What is the title of your latest release?THE STARGAZER OF NANTUCKET What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?THE STARGAZER OF NANTUCKET is an epic coming-of-age tale and a seafaring adventure. Set in 1851, the book takes you on a clipper ship journey with Winifred Starbuck, a stowaway from Nantucket, who joins her captain father and merchant mother on a once-in-a-lifetime trip around Cape Horn, to San Francisco at the height of the Gold Rush and on to China, where calamity ensues. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I had to cut the character of Nell Starbuck from my first novel, so I decided to write my entire second novel about her and her family at sea, making her 18-year-old daughter Winnie my main character. I could imagine a lot of action and knew it would be fun to write about this “other” Nantucket, the one not on land, especially centered on women in the mid-1800s. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Yes! What are three words that describe your hero?Winnie is stubborn, free-spirited, and brave. Maybe a little conniving too. What’s something you learned while writing this book?I learned that I…

From MIRIAM IN THE SHADOWS by John Winn Miller, published by June 2026 by Bancroft Press. Reprinted by permission: Ten minutes. That was all the time Miriam had to make it from the office to inside her first target, the gallery with the trapped liquid oxygen canisters marked A-Stoff. It was dark inside, so she clicked on her flashlight and strolled in, inspecting the ceiling and walls as she had done dozens of times throughout the mine. She shivered at the thought of being buried there under the fallen roof. But she had to press on. Several canisters had been dug out by the prisoners and were still intact. Setting down her purse and clicking off the flashlight, Miriam expertly cut off a chunk of the plastic explosives with Vogel’s dagger, stuck it to the back of a canister, and fished out two pencil timers from two different tin cans. She tugged out the safety pins and plunged them deeply into the plastic explosives. Standing, she clicked on her flashlight to check her watch: 10:45 p.m. Right on schedule. When she stepped out of the gallery into the tunnel bustling with prisoners and civilians lugging equipment and canisters, she caught…

What is the title of your latest release?A SHOP GIRL’S GUIDE TO WOOING A LORD, first in the Heiress Hunters series What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A down-on-her-luck shop girl and the son of an earl find they have more in common than they thought, including their passion for each other. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?In the case of Shop Girl, my choice of heroine really decided that the book would be set in London (during the Regency period). Tamsin works in a coffee shop and is trying to save money to buy back her little brother and sister from indentured servitude to a chimney sweep. That’s a very London story. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely. Tamsin takes a lot more risks than I’m comfortable with, but that’s also what makes her fun. She can be pretty intense, but I like people who embrace their passions. What are three words that describe your hero?idealistic, outgoing, compassionate What’s something you learned while writing this book?I learned about automatons in the early 1800s. I learned a bit about how they were made, especially the work of Henri Maillardet,…

Book Title: STRANGERS BEHIND CLOSED DOORSCharacter Names: Redding Stark and Giovanni Mason Interviewer: How did you meet?Giovanni Mason: A misunderstanding. I had a… disagreement with an old friend when I checked her into her room.Redding Stark (fidgets with her microphone): That’s how you’re gonna phrase it? A “disagreement”?Giovanni: It was –Redding: You slapped Natalie in front of a restaurant full of people. She went missing a few hours later along with her boyfriend. The hotel room was a mess. Me and my partner, French, were called in to investigate. You were the last to see Natalie. That’s how we met.Giovanni: The last few hours are… a little hazy, but I know who I am. I know what I did. Or didn’t do, in this case. Interviewer: I… uh, that’s quite the introduction. Let’s try something simpler. How would you describe your family or your childhood?Redding: Southside, Wild 100s. Dad raised me. It was nice.Giovanni (leans back into her chair, crossing her arms): Really, Red? That’s how you’re gonna phrase it?Redding (clenches her jaw): That’s all I need to share for now. She’s still got a million questions left, Gio.Giovanni (cuts her eyes at Redding, then takes a deep breath): Call…

“Why Don’t We Fall in Love” by AmerieThis song always makes me think of the first day of summer. It probably has to do with the music video, where Amerie can be seen walking through the streets of New York City on a hot summer day. In the song, she sings about all the joy that can come when falling in love, and that makes me think of Noelle and Jeremiah and how they meet at the beginning of summer and how their possibilities for falling in love are endless. “Angel of Mine” by MonicaIn this song, Monica sings about how her life changed for the better once she met her soulmate, and that’s how I imagine that Noelle and Jeremiah feel about each other. At the beginning of the novel, they are both in tough positions. Noelle wants to go back to college, and she feels guilty over the reason that she dropped out years ago. Jeremiah feels guilty over how his last conversation went with his grandfather before he died. Noelle and Jeremiah each encourage each other to forgive themselves and move forward in positive ways. “Cool” by Dua LipaIn this song, Dua Lipa sings about how she’s…

What is the title of your latest release?THE REVENGE PARTY What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Big Little Lies meets Desperate Housewives with a true-crime twist. When Katherine Valentine connects with her husband’s mistress, she expects a pawn. Instead, she gets a co-conspirator with her own score to settle. Twisty, ruthless, and absolutely to die for. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?Seattle felt inevitable because I lived there for a dozen years and witnessed many of those themes firsthand. It also has this very specific tension between progressive politics and old money. I wanted the city to be its own character, from the weather to the way wealth concentrates in certain neighborhoods, even the traffic and parking. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Heck yeah, either of the two POV characters, Katherine or Isabella, but specifically Katherine, because her character is loosely based on my real-life best friend. What’s something you learned while writing this book?I learned a great deal about politics and how money can influence elections and policies on the micro and macro level. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?Unfortunately, as…

What is the title of your latest release?A BOTANIST’S GUIDE TO TRADITION AND TREACHERY What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Botanist Saffron Everleigh is off on the adventure of a lifetime on an expedition to newly formed Turkey, but when one of the expedition crew is poisoned, all fingers point to Saffron and it’s up to her and her fiancé, Alexander, to discover the real culprit and prove her innocence. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I’m a great admirer of Agatha Christie and take a lot of inspiration from her Poirot stories, and some of my favorite books are of him abroad, particularly DEATH ON THE NILE and MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA, so the draw of that part of the world for Saffron’s next mystery was appealing. I visited Turkey as a very young woman and was enchanted by its beauty and history, so I decided that she would venture to newly formed Turkey on an expedition. I chose Smyrna (modern day Izmir) because of its beautiful location on the Aegean Sea, its layers of history and the presence of the ruins of the ancient marketplace, and the fascinating and tragic history of the…

What is the title of your latest release?SUMMER’S NEVER OVER What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?When a woman returns to the summer camp where she grew up – five years after it burned to the ground and her close friend died – she gets entangled in an investigation into the truth about that summer, the fire, and is forced to confront long-buried secrets about the people she loves. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?It was actually the first thing about this book that I knew for sure! I really wanted to write a novel that took place at a summer camp. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Yes! 100%. What are three words that describe your hero?Broody, gutsy, compassionate. What’s something you learned while writing this book?I learned that I’m actually good at taking editorial feedback. Which was a surprise!! I’ve always considered myself a pretty sensitive person, and once I got an agent and editor, part of me was nervous that I would struggle big-time with reading and implementing their feedback. But that wasn’t the case! We make such a good team and have a strong shared vision…

Excerpt from OFF THE RECORD by Sara Goodman Confino: “The nerve of that man!” I exclaimed for about the third time. In the end, we formed a group of twelve girls for lunch, and we grabbed sandwiches from a deli to eat outside in Farragut Park. We lacked a picnic blanket, so we crowded onto the low wall surrounding the statue of the Civil War admiral, who, the plaque told us, coined the phrase “Damn the torpedoes—full speed ahead.” I looked up at the statue’s face, thinking I detected a hint of a grin. As annoyed as I was at Fields, the camaraderie of the typing pool ladies made the sun seem to shine brighter. “I told you I didn’t like him,” Patricia reminded me. “Yeah, but you thought he knocked Louise up.” Most of the girls laughed. “He isn’t Louise’s type at all,” Connie said. “She liked them older and married.” My mouth dropped open. “Oh, honey,” Gladys said. “Don’t look so shocked.” “Be nice,” Patricia said, elbowing Gladys. “It’s her first week. The old men upstairs don’t even know she exists yet.” “Are you serious that Louise got pregnant by a married man?” I asked. “What’s she going…

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. Be sure to check back Friday for a list of the Top 25 Bestselling Indie Ebooks.