To tell you the truth, I have no idea where the plots of my books originate. Not really. Not even when I’m writing them. For me, a book comes together in chunks. These chunks are of different sizes, ranging from huge (the identity of the killer, say) to very small (the name of a new restaurant in town). The other thing that keeps me from remembering where I get my ideas is my incredibly poor memory. Case in point: a couple of months ago I was talking to some nice ladies who knew I also wrote the PTA Mysteries under the name Laura Alden. They asked about the motive of the killer in that book and—please believe me when I say I am not making this up—I had no idea who killed the victim, let alone why. It was not a proud moment in my life, and I’m sure those nice ladies think I’m a nutcase (“You wrote the book and you don’t remember?”) but I truly could not summon up the killer’s name. And I never remembered to go back and look so I still don’t know. Anyway, CAT WITH A CLUE started with the following idea: What if,…

The sign in the window of a hardware store on the Main Street of Dubois, Wyoming, stopped me in my tracks. Butch Cassidy? Here? I opened the heavy oak door and stepped into a treasure/junk hunters’ dream. Everything you can imagine had been jammed onto sagging shelves and hung from hooks: shovels, axes, pitchforks, hammers, screws, nails, hinges, brackets, chains, knobs, saddles, tack, chaps, ropes, gun racks, guns, oilcans, generators. Smells of dust and grease and dried leather clogged the air. Yes, I could imagine Butch Cassidy browsing through all this stuff. Tacked on the wall was a poster of Butch himself with his wide grin and cowboy hat and the story of how he used to shop here in 1890 to buy supplies for his ranch just outside of town. Just outside of town? That meant Butch Cassidy had ranched next to the Wind River Reservation which lies south of Dubois. I couldn’t believe my luck. I had been writing crime novels set among the Arapahos on the reservation for almost twenty years. Before that I wrote history, and I will forever remain a history nut. Even though my novels are contemporary, with two modern-day sleuths, Vicky Holden, Arapaho…

I have a long-standing fascination with characters who work in medical fields and feature them regularly in my books. So when it came time to develop the idea for my new mystery series set in 1860s San Francisco, I gravitated toward my sleuth being a nurse, a woman who would regularly encounter death. According to the 1867 Directory for San Francisco, there were approximately seventy-five women working in various medical occupations–midwives, nurses, female physicians (a euphemism for abortionists), and a handful of self-styled physicians utilizing spiritual or water cures. Even for those women offering traditional care, the training would have been sparse, the medical professions still ruled by men who resisted the attempts of females to invade their territory. The only information most women gained came from books, or from their mothers or other female relatives who knew how to prepare herbal treatments or homeopathic remedies. Beginning in the 1840s, religious societies in Europe were the main source of trained nurses. Their training also was rudimentary, with nearly as much or more time spent on receiving religious instruction as on any clinical exposure to patient care. In America, it wasn’t until 1849 that the first woman, Elizabeth Blackwell, received a…

Writers often find the best stories lurking as close as the person sitting across from us at the dinner table. I found this to be true in both the inspiration and the research for my historical novella, Red Pen Redemption. I wasn’t close to my father in my youth but he mellowed with age. Since he turned eighty, he’s begun sharing stories from his past and I’ve enjoyed seeing a new side to him. It’s been fascinating to observe that he’s now asking as many questions about life as I did in my college years. So many parallels between these stages of life – entering young adulthood and then entering senior adulthood. It made me wonder what would occur if something happened to make a woman in her eighties question everything she’d believed. From that question, I created Helen Bancroft and the adventure she encountered one Christmas Eve. The true time lapse of the book is just a few hours but readers travel back through every decade of Helen’s eighty-one years and experience her fiery personality, her quirky family, and her eventful history against the backdrop of American history from the 1930’s to the present day. Helen was a journalist…

My book BREAK EVERY CHAIN is, for the most part, a Christian adventure novel. I could simplify things and call it Christian drama, but Christian adventure sounds a little more interesting. It’s a story about faith and how we can find hope in unexpected places when the world is at its darkest. On the flip side, I have also written horror novels featuring a grave-robbing witch, a haunted house that gets its power from human blood, and an enormous sea creature that lays its eggs in the digestive tracts of human beings. So yeah, I’m a horror guy at heart. This can confuse some readers and I totally understand that. I get that one question all of the time: “As a Christ follower, how can you write such horrific stuff?” And while the answer is worthy of an essay, it can also be summed up rather easily. As a Christ follower, my faith is structured around stories within scripture that are, in and of themselves, quite horrific. The dead coming back to life, beheadings, crucifixions, demonic possession, people being burned alive, a global flood, and on and on. Whether Christians want to admit it or not, the Bible is filled…

CHILDREN OF AMARID by David B. Coe LonTobyn Chronicle #1 For a millenium, the Children of Amarid have served the people of Tobyn-Ser. Drawing upon the Mage-Craft, which flows from the psychic bond they forge with their avian familiars, the Mages of the Order have fulfilled their oaths by healing the injured and ill, repelling invasions by the land’s enemies, and caring for the people in times of crisis. They are governed by laws handed down by Amarid, the first of their kind, who committed the Mage- Craft to the people’s protection. Only once in a thousand years has a mage defied those laws. Theron, a contemporary of Amarid, sought to use his powers to gain wealth and glory. For that he was punished, though not before he brought down a terrible curse on his fellow mages and all who would come after them. Recently, dark rumors have spread across Tobyn-Ser. Children of Amarid have been seen destroying crops, vandalizing homes, massacring men, women, and children. Have the mages forsaken their oaths? Has Theron returned from beyond death to take his vengeance? Or does Tobyn- Ser face a new threat, one it is ill-prepared and ill- equipped to face? With…

Writing romantic suspense is my passion. I stay awake at night planning a story in which a strong and vibrant heroine attempts the impossible, the forbidden, or the dangerous for the good of others. She meets a hero who compliments her strengths and challenges her weaknesses. Together they take the writer and the reader on an adventure. However, research can be difficult, especially if I’m not familiar with the character’s profession and its rules of conduct. I educate myself through online research and the library until I have accumulated enough knowledge to contact a real person who has this profession. My goal is to pose questions during the interview that are realistic for the character in my book. Sometimes I must preface my inquiry with, “I need to know if this situation could happen, not if it has.” The answer allows me freedom to create plot twists and circumstances that add tension and conflict to my story while staying true to the character’s profession. Some professions are easier to research than others. The FBI wants public support, and they are patient in responding to questions. Both agencies allowed me to tour their facilities. The FBI offers solutions for my questions,…

Looking for the perfect author reader match? Fresh Fiction is here to help. Today we’re presenting ANNA BRADLEY. She’s got lots to offer a reader so check her out! What I Write Sexy, steamy Regency historical romance—if you’re into wild, wicked alpha heroes and sassy heroines who bring the naughtiest, haughtiest rogue to his knees, then you’ve found your perfect book match! About Me I’m looking for readers who will risk their hearts on a handsome rake. Are gowns, gloves and garters your thing? Do you want to spend an evening flirting with earls and waltzing with dukes? Then you’re the reader I’m looking for! Warning: my books are not for the faint-hearted. The Regency is rife with scandalous intrigue. Dangerous flirtations, deadly duels, seductive scoundrels, and arrogant rakes with riding crops abound. I’m Looking for a Reader who . . . Love a great romance more than she loves sleep. Has an appreciation for bad boys heroes—Regency style. Thinks cravats and breeches are sexy (readers with kilt obsessions are also welcome!) Loves to see a wicked hero redeemed Craves love scenes that give her a reason to use her fan. Believes in sizzling passion, life-altering kisses, and love at…

The best writing advice I’ve ever gotten was from the incomparable Jennifer Crusie’s blog, Argh Ink. She said, paraphrasing, give the hero and heroine a dream, and then create a situation in which they can have their dreams or they can have each other, but not both. To find their happily-ever-after, one of them will have to be defeated—aka, give up their dream for love. The key to making this a truly happily-ever-after is that of one of the dreams is, in some way, a compromise, or in the case of my new book, a deal with the devil. Signing on that dotted line will make that character less than the best version of themselves. In RECKLESS IN TEXAS, Violet Jacobs isn’t going anywhere. She’s an unmarried mother tied to the Texas Panhandle by her son—whose father also lives in their tiny hometown—and by her family’s small time rodeo stock contracting business. But she has big dreams, and she’s going to find a way to push Jacobs Livestock into the national limelight even if she has to drag the rest of the family along kicking and screaming…bless their hearts. Joe Cassidy fell deeply, irrevocably in love when he was fifteen…

Thank you for stopping by Fresh Fiction for all your reading needs and recommendations. I’m bestselling historical romance author, Christina McKnight. My writing style focuses on strong heroines who are out to right a wrong done to them…and men who don’t always fit the classic ‘hero mold’. I also enjoy throwing together unlikely couples and letting their story take over. My earliest Regency Romance inspiration was Amanda Quick. I love her use of mystery as a subplot to further deepen her stories. You’ll notice a majority of my books also have a hint of mystery to accompany the romance—and to make my characters work harder to secure their Happily Ever Afters. I write heroes for every woman; from brooding alphas, to compassionate betas, and even the occasional scoundrel needing redemption or introverted scholar. With each book I write, I see it as the opportunity to write a completely different story with a new setting, fresh characters, and unsurmountable obstacles to their love match. Another element I love weaving through my plot lines are historical facts; including obscure French history (SCORNED EVER MORE, A Lady Forsaken Book Three) or rare wind instruments said to have been created by Greek gods (THE…