What is the title of your latest release?THE DORIANS What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Five elderly people are invited to an isolated island retreat and given the opportunity to take part in an experiment that, if successful, may bestow immortality. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I’m Canadian. The Cutter books are almost all set here. I took my son to a fishing lodge in northern Ontario; I based the island’s location on that same place. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?I’m not sure the book has a heroine per se, although it has several female characters. I might’ve liked to hang out with a few of them … before the operation they receive on the island. What are three words that describe your hero?Gullible. Kind. Old. What’s something you learned while writing this book?That some jellyfish possess biological immortality, meaning they can hypothetically live forever. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?wait until I’m done. What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?A ribeye and a glass or two of red wine. Describe your writing space/office!Functional. It is currently a small, narrow desk in the…

Beethoven’s Sonata Opus 41Beethoven’s Sonata Opus 41 is the first piece welcoming you into THE HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. When I create a character as an actress as well as a writer, I listen to certain songs and sounds that inspire the world I am building. While I was writing this gothic tale, each morning I played this Sonata on my piano before sitting down to write; it brought me into the dark and delicate atmosphere that inhabits this tale. I lent my piano playing to my character Minerva, the house’s original owner. Minerva’s haunting piano playing lingers in this story well after her death; it is heard by the neighbors on certain days and certain nights of the year. I used this piece as the opening theme in my audio narration of THE HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. I performed it on a Fender Rhodes piano and altered its original tempo to walk you into this odd House. Season of the Witch performed by Lana Del Rey.Lana Del Rey’s sultry rendition of Season of the Witch draws a perfect portrait of the time of year when supernatural happenings take hold of us. The Boread’s…

Í Tokuni by Eivør While writing this book, I listened to many musicians from far northern places, and Faroese artist Eivør became my favorite. Her music is atmospheric, mysterious, witchy and amazing. Whenever I listen to this song, I feel a sense of a wild, inhabited landscape – maybe not inhabited by humans, but certainly by spirits. In the world of The Gyre, spirits and folkloric beings play a significant role, and this song, with its chants and invocations, helped me deepen those themes. Recently I looked up the English translation, and I couldn’t believe what I found: The title translates to “In the Mist” and the lyrics recount a childhood experience Eivør had getting lost alone in the Faroese mountains. Perfect! Dirt in the Ground by Tom Waits I love Tom Waits’ music so much that I created a character in my first novel, Among the Wonderful, in homage to him! (Thomas Willoughby, the scrappy, improvising pianist.) In The Gyre, I didn’t go that far, but in one of the book’s most crucial scenes, the protagonist – a Russian Orthodox monk – explores the same Biblical passage that Waits does in “Dirt in the Ground”: Ezekiel 37:3, also known…

What is the title of your latest release?FOR THE BRIDE What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?The movie Bridesmaids meets Emily Henry, but make it sapphic. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?Almost all of my writing is set in the Midwest, and since Alice, our main character, works in music and recording, it made sense for her to live in Chicago. There’s a destination bachelorette party in the book that’s set in Palm Springs, which I chose because A. It’s a hot bachelorette destination right now and B. It’s very queer-friendly. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Yes, but I might be a little too chaotic for her. Alice loves her routines, and I am NOT a routine girl. What are three words that describe your hero?The love interest, Renee, is icy, organized, and loyal. What’s something you learned while writing this book?I didn’t set out to write a book about grief, but it quickly became an enormous part of the book. I didn’t realize how much grief I had shoved aside but never processed, and writing this book allowed me to move through that. Do you edit as you…

What is the title of your latest release?CROSSING THE BRONX What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?CROSSING THE BRONX is an historical literary novel – a modern retelling of the Jacob and Esau story from Genesis – set primarily in the 1950s in The Bronx. The narrative that propels the story forward concerns the destruction of a neighborhood in the guise of progress. The brothers – Jay and Eric – are on opposite sides of a bitter struggle that pits those in power against the defenseless people of a local community. Their fractious relationship speaks to the issues of how families split apart, and whether or not the pieces can ever be put back together. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I’ve always been fascinated by the story of how the decision was made to construct the Cross Bronx Expressway by utterly destroying a neighborhood in The Bronx. The hubris of officials and power brokers to create a gash in the fabric of the City without consideration of the impact on housing, stores, schools, parks – the community – of Tremont was the epitome of post-World War II civic engineering at its worst. I…

What is the title of your latest release?SUBLIMATION What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?SUBLIMATION is set in a universe where crossing a border splits you in two. One person goes on to the new country, the other stays behind. If the two instances of the original person ever meet and physically touch, they merge back into one person with both sets of money. The story starts with Rose Soyoung Kang, returning to Korea from NYC for her grandfather’s funeral, where her other self is waiting. Her other self would love to reintegrate. Rose very much doesn’t want to. Things spiral from there. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?SUBLIMATION is mostly set between NYC and Seoul, because my family is more-or-less from Seoul, originally, and I spent a decent chunk of my adult life in New York. Seoul’s the biggest city in Korea by a wide margin, and it’s also somewhere that I know decently well, and I’m New York based now. And New York is just a good city to set a diaspora novel in – it’s a huge melting pot with a lot of brownian motion. Would you hang out with…

What is the title of your latest release?LIES BETWEEN US What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?The Summer I Turned Pretty but make it murder! When a beach party ends in tragedy, three sisters begin to question everything they know about their idyllic small town and the three boys who live next door. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I grew up on the North Shore of Long Island, and I wanted to set this book in a similar location, full of rocky beaches and tight-knit communities. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?This book has three heroines, and I’d love to hang with all of them. Lucy, the oldest, would whip me into shape when I was feeling lazy. Milly, the middle sister, would watch rom-coms with me all day, and Frankie, the youngest, would challenge me to games. Ideal! What are three words that describe your hero?Lucy is determined, ambitious, and confident. Milly is romantic, dreamy, and idealistic. Frankie is sarcastic, mathematical, and loyal. What’s something you learned while writing this book?Frankie loves solving logic puzzles and while researching the book (procrastinating researching the book?!), I learned how to…

What is the title of your latest release?STUART WOODS’ DEEP WATER What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A sinking ship, a nasty inheritance fight, a resurrection of sorts, and an enemy from the past conspire to keep Stone Barrington’s life more than simply interesting. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I’ll answer this as it pertains to the first chapter, which sets the story into motion, and that is on a brand new yacht off the coast of Long Island. The location – Stone at sea, with no land visible – came to me in a flash along with the action that would occur while I was out for a walk. I immediately knew I had the opening for the story. Would you hang out with your hero in real life?Oh, yeah! Who wouldn’t want to hang out with a near billionaire with his own jet and half a dozen houses around the world? Plus is a guy who does the right thing by people? The real question would be if he would want to hang out with me. What are three words that describe your hero?Loyal, good hearted, and rich. (Counting that second…

Chapter 10 Excerpt from ALMOST BY DESIGN by Jenny Erlingsson: Kenya snapped her mouth shut, disbelief locking her eyes with his. Her mother used to tell her opening her mouth so wide was like keeping the front door open. She’d let in all kinds of flies and nasties. And she sure didn’t need another sting from the man sitting next to her, who so sweetly nestled her aching foot in a bed of heavenly elevation. Yet, she couldn’t deny that she was absolutely flabbergasted by what he’d just said. “Explain what you mean by dating me . . . kind of.” She didn’t need to tell him how much his prior rejection had affected her. She had dared to hope that somehow all the things she did, all the people she knew and the connections she’d made, could measure up to someone as successful as he appeared to be. But when he never got back to her, she convinced herself that he’d seen something in her during their first date that he didn’t want to continue with. And now, all of a sudden, he’d galloped back into her life like some hero, being exactly what she didn’t want to need and acting…

Book: SCENT OF HOPECharacter: Jericho Bowie How would you describe your family or your childhood?(runs hand through hair) My family… we were the Bowie brothers. Four of us – me, Sully, Hudson, and Malachi. We grew up running the family resort in Copper Mountain. Dad was a state senator, too, and loved this small town. Mom kept us all from killing each other. (slight smile) Dad used to drag us all into different parts of the business – I handed him tools in the workshop, Sully climbed under cars in the snow, Hudson worked the front desk. He wanted us all to take over someday. We were happy. Close. Until tragedy struck. He and Mom were killed in a plane crash with Sheriff Tatum and his wife not long after. Sully took off. Hudson and Malachi have been running the resort ever since. It’s been hard to come home. What was your greatest talent?SAR work. Search and rescue. I can read terrain, track movement, coordinate complex rescues. Did two tours in Afghanistan in combat SAR – got good at bringing people home alive from situations that should’ve killed them. I’m also a decent climber. Dad taught me that. And I…