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 as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Tracy Townsend!  What do I write: I’m an author who looks at fantasy and science fiction and says, “This is great. I want to do all of it.” I love fantasy that dabbles with technology; futurism riddled with fun anachronism; big-concept genre plots with deep, personal, character-driven stakes; people who are almost monsters and monstrous beings that are almost people. I love writing that appeals to a sense of adventure and doesn’t give up on literary style to do it. My novels are set in a world full of washed-up mercenaries, crooked cops, charming criminals, scrappy pickpockets, cynical clergy, murderous trees, nightmarish ogres, and endless secrets and conspiracies. More about me: I teach science fiction and fantasy literature as well as creative writing, so you can bet I put story craft and knowledge of genre fiction at the front of my writing. Of course, there’s a lot of my background as a martial arts instructor and acting coach mixed in, too. I…

Self-driving cars are coming! In my latest novel, THREE LAWS LETHAL, New York City is swarming with fleets of them, all competing for your business. The cars are programmed to keep people safe…right? Of course they are. But as the AIs driving the cars find more and more creative ways to beat the competition, they start to develop minds…and goals…of their own. But what about you? Are you lining up to buy a Tesla? Or staying as far away from them as you can? The question brings us to our Top Five list! A self-driving car might kill you in the following five ways: By Saving Someone Else. Let’s say a tree falls in front of a self-driving car and you’re walking nearby. Does the car kill its passengers by hitting the tree, or swerve to save them and kill you instead? With a human at the wheel, there would be no time to consider the question, but an AI has plenty of time to make a choice. In fact, it’s been programmed ahead of time to find the “best” option in any situation. So which one is best? Should it value the life of its owner more than it…

Hi Everyone! Thanks for allowing me to be here today.  When I was here last year, I wrote about my five favorite go-to romance movies last year.  So, I decided to write another “Top 5” list, and a few nights ago, I sat on the couch and started pondering ideas. Hubby came in with the glass of Sauvignon Blanc I’d started and accidentally left in the kitchen (I think he knows my best ideas start with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc), and sat down across from me. Me: I need to come up with a Top 5 list to write about. Something interesting. *takes a sip of wine* Hubby: How about Top 5 dog breeds? Background: I love dogs, especially older rescue dogs. We’ve had seven since we’ve been married and currently have 3, one of which just joined the family last month. Gizmo is a ten-year-old going-blind, going-deaf sweet-ball-of-fur shih tzu.  I also write children’s books about said rescue dogs. You can check them out at: www.dogsandbooks.com . Me: It needs to be romance-related. And fun. And unique. Hubby: How about five best sexual positions? Me:  *sigh* And clean. *takes another sip of wine* Hubby: How about the five…

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 as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present SYLVIA KANE! What I Write About: Contemporary romance that’s heavy on the steam, with a lot of emotion and character growth. My heroes and heroines aren’t cookie-cutter…they’re real, but lovable people who have to find a way to be together. My latest release is Back For More, a brother’s best friend romance set in Manhattan about a Wall Street attorney who can turn anyone’s head and his best bud’s little sister, for whom he’s always carried a torch. About Me: Thirty-something lawyer-turned-author who’s a bit of a cynic but absolutely believes in true love. I’ve always had a bit of a perfectionist streak, and am naturally high-strung, but writing helps me relax. I’m an avid volleyball player, and just starting out with gardening. My six and three-year-old girls keep me busy, and insane! My husband of ten years is amazingly supportive of my writing career. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Doesn’t mind scorching scenes that send your heart…

Here’s how it happened: I’d just submitted Splinter in the Blood to my agent (Felicity Blunt), expecting it to go out with more of a whimper than a bang—and it confounded my wildest expectations, receiving keen interest from publishers worldwide. This was 2017, the genre du jour was domestic noir, and Splinter was a serial killer thriller—my first, after publishing 12 crime and mystery novels, and the fulfillment of a twenty-year ambition. A self-indulgent treat that might be seen as self-destructive, given that it seemed the publishing world was focused elsewhere, but at that point, I wasn’t thinking beyond Splinter: you see, I’d convinced myself that novel #13 would be my last, so I thought, What the heck… The London Book Fair was just days away, interest was hotting up, and multiple bids were on the horizon. But one of the foreign rights scouts wanted to know about the next book. Did I have any ideas, Felicity wondered, “Even a para you could put together?” As a rule, I start jotting down notes and ideas about the next book two-thirds the way through the one I’m currently writing. This time, I had nothing—why would I, when book thirteen was sure…

Tucked into the interstices of the writing life, I’ve cultivated a creative hobby—landscape photography. This requires me to travel around the Pacific Northwest visiting rugged coastlines, mountain lakes reflecting snowy peaks, cascading waterfalls, and most recently the wildflowers blooming along the Columbia River that divides the states of Oregon and Washington. On this most recent venture I hunted for previously unexplored hillsides splashed with the vivid yellows and purples of Balsam Root and Lupine, as well as searching out new vistas in a few places I’ve visited before. No matter if the setting I’ve driven hours to see and shoot is new to me or a favorite spot, I’ll often prowl around and observe how the light, weather conditions, and my movement through the terrain changes the landscape, thus the potential composition of a photograph. When I find a composition that feels strong and balanced (two years of art college put to use!), I’ll stop and set up my tripod and camera. More than once I’ve found myself wishing that a novel, a chapter, or a scene could be a three-dimensional landscape I could physically move through with the same ease. Whether I’m engaged in photography or writing, the process…

Fresh Fiction Senior Reviewer Debbie Wiley is here to take us on a tour of one of the hottest summer vacation destinations: FLORIDA. All of these great summer reads are set in the Sunshine State!!  Summer is here, and vacation mode is in full swing for many. Florida is one of the hot spots for summer travel. Not everyone can travel in person, however, so traveling to Florida through books is a great alternative. Here are some books to help you tour Florida this summer: We start out our adventure in Key West with Lucy Burdette and A DEADLY FEAST. Amateur sleuth Hayley Snow has a new mystery on her hands when someone dies during a seafood walking tour. Lucy Burdette takes readers to real restaurants in the Keys, giving readers a guide to locate all the scrumptious and tasty treats. I’m not kidding when I say I not only love the Key West Food Critic series but that I also use the series as a travel guide for my visits. While we are down in the Keys, don’t forget to stop in No Name Key and visit the No Name Pub. Tim Dorsey visits the Keys and No Name…

Hi everybody! I’m Heather McCollum, author of Scottish romances. I’m excited to be here on Fresh Fiction to celebrate the release of my new novel, THE WICKED VISCOUNT, which takes place in 17th c London. Have you ever wondered what it feels like to wear the huge ensembles of silk and embroidery that the ladies in the English court used to don? My current Scottish historical romance series, The Campbells, takes place in 1684 and 1685. In THE WICKED VISCOUNT, the heroine, a feisty Scottish lass, must venture to the royal court in London. For the first time in her life, she wears the rich garments of the elite to fit in at Whitehall Palace. I wanted to experience what my heroine was feeling in the strictures of the costume, so I commissioned the talented Victoria Vane to create an ensemble for me. Even though my heroine grows up during the time when these dresses were worn, she is poor and has never worn the full costumes before. After two weeks of looking at fabrics with Victoria, we finally decided on a gorgeous magenta and lavender combination of silks. Imported from India, the fabrics are rich and beautifully embroidered with…

“These are some passionate turophiles,” Harris stated bemusedly beneath his breath an hour and a half later. They were observing the cheese-carving competition. Harris had his arms folded over his broad chest as he attentively contemplated the group of focused cheese carvers. “Don’t you mean turophiliacs?” she asked, and he rolled his eyes at her. Harris had been using the word turophile as often as possible in the hour since he’d first seen it in the festival pamphlet. He was like a kid with a new toy, and Tina thought it was endearing. “Hush, and let me enjoy this. I don’t often learn fun new words. It’s all accrued expenses, assessed values, and capital gains or losses in my world. Boring as hell.” He went back to watching the cheese carvers. Tina was tickled by how genuinely diverting he seemed to find this entire experience. He stopped at most stalls, asking questions and sampling so many different cheeses that Tina felt sick just watching him. She wasn’t lactose intolerant, but she was pretty sure she was developing an allergy just from being around this much dairy. “The guy over there, with the beard? Wearing the orange beanie and the pride…

I’m a mom of 3 teenagers. I’ve taught middle school and high school English. I have experience with kids. As a writer, I’ve written some romances where the heroine gets pregnant or wants to. Babies are part of life. However, I know a lot of readers don’t like kids in romance. I’ll be the first to admit, kids can totally kill romance buzz. Smart Bitches, Trashy Books even coined the phrase plot moppet to refer to small children in novels who have no purpose other than to drive the plot forward. They’re not fully fleshed out characters. They do cute things and the adults around them react. I’ve had friends suggest that I write YA (young adult) because I know kids – I must understand them and what they like, right? Therefore, writing YA should be a breeze. I’m not going to tackle the whole “writing should be a breeze” aspect. But part of my reasoning for not even considering writing YA is that my experience with my kids would read like something fictional. My kids are snarky and irreverent and pretty open about what they think and feel. They have awesome vocabularies (hello, English teacher mom). I’ve always felt…