Hi, everyone! I’m Katherine Fleet, and I’m so excited to be here on Fresh Fiction today. I’m the debut author of THE SECRET TO LETTING GO from Entangled Teen. It’s a YA contemporary set in a fictional town on the Gulf Coast of Florida during that magical summer after high school graduation where the whole world is out there waiting for you. It’s the story of two teens – Clover, a mysterious girl who shows up in town steeped in secrets and fears, and Daniel, a boy who’s drawn into her troubled world despite his better judgment. Life keeps throwing them together, but their secrets keep them apart. Ultimately, it’s a story about living through tragedy and learning to forgive your self. As it’s “Suspense Day” here on Fresh Fiction, I was asked to write about suspense. My first thoughts were about thrillers and murder mysteries and how these possibly applied to my writing, but then I looked up the definition of suspense. It’s “a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen.” Hmmm…I’ve felt this frequently when watching shows like Downton Abbey or reading books like THE HELP. Yet, neither of these has any serial…

I sometimes jest that if ever I get arrested I’m sure to be thought a professional criminal because I have so many aliases: Mary P. Kuhfeld, Mary Monica Pulver, Monica Ferris, Margaret Frazer, Margaret Shaftesbury. I try always to carry some of my bookmarks with me because they list my various names and the names of the books I’ve written under those pseudonyms. Why do authors sometimes have more than one name? Usually it’s because they are writing more than one type of book. I have written police procedurals, medieval mysteries and needlework mysteries. It’s unkind to fool a fan of my sweet needlework cozies into buying something a little harsher set in fifteenth century England. Hence, Monica Ferris and Margaret Frazer. So why do I write different kinds of stories? I suppose it’s like not always eating the same thing for dinner. I like chicken, but sometimes I want ham. Or perhaps it’s because I’ve come across a big chunk of information that gives me a gangbuster idea for a story, but it’s well outside the usual vein I’ve been mining. Or sometimes the vein is exhausted and I’m digging for something new. One way I keep my needlework…

My parents gave me a long brown wig for my seventh birthday. It’s unclear how they knew that this would be an awesome present for a second grader, but I remember being delighted beyond my wildest dreams. One summer day, while my mom and dad were lounging out back of our house, I dressed up in my yellow dance leotard, a yellow, pink, and light blue maxi skirt, the long wig, and my mom’s oversized sunglasses and then went out back to join them. I was surprised by how hard they laughed. Throughout my growing-up years, costumes came and went. Sometimes they were in the form of inherited clothes from a great grandparent that were inappropriate for every day but possible for Halloween (a long, full black skirt with layers of netting underneath—perfect for a witch costume, a pair of baggy men’s pants from the forties—perfect for a hobo). Sometimes they were styles that went out of fashion but were relegated to the box of paint clothes (a pair of denim bell bottoms that were printed with seashells). Sometimes they were items made by my mom (a blue and white checkered dress inspired by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz)….

West Cork has long been considered one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland, with its rolling hills, prehistoric monuments, herds of grazing cattle and flocks of sheep, and rocky coastline with a scattering of fishing villages. Plenty of people from other countries have bought vacation homes there, to enjoy the peace and quiet. But there are some outsiders who have been attracted by the rambling coastline for centuries: first pirates, and now international smugglers. I would never have known until I introduced myself to a police sergeant in Skibbereen, who was not what I would have expected: not only does he have 35 years of experience at different postings throughout the country, but he’s smart, charming, and funny, and he’s also a genealogist and historian. I couldn’t have found a better advisor for the County Cork mysteries. He was the one who told me about the smuggling. Actually he first told me about one case that happened several years ago, that sounded like a comedy of errors (the smugglers put the wrong kind of fuel in their boat?), but there are other, more recent cases. And we’re talking hundreds of millions of euros in smuggled drugs (and liquor, and…

There are a lot of fiction books out there with angels. So how was I to stand out in the pack? Have you ever read a novel that claims to be about angels, but it’s really just plain ole’ everyday humans with wings stuck to their backs? I’ve encountered plenty of those. When I set out to write The Books of Raziel series, I knew one thing: my angels and demons had to be different. Really different. My book series is gothic fantasy, so the setting became the key to how my angels would be portrayed. Everything about them had to be otherworldly and at least mildly unsettling. Real angels throughout religious history have typically inspired people with fear despite their beauty. That was a key detail I wanted to weave into my own work. The angels and demons in ARCHON, COVENANT, and ANGELUS have very human emotions and feelings, but they are also above us. They work on their own set of morals. They can be cruel and capricious by our human standards. And the usual notions of good and evil don’t apply. Many of the angels in these books are weighed down by their own sins. There are…

I write contemporary romances. To be exact, I write lighthearted contemporary romances with a humorous edge. Yes, there’s always a serious thread tucked inside my plot, but most readers know me for my humor and sarcasm. But about a year-and-a-half ago I had this image that wouldn’t escape me. I kept picturing these kids—a younger boy, a slightly older girl—living in this abandoned house I remembered from my years growing up on the Arkansas/Oklahoma border. About halfway between the Arkansas border and Tulsa, there is this house on the south side of the highway. It’s a beautiful house…now. But when I was younger it sat empty and unfinished, staying that way for a decade, maybe two. Unused rusty cranes and bulldozers flanked each side and became covered in cobwebs. Mounds of fresh dirt slowly sprouted weeds…eventually trees. Even though the house had the potential to be gorgeous, everything about it used to scare me. Every time we drove past—which generally averaged to be two or three times a year—I would stare at it. Hold my breath. Think up creepy little scenarios about what might be occurring in that gigantic, deteriorating house. I never forgot those stories. And so I kept…

People often ask me what the secret is to getting published. I don’t believe there is a secret to getting published, but I do have a list of things that will help writers on their journey to publication. Join a Writers’ Group I accidentally found the website for a local writers’ group while in search for a professional group to join as part of my day job as a technical writer. That group is Chesapeake Romance Writers, which is based in Chesapeake, Virginia, and is a local chapter of Romance Writers of America. When I attended one of the monthly meetings, I met writers in all stages of their careers – from brand new (like me) to multi-published. It was then that I realized that I wanted to become a published author. Through this group, I learned how to plot and polish my novels, how to find a literary agent, and how to write a query letter that would pique an agent’s interest. I strongly suggest you find a group near you and socialize with other writers. You’ll have fun and also learn a lot. If you’re not interested in attending local meetings, you always have the option of joining…

My recent release, Love In Store, appears in the collection AN AMISH MARKET. Like my other stories set in Indiana Amish communities, this is a mystery. Today I want to share my top seven tips for writing a mystery. Read a few first! When my publisher contacted me about writing a mystery, I immediately said YES, and then I ran to my local library. I pulled a large stack of mysteries from the shelf, sat in a big cushy library chair, and read through the back cover copy—taking notes as I went along. Then I read the first chapters, and finally I took the very best home with me. It always helps to read what you’re trying to write! Decide who your sleuth will be. Sleuths come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They can be young or old, female or male, eccentric or seemingly normal. They can have a special talent, or they might simply possess a quizzical personality. Pair them up with an opposite. In most mysteries your sleuth will enlist the help of someone else—someone who is their complete opposite but who possesses a knowledge or skill your sleuth needs. Have fun with this! If your sleuth…

Poor Neanderthals. No matter how many wonderful things we learn about them, they remain our lesser predecessors, dismissed as stupid and coarse. The problem began with their discovery. In 1856, workers in the Neander Valley near Dusseldorf, Germany came across a skull that looked human, except it had a prominent brow ridge, large eye sockets, and a flattened cranium. Thick fossilized bones were discovered nearby. After the Neander valley find, scientists realized similar bones had already been uncovered in Belgium and Gibraltar. Anglo-Irish geologist William King suggested the name Homo neanderthalensis and declared Neanderthals incapable of complex thought. Historical context In 1859 (only three years after the Neander valley find), Charles Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species through Natural Selection. He pointed out that more young are born each year than can survive. Those with an advantage, something that allowed them to be more successful in their environment, were more likely to survive and reproduce. In 1871, Darwin published The Descent of Man, his treatise on human evolution, in which he argued that all life forms, including people, evolved from simpler ones. He used the metaphor of the tree. While a tree may have many branches that…

I love hearing “meet” stories. How other couples, well, went from one to two. I’ve heard some touching ones that have melted my heart, funny ones that made me laugh so hard I cried, and others that told the story of a bit of indifference at first meeting and took years to cultivate, starting with a single moment in time where a spark was lit and an attraction born. I love them all! Today I wanted to share my “meet” story because I think it has a touch of uniqueness that always makes me smile. One of my good friends was going through some rough times with her husband. They’d split up, but had decided to get back together. So, her husband’s co-worker and good friend—let’s call him Ken—decided to rent a limo and go bar hopping to celebrate. Of course my friend didn’t want an odd number so she asked if she could bring a friend along. Do you see where this is leading? Lol Right away Ken was concerned that this wouldn’t be tagged a date. My friend assured him that it wouldn’t be. It would just be more fun rounded off to an even number. So, he…