When I initially began writing SPIES, LIES, AND ALLIES, I intended for it to be another YA rom-com like my previous books, with a fun cast of characters and romance. It checks those boxes, but this novel also ended up being a love story about dads and daughters. I say “ended up” like the book just happened somehow, but the truth is I wrote SPIES as my dad struggled with the end stages of Alzheimer’s. It was incredibly tough to “write funny” while grieving, and this book went through the most intense revision process of any of my books. For a while, I wasn’t even sure this one would make it into print, but my editor was patient, and I revised, again and again. Laurel and her dad share a love of Star Wars; she calls him Dad Vader and he calls her Princess, for Leia, naturally. Laurel convinces her dad to give her a summer job at his business, but it doesn’t turn out at all like she expects. As in “real life,” Laurel’s dad is hesitant to give her too much responsibility, not sure she’s ready for it. Many of us probably experienced this with our own dads,…

  The beach is my happy place. What’s not to like about the beauty and peace of a lovely beach? For me, visiting the beach is a real memory fest. I grew up playing on one, have always lived around water. Before I was even born (and let me tell you, that was a loooong time ago), my parents invested in land on a small island across from Seattle. Before I came along, the gang would pile into an old whaling boat my dad had found somewhere, take it through the Seattle locks (terrifying the people with pretty boats, who didn’t want their babies scratched) and head across Puget Sound to the island. Back then it was all trees, strawberry farms and a few summer cabins. We added to the cabin population by one and became summer folk. We owned high bank property, which meant we eventually needed to quit borrowing my uncle’s stairs and build our own to get to the beach. My dad hired a man to bulldoze a path partway. By that time I was around, a scrawny little girl fascinated by the whole process. The final product looked like a canyon to me and I dubbed…

If you’re thinking about packing your bags and heading to Dominion City (via the True Born Trilogy) there are a few things that I, as the author, think you should know in advance. To begin your armchair excursion into the dark heart of this dystopian sci-fi/fantasy (you do like Dystopian sci-fi fantasy, don’t you?) I’ve put together a few pointers on how to survive, and some of the items you’ll need to get by, in this treacherous futuristic world. Rain, rain and more rain Pack your rain gear. It’s always raining in Dominion City. This is not an exaggeration, folks. In Dominion you’ll be introduced to endless gray skies, tons of rain, and some really dramatic Flux storms (caused by pollution-induced climate change? Likely) leaving in their wake widespread chaos, charred neighborhoods and flattened skyscrapers. All of which the citizens can’t fix. See point 2. Plague, plague and more plague People in Dominion are not happy campers. A great plague has been sweeping the globe, decimating the population. This has all sorts of ramifications for residents of the city: the power constantly fails. People chop up their houses for firewood to keep warm. Some live in car hotels. When you…

Five romantic settings from VANQUISHING THE VISCOUNT that you can see for yourself. The heroine of this book, Emma, lives in a crumbling Elizabethan manor house, which is too expensive to maintain. This is where James, Viscount Tidworth, falls ill and is nursed by Emma. She risks her reputation to help him, but he shows no sign of recalling the incident. Unless he’s shamming… Emma’s home, Tresham Court is based on Kentwell Hall in Suffolk, famous for its recreations of Tudor life. It was also the location used for filming Terry Jones’s film version of Wind in the Willows. Emma moves to Figheldene Hall to work as a governess, desperate to keep her noble origins under wraps for fear it will bring the bailiffs swooping down on her impoverished family. Figheldene is inspired by Horton Court in Gloucestershire, used in filming Wolf Hall and the series. The place is built around a Norman hall dating to c.1185, and was owned at one time by William Knight, who was pivotal in obtaining Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Emma is whisked away to the dizzy heights of No. 12, Great Pulteney Street in Bath. This is an elegant Georgian townhouse,…

As a New York Times bestselling author with three names (L.L. Bartlett, Lorraine Bartlett, and Lorna Barrett), readers think they know what my most successful series is. The Booktown Mysteries by Lorna Barrett, of course. That’s the name most people associate me with—it, and the cozy mystery genre. But in reality, I’ve sold many more books in my Jeff Resnick series, and yet that name is far from being a household name. Unlike my cozy mystery series (and I have three), the Jeff Resnick Mysteries are quite a departure as it has an authentic setting—Buffalo, New York—and as I’m not a native, I’ve had to depend on actually visiting the area so that my books reflect the ambiance of the city and its surrounding suburbs, where most of the books take place. Why did I choose Buffalo? I (wrongly) concluded that as it was a much bigger metropolitan area than Rochester, where I live, that the crime rate must be much higher. Nope. But it’s an edgier city that has been shaking off its run-down reputation as a rust-belt relic and has recently been undergoing a renaissance. I’ve had a lot of compliments on the setting for the (so far)…

In my YA debut, A MESSY, BEAUTIFUL LIFE, Ellie and Jason are improv comedians who become friends when their improv groups join forces to enter a sketch comedy contest. Laughing and being absurd together—while heartache unfolds around them—pushes them closer, and they have to decide if it’s worth the risk to take their friendship to the next level. Since I ended up marrying my best friend in real life, I’m totally biased as to whether it’s worth the risk to fall in love with a friend. Here are my top five reasons: You get each other’s jokes. For comediansthis is especially important. But if someone gets your sense of humor, they get you. And no one finds you funnier than your friends. Plus, laughter releases oxytocin in our system, the same hormone that bonds people to each other. So, more laughter, more bonding!It just makes sense. You’re committed to commitment. No one wants to risk ruining a good friendship dynamic, so you both understand at the start that if you’re agreeing to take it to the next level, you’re going all in. He comes pre-approved.You get to avoid that awkward introduction to your friends where you’re stressing if he’ll fit…

Sadly, the Donnigans series is coming to a close with THE ONLY THING. Though all the books stand alone as their own stories, I do like to weave characters from other series in and out of various books. It’s like six degrees of separation with Kevin Bacon, but instead of the grand Footloose Master, you have the McCauleys! The MCCAULEY BROTHERS books are the first I wrote for Sourcebooks, and they revolve around the McCauley brothers (go figure.) Their cousins, THE DONNIGANS, also live in Seattle. As do the mechanics who feature in BODY SHOP BAD BOYS, who work for Del McCauley at Webster’s garage. Confused yet? But hey, THE ONLY THING is about J.T. Webster and Hope Donnigan. So let’s focus on these two. Some interesting facts about… HOPE DONNIGAN First appeared in RUINING MR. PERFECT because she works for Cameron McCauley. Is the only girl in her family and among her McCauley cousins Has in the past babysat her nephew Colin McCauley (who appeared in all the McCauley books, staring with THE TROUBLEMAKER NEXT DOOR) First met J.T. at her cousin Mike’s Wedding in WHAT TO DO WITH A BAD BOY J.T. WEBSTER First appeared in (and I…

Hi there, and thank you for joining me over here on Fresh Fiction today. I’m so excited to be here celebrating the release of LENNON REBORN. And with the final book in the series comes the usual question, “Which was your favorite moment of the series?” So, I thought I’d cut to the chase and share them here with you. The Preload series features four men who group up in a Toronto group home together… men who went on to the dizzy heights of success as one of the world’s most incredible metal bands. Dred, the lead singer, is the hero of THE PUREST HOOK in the Second Circle Tattoos series, but Preload focuses on the rest of the band. Without further ado, here are my five favorite moments from the series: The Phone – JORDAN RECLAIMED Jordan has lived most of his life disconnected, literally, from the rest of the world with the exception of the band. He sleeps in the attic, despite living in a beautiful house and doesn’t even own the bass guitars he plays. But meeting Lexi, his ballerina, and the light to his dark, he realizes for the first time in his life that he…

Awareness is one of the ways that people can help in the conservation of wolves and other wildlife. For wolves, finding wolf centers online, going to the wolf centers, buying merchandise, or adopting wolves are easy ways people can participate in the support of wolves and to help provide for the education on them and their care. This is true for big cat reserves and other such places like bear reserves, or even facilities that care for injured birds: owls, falcons, eagles. Teaching our children, taking them to facilities like this, helps to educate future generations. I read an article about a man who was paid to kill foxes. At some point in his life, he began to study them, taking pictures and documenting them instead. Foxes, their kits—what a treasure to share with the world. And yet if he hadn’t changed his occupation, he would have continued to eliminate foxes for a living. He now has been featured many times in National Geographic. Awareness, a change of attitude, a willingness to get along. I was reading where certain shells are used for making jewelry. People collect sand dollars that are living creatures, and shells that house crabs. Oftentimes we…

Hi everyone! I want to say thanks to the folks at Fresh Fiction for inviting me to be on their blog today. I’m so excited. Next month is the first anniversary of the release of REACH FOR YOU, the final book in my Dark Heart trilogy. This December HIS DARK MAGIC, the first book in my new Northern Circle Coven series, will come out. Both series are contemporary paranormal with lots of magic, action, and strong romantic elements. They also feature love interests with magical abilities. I thought I’d share five characteristics of magic wielding guys, or at least of the men in my novels. Smart—All the men in my series are intelligent, but in different ways. Devlin from the Northern Circle Coven series is the coven’s high priest and a landscape architect. He’s ivy league educated and super creative. He’s always looking for new ways to use magic to make the world a better place. Chase from the Dark Heart series was raised as a warrior-slave in the djinn realm. The small amount of formal education he received happened in secret. However, his natural intelligence, magic, and loving and courageous spirit help him overcome obstacles that would crush others….