I was born in the Middle East and lived there the first thirteen years of my life. The people of Iran, where I grew up, value family and friends above most things. I have learned that nothing is as important as relationships, both Divine and human: not writing, not succeeding, not finishing my to-do list, not even reading my favorite books. After Jesus, people come first. Love is more important than accomplishments or pastimes. I was almost fourteen when we moved to England. Half of my family still lives there. When we first moved, my English was limited. I became fluent while attending Princess Helena College, a boarding school for girls in Hertfordshire. So although I’ve lived most of my life in America, my accent still has shades of the Queen’s influence. That, and a bit of Persian. Americans usually ask me if I’m Irish. The Irish ask me if I’m American. The real answer is that I’m a citizen of heaven. I became a bookworm when I was very young. Most of my pocket money went to buying novels. It still does, come to think of it. I would not be who I am today without books. In fact,…

Miranda Owen: For readers like me, who are unfamiliar with your books written as Madeline Baker, could you please describe what your historical romances are like? Amanda Ashley: They all have Indian or half-Indian heroes. A few of them are gunfighters because I love bad boys. Several of the books are time travel romances because they are such fun to write. Of course, they are all set in the Old West – Arizona, Montana, the Dakotas – places like that. I did a lot of research on the Lakota, the Cheyenne, and the Apache, as well as a few other tribes, in an effort to make the books as realistic as possible. Miranda Owen: I’ve always described most of your vampire romances as being “contemporary paranormal Gothic”. I love Gothic historical romance and I always felt like your writing style was tailor-made for that type of story. You’ve written a few books with many of those same elements that make historical Gothics so delicious. Would you ever consider writing a Gothic historical series? Amanda Ashley: I actually started one a few years ago, but it never got off the ground. I just couldn’t make it work. Miranda Owen: Although I…

First off, thank you for having me as a guest to talk about my book… Wardens of the Guild 2: ALL THAT SHIMMERS. This is a series that I’ve been thought about writing for quite a while before I actually put pen to paper. The characters have always been inside my head just waiting for their chance to be heard, and I must admit Murtagh and Eric were two of the loudest. Jory on the other hand was more of a surprise for me. He kind of snuck up on me and I’m very glad that he did so, because I believe he made the story so much more interesting… but interesting is better, right? In a way ALL THAT SHIMMERS has set the precedence of how the following two stories in the series will be written. The continuing back story will be there throughout each book, as well as them both having their own personal stories to tell, so that the readers can fall in love with the main characters of each book as well. I can’t tell you what they will be about as I never know until I sit down and start writing. I wish I could…

Every summer my husband and I try to have some kind of adventure.  Not the hearty kind we used to undertake–like riding horseback into the high Sierras or tent camping for a week in Montana.  But whatever we choose, summer is great time for a getaway. This year, we’re driving from our home in Montana to the Western Writers of America conference in Kansas City, Missouri.  We’ll take the back roads, meander two-lane highways that wind through six different states. Along the way we hope to visit old writer friends, Kathleen and Michael Gear–authors of the PEOPLE series that takes place 10,000 years ago.  They live on a buffalo ranch in Wyoming. From there, we’ll head for the Dakotas, spend a little time in Rapid City, a great old West town.  Lots of historic buildings and fun art galleries. Staying off the beaten path, you can find all sorts of intriguing bits of history.  Sioux City sits right on the Missouri, plenty of steamboat lore, and you can learn about Louis and Clark in Omaha.  If you’ve never done a cross country road trip, it’s really a worthwhile adventure. Speaking of highway adventures, BEYOND REASON travels the roadways of Texas. …

Hi there! I’m Terri Osburn and today I’m excited to celebrate the release of THE LAST IN LOVE, the fifth and final installment in my Ardent Springs Series. This entire series has been about second chances, and Abigail “Abby” Williams deserves one more than most. After losing her husband to a roadside bomb, this Army widow has watched family and friends all find their happily ever afters. All while she’s still mourning the husband, and future, that she lost. Anyone who’s had the experience will tell you that being a military wife is not for the weak, and Abby definitely learned that during her marriage. The constant worry. The long months alone, hoping he’s safe and feeling guilty for wishing he didn’t have to be so far away. The fear you can’t ignore. Will this be the last time I see him alive? Will that dreaded knock on the door come today? Unfortunately for Abby, that knock did come, and she’s spent two years trying to get past it. Let’s see how she’s doing now. Do you regret marrying a military man? Of course not. I loved Kyle and I don’t regret a moment that I had with him. He…

Rescued The beginning of Sean Harris’s life wasn’t easy. Even after he was engulfed in the arms of a loving family who filled an empty void left by a rough start in life, his closet still harbored skeletons he worked hard to forget. With the love and support of his family, and his inner drive and ambition, he built a company from the ground up. His success is a testament to that and his determination to succeed. In spite of his achievement, his personal life lay dormant. He had his share of encounters with the opposite sex, but never anything that might have been considered a relationship. His love life is non-existent, and he’s not really living; he only exists. All that changes the day his future walks into his office. He can’t help it—Shervon Jones bewitches him the moment they make eye contact. He’s instantly drawn to her. His need to dominate and control her rushes to the surface, overpowering him. Sean knows in that moment she belongs to him. The obvious realization and acknowledgement knocks him off balance because he’s never had such a reaction to a woman like this before. Yet, he can’t wait to show her…

The first time I met River, the hero of VIABLE THREAT (out May 22nd) was in early 2015 when he made an appearance in LETHAL GAME (book two in the Biological Response Team series). He was part of a protection detail, a secondary character, meant to interact with and support the main characters. I thought he was a cool dude, and he took complete advantage of my writerly affection, staying with me long after the book was finished. Secondary characters can be sneaky. Most of them come and go with no trouble, do the job of best friend, acquaintance, or irritant, then disappear quietly off stage. Occasionally, one will come along that has no interest in quietly going anywhere. Instead, they sneak into the hearts and imaginations of their author and readers, demanding their own story. River didn’t demand, per say, he just occupied the front of my mind and refused to leave until he got what he wanted: life, love, and a happily ever after. During the course of LETHAL GAME he sustains a head wound and other injuries. VIABLE THREAT picks up a year later with him now state-side in a teaching role and struggling with PTSD. He’s…

Hi! I’m Delancey Stewart – if you haven’t met me before, I write contemporary romance. I’ve set my books in small towns, but most are set in big cities because I favor them in my real life. I’m a military spouse, so the last fifteen years of my life have pretty much been set in small towns no one’s ever heard of, but prior to that I lived in Los Angeles, New York City and San Diego. And my last three books? So weird—they’ve been set in Los Angeles, New York and…you guessed it – San Diego! WITHOUT WORDS comes out this month, and that’s the one set in San Diego, which is less of a big city and more of a collection of little towns that each have really distinct personalities. The book is set in Ocean Beach, which is a funky little beach community with a weekly farmers’ market, lots of unique shops and a huge pier that extends way out into the water. The first kiss in my book is set on that pier, but I’m not telling whether I’ve done any kissing out there myself… Okay, of course I have. Here’s that kiss from the book:…

The title and story of my new novel was a gift. The wind of spirit—inspiration—whispering as I sipped tea in my favorite coffee shop, scribbling down ideas for my next book. Outside the window stood an old tree, a weeping cedar with its sturdy branches and dangling leaves that ballooned like a giant umbrella over the people drinking coffee and tea below. In my mind’s eye, I saw two German children—the best of friends—playing high among those branches. In a tree house. They were in danger, though at the time I didn’t know what threatened them. I just knew the boy and girl had to run. And the girl would be lost along the way. The story slipped between past and present, slowly unfolding on my paper. The boy and girl separated during the war. A man who spent a lifetime trying to keep his promise to find her. A British noblewoman who sympathized with Hitler and a tenacious journalist in London who can’t resist a good story—a journalist with secrets of her own. My research for this novel took me on a journey north of my home in Oregon to the misty San Juan Islands, across the Atlantic to…

Since ATLANTIS REBORN has its roots in Plato’s myth of the lost island of Atlantis, I thought I’d share a quick recap of one of my favorite but lesser known myths, Ashor the Black Knight. The story begins with two kings at war. As is usually the case in myth, one of them was good and fair to his people, and the other was oppressive and cruel. Fearing his army would be defeated, the good king sent a messenger to bring a man named Ashor to his court. Ashor was an old knight, but in his youth he’d specialized as an assassin. In spite of his advanced age, he remained surprisingly strong and skilled. Ashor traveled back to court where the good king implored him to go to his rival’s fortress city and kill him. Ashor said that he must see for himself, but if the other king was as terrible as he’d been told, he would do it. So, Ashor skulked around the enemy’s city until he’d seen enough to know the king was truly awful to his people. As agreed, he assassinated the tyrant and made a hasty retreat. He stopped long enough to free a priest who…