We are passing on this AutoCrit excellent blog, with permission from Jocelyn, for your perusal. Ever watched a movie that was so packed full of non-stop action it left you feeling breathless? Exhilarated, maybe… but disconnected from the characters – unable to learn much about them amidst the constant stream of explosions, car chases and death-defying peril? Or have you ever read a story where the author droned on for so long about their characters’ thoughts, feelings, family history, and childhood until you thought please… please just let something – anything – happen? If so, you’ve more than likely encountered a problem with pacing. Read the rest…

Sex! Now that I have your attention, I’d like to talk about my aspirations and inspirations in the world of romance. Please bear with me. I promise my lurid tactic isn’t entirely deceptive. In talking about my experience in the world of romantic lore, sexuality is a big part of it. With that in mind, I hope I still have your attention. My name is Jack Fisher. I’m an aspiring writer with a passion for intimate romance. I hope to turn that passion into a tangible product with my first book for Totally Bound, “Passion Relapse.” Before I go about celebrating those passions though, I’d like to provide some context. I’ve been an avid writer for over half my life now. I basically started writing as a hobby when I was 15-years-old and I’ve been writing every day, in some form or another. In fact, I often build my schedule around the times I work on my writing. Considering my early life, that’s actually a pretty dramatic shift. Growing up in the Washington DC area, I wasn’t initially fond of writing or reading, for that matter. In school, I dreaded any homework assignment that involved a lot of reading and…

My husband and I are currently planning the biggest trip of our lives – China! And I have to admit, I’m a basket case. What if I forget something vital? What if I get lost in the Hong Kong airport? What if I accidentally order fish-head soup and we run out of Immodium? The heroine of my latest book, THE CHOCOLATE COMEBACK, the spoiled fashion model DeeDee Cash, gets her comfort zone expanded dramatically when she takes a job caring for Mark, a young man with Down syndrome. DeeDee rises to the challenge famously – but not without butting heads with Mark’s handsome and overprotective brother, Isaac, of course. THE CHOCOLATE COMEBACK, released April 6, is part of the Love at the Chocolate Shop multi-author series by Tule Publishing and readers are eating it up! 😊 Here’s a teaser for you: DeeDee wasn’t what Isaac was looking for. Well, Isaac Litton wasn’t what she was looking for, either. She wanted something that would pay off her credit card bills and keep her occupied when she wasn’t working her other job. She did not want to deal with a sternly rumpled big brother in faded jeans that rode his hips like…

“Write what you know.” The sentiment is probably as old as writing itself. Yet how does it translate into a futuristic romance filled with aliens? Sometimes I find myself writing about things I know little about. Take the fifth book in my Clans of Kalquor series, ALIEN SLAVE. The initial inspiration for that book had absolutely nothing to do with any personal knowledge of mine. Alien sex slave auctions have no bearing whatsoever with my real life. No, really. Never been near one. At any rate, the auction scene did not make it into ALIEN SLAVE. But it did lead to the setting of a brothel, along with a sex worker named Dani Watson. Again, a situation I have no direct experience with. I promise. My closest encounter with a brothel was watching the old movie, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Yet I always base a part of my heroines on some piece of myself. Sometimes it’s a not-so-good part of me, a little nugget o’ Tracy I’m not terribly proud of. Dani’s impulsiveness was based on my own, an impulsiveness that led her to the terrible decision to sign on as a brothel worker on an alien planet….

Today we’ll be chatting with Ryan Taggert, the handsome hero from MY KIND OF YOU, the first book in my new Trillium Bay series. Ryan has traveled to Trillium Bay to help his father finish up a work project that should have been finished weeks ago. Something has been slowing his progress, and that something turns out to be a woman. Ryan’s goal is to get his dad re-focused on the job so they can get it finished and return to Sacramento. However, Ryan encounters a woman of his own… Q: What kind of job do you have? A: My two brothers and I all work at our father’s company, Taggert Property Management. We consult for high-end hotels who want an overview of their business practices. We help with everything from remodeling the physical structures, integrating the latest technologies in reservation systems, rebranding, and even investigating locations to see if the area can support a hotel. Most of our clients are pretty high rollers, which is why I’m so confused about my Dad wanting to work with this tiny motel on Wenniway Island. This project will not make us any money but he just won’t turn it down. I think…

I love to write—and read—about characters who steal into my heart and linger long after the last page is turned. Cody McCall and Hannah Prescott, the hero and heroine, in THE COWBOY’S REBELLIOUS BRIDE do just that. Sexy, cowboy Cody is the life of the party wherever he goes. People are drawn to his fun-loving nature, undying loyalty to his family and their ranch, and his fierce pride in his small hometown of Honor, Texas. Hannah’s a feisty, strong, independent stock contractor in a man’s world. She’s tough and tender and all woman. Cody brings out her playful, daring side and they’re a hit on every honkytonk dance floor in the state of Texas and beyond. Most important of all, Cody believes in her and has her back. There’s no man better than her best friend Cody in Hannah’s mind. Maybe that’s why she’s always relied on him being there for her; he’s never let her down. Years ago, they made a pact—best friends for life. Only now that they’re grown, their close friendship is under inspection. Together they are the couple all their friends want to be. Family wish they were a pair. After stealing kisses from Hannah’s sweet…

There are so many components that go into writing a mystery. Fun characters, sneaky red herrings, a plethora of guilty-looking suspects . . . all of these have to be dumped together, shaken up, and poured out into a cohesive story. When I was writing the initial draft of A FRYING SHAME, I needed to come up with a street name. The street itself wasn’t important—simply a quick reference by the police detective as to why she was late for her meeting with Talia Marby, my main character. Normally I’d stare out the window to dream up a name, or I’d think of a street name from my childhood. I still can’t recall how I came up with “Oriole Road” that day, but it found its way into the story. A few months after I turned in the manuscript to my publisher, my husband broke his hip. During the early stages of his post-surgery rehab, we decided the time was right for us to move to a place where he’d no longer have to climb stairs. I found a promising apartment complex nearby, and decided to check it out. A newly renovated unit had just become available, with full bath…

Comfort food and holidays typically give us a nostalgic or sentimental feeling. In SILENCE OF THE JAMS, Amy Flowers wants her Down South Café to offer the residents of Winter Garden, Virginia, comfort, hospitality, and a sense of home, especially during the upcoming Independence Day Festival. She’s baking extra cakes and pies, and she’s also keeping the refrigerated display case stocked with family-size containers of sides for her customers to take home and enjoy during their picnics and reunions. Like Amy, I grew up in a small town like Winter Garden. Our big deal of the summer was when the carnival came to town. My cousins, brother, and I would plan for it as soon as we saw the first flyer announcing when the carnival would arrive. We started deciding what we wanted to ride, wondering who else among our friends might be going, and talking about what we wanted to eat. The food was part of the celebration. I looked forward to the caramel apples. Others had their appetites whetted by cotton candy or funnel cake. I liked to get the apple just before I left so I could enjoy it on the way home while clutching some pitiful…

Every now and then I go for broke—take a chance that the biggest names in the industry will answer my requests for an interview. I’ve never been disappointed. 😉 Like a few months back when I asked Susan Wittig Albert to sit down at the Cozy Corner and answer a few questions. She quickly responded and was open and candid with my sometimes-nosey questions. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did! About Susan Wittig Albert Susan Wittig Albert is the award-winning, NYT bestselling author of Loving Eleanor (2016), about the intimate friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok; and A Wilder Rose (2014), about Rose Wilder Lane and the writing of the Little House books. Her award-winning fiction also includes mysteries in the China Bayles series, the Darling Dahlias, the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and a series of Victorian-Edwardian mysteries she has written with her husband, Bill Albert, under the pseudonym of Robin Paige. She has written two memoirs: An Extraordinary Year of Ordinary Days and Together, Alone: A Memoir of Marriage and Place, published by the University of Texas Press. She is founder and current president (2015-2017) of the Story Circle Network and a…

Sometimes I worry about my characters. Actually, I spend a lot of time worrying about my characters. How can I not? I torture them for at least three-fourths of the pages in a book before giving them their happy ever after. In my Off The Wall Proposals series with Entangled, all of the books have the heroines name in the title, so I worry that my heroes feel slighted. I asked Jack, the hero in THE ATTRACTION OF ADELINE, if he feels slighted, and here is his answer: Me: “Jack, I’m sure you’ve noticed that Adeline’s name is mentioned in the title, but yours isn’t. How does that make you feel? Jack: “Are you kidding? With a unique name like Adeline, she needs the extra lime-light to be remembered. But my name is famous. JACK. I have like the best name ever for a hero.” Me: “Really? How do you figure?” Jack: “Have you not done your research? Jack is a famous name to give heroes. For instance: Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. Jack Ryan in Clear and Present Danger. Jack Shephard in Lost. Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack Dawson in Titanic. Jack Stanfield…