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…

It’s been a well over six years since my ten-year marriage ended and I started over as a single mom. When I first started dating my ex, having dial-up internet was the big tech craze. Facebook didn’t exist. Beepers were the way of texting and online dating was unheard of. The way you met people was through work, friends and going out. Now fast forward a decade. I have two kids. No time. The same small group of friends I’ve had for years and I work from home. See the problem? For me, the scary part of starting over wasn’t having all the responsibilities completely on my shoulders, it was the idea of dating again. Meeting someone the ole fashion way—meaning you actually met a person, felt a connection with said person and things happened naturally—didn’t seem likely for me. Which left online dating. Of course, I knew about online dating. I had a couple of friends who’d used that route. One actually met someone they eventually married. But more often than not, all I heard were horror stories. I had always thought, I’m glad that’s something I don’t have to worry with anymore. *Snort* My introduction to dating again…

Last spring I was on a panel at Malice Domestic, and Margaret Maron was moderating. She was asking questions about JUST KILLING TIME, the first book in this series. She wondered if anyone in my family was a clock maker, since my protagonist Ruth Clagan had such a palatable love for clocks. No one in my family is a clock maker. But research for this series has made me passionate about them, and I’m happy if that spills onto the page. What has my research taught me? Being a clockmaker takes years of learning and apprenticeship. Like writing (or acting, or playing a musician), talent is important. But as important, maybe more, is spending time learning your craft. I admire people who dedicate themselves to learning as part of how they make their living. Especially when actually making a living isn’t a given. Clocks are beautiful on the outside. If you go to the American Clock and Watch Museum in Bristol Connecticut, you will see dozens and dozens of clocks and watches. Some clocks are “just” clocks, but most are also pieces of art unto themselves. Cabinetry, painted faces, choice of clock hands, size, style. Details matter on clocks, and…

I’m always fascinated by the American fascination with royalty. Why did the colonies fight so hard to get rid of a king, only to spend the next two hundred years wishing they had one? Well, maybe the fantasy aura of royalty is better than the reality. This series came into being because my editor had been urging me to write a big, dark standalone. I kept toying with serial killers, child molesters and terrorists and finally asked myself whether I wanted to spend six months in such company. The answer was a resounding NO. So a silly idea crept into my head. What if my sleuth was a sheltered, upper class British girl in the 1930s—what if she was a member of the royal family, not allowed to work, to go out unchaperoned, and destined to marry to some chinless, spineless, buck-toothed and utter awful European royal. Trying to solve a murder would indeed be a challenge, and fun. I would have a chance to poke fun at the British class system and chuckle to myself as I wrote. And I did have the necessary background to make this authentic: I had had tea with the current queen. I had…

When I was a teenager, back in the Jurassic period (okay, the late 1970s), Gothic novels were hugely popular. I read them voraciously, entranced by atmospheric castles on the moors (or someplace equally remote), sinister servants, and heroines standing up to brooding heroes (or were they really the villains?). I read Phyllis Whitney, Victoria Holt, Joan Aiken and her sister Jane Aiken Hodge, Daphne duMaurier, Susan Howatch, Dorothy Eden, Philippa Carr, Mary Stewart, and many others. I hope those names ring a bell for some of you. They swept me up and entertained me, gave me something to look forward to after doing my Algebra homework, and comforted me when the objects of my crushes ignored my existence. I’m not sure what attracted me to that variety of romantic suspense, but I think it had something to do with a young heroine, sometimes protecting a child (if she was a governess or new wife as many of the protagonists were), striking out on her own and emerging triumphant. (The fact that “triumph” in these books meant, at least in part, snaring the moody man of the moment was a non-feminist story chestnut that didn’t bother my teen self as much…

If you’ve checked the news recently … maybe you wish you hadn’t. These are anxiety-provoking times, overwhelming and draining times; times that make it seem four horsemen may just be galloping ever closer on the not-so-distant horizon. Since I learned how to read, books have been where I’ve turned for consolation, hope, and a clarifying dose of perspective. Lately, my solace seems to come from classic literature. Classics remind me how resilient humans are, how much beauty exists in the world. They remind me of the cyclical nature of human history. They illuminate all that humans have survived—insane rulers, endless wars of all kinds, devastating plagues, more devastating plagues … yet another devastating plague. We have survived it before, and we can survive it all over again. The Iliad by Homer (maybe) That this poem, set in the 10th year of the Trojan War, has survived thousands of years provides hope in itself. Gruesome battle scenes play counterpoint to moments of grace, as when a Greek and a Trojan honor their past friendship by refusing to strike each other down. Woven throughout the poem are timeless snapshots familiar in any time and place – the pleasure of a cozy sleep,…