I’ve always had a fascination with the 1940’s. Whether it’s related to glamorous fashion, big band music, fabulous films, or a generation that rolled up their sleeves to fight an extremely important war, this era never fails to tug at my heart. In fact, my very first books (The Allison O’Brian Chronicles) were set in post World War II forties. At the time my research relied on memories of family members who’d lived through those years. And I must admit it was fun and educational to ‘interview’ my mom and relatives—many who are gone now. Nearly twenty years would pass before I wrote about the 1940’s again. That came in the form of The Mulligan Sisters (an adult series about a large Irish family living in San Francisco during WW 2). This time, my research was much easier. With access to the internet, all this historical information was instantly available at my fingertips. I’m so grateful for those who took the time to tell their stories and record their experiences. Especially considering how so many of those heroes (from the battlefront as well as the home-front) have passed on. I felt like a treasure-hunter as I unearthed all sorts of…

Anna Bradley debuted her new Sutherlands series with LADY ELEANOR’S SEVENTH SUITOR on September 5th. She stopped by Fresh Fiction to talk with Miranda Owen about the new book, starting a fresh series, and what to expect from her next. In LADY ELEANOR’S SEVENTH SUITOR, Lady Eleanor and Camden have a somewhat adversarial relationship for much of the story. Normally I prefer the hero and heroine to be on the same side, facing an outside threat. What makes this romance work for me, is that the reader is able to get inside their heads and see what they’re feeling and thinking. Which type of romance do you find easier or more enjoyable to write – one in which the hero and heroine start out with a prickly relationship, or one in which they like each other right away? I admit to being a big fan of the “enemies to lovers” trope, so when my stories open, the characters do tend to be at odds with each other. That’s not to say I don’t like a story where the hero and heroine are on the same page, but I’ve always been drawn (as a reader and a writer) to the kind…

Exclusive Excerpt: Fool Me Once by Catherine Bybee “You’re American, right?” The married and engaged party of four was from Sicily. All of them spoke English. “Oh my God, Shannon, I almost forgot. We were supposed to meet those French guys on the main pool deck when we pulled out of port.” Shannon caught on quickly. “Oh, that’s right.” She put her arm through Trina’s and turned her away from the Italians. “Lovely meeting you. I’m sure we’ll see you again.” Lori held back to sign for the bar tab. One of the Italians muttered something about the French before they took their drinks to another part of the lounge. By now, the barkeep was elbow deep with orders. With tractor-beam eyes, she watched the man in hopes of gaining his attention. “The death stare usually works faster.” Lori felt her lips peeling back in a smile before pivoting her head toward the amused male voice. She took him in from the ground up. Slacks, not jeans or shorts like many of the men milling about on deck. Trim waist that bloomed into thick shoulders covered by a pullover, three-button shirt. Arms that spent some time holding something other than…

What can make you great can often be said to also be among your greatest flaws. And that is certainly true for many of those who dedicate their lives to catching killers. In THE LAST MOVE, FBI Agent Kate Hayden was seventeen the night her father was murdered. That same night she decided to go into law enforcement. Armed with innate talent and her hard-earned PhD in forensic linguistics, she’s among the best in her field, able to read the writings and communications of the most heinous killers to reveal the clues hidden within. Here’s what I think are the top five skills that make her and others in law enforcement so good at their jobs. Dedication: It takes long hours of hard work and unremitting focus to catch a killer. Kate has dedicated herself to tracking down violent offenders, sacrificing her personal life and, oftentimes, sleep so that she can give every waking minute to her job. That commitment also makes her come across to others as cold and unfeeling. Emotional Distance: Catching a killer is among the most emotionally taxing work I can think of. A good detective has to put empathy for the victim aside so emotion…

DUKE OF DESIRE Long Excerpt Iris tasted of red wine—the red wine she must have drunk at dinner—and all the reasons he shouldn’t do this fled his mind. A vital chain broke in his psyche and everything he’d held back, everything he’d restrained with all his might, was suddenly set free. He surged into her mouth, desperate for the feel, for the taste of her, his wife, his duchess, his Iris. She was soft and sweet and warm and he wanted to devour her. To seize her and hold her and never let her go. The deep unfathomable well of his urges toward her frightened him, and he knew that if she became aware of them, they would frighten her as well. But that was the thing—she wasn’t aware of them. She thought she was simply consummating their marriage or some such rot, God help them both. She gripped his naked arms and the beast within him shuddered and stretched, claws scraping against the ground. Dear God, he wanted this woman. But he had to remember—to keep that human part of his mind awake and alive—that he mustn’t seed her. Must never do as his cursed father had done. He…

There are several themes in MARCH WIND, things that have begun to come clearer to me as I’ve watched loved ones deal with serious health concerns, and as I’ve tried to face some of my own fears about death. Love doesn’t stop when someone discovers they’re dying. If anything, love seems to be the one thing that grows stronger, rings out more truly, because people become less afraid to say how they feel. Why is it so hard to look at those we care about on an ordinary, nothing’s happening Wednesday and say, “I love you” or “You matter to me” or “You make my life better”? Those words shouldn’t be reserved for times when we fear we’re losing the ones we love. They should be spoken every day…without reservation. Life is too short to hide who you truly are. There is a freedom in feeling comfortable enough to say, “This is me. Warts and all.” Life is hard enough. Wearing a mask and pretending to be someone we aren’t only adds to the struggle. You want to know who I am? I’m an overweight, middle-aged wife and mother who drinks way too much wine, curses her ever-growing curves and…

We’ve all heard the old saying: You’ll always remember your first love. As I get a little older and wiser (I hope), I can’t help but wonder if the adage is actually true, or do we simply wish it was? Last year, I released my first New Adult book, SEVEN WAYS TO LOSE YOUR HEART. One day when I was obsessing over reading over some reviews, I was blindsided by a blogger who was irate over the fact that my HEA couple, established as each other’s first love but later separated by tragic events in their lives, had the audacity to have relationships with other people before reuniting. I mean this blogger was ANGRY. I wasn’t bothered that she didn’t like my book (cause if you can’t handle a negative review, then you shouldn’t be in the business of story-making), but I did start to wonder why do we revere first loves as if they hold the key to deciphering all of our future romantic choices? Romance novels do this a lot (I write romance, so I can say it…right?). They present the story of first love as this pure, holy experience that can never be recaptured (I wrote two…

Where did the idea for WINTER’S CHILD come from? Without doubt, the most frequent question fielded by authors is what I call the “idea question.” I’ve always liked the answer Willie Nelson gave when asked where he got ideas for songs. Ideas are floating around in the universe, Willie explained, and from time to time, one drops into his head. But there is something more. Your head has to be ready. Ready, open and welcoming. You have to be on the constant lookout for ideas. The mat must be out: come on in, make yourself at home. Because, as Willie says, ideas are indeed out there. Everywhere. And they are looking for you—writers, musicians, artists. The billboard you just passed, the commercial interrupting your favorite show, the little old lady shuffling by in the parking lot, the phone conversation annoying you in the airport. And books, of course. Books are chock full of ideas. I have gotten ideas for lots of stories from books. Often I’ve been doing research for the novel I happened to be working on when, wow! An idea for the next book jumped off the page. That’s how the idea for WINTER’S CHILD came. I was…

  There is something that I am paying attention to as I work on The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin, the first book in The Baldwin Family Series set in New York in the late 1800s. This is something that authors don’t pay that much attention to, unless they are self-published and do their own formatting or hire a formatter. What I”m talking about is “spacing”.  Especially the “white space” around the words and paragraphs. Read on » Gail . . . INDIGO SKY by Gail Ingis In a whirlwind romance, a lovely New York socialite marries a fêted, debonair author. But beneath the charm is a cheating husband addicted to hasheesh. Her dream marriage turns sour and the simplicity of her life runs amok when a handsome stranger, her husband’s business partner, threatens her staunch loyalty to her wayward husband. When she faces the ugly truth about her marriage, her need to finalize her divorce sends her on mad chase across the wilds of nineteenth century America with a handsome stranger where she learns the hard lessons of murder, kidnapping, and more, that almost destroy her. Romance Historical [Soul Mate Publishing, On Sale: October 21, 2015, e-Book, / ] Buy INDIGO…

“No one comes here by accident.” (Frontier Nursing Service saying) I came across that saying while researching the Frontier Nursing Service for the historical background of my novel, These Healing Hills. In 1925, Mary Breckinridge established a nurse midwife service in the Appalachian Mountains. As I read about the nurse midwives and the volunteers who assisted them in providing prenatal and maternity care along with other health services to the Kentucky mountain community, I could see why the workers felt they weren’t part of the Frontier Nursing Service by accident. Breckinridge recruited the first nurse midwives from England since at the time, America had no midwifery schools, so coming to Kentucky involved great effort and changes in the lives of those who came to the mountains. The volunteer helpers, called couriers, were generally privileged young women from society circles who would come and stay for a few weeks or months to take care of the midwives’ horses, run errands, and make themselves useful in a myriad of ways. It’s easy to imagine the life lessons these young women learned in this mountain community where the residents had few if any modern amenities. Most of the mountain families managed through subsistence…