Fresh Pick for Sunday, January 10th, 2016 is SHOPAHOLIC TO THE RESCUE by Sophie Kinsella #SundayEasy settle in with a favorite character About SHOPAHOLIC TO THE RESCUE #1 New York Times bestselling author Sophie Kinsella returns with another laugh-out-loud Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adventure: a hilarious road trip through the American West to Las Vegas. Becky is on a major rescue mission! Her father has vanished from Los Angeles on a mysterious quest with her best friend’s husband. Becky’s mum is hysterical; her best friend, Suze, is desperate. Worse, Becky must tolerate an enemy along for the ride, who she’s convinced is up to no good. Determined to get to the bottom of why her dad has disappeared, help Suze, contain Alicia, and reunite her fractured family, Becky knows she must marshal all her trademark ingenuity. The result: her most outrageous and daring plan yet! But just when her family needs her more than ever, can Becky pull it off? Buy SHOPAHOLIC TO THE RESCUE: 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 About Sophie Kinsella Sophie Kinsella…

From Chelem Beach, near a small fishing village on the Mexico Gulf coast. I’ve taken my coffee down to the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, where at the tip of the wooden breakwater an ancient pelican meditates. Miles out, gliding along the horizon white chips betray fishermen’s boats quietly waiting for their catch. I have come to the beach to await my Muse. A fickle lover. Our perspective shifts as we grow older, and sometimes we see our lives from a far distance—a mountain top, say, or further still, from the cusp of the moon or a star. And we are astonished by the long journey filled with unexpected and exhilarating moments as well as anguish. From among the galaxies, we humans appear infinitesimal specks on an insignificant, 4.5 billion years old rock. Our planet circles not the greatest of suns. And our galaxy is merely one of the 100 million galaxies in the group of galaxies in which we live, and our group is only one of 100 million groups of galaxies. It all began 13.8 billion years ago; scientists tell us, with the burst of a singularity, a tiny infinitely heavy something. Time came from that moment,…

Even before I started writing A WEEKEND OF MISBEHAVING, I was always drawn to the nanny/boss trope. Okay. I admit it. I watched one too many episodes of The Nanny growing up. Then, of course, there are fabulous classics like The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins—despite the nanny not snatching the guy on the latter, she was still the focal point of the movie/Broadway musical. Recently, hot celebrities like Ben Affleck and Gavin Rossdale were rumored to have cheated on their respective wives because of a hot affair with their nannies. Those marriages ended up in divorce. Coincidence? Maybe. The fact is, whether they are perceived in the media as the life-saving creatures who can bring warmth and assistance to a busy family, or the sexy females with a hidden agenda (hello, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle!) nannies are interesting characters to write. Why? Because they are living and/or working for a different family. This family has rules, baggage, and a past. The nanny is able to watch them, and learn from them, teach them, and at the same time question her own ideas and values. It’s really a fascinating interaction. Here’s a teaser from A WEEKEND OF…

Tune to the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel on Sunday, January 10th, 2016 to watch THREE Hannah Swensen movies, back-to-back! Sunday January 10th, 2016 from 5 PM to 7 PM EST Murder She Baked: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery then . . . from 7 PM to 9 PM EST Murder She Baked: A Plum Pudding Mystery then . . . the icing on the cake . . from 9 PM to 11 PM EST The World Broadcast Premier of Murder She Baked: A Peach Cobbler Mystery Come spend the night with Hannah, solving mysteries and munching cookies. Jo says, “Ladies, start your ovens!” For more about Jo Fluke and Hannah Swensen visit her Website

My first book sale was practically a fluke. I’d spent years writing two manuscripts that I loved with a passion. I found an agent. I had interested publishers. And while I waited for editors to make their final decision, I noticed a new publisher was looking for Christian romance stories set in small towns with cute names. To submit, all I had to do was write three chapters and a synopsis. I did it in a day, sent it to my agent, and forgot about it. My agent called with good news. I was so excited. Except the good news wasn’t about the manuscripts I’d spent years on. It was for a book I hadn’t even written yet. A sale was a sale. I’d take it. I pulled out my synopsis to remind myself what I’d be writing about. Ha! It included a chubby, unicycle-riding twelve-year-old named after Superman’s father. Writing that story was going to be fun. Except before I finished writing the book, my husband of ten years left me. And I had to write a romance novel while my own marriage fell apart. I never wanted to write romance again. And besides the Costco book-signing in 2010…

And How My Story Extended Hers Lately, I’ve been having some challenging conversations with a friend concerning the ongoing inspiration I find in what my parents told me (many years ago now) about their own lives—particularly their lives before my existence. “You have your own experiences, your own perspective, not to mention your own vivid imagination,” my friend says. “Why do you feel the need to carry the burden of your parents’ stories? Are you setting aside your own material, better, more immediate material, trying to keep them alive?” Her questions have left me shaken. They’ve made me reflect again on that frequent question: where do your ideas come from as a writer? And, yes, for me, some of those ideas have been influenced by the stories my parents told me, and the stories my parents didn’t tell me—the ones I only learned after my mother’s passing (she died when I was fourteen years old, and was a notably reserved woman before that time). The ones I only learned from others who knew her, in so many ways, better than I ever got the chance. My dad, the verbose one in our little family of three, was a fabulous storyteller—a…

Since I am not a vampire, I had to enlist the help of the hero and heroine from “The Good, the Bad, and the Vampire”. Trixie LaRoux is a punk rock badass who was turned in 1980 in NYC. Turned in the 1950’s, Dakota Shelton is a good old boy from Texas and he feels more than a little out of place with Trixie’s city slicker coven. So here’s the good, the bad, and the fabulous of being a vamp…as told from Trixie and Dakota’s perspective. Trixie LaRoux The Good— No wrinkles: I may not be a fashonista or anything but looking like I’m in my twenties—forever—doesn’t suck. A girl likes to look nice. The Bad—No suntans: In my human life, I wasn’t a big beach-goer or anything but it was nice to have the option. I mean, I can go to the beach but it, like, has to be a night. It’s cool but…I kinda miss the warmth of the sun on my face. The Fabulous—Resilience and Strength: My body and mind are tougher as a vamp than they ever were when I was human. Sometimes I wonder if it’s because I’m an immortal…or if it’s because of my…

About SEIZED Danger is all around her What should have been a routine investigation for FBI profiler Evelyn Baine turns ominous when she’s kidnapped by a dangerous cult of survivalists. As her worst nightmares become a reality, she begins to question what she’s seeing. Because the longer she’s inside their compound, the more she realizes this group is not what it seems to be. The next terrorist threat is right beside her As the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team closes in, Evelyn suspects she’s stumbled onto an emerging terrorist threat —and a cult leader who has a score to settle with the FBI. If Hostage Rescue breaches the compound, Evelyn’s dead for sure. If they don’t, the cult may unleash a surprise attack that could leave the whole country shattered. Buy SEIZED: 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 “Suspenseful from the start and intriguing throughout. Recommended!” – #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child on SEIZED “Elizabeth Heiter does her research, and it shows in this superb FBI thriller. With a ripped-from-the-headlines plot and excellent…

Meet Thomas Locke, author of MERCHANT OF ALYSS the second book in the Legends of the Realm series. Set in a world where magic has been outlawed for centuries, Hyam learns there is more than he knew or suspected. Q: How did you get interested in writing epic fantasy and techno-thrillers? Thomas Locke: My first passion as a childhood reader was science fiction and fantasy. So many of these stories imparted a sense of the heroic. The challenges were massive, the vistas beyond the scope of normal life. The characters rose up to become what was required in order to vanquish the threat. When I started writing at age twenty-eight, my first mentor was Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey. I want to take readers back to the type of story that meant so much to me as I was growing up. Q: Many fantasy and sci-fi stories are dark and hopeless. What do you hope readers glean from Merchant of Alyss that they won’t find in most mainstream fiction? Thomas Locke: I suspect there are a lot of readers out there like me, who buy and love mainstream fiction but are dismayed by how dark it…

Ready for a sneak peek at the upcoming book from Rachel Blaufeld? Well, here’s a glimpse at the cover … …and the back cover as well! So be sure to add DOLCE to your GoodReads Shelf or just go ahead and pre-order today! Giveaway What do you think about the cover of DOLCE? FIVE lucky commenters will win their choice from Rachel’s current collection! About Rachel Blaufeld The Unofficial 411: First and foremost, I consider myself a reader. With my nose forever stuck in a book and most recently, my iPad, I always wanted to write! Now I do, and the best part is connecting with readers and chatting. I wish there were more hours in the day for this— Officially: Rachel Blaufeld is a bestselling Coming of Age, Romantic Suspense, and Sports Romance author. A recent poll of her readers described her as insightful, generous, articulate, and spunky. Originally a social worker, Rachel creates broken yet redeeming characters. She’s been known to turn up the angst like cranking up the heat in the dead of winter. Turning her focus on her sometimes wild-and-crazy creative side, it only took Rachel two decades to do exactly what she wanted to do—write…