is so important to me—not just the various people and cultures of a place, but the trees and flowers, the topography, the light in the sky. It all affects how I, and my characters, see and feel the world. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I’d hang out with any of my protagonists except the one who kills somebody. I’d keep my distance from her. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Funny. Wanting. Messy. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? What an elegant, rich, variable form the short story is! And how difficult it is to write a good one. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? Both. I edit as I draft. I can’t help myself. I just…

1–What is the title of your latest release? WHEN SHE LEFT   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A young couple fleeing a criminal family is chased by an assassin / realtor in this heart-pounding thriller. And, yes, that’s “assassin / realtor.”   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? My books almost always take place in the region I live, and I’ve lived at the intersection of DC, Maryland, and Virginia for the past few decades.   4–What are three words that describe your main character? I have three protagonists, but Lucky Wilson is the assassin / realtor, so he’s the one people want to know about. I’d say family, violent, and Christmas.   5–Which side character stole your attention the most from the main storyline? One of the characters in the young couple, Jake Smith, has a troublesome mother named Ruby. I liked writing her, but I’ve been surprised at how much early readers have vibed with her.   6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? This book was less violent than my other books and, while violence has always been important for me to capture in crime fiction, it…

Book Title: A KILLER ROMANCE Character Name: Summer Merriweather   How would you describe your family or your childhood? I grew up on St. Brigids Island, with a single mom who ran and owned Beach Reads, a bookstore located on the boardwalk. I grew to hate the store. But now I’m running it. Funny, that.   What was your greatest talent? A quick wit and a smart moth that often got me into trouble.   Significant other? No.   Biggest challenge in relationships? Trust.   Where do you live? I’m back in St. Brigids.   Do you have any enemies? No person that I know of. But my mortal enemy is spiders.   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’ve grown to love my home all over again, After being away for years, I love the community and the bookstore.   Do you have children, pets, both, or neither? I inherited my mom’s African Grey, Mr. Darcy.   What do you do for a living? Run the bookstore, though I am a Shakespeare professor, by profession.   Greatest disappointment? Losing…

The Wickedness of a Highlander, Book 4, Midnight in Scotland Series by Elisa Braden Worlds Apart: A Novella by Elizabeth Hunter Leave Me: Nick & Elissa #1, Book 7, Badger Creek Duet Series by Claire Raye The Alpha’s Son, Book 21, The Alpha Shifter Collection by Sam Crescent Shadow Mark by Nancey Cummings Tales of the High Court: Collected Short Stories by Megan Derr The Bloodstone Rebellion by Thomas K. Carpenter Adam, Book 6, Devils on Horseback Series by Beth Williamson Good Vibes Only, Book 5, Iron on Iron Series by Gregory Ashe Wolf Agent, Book 2, Shadow of the Moon Series by Mac Flynn     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 other books in the series….

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE MISSING WITNESS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? LAPD Detective Kara Quinn, currently on loan to the FBI, returns to Los Angeles to testify against the human trafficker who took a hit out on her last year. But when the suspect is killed and a government whistleblower disappears, Kara realizes there’s a deadly conspiracy reaching into the highest branches of city government, and possibly the FBI. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Missing Witness is the fifth book in the Quinn & Costa series. I always knew that one of the books would bring Kara back to LA. In book one (The Third to Die), Kara is on administrative leave because of an officer involved shooting. When she’s set to return, she learns her partner was killed and her identity leaked by the press – effectively putting a price on her head. So she was loaned to the FBI’s Mobile Response Team. Now, she has to return to LA to testify. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? The Quinn & Costa series has an ensemble cast. While Kara…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE BOY WITH THE STAR TATTOO 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Sharon, an assistant to an Israeli naval officer stationed in Normandy, France, is intent on tracing his orphan roots to the French village from where he had been rescued post-WWII. When she identifies the mother who had tragically lost him, Sharon is unprepared for the shock of her discovery. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? It decided for me. Once I glimpsed the road sign “Cherbourg” while traveling in northern France, I knew that one day I would write about the daring Israeli action that had taken place there in 1969. As the story developed, though, my research led me also to the Loire Valley as a second thread. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Definitely! She would be my BFF. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Feisty, vulnerable, determined. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned, yet again, that I enjoy asking questions as much as I enjoy finding the answers. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are…

Book Title: THE QUEEN OF SUGAR HILL Character Name: Hattie McDaniel   How would you describe your family or your childhood? We are full of love and joy. Unfortunately, love and joy don’t pay the bills, so we lived a life of abject poverty. My daddy was disabled from the war. He suffered some serious injuries – physically and mentally. That kept him from holding down a job. And since he was a proud man, that took its toll on him. The government wouldn’t even give Daddy his pension because he couldn’t produce a birth certificate. He was born a slave! His Master didn’t give him a birth certificate. Anyway, Mama tried her best to make ends meet, cookin’ and cleanin’ for white folks, but it was never enough. Me and my seven siblings lived in a three-room delipidated shack. But we learned to entertain ourselves to take our mind off the hunger pains rumbling in our stomachs. So I guess you could say that’s how the entertainment fire was lit inside of me.   What was your greatest talent? My perseverance and my ability to entertain.   Significant other? Ooooh, chile. Don’t get me started on that. Unfortunately, I…

SEAL’s Claiming, Coronado Team 2 Series, by Makenna Jameison Tempting the Earl, Book 1, Wright Bastards Series by Amy Sandas Chasing Kassie, Book 2, Serenity Mountain Series by Cassie Colton Thirst, Book 2, Jensen City Heroes Series Tori Ross Vampire Girl, Book 1, Vampire Girl Series by Karpov Kinrade Unrelenting Love, Book 1, Black Swan Series by KaLyn Cooper Starlight Dreams, Book 2, Starlight Hollow Series by Yasmine Galenorn The Dark Guest by Sarah Hamaker The Housemaid by Sarah A. Denzil Saving Easton, Book 2, Oakside Military Heroes Series by Kaci Rose The Deadly Series Box Set by Kate Parker Speed Rail, Book 3, Bridges and Bitters Series by Lainey Davis Devil’s Last Dance by Sam Crescent Prisoners of a Dark Night by Timothy Bryan Gamble’s Risk, Book 5, Riot MC Biloxi Series by Karen Renee The Witch Collector, Book 1, Witch Walker Series by Charissa Weaks Get In My Swamp: An Ogre Love Story, Book 1, Get In My Swamp Series by G.M. Fairy Cold As Ice, Book 4, Lakeshore U Series by L. A. Cotton Unlikely Omega, Book 1, Hunted Fae Series by Mona Black Her Mafia Protectors by Julia Sykes     Each Friday the Smashwords store…

1–What is the title of your latest release? IMMORTAL SECRETS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Joanna Shepard knew her childhood home of Good Harbor wouldn’t be the same after her parent’s death, but she never would have associated it with danger. She returns to deal with the sale of her childhood home, but a sudden attack rips away the safety of a small town. The attack is the first of a series of events that expose dangers lurking in the dark. Lies told to her and her brothers by a beloved family member are revealed and they may be connected to the danger now threatening them. Jo finds herself a pawn in a struggle that is beyond her wildest imagination and she’s not sure who she can trust. Everyone has secrets, but Akantha, now living as Alex Thorne, has more than others. She put the conflicts in her long past behind her and focused on a quiet life on the coast of Maine with an adoptive family. The quiet she sought is shattered when she learns hostile forces are coming after her. She accepts help from her long-time love and sometimes enemy, Damianos, counting on him to…

1–What is the title of your latest release? My latest book is called GOOD TASTE. It came out in paperback in the US in November. 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? It’s set in 1932, at the time of the Great Depression, and the main character is Stella Douglas, a food journalist who has been commissioned to write a history of English cookery. Stella’s publisher wants this to be a book that will raise morale, that will make people feel good about their national story and their cuisine. But as she sets out on her research, travelling around the English countryside and speaking with the public, Stella discovers that this history is rather more complicated – and then she comes under the influence of certain people who have their own agendas and want to manipulate what she’s writing. It’s a book about food, about what it means to be English and it’s the story of a career-minded young writer trying to make her way in a society which still has lots of boundaries for women. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? This book takes the reader on a culinary tour around England,…