This is the start of summer in the US, the sorta official beginning — Memorial Day Weekend. Most of the schools are out and if they aren’t then everyone attending has a serious case of “short-timers syndrome.” People are planning their summer vacations, what can we afford, whose schedule loses in the equation, you know, all the things families and friends do to plan out some “FUN.” My family has evolved into doing long weekends for our summer vacations. We’ve replaced school restrictions with job responsibilities and our pets. It was bad enough when you didn’t get any credit for missed days, but why oh why do all businesses with IT require the IT people to do installs and upgrade over holidays? Doesn’t seem fair, does it? But supposedly less people will be online and using the system so perfect time to upgrade operating systems, new development, etc. I know it will be a time when we just hope the hamburgers don’t burn while the guys are on endless conference calls! Then the dogs. Ah, my new babies. Last time we all went away at the same time and had to use a kennel or doggie boarding establishment, one dog…

Chicago has an incredible choice of outstanding places to eat, but where better to celebrate the launch of your new book than the restaurant your hero first visits after arriving in the city? Accordingly, last Monday Tasha (Alexander) and I jumped in a cab and headed for Brasserie Jo. TashaI set out to replicate David Trevellyan’s dinner from the book – Mussels, and blue Steak with Mustard Butter. Like David, we enjoyed fabulous food, cooked to perfection in relaxed, elegant surroundings. Unlike him, however, we didn’t have to fight off any unchivalrous thugs in the (fictitious) courtyard at the back of the building, or evade the consequent attentions of the Chicago Police Department. And more importantly, unlike David, we’ll have the pleasure of visiting the restaurant again… DIE TWICE is thriller author Andrew Grant’s second book in the David Trevellyan series. He resides in Chicago and the United Kingdom. Grant is engaged to historic fiction author Tasha Alexander.

Each summer we have books that are definitely *MUST READS* and one of the first books most romance readers agree is ANYTHING by Julia Quinn. So let’s start off our summer season by focusing on the latest from Julia — just in time to kick off our Pack your Beach Tote extravaganza! Plus we’re helping to bring Julia’s fans a little closer. On May 26th we’ll be bringing coverage of Avon’s launch of the live/virtual book signing, powered by VivoLive. Julia Quinn will be reading, answering questions, and signing copies for anyone who attends her event at Powell’s Books: in-person (Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, Oregon 97005) or buy online here at FreshFiction.com. “We often remark, within the romance community, that our readers are notoriously ‘shy,’” quips Avon publicity director Pam Jaffee. “They may not flock to live author appearances, but will raid the stores the next day for the signed copies…and they love to interact with their favorite authors online. So,” she continues, “we think this type of virtual/live event will engage and appeal to romance fans.” Be sure to come by Julia’s Virtual Signing on Wednesday, May 26th, 2010. 7:00pm PST…

My favorite way to learn history is to come across it via fiction. Of course, since my favorite kind of history is not the chronicle of kings and queens, but everyday history–what people ate, how they lived, what they did to get away from it all–it is these details and quirks of history that stay with me. For example, in Laura Kinsale’s FOR MY LADY’S HEART–for my money, one of the best medieval romances ever written–the hero is a knight, the heroine is far above him in worldly stature: she is a princess. On the run from danger, it is the two of them against the world. One scene in the book has her giving him an orange and a stick of violet-scented sugar that made up part of her meal. And this is a paragraph from that scene: He sucked the fruit, allowing the rich bitter juice to run on his tongue. He’d had oranges in Aquitaine a few times, at feasts and Christmas–but to eat one every day as she did was something utterly beyond his experience. And the penidia: he’d never tasted white sugar but once, a score and more Christmas gone, a child at the high…

I’ve always loved a bolter–Nancy Mitford’s perfect description of women who make a dash for it.  But strangely enough, until I was asked to write this blog, it had not occurred to me that all of my heroines are, without exception, bolters, or traveling women–either in the direction of a new job, or a new life, a new country or some unsuitable adventure in a stranger’s arms. The reasons why I am drawn to such women wouldn’t take long on the analyst’s couch.  I was an air force brat. When I was a child, I changed friends, schools, houses, and often countries every two and a half years. As children do, I accepted this as normal, and if I was emotionally scarred by it, I’m not aware of it, but what it does mean is that certain restlessness is bred in the bone. Which is why I love writing historical fiction: it gives me a perfect grown up excuse to scratch that itch periodically –roughly every two years come to think of it. My first book, THE WATER HORSE, published in the U.S. under the title: BAND OF ANGELS, is a fictionalized account of the life of a woman called…

I hope that you have noticed the logo on the home page of Fresh Fiction advertising the Reader’s ‘n’ Ritas conference in November 2010, and I’m here to recommend Tara Taylor Quinn who will be attending the conference. If you haven’t yet read Ms. Quinn I think you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise. She writes a variety of books from those that are heavy on romance and laughter, to those that are more suspenseful, and show how right and love always overcome the evil wrongdoer. I’ve never personally met Ms. Quinn, and am really looking forward to the opportunity to meet her, and have her sign her upcoming books (that should all be available by the time the conference arrives) The First Wife, The Second Lie, The Third Secret, and The Fourth Victim. I have no idea what these books will be about, but I know that they will be page-turners that I won’t want to set aside, because Ms. Quinn is that type of writer. She’s written numerous books about a fictional town called Shelter Valley, of which I’ve not read all, but have read several. I wish I could tell you which ones, but unfortunately I don’t…

Of all of the aspects of writing I’ve encountered as a reader and a writer, I think the question “Where do you get your ideas?” is one of the most common questions about writing, since everything grows out of that seed: plot, action, characters, setting – the entire world. However, of equal interest to me is how an idea develops; stories and characters take on lives of their own, and the final result might be something quite different to what the author originally intended. My first – and as yet unpublished – novel took that kind of left turn. I’d never written anything resembling a book, so when I decided to try it, I opted for a form with which I was familiar: a mystery of the Agatha Christie type. That idea lasted about two chapters, and the characters and plot took the bit in their teeth, and I simply held on. Lovers’ Knot, published this past Spring by Running Press, however, was a bit more straightforward. It didn’t veer off into unknown territory, but grew slowly and broadly from a simple beginning. I had been asked to write a short story for a friend’s anthology, as story with two…

The world of publishing has been shifting recently and authors more than ever are taking it upon themselves to get their work out there. Some have tried the traditions of trying to get an agent or submit it straight to publishers, but many find this way to be closed to them, the reasons many. Though vanity presses and such have been around for a long time, newer companies have entered the game, giving you more options that make it easier for you, the aspiring indie writer. Once you have selected your means of entering the industry for yourself, there are at least three :”P’s” you should follow. There might be more, but I will keep it short…or try to, at least. PROFESSIONALISM Having a book available for purchase needs to put you in the mindset of a business person. Yes, you are the author of a book, but when you self-publish, you are the publisher (and the marketer, the public relations person, the secretary, the bookkeeper, etc), the one that talks to bookstore employees and buyers, review blogs, podcasts, and other places that could possibly deal with your book. When talking to stores about carrying your book: be polite, listen…

Small towns are always a popular setting in fiction, especially in contemporary romance. The Virgin River series by Robyn Carr is a reader favorite, for example, as are the contemporary romances by Toni Blake set in the charming town of Destiny, Ohio. Perhaps we’re drawn to these settings because they promise something that can seem elusive in our fast-paced, over-burdened lives. Although most of us have dozens, even hundreds of “friends” on various social media sites, face-to-face contact with people who really know us in a personal way can seem like a quaint relic of bygone days. My latest book, SEX AND THE SINGLE EARL, takes place in smaller town, but in a historical rather than a contemporary setting. Many if not most Regency-set historical romances take place in London, especially the London of the haute ton. On occasion, the ton probably felt like a small town to those who moved in its exclusive circles. Everybody knew everybody else, and gossip reigned supreme. But London was still a big city, and one could easily get lost in the crowds. Not so in Bath, the setting for SEX AND THE SINGLE EARL. Bath was and still is one of the most…

Right now I’m visiting my parents at their home in Nashville, Tennessee. I’m on my way to the Southern Kentucky Book Festival and my dad suggested that since Nashville is between my home in Atlanta and the Festival in Bowling Green, I might want to stop and stay a day or two. I’ve just emerged from their basement with three suitcases stuffed with about five decades of photographs that will find their way to my car trunk before I leave. Now I know why he wanted me to stop by and “visit.” I’m a self-proclaimed “scrapbooker.” I love pouring over old photographs, peering at the younger faces of my grandparents, parents and siblings, recognizing a favorite sweater or toy, plate, a piece of furniture, and even expressions on those faces. These photographs are like a piece of history I can hold in my hand, and can even relish the hours and hours it will take to sort through them, organize them, put them into albums. Hours I don’t really have right now (ack-two book deadlines this year plus the release of two other books!), but hours I look forward to. My maternal grandmother died this past February at the age…