I’ve been writing a long time. I won’t tell you how long, because I’d give away my age – but long enough to not care to admit it. J And over the years I attended many, many, many conferences, workshops, signings and speaking events where other authors, successful authors, authors I admired and read and adored talked about how they did this mystical, mysterious art known as crafting a novel. Oh, boy, did I absorb every. Single. Word. I took notes. Lots of notes. Notebooks FULL of notes. I paid hundreds of dollars in membership dues, class fees, and bought books on writing. I joined clubs, went to monthly meetings (Thank You RWA!) and still struggled. Thoughts chased themselves around in my head like a constantly beating drum. How was I supposed to do this? Why wasn’t I getting published? What was I supposed to do? How did I get good enough to be legit? To be worthy. Then self-publishing rose as an option, and I wrote, and I published, and I didn’t SELL. No one cared. So I took more classes. Read more books on writing. Listened to more talks and speeches and took more notes. What a load…

Korean– I went with my mother to Korea in 2015 and had home cooked meals. We didn’t eat in restaurants (OK, a few), but mostly church suppers. Yum! I had no idea what I was eating and I didn’t ask, but it was all fabulous. I love cucumber kimchi and something called Shabu Shabu. Southern cooking– If it wasn’t going to give me a coronary, I’d eat it every day. I went to school in Savannah, Georgia and spent four years gobbling up hush puppies and biscuits, grits and sweet tea. And everything had ham in it—which makes complete sense to me. I love it so much I’m going on a road trip in June with my father across Mississippi to find the best fried chicken! Seafood– The corny saying is true- I’m on a sea food diet. Growing up on the Chesapeake Bay, crabs were king. I love a good steamed crab. But salmon fishing in Alaska has me hankering for some wild caught silvers. Of course, I was the one who caught a halibut by mistake (a BIG mistake!) and it was yummy! Italian– I would be getting a divorce if I didn’t put this on the list…

Hey-oh, everyone! So happy to be back on Fresh Fiction talking about my newest release, WILD RIDE! The book follows Ethan “Ozzie” Sykes on his twisty, turny, suspenseful journey to finding happily-ever-after. I can promise car chases, shoot outs, a rogue motorcycle club, mistaken identities, steamy hot sex scenes and so much more. But for today’s post, I want to focus on the book’s setting. Chicago, the Windy City, the City of Broad Shoulders. My home. Sit back, relax, and let me take you on a journey of locations found between the pages of WILD RIDE. If you’ve been to Chicago, hopefully you haven’t missed these fun Chi-Town destinations. If you haven’t been to Chicago, then be sure to put these spots on your list of must-sees when you do get a chance to visit my City by the Lake! The Magnificent Mile: A mile of shopping, restaurants, and people-watching unlike anything you’ve ever seen. You’ll find everything from Payless Shoes to Sax Fifth Avenue on the Mag Mile. Coffee shops. Street performers. Garrett’s Popcorn, which is a Windy City staple. (Hint: Get the Chicago Mix while you’re there. It’s cheddar cheese popcorn mixed with caramel popcorn. Sounds gross, right?…

In SOMEBODY’S BABY, veterinarian and neat-freak Rory Gallagher is faced with the knowledge that Oaklee Collier, his best friend’s little sister, has grown up to be not only beautiful but fun to be with. There’s just one problem: way back in high school, Cam Collier let Rory know that it was strictly hands-off. But what’s a man to do when love comes knocking? He makes a list, of course! Rory Gallagher’s Top Five Reasons to Not Date His Best Friend’s Little Sister The bro code. Bro says hands off my sister, he means it. And when you agree, you mean it back. YOU DON’T BREAK THE BRO CODE. She was a complete pain in the ass in high school, always following us around like a little puppy dog. And that’s not even touching on the awkward flirting and obvious bra-stuffing to get attention – though the stuffing wasn’t necessary. I noticed. She doesn’t like animals. What the hell? Who doesn’t like puppies and kittens? How can you not be a “pet person”? Her apartment is a disaster zone. There’s untidy and then there’s… OMG. Her place looks like a bomb went off inside. How hard is it to run a…

It Must be March in New England What would a big stack of Maine blueberry pancakes be without fresh maple syrup poured over the top? We’re talking real maple syrup, not the type of artificial “pancake syrup” you find in grocery stores. That’s made from flavored corn syrup, and it’s not maple syrup! But what’s the difference between the two, and how is maple syrup made, anyway? You’ll find out in the pages of TOWN IN A MAPLE MADNESS, the eighth book in the Candy Holliday Murder Mystery series, due out April 4th. As we once again join the friendly and busy villagers of the coastal community of Cape Willington, Maine, it’s late March, which means it’s maple sugaring season. But it’s also the time of year when snow and ice are starting to melt, which means it’s mud season. Two big events, one sweet, one not so sweet, and they both play a prominent role in our story. Cape Willington has two “sugar shacks”—one at Crawford’s Berry Farm, owned by Neil Crawford, and the other at Sugar Hill Farm, owned by Hutch and Ginny Milbright. As the story opens, both sugar shacks are in full operation, with their evaporators…

This year marks the publication of the 25th China Bayles mystery, THE LAST CHANCE OLIVE RANCH. Gosh—it seems like yesterday when the first book, THYME OF DEATH, came out. But that was way back in 1992, the same year that Bill Clinton became president, Hurricane Andrew bulldozed across South Florida, and Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven cleaned up at the Oscars. To tell the truth, I never imagined that China and Ruby would be still be sleuthing, 25 books later. But I’m glad they are, for they’ve given me, as their partner-in-crime, many wonderful (and challenging) hours of writing fun. Back in the day, those early China Bayles mysteries broke some new ground. For one thing, regional mysteries were fairly new to readers, and I was a little worried that a small town in the Texas Hill Country might not be appealing. What’s more, China was a shop owner, an herbalist, and a gardener, the first of her kind in the U.S. (British mystery author John Sherwood had already written several books in his Celia Grant horticultural series but there were none in America.) China’s mysteries were also among the first to feature recipes (Diane Mott Davidson began doing this at about…

The date is indelible in my memory: February 20, 1995. I was a sophomore marine biology student, about to embark on SEAmester: a nine-week semester on board a schooner, traveling from the Caribbean up the Eastern Seaboard to Long Island, NY, learning about not only the flora and fauna we’d encounter along the way, but also the ancient art of navigation and seamanship. I remember that day so vividly, even after all these years: bidding my parents a teary farewell at JFK and flying to St. Maarten. I remember the conflicting emotions I experienced on that flight: excitement, anticipation, apprehension, and fear. I remember my first sight of the Harvey Gamage as we approached in the ship’s tender, her masts stretching into the sky, her hull gleaming white, her sails tightly furled. We set sail the next day. I can still hear the chink-chink-chink of the anchor chain as it slowly coiled around the windlass, lifting the iron weight off the bottom; the rush of awe I felt watching the sails unfurl like the wings of a giant swan, slowly climbing the masts, billowing out as they caught the wind. I remember the taste of salt spray on my tongue,…

Like most authors, when I’m not writing or reading, I am refilling my tanks with the juicy, creative mojo that is television. I am about as picky about my shows I am about my books, and here are my top five favorite TV shows. American Housewife. American Housewife is a hilarious and seriously en-pointe look at the middle class, American wife and mother. Her struggles are my struggles, but she does it with a lot more humor than I do. She’s chubby, hates to socialize, can’t stand her own kids, and is just as tired, annoyed, fed up, and sweatpantsy as I am. I love Katie, I love her insight, I love how she says what other American moms are thinking and feeling. This show is a breath of fresh air. Into the Badlands. This show has everything my cheesy Kung Fu movie loving inner child longs for. It’s over the top, bloody, fun, and the story just pulls you in. It would be easy to just let the action and blood turn the show into a campy trash dump, where all good plots go to die, but it is a fabulously wonderful show that keeps me on my toes….

Bad boys are one thing, but blue-blooded mafia princes? They’re a whole other breed of trouble. ROYALLY BAD is the first in a series that focuses on the Badd Family. Kain Badd is the youngest son of the bunch. His father–heir to the throne–fled his home country long ago for unknown reasons. Now, Kain and his brothers rule the city streets of Rhode Island, here in the states. He’s used to money, power, and getting his way. Women never turn him down, so when Sammy Sage–the wedding dress maker for his sister’s wedding–tells him to back off, he’s intrigued. But can she really resist him? There are plenty of good reasons to date a guy like Kain… but there are a LOT more reasons not to! So with that in mind: Here are the Top 5 Reasons that dating a royal is bad news! Number one: He’s used to getting his way. I mean, think about it– this guy is rich and hot as heck, his family has provided for him, and the world is his oyster. That’s probably why he expects Sammy to give into him when he corners her in his kitchen… Number two: He’s crazy rich. Sure,…

Exclusive Excerpt – This Time Around by Tawna Fenske They’d taken three steps toward the buffet table when a trio of women approached. The instant they spotted Jack, the one dressed in a silver-sequined gown let out a soft gasp and put her hand over her heart. The other two tilted their heads to the side and gave identical sympathetic headshakes, looking like well-coiffed parrots. One wore a bright-red gown and the other a strappy little number in purple chiffon. One of the two—whose face seemed frozen by astonishment or Botox—marched forward with such purpose that Allie had to step out of the way to avoid being trampled under the strappy, bloodred Jimmy Choos that matched her dress. “Jack Carpenter,” she said in a voice that reminded Allie of an audition for the dramatic lead in a high school play. “We were wondering if you’d be here. How are you, honey?” The woman in purple chiffon was still doing the sympathetic headshake, but Silver Sequins dropped her hand from her heart and put it on Jack’s arm. “We were so sorry to hear about Caroline. How awful that must have been for you.” “And you have a little girl, too,”…