Hi, all, Jennifer here. Some of you may (or may not) know that a majority of the books that I’ve written usually take place in some sort of small New Jersey shore town. Why? Well, most likely because I live in a small NJ shore town and I know it like the back of my hand. However, I also like to write about it, because there are so many bad ways NJ is depicted (yes, I’m looking at you, Jersey Shore TV show) that I feel the need to capture the better things about New Jersey. Today, I’m happy to share with you WHY southern NJ shore towns make great small-town settings: the year round population of most of the shore towns by me can range anywhere from 2,000 to 11,000—not counting Atlantic City. (In the summer that can increase to sometimes 200,000 people) But they are true small towns in the winter! Everybody knows everybody! NJ shore towns have the most beautiful beaches. In fact, Ocean City, NJ was rated Best Beach in America by Coastal Living magazine this year beating out beaches in CA! Your hero or heroine can surf, fish, crab, paddleboard, or just walk the beach…

While touring the Acropolis Museum in Greece, I stumbled upon a stone relic that caused me to smile, as though I’d just learned a powerful secret. The English translation said simply: thesaurus, a treasure box. The meaning that fueled my interest is the idea of a storehouse or a treasury. The ancient Greeks used a thesaurus to store treasures, and for writers, our words are our treasures. Since grade school, we’ve used a thesaurus to find synonyms and sometimes antonyms for specific words. This valuable resource helps writers locate specific words when the ones normally used are not exactly what we intend or the concept needs to be bigger, more definite, unique, or the writer wishes to avoid repetition. Meanings twist and turn according to culture, dates used, and what the writer is desperately seeking. Word lovers can get lost in a thesaurus. But there are dangers in tossing aside creativity and diving into a treasure box each time we want to sound distinct or extraordinary. The result builds barriers in our writing. We lose our voice and our character’s voice in an endless pursuit of the perfect word when often the most common fits our passage. Communicating with our…

I had so much fun with Alex and Sydney in BAND OF BACHELORS: ALEX, which comes out today in all formats. I’ve never written a heroine who is 4” taller than the hero, with thighs stronger than Amazon tree trunks and who can jump like a gazelle. And she wears a bathing suit so tiny, you wanna watch the game for a clothing malfunction. They meet on a blind date. Little does Alex know that chocolate, caffeine and zombie movies drive Sydney out of control, such that she nearly mounts him in the theater. Even for a Navy SEAL, this is something he has a hard time juggling. Trained to get the bad guys, there wasn’t anything in his training that could prepare him for the cyclone he’s about to become attached to. And to find a girl who likes sex as much as he does? He thought that impossible. Here’s our fun trailer that gives a “taste” of what I’ve written. Enjoy. And let the games begin! Watch the Book Trailer for Alex. About BAND OF BACHELORS: ALEX Adrenaline junkie and Navy SEAL Alex Kowicki is one of four bachelor SEALs trying to navigate his successful military career while…

About THE SUN GOES DOWN Mitch Mitchell needs a vacation, and he is determined to make the most of his trip to the Mediterranean island of Gozo. Death never takes a break however, and at the behest of fellow doctor Bob Southern, Mitch soon finds himself investigating the demise of a young, gay lance corporal. The police have ruled it a suicide, but the young man’s boyfriend claims it was murder. Suspecting an official cover-up of a queer scandal, Mitch gets to work on an investigation that leads him into a labyrinth of lies, false identities and secret sex. With tension, humor and plenty of Mitch Mitchell’s exuberant sexual encounters, The Sun Goes Down cranks up the Mediterranean heat for one of his most baffling and dangerous cases. Buy THE SUN GOES DOWN: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Goodreads A little farther along the deck, huddled in chairs and surrounded by excessive amounts of luggage, was an English family with thin, pinched faces, gray hair and ill-fitting clothes that were quite unsuited for…

Anyone who knows me knows just how much I adores me some dark chocolate. The 72% variety that pairs wonderfully with a cup of coffee, a glass of red wine, or a flute of champagne. Frankly, it’s kinda like the perfect food! And while I’d like to claim it as my secret indulgence, in truth it really isn’t. For one thing, it’s not a secret. Secondly, it’s not an indulgence if it has its own space on the food pyramid – my version of it, anyway. Go on, tell me I’m wrong! However, I do have weaknesses that, once triggered, are a bear to stuff back and overcome. So I mostly just don’t indulge. Mostly. *stares at the ceiling and whistles* But I digress… While most people think of food, I’ve got three non-food indulgences: A good book. Let’s face it, there’s never enough time to read. Between life at The Male Observation Lab (aka, my day – and sometimes night! – job at a construction company), raising a (drama) teen, writing-related stuff, and making sure the house is shoveled out enough so the place isn’t condemned, there’s just not enough time to indulge in a good story. I often…

The older I get, the more I’m against the concept of ‘guilty’ pleasures. You want that cupcake, go for it! You want to put off the laundry and binge-watch every season of a television show, have at it! You want to crank that pop song and sing loud and proud in traffic, you belt that song, baby! Even in the bedroom, as long as it’s between two consenting adults, and hurts no one, why feel guilty about something? Unabashedly love and own the things that make you feel good! Whether it’s tattoos, or dancing to a certain type of music (hey, reggae! I love you!), there’s something out there for everyone that makes their smile a little brighter. And that is especially true when it comes to publishing. Search for nearly anything and you’ll find it—sometimes thanks to the inimitable Chuck Tingle. Like I said, I’m not about judging you for the things you like. But there’s one trend in romance that was definitely not my cup of tea. The taboo romance involving stepsiblings, in particular, the stepbrother romance trope. Stepbrother romances lit the literary world on fire in the past year or so. It seems a release date didn’t…

Many people have asked me what my inspiration was for writing BURNOUT. Answering that question is a piece-a-cake. I’ve been a federal agent for over two decades, so the suspense part of the story flowed naturally from my brain to my fingers, and from there, to my keyboard. That, and I’ve always enjoyed the underlying crime that has to be solved in a suspense novel. That aspect of a story inevitably throws the hero and heroine together under extreme circumstances, something that always leads to emotions and passions running high. Perfect fodder for a romantic suspense. Having worked with police and federal law enforcement officers my entire career, I have the most amazing contacts. I like to be factually accurate, so when I don’t personally know a specific agency factoid, I have an incredible contact list of cops and feds who are only too happy to assist in the creation of my stories and bringing my characters to life. There is also a huge part of me in this book. Many times in my career, I’ve considered leaving “the business” and doing something completely different, like opening a small restaurant or a bed-and-breakfast and cooking my little heart out. The…

By Hitchcock, of the Bad Luck Cat Mysteries by Kay Finch Cats aren’t often asked to speak their mind, so when I get a chance like this I’m going to take advantage. My name is Hitchcock, and I’m a coal black cat. I was pretty much nameless until I decided to hang with Sabrina Tate in Lavender, Texas, in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Sabrina’s a mystery writer, and she has this idea in her head that my presence helps her write suspenseful scenes in her fiction. Thus the name Hitchcock, which is fine by me. So long as I can live with Sabrina at the Around-The-World Cottages owned by her Aunt Rowe, I’m happy. Sabrina and I live in the Monte Carlo cottage on the banks of the Glidden River, and things are peaceful most of the time. Until people start saying I’m some legendary bad luck cat. Maybe I look like this legendary cat. I guess he existed at some point in time because everyone (except Sabrina) seems to believe the legend. I’m only five years old, so there’s no possible way I could know for sure if this legend they’re talking about truly existed back…

Ali and Taylor Blake and the Dream Club members think they can! If you’ve been following my cozy series set in Savannah, you’ll know that the ladies in the Dream Club meet once a week to analyze their dreams, enjoy some fabulous Southern desserts and solve a murder or two. At first Taylor was skeptical about her sister Ali’s enthusiasm for dream interpretation. After all, Taylor is the analytical type, always cool and rational. Ali is more impulsive, emotional and willing to explore new ideas. How do the Dream Club members solve crimes? They look for clues in their dreams that relate to murders happening in Savannah. Sometimes the clue is hard to find. It might be symbolic and elusive. Often, it involves a clue that the police didn’t notice. It could be a hint about a suspect’s character, a chance comment, a suspicious element found at the crime scene. In A PREMONITION OF MURDER, Abigail Marchand, a wealthy Southern recluse, has a disturbing dream about her own death. A premonition, you might say. She invites her good friends the Harper sisters over for lunch at her estate along with Ali and Taylor Blake. Abigail tells them about her dream…

Cozy and traditional mysteries usually take place in small towns with quirky characters and bakeries, and kittens and puppies. The Museum Mysteries aren’t quite like that. Well, there are quirky characters and some good food, but the books are set in Philadelphia, which is definitely a city—in fact, in 2014 it was the fifth largest city in population in the country. Cozies usually include a death, which is a shock to the small community. Philadelphia sees a lot of deaths each year, and too many go unnoticed. Is DEAD END STREET a cozy? Yes and no. You see, Nell Pratt is president of the Pennsylvania Antiquarian Society, which is part of the city’s cultural community, where everybody knows everybody else, especially if they’re looking for contributions of collections or money. The staff members at places like the Society know how much money a donor has, what his or her family history is (public and private), and often a few of their secrets. (But most of those people use that information carefully!) I’ve worked in more than one museum in Philadelphia, and I know what’s in those files! Museums offer their visitors a mix of entertainment and education. But Nell believes…