MUST READ WELL started nine or ten years ago with a stray thought I scribbled on a scrap of lined paper and tacked to a bulletin board in the room where I do my writing. I have six bulletin boards in here, all of them always in leaf with dozens of fluttery little notes of this kind. Some of them are memos of ideas for a novel or personal essay I might write one day. (Or, much more likely, will never write.) Here’s one I recorded on lined paper so long ago that the sun has faded the lines on the paper to near invisibility: The Sarahs Two women who have worked together in public for decades call it quits. The weariness and repulsion one feels looking at the other after years yoked together.   Tacked on top of that one, on an index card, is a slightly more recent afterthought: The Susans Singing duo Radio hosts Sisters! One still lives in (ancient) mother’s apartment. Possible new tour.   Another story idea I’ve had tacked up for many years: A man from Montana who is terrified of flying is unexpectedly elected to Congress. Something like this actually happened to a…

MANHATTAN ENGINEER DISTRICT The Continental comes to a stop in front of a twenty-eight-story white brick building across the street from New York’s City Hall. “Here you go, sir. Two-seventy Broadway,” Johnson announces. Nathan takes another look at his orders. “Manhattan Engineer District. Eighteenth floor.” He grabs his bag and holds out his hand. “Thanks for the ride, Bill. And for the company.” “Good luck to you, sir,” Johnson replies. “I hope everything works out for you and for your family.” Nathan enters the lobby and is immediately stopped and questioned. He shows his orders to the uniformed security guard and is directed to the elevators. When doors slide open on the eighteenth floor, Nathan is surprised to see what looks like an ordinary office hallway. At one end, a uniformed officer is stationed outside a glazed door that reads army corps of engineers, manhattan engineer district. He reviews Nathan’s orders, nods, and opens the door. Nathan enters the office on tentative steps, unsure of what surprises will happen next. There is a young lady sitting at the reception desk and she smiles at him sweetly. Her light brown hair is permed. She has a white poplin blouse and a…

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 Liz Lipperman!   Writes: Cozy mysteries as Liz Lipperman and paranormal mysteries, romantic thrillers and International romantic thrillers as Lizbeth Lipperman. Enchi-Lotta Bodies is number 6 of the Jordan McAllister Mysteries, originally titled The Clueless Cook Series. It follows the life of Jordan, who moved to a small town in Texas after getting dumped by a long-time boyfriend and ends up at a rundown apartment building where she becomes fast friends with the first floor residents, affectionately known as her partners in crime. Living on fast food and bologna sandwiches, she almost turns down an offer to write the culinary column temporarily at the local newspaper before she and her friends come up with a plan to publish comfort recipes, slap on a fancy name, and call them gourmet recipes.   About: Bestselling author, Liz Lipperman was raised in a small town in Ohio and started writing many years ago, even before she retired from the medical field. Although she thought she was writing…

Hey there! Lynn Rush, here. It’s nice to meet you all. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a YA paranormal and contemporary romance author and currently have twelve books published with nine more on the way. I love running trails out here in the desert despite having to hop a rattlesnake or scorpion every so often. Come find me on social media and you’ll get to see some epic sunrises from the desert trails I spend most of my time on.   Hi! Kelly Anne Blount a.k.a. Lynn Rush’s co-author checking in! Lynn and I have written six books together, including our latest release, CROSSING THE LINE. When I’m not writing with Lynn or working on my solo YA romance and dark thriller novels, you can find me snuggled up watching my favorite movies, reading, or hanging out with my sweet family and friends! You can find me everywhere (links at the end of this post)!   C is for Courageous Characters R is for Remembering Loved Ones O is for Open Minded S is for Strong Female Lead S is for Second Chances I is for Independent Women N is for New Beginnings G is for…

1–What is the title of your latest release? BAD PRESS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? When a feuding crime reporter and detective set aside their differences to solve the cold case of a missing teen, they find they make a good team – in more ways than one. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I like setting my mysteries in small towns, because it tends to make the crimes more surprising. Everyone knows everyone, and there’s usually a lot of history involved there, which creates interesting suspects. Bad Press takes place in Bristol, Virginia, which lies right on the border with Tennessee. I chose that area because I’d recently driven through Virginia and Tennessee on a road trip, and I thought it was beautiful – and much different than my home region of the Mid-Atlantic. Not to mention, it was the perfect opportunity to give my leading man a dreamy southern accent. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! Evie would be a blast to hang out with. Since she’s a reporter, she can always keep the conversation going, and she’s a great listener. Being on the…

1–What is the title of your latest release? DO YOU TAKE THIS MAN 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? After butting heads, an event planner doing his best impression of a dude-bro and a wedding officiant who doesn’t believe in romantic love begin an enemies-with-benefits arrangement as wedding bells chime around them. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The heroine, RJ, was a character in my last novel, The Fastest Way to Fall which is based in Chicago, but I wanted to move RJ to a new location and decided on North Carolina. I like the idea of RJ making her way in a new place and finding her footing, but also the fictional town where Lear grew up and where he visits his great uncle is based on my late great uncle and aunt’s home in Sylva, NC. In fact, Uncle Harold is based on my uncle, who passed on in the last couple years. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Yes! I want to hang out with RJ, learn from RJ, and definitely have her in my corner. She’s tough, funny, and fiercely protective of those…

ALL THE BROKEN GIRLS by Linda Hurtado Bond   A is for Action – which you will get a lot of in All the Broken Girls.   L is for Linda, my first name.   L is also for love – which inspired this book. My love for both my Cuban American husband and the Cuban American culture we raised our children in.   T is for Tony, the hot, by-the-books detective on the hunt for a serial killer leaving Mari clues   H is for Hanks  – the cold case detective helping Mari look into the ten-year-old murder of her mother.   E is for Evil as in The Evil Eye, which Mari fears someone is giving her.   B is for broken. Mari feels driven to help some broken girls because no one helped her after her mother was murdered.   R is for religion, which plays a part in this killer’s motivation and is infused in the calling cards he leaves behind.   O is for Orlando, Mari’s side-kick news photographer who is constantly trying to keep Mari out of trouble.   K is for kindness. When Detective Garcia shows Mari his kind side, something inside her…

Liliana lay in bed wide awake. She’d been laying there for hours, unable to sleep for some reason. The problem wasn’t memories this time. Something felt . . . wrong. At midnight, she’d checked with the doorman to make sure everything was okay downstairs. He’d politely told her everything was fine but had seemed confused. Or maybe he’d thought she was crazy. Finally, she got out of bed, went over to the windows, and looked out over the darkened city. Her thoughts turned toward God, asking him to make sure everything worked out all right. What that “everything” was she had no idea. The elevator dinged. That has to be Meric coming home. She walked out of her bedroom as he was walking off the elevator. The shadows were too thick to be able to see details, but she recognized the way he moved. He glanced at her and hesitated, just for a second. Then he turned and headed toward his room. Relieved to see him home, she shifted to step back into her room. Then she noticed something was off about the way he walked. Meric closed his door with a quiet click. She walked past the living and dining rooms…

Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps; Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvest reaps. —Amos Bronson Alcott, “The Garden,” Tablets, 1868   Prologue April 16, 1970 In the early morning light, I looked out one of my third-floor dormer windows and treasured the springtime rebirth taking place as far as my eyes could see. The orchard was a sea of frilly pink peach blossoms, fifty rolling acres of fruit trees. I wondered how the garden of Eden could have been any more lovely, and I thanked God for the beauty below. Eager to breathe in the familiar fragrance of the orchard, I raised the window as birdsong beckoned to me. But I also wanted to feel the cool morning dew on my bare feet before doing chores. So, already dressed, I gave my waist-length, light brown hair a good brushing, then twisted and pinned it into a thick bun—not bothering to put on a bandanna. I slipped down the two flights of stairs in my family’s home, then walked out the side door and across the yard and beyond. Unhurried, I wandered past the blooming peach trees, along the grassy strips that separated their rows. Time seemed to slow…

1–What is the title of your latest release? BINDLE PUNK BRUJA 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A part-time reporter and club owner takes on crooked city councilmen, mysterious and deadly mobsters, and society’s deeply rooted sexism and racism, all while keeping her true identity and magical abilities hidden – inspired by an ancient Mexican folktale 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? My great-grandmother’s journey from Mexico to Kansas City was a huge inspiration for the setting. The period was wrought with danger and uncertainty as well as strong familial bonds for immigrant families, so the story just seemed to lead me to Kansas City in a way. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. I poured a lot of myself into her character, and I’m pretty fun to hang with, so yes. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Witty, Loyal, Brave 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned how much hasn’t changed since 1925 in the political and social arenas. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I edit as I go. It’s just what works…