Stores are prepared for all shoppers’ moods. Halloween candy, Thanksgiving tableware and Christmas ornaments are available for sale. House lawns are sprouting skeletons and low hanging tree branches host monsters and goblins. One house by me leaves a fifteen-foot skeleton up all year. With an extended hand, it offers Christmas gifts, Valentine hearts and Easter eggs. It’s an all-purpose decoration, ready for the changing holidays. Spring and summer parties welcome people to emerge from their homes and enjoy the sunshine. More laid back, whereas winter ones are focused on food and presentation. Fall and winter holidays offer mega inside celebrations. More emphasis on family tradition, like using Grandma’s dishes and tablecloths. I have bought Halloween candy twice, for quality control only. More samplings will need to be done. My name has been tossed into the running for Thanksgiving this year. If so, I do have to start planning logistics. Tables, chairs and space for forty of my nearest and dearest. I’ll find out for sure by Halloween, but in the meantime, I’ll mini prepare. How many platters and crockpots can fit on my kitchen counters? About Mary Jo Burke Mary Jo is a USA Today bestselling author and 2014 WRWDC…

Each Friday the Smashwords store reports the bestselling indie fiction titles based on the previous week’s sales. If an author has more than one title eligible for the list, only the highest performing title will be included. This ensures high-performing titles receive the accolades they deserve, while providing up-and-coming authors the visibility they have earned. Don’t miss Monday’s Top 10 Hot Preorders List, where Smashwords will provide a list of the most highly anticipated ebook preorders.

Welcome back to Jen’s Jewels, your weekly must-read for all things fiction! Today, I am shining the spotlight on THE BLUFF by one of my favorite authors, Wade Rouse. Set against the magical backdrop of Mackinac Island at Christmas, this story is filled with family secrets, romance, and plenty of drama. Trust me, you’ll want to add this one to your TBR. Read on! LIGHTNING ROUND What’s your favorite way to spend an autumn afternoon?I love to run the lakeshore, or hike with my husband, Gary, and our rescue dog, Gerti, take our boat out on Lake Michigan to see the fall color, antique, cook, dinners with friends, and watch college/pro football (Go, Mizzou! Go, Northwestern! Go, LA Rams!) What’s your go-to fall drink, snack, or sweet treat while writing?I make my own pumpkin spice latte(s) at home while I write at dawn, or head to Uncommon Grounds, our local coffeehouse in Saugatuck, Michigan, that makes the best coffee in the world. Gary is a great baker, and I love his pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting. When it’s close to Halloween, I tend to raid the Halloween candy after I run because ten baby candy bars never equal a…

What is the title of your latest release?THE HOUSE OF GARDENIAS What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?THE HOUSE OF GARDENIAS is about a teenage girl named Minerva who runs away from her abusive home and starts working as a maid for a wealthy old woman. When civil war breaks out, she discovers that her employer is the cousin of the now-reinstated despotic Viceroy—and they are being swept away into the family stronghold, la Casa de las Gardenias, to weather the worst of the civil conflict. One there, with the other members of this family, she discovers that the house is haunted… but it turns out that the bloodthirsty ghosts might not be the most monstrous things in the house. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I decided on a fantasy version of an unnamed Latin American country for a couple of reasons. One, because I wanted to write a fantasy with magic and ghosts. Two, because from the idea’s very inception, it drew on different historical elements from across Latin America. And third and finally, after writing three historical novels in a row, I wanted some freedom from the historical record! Would you…

Excerpt from ISTANBUL DREAMING by Denise Derya Brandt: Chapter 11 Ayten sat in the middle of her courtyard garden on a wooden chair decorated with red ribbons, the scent of flowers in the air, wondering how it was already her henna night. She still couldn’t believe she was going to marry Salih tomorrow.  Ayten was the main attraction in her traditional red velvet bindallı dress covered in an elaborate design of gold embroidered floral garlands, the same dress Meryem had worn at her own henna night. When Meryem had suggested Ayten wear it, she couldn’t say no. It was beautiful, and Ayten looked like an Ottoman princess in it. The red color symbolized her virginity, a gift to her husband, just like the red satin sash she’d reluctantly wear tomorrow at Meryem’s insistence. “It’s tradition. What would people say if you didn’t wear it?” Meryem had said. It seemed like every female neighbor, friend, and family member was here, singing and dancing, everyone except Yasemin. Ayten closed her eyes and remembered the day she’d learned her best friend had left her. She knocked on Yasemin’s front door, mentally rehearsing what she’d say as she nervously picked at the rough patch…

What is the title of your latest release?REAP & SOW What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A young woman bargains with a demon to save her brothers, only to risk losing her heart in this slow-burn romantasy about dark magic, unlikely love, and the imperfect beauty of mortality. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?Elizabethan England and drew architectural inspiration from cities with neo-Gothic aesthetics like Edinburgh and Prague. That blend of gritty history and Faustian magic really complemented one another, and helped bring Blackbridge to life. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Definitely! I think Eda would be a little closed off at first, but once she got comfortable, I imagine she’d be surprisingly chatty. What are three words that describe your hero?Brave, determined, loyal. What’s something you learned while writing this book?I think working on REAP & SOW made me a better writer in general, but more specifically, it reinforced the importance of perseverance. My first book drew little interest from literary agents; if I’d given up at that point, REAP & SOW would never have existed. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed when starting a new project,…

What is the title of your latest release?WITCHSONG What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Witches are hunted in an industrial, turn-of the century society – a runaway girl must find them and confront her family’s history through three trials, if her past doesn’t kill her first. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I’ve always loved the folklore and mythology of eastern Europe and Hungary specifically, which was a key part of my childhood, and I wanted to create a world based on its rich source material. I also wanted to incorporate the historical backdrop of the witch burnings in the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe, which fascinated me during my study of history at university. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?I would! I might have to get her to therapy first, but I think we’d bond over a lot of things (including baking and a love for stories). I’d love to get her to teach me how to garden as well, because I am very bad at it. What are three words that describe your hero?Resilient. Soft. Kind. What’s something you learned while writing this book?Don’t make the perfect…

Talk to Me by PeachesI think of Jenny Greenteeth in my debut JENNY WILL EAT YOU NOW as a being of unvarnished desire. She’s a roving id attached to a green, humanoid form that hungers for flesh in more ways than one. “Talk to Me” by Peaches embodies that sense of obsession and rage she has when she meets a man and has to figure out if she wants to love or devour him. Early in the narrative, when our human hero hasn’t yet realized he’s pursued by this creature, she’s infuriated he would exist without knowing she does, too. This is Jenny demanding his attention, wanting his acknowledgement without her making any effort herself. Why would a woman who sets herself apart from humanity think of making herself vulnerable? It’s much easier to burn for that attention without doing a thing, of course. “Talk to Me” is a stalker anthem in that sense, but much like “Every Breath You Take” by The Police, a ballad that’s made its way onto a lot of wedding playlists, I think it’s a song about an unearned sense of ownership that’s a critical part of a crush. I would caution against mistaking that…

What is the title of your latest release?YOU’RE THE ONE THAT I HAUNT What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A debut speculative romcom for fans of MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING and THE DEAD ROMANTICS in which a woman must team up with a distractingly handsome ghost to save her childhood crush (and love of her life) from a generational curse. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?My main character, Libby, is swept up in the sphere of her best friend Carter, who is the heir to an oil dynasty. For this reason, I needed the book to take place in a major city where the family would be based. I always loved Gossip Girl and pictured Carter being part of that Upper East Side world. New York is also a city I’m familiar with from a previous job, so it made it easier to write! Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Oh, absolutely. I think Libby and I would enjoy watching black-and-white movies or Jane Austen adaptations while devouring sugary cereal. Or, since we’re both competitive, we’d have a board game night. What are three words that describe your hero?Loyal, intelligent,…

Book Title: NEWBOURNE PARKCharacter Name: Lady Olivia Lambert How would you describe your family or your childhood?It was a jolly, carefree childhood punctuated by the usual rude awakenings: the abrupt knowledge that my brother would inherit everything, that my father was as philandering as the rest of his generation, that my mother drank rather a lot as a result. I had a stream of ponies and boarding schools and got on with it without much fuss. What was your greatest talent?Do you mean party tricks or life skills? I’ll choose the former. I had a little Annie Oakley routine whilst out on the hunt before I was married, shooting targets on horseback. It was a good laugh. Goodness, I haven’t done that for ages. Significant other?None since my late husband. I’m too busy for all that bother. I do miss Edward quite terribly at times, but I get on with it. Biggest challenge in relationships?I suppose I lack a certain patience. I’m the sort who draws a straight line between where I am now and what needs fixing, and it seems the current generation is increasingly incapable of seeing the world the same way. All this dithering self-examination whilst determinedly…