Take Me To The Edge, Book 7, Mountain Men of Whiskey River Series by Kaci Rose Bang the Boss by Elizabeth Kelly The Wilder Brothers Collection by Carrie Ann Ryan The Ice Bridge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith Savor, Twisted Vines Series by Isabel Jolie The Bodyguard, Book 1, The Nate Thrower Series by Mike Ryan Naughty Festivities, Book 7, The Dufort Dynasty Series by Juliette N Banks The Book Of Death, Book 1, Simon Turing Series by Jack Treby Romancing Paradise, Book 8, Brothers in Arms Series by Kate Aster The Book of Never, Volumes 1-5 by Ashley Capes Small Town Billionaires Complete Series by April Murdock High Heels and Mistletoe by C.A. King An Accidental Fling, Book 2, Green Valley Series by Noelle Adams Unholy Night, Book 1, Noctes Magicae Series by Karpov Kinrade Intrepid Encounter, Book 5, Cyborg Unity Series by Cynthia Sax Out of Sight by Cleo White Radio Silent, Book 1, Paige Turner Mysteries by T.E. Robins Starlight Hollow by Yasmine Galenorn A New Life, Book 1, Charleston Hearts Series by Melissa Storm She’s Got a Duke to Keep Her Warm by Sandra Sookoo     Each Friday the Smashwords store reports the bestselling indie fiction…

            Pliny the Younger, a Roman writer and historian, wrote that his house in Athens was being haunted by an old man with a gray beard. Pliny’s account may be the earliest literary ghost story, but it was far from being the last. My own passion for ghost stories was conceived when I read The Haunting of Hill House as a girl. It terrified me! but I wanted more. Ghost stories fall into two categories, as I see it. The first category, obviously, is the fictional ghost story: The Turn of the Screw, The Shining, The Woman in Black, and many more. The second, and the one which prompted me to write my own ghost novel, is the first-person account of an actual extranormal experience. (I don’t love the way “paranormal” has been turned into a word that means “fake,” so . . . I made up my own.) When someone has a personal experience they can’t explain, whether it’s an apparition, a poltergeist, a presence, or some other manifestation, I think it’s a mistake to discount it. We may try to talk ourselves out of whatever we saw, or heard, or felt, but that’s invalidating our own witness. My…

What is the title of your latest release? TO KILL A SHADOW   What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? To bring the sun back to her cursed kingdom, a warrior and a handsome commander must venture into a monster-ridden fog in the first installment of this sweeping, romantic fantasy.   How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I love the nighttime—the peace and softness of it—so when I began writing, I imagined a world without the sun, and a curse where the moon reigned eternal.   Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Yes, but she might scare me lol. She’s way more confident than I am—and she’s deadly with a sword.   What are three words that describe your hero? Jude: Brooding Protective Grumpy (to everyone but Kiara, of course)   What’s something you learned while writing this book? Our past doesn’t define us.   Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I tend to mix it up! I’m all over the place with editing.   What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? Only my husband knows this dark secret, but I can eat a…

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…