Whenever I’m writing a story, music runs foremost in my mind. Sometimes the lyrics steer me to a storyline I hadn’t even considered. I’ve got a song in my head for almost every chapter in this book, but I know I have to narrow it down, so here goes: Money – The Flying Lizards (1978)I want money (that’s what I want). This would have to be the Beginning Theme Song. All Margot dreams about is to become rich with the minimal amount of effort. Lacy – Olivia Rodrigo (2023)In this song, Margo is Lacy–smart, sexy Lacy, and all of her girlfriends are secretly envious of her. Mr. Brightside – The Killers (2003)Then, there’s Mr. Brightside, who represents all of Margot’s lovers. Jealousy. They imagine her with her other lovers, yet they can’t help but keep going back to her. Don’t You Want Me? – The Human League (1981)In this song, Margot is not working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, but she is working as a receptionist in an office. That’s when the multimillionaire, Burton Magnuson, meets her and raises her up financially. He even marries her, so he can’t understand why she would cheat on him. To Margot,…

One of the joys of writing (and reading) Christmas stories is the almost limitless variety in characters and their approaches to the holidays. The three of us have written such different stories (not just because Gin chose to write about a different winter holiday), and none of us could have written the same stories as the other authors in Holidays & Homicide, despite starting with the same assignment. It’s all in the character point of view. Each unique character = different approach to Christmas. Lena Gregory: I wrote about Christmas in Watchogue, New York, a small town on the south shore of Eastern Long Island. A small town has its downs (like prom night, when Dani’s humiliation spread like wildfire), but it also has its ups (like picking up where she left off with her best friend when she returned home from college to take over her Uncle Jimmie’s ice cream parlor and turn it into her very own café). But nothing touches Dani like the holidays, with Main Street decorated in tinsel and lights, the whole town gathered for the tree lighting ceremony, and…the body Dani discovers beneath the town Christmas tree. Misty Simon: I was so very excited…

Book Title: HER TIME TRAVELING DUKECharacter Name: Henry Leighton-Lyons, the Duke of Beresford Interviewer: How would you describe your family or your childhood?Henry: I was born in 1782 in the grand estate of Everly Park in Oxfordshire, England. My mother died in childbirth, my two sisters were much older than me, and my father was a proper duke. I was raised to be the same, although I preferred science to society. Interviewer: What was your greatest talent?Henry: Scientific learning, and astronomy in particular. I have always possessed a superior intellect…although I still cannot fathom what I am doing in the 21st century, in a former British colony! My new friend Rose claims that she conjured me here, which is hardly a rational explanation. Interviewer: Do you have a significant other?Henry: A significant other what? Interviewer: Someone you’re married to, or uh, courting?Henry: Ah. My beloved wife died after only two years of marriage. I have never felt the slightest attraction toward any other woman. You might guess that I have developed feelings for Rose, for she possesses a kind heart, an appealing lightness of spirit, a disarming frankness, and a plump and luscious figure… (clears throat) But truly, we are…

Excerpted from THE LIBRARY OF FATES by Margot Harrison: Now September 26, 2019, 1:15 p.m. The Library of Fates lived tucked under the mansarded roof of a tall, charcoal- gray building in Harvard Yard. To a casual visitor, it was like any other library, lined with shelves for hours of pleasantly aimless browsing. But every student knew that if you came to the Library of Fates and asked for a book to guide you safely through turbulent times, the librarian would go straight to the shelf and put a book in your hands. And that book would change your life. Eleanor Dennet was that librarian now, but the knowledge felt hollow. Her predecessor, Odile Vernet— her mentor, her guiding star, her best friend— had died suddenly three days ago, and she could barely process it. Her throat still raw from crying, her brain still woozy from too much vodka, she stepped over the threshold of the library that had been her refuge for most of the past twenty-four years. On the surface, everything seemed the same: the dark oak paneling and moss- green area rugs and accents; the pearly glow that came through the recessed skylight; the sweet, faintly musty…

Excerpted from THE BIRDWATCHER by Jacquelyn Mitchard: I still believed that Felicity would talk to me. She had to. After the arraignment, though, I had to admit that the odds weren’t great. One thing I knew was true. When Felicity said no, she said it only once. At the very least, I would be able to tell my editor that I had used every key to try every lock in every door. There’s no limit to the number of times you can try the same key in a different lock until that key opens something, even though tenacity and ingenuity are two different things, and I had plenty of the former and not much of the latter. My dad told me once that the number of permutations with the digits one through ten was more than three million and I still don’t know what he was talking about. More usefully, my mom used to say that the answer to any question was in the question; the key was finding the right question. I tried calling Felicity at the jail. Whoever answered told me to hold on, and then, after a minute or so, returned to say that Miss Wild was…

What is the title of your latest release?LOVE ME STALK ME What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Would you read a book where a woman downloads an AI boyfriend app to confess her fantasies to without knowing that her new hot coworker secretly hacked her phone and is the one she’s really talking to? How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I grew up near NYC! Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?She’s really based on me so, yes! What are three words that describe your hero?Broody, possessive, obsessive. What’s something you learned while writing this book?This book was an exploration of my own insecurities about my body. It was definitely a long-winded way of trying to learn to accept myself! Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?A bit of both! What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?It’s fall so pumpkin spice lattes! Describe your writing space/office!Usually a Starbucks! Who is an author you admire?Kurt Vonnegut Is there a book that changed your life?Honestly, yes! Love Me Stalk Me! Because it means that I get to do this full time which is such a dream come true! Tell…

What is the title of your latest release?EDGE What’s the elevator pitch for your new book?Chicago cops hunt the source of a tainted party drug called EDGE that has bodies falling right and left in the city. Tensions rise as the case hits far too close to home, impacting one of their own. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?No decision. I write crime novels set in Chicago. Write what you know, right? Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?I would, and I’d feel as safe as houses, seeing as Det. Harriet Foster is highly capable and a real bad ass. Also, she’d be interesting to talk to, if she’d take the time. What are three words that describe your hero?Tenacious, intelligent, principled. What’s something you learned while writing this book?Every time I write a book I learn how to write a better one. The more you write, the better you get at it. I’m always pleased to find another way to build a better mousetrap. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?I’m pretty careful while drafting, cleaning up as I go along, so that at…

What is the title of your latest release?THE DAY I LOST YOU What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?THE DAY I LOST YOU tells the gripping story of two women who both claim to be the mother of one little boy. One of them of course is lying, but the rug will be pulled out from underneath you when you discover who and why’. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I’ve set previous books in London, but wanted a change, and my editor agreed that as I live in Oxford, it would make sense to set it here. It’s actually set just outside, in the Chiltern Hills near where I live. The story opens in Spain, though, on a stretch of coast that I wanted to visit, so it made sense to go there for research. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?I would definitely want to be friends with my lawyer character, Sarah Kellerman. She is super clever and switched on, though, and she may find me a bit scatty. What are three words that describe your hero?Sarah is clever, empathetic and bold. What’s something you learned while writing this…

Welcome, readers. Today I am interviewing Lester Young McKinley. Lester is a fictional, yet important, character in a series of books by me, Michael Sears, TOWER OF BABEL, LOVE THE STRANGER, and a third that’s somewhere in the editing process. Call it TBA for now. Me: Can we start with your name? I imagine it is not by chance that you were named for one of the great jazz saxophonists.Lester: Not just one of…THE great. The GOAT. “Pres.” Billie Holliday gave him that nickname because he was the President of the Saxophone. My father worked at the old Colony Music store on Broadway. He got to know all those guys. Those ‘cats’, my father would say. Some of them lived in the neighborhood. I’d wake up early on a Sunday morning and my father would be just getting home and me mums would be cooking eggs and cornbread for him and a few musicians who’d followed him home. Me: What neighborhood was that?Lester: We had an apartment in St. Albans, just off Linden Boulevard. Southern Queens, for the out-of-towners. A lot of jazz musicians lived in Queens. Me: Was your father a musician?Lester: A music lover. Mums played piano a…

We’ve had some snow here, and I love it! Well, I love it as long as I don’t have to drive in it – let’s be honest. But snowy days are made for reading, cuddled up in your favorite blanket with a cup of something steaming-ly good, both beverage and book. So, let’s dive into what could be on your gift list or TBR in the coming month of shorter days, which hopefully means longer reading time. First up, we have CHRISTMAS MOVIE MYSTERY: A Cozy Cat Detective Whodunit for the Holidays (The Detective Whiskers Cozy Mystery Series) by Chris Abernathy. If you like your cozies very cozy and full of heartwarming fun, this is the one for you! It’s the last in the series but they can all be read as standalones. Give it a try and be taken away to Paradise Cove for a mystery that will leave you feeling merry! Next up, we have DON’T TOY WITH ME: A Christmas Cozy Mystery (Fun-Size Mysteries) by Diane Kelly is a delightful romp for your holiday cheer! It’s a short story and just the right size while you’re waiting to make cookies or have a quick break between wrapping…