What is the title of your latest release?THE LADY ON ESPLANADE What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?In this third book in the New Orleans-set Royal Street series (note: each book is written so that they could be read out of order but why would you want to?), Nola Trenholm (a recent transplant from Charleston, SC) is settling into her new life in the Big Easy, and starting a new venture of flipping murder houses with business partner/nemesis and psychic, Beau Ryan. Between the ominous presence in the house they are renovating and the haunting mystery of Beau’s parents’ disappearance in Hurricane Katrina, Nola and Beau must untangle the tragedy that occurred in the house they’re working on and decipher the message Beau’s mother is trying to convey before it’s too late and the truth catches up to them with dangerous consequences. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?All my books are set in the South, but for this series, I needed Southern AND spooky. Since I went to college in New Orleans (Tulane), I was already familiar and head over heels in love with the city, so it was an easy choice. Would…

As a fantasy author, I’ve often been told that I write in a ‘cinematic’ style. That’s a compliment for me, because I love to immerse my readers in the worlds I’ve created. Sometimes I find inspiration in cinema itself – in movies and TV shows that solidify ideas of what I’m trying to create or experiences I’m trying to capture. I’d love to share some of these and see if you agree! Master and Commander: The Far Side of the WorldStarring Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany, this movie is one of my top three favorites of all time. Not only is it well written and clever, but it also accurately portrays life on a war frigate during the age of sail. The claustrophobia below decks and the bite of ocean winds above, the terror of a stormy sea and the peace of blue skies and calm waters. And most of all, the utter discipline needed during the chaos of a naval battle, when a spray of wooden splinters was as lethal as a volley of cannonballs. I drew a lot of inspiration from this movie, and in my mind, the Touchstone is very similar to the HMS Surprise, a ship…

What is the title of your latest release?THE GREAT FORGOTTEN What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A little historical, a little love, a little suspense. A little Titanic on a train. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?The setting was dictated by the real-life event that inspired The Great Forgotten so most of the book takes place in Nashville. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?I love my heroine(s) and think both reflect women I would hang out with. They are flawed but good people. What are three words that describe your hero?Inspiring, strong, loyal. (Note: there really isn’t one hero, but this works for the person I’m thinking of.) What’s something you learned while writing this book?All of it—everything you read about the events, the clothes, the rituals, the train station. Because this book is inspired by true events, there was a lot of historical research. I think I did learn more about the time period and what life might have been like during the WWI era than I needed to include, but it helped to be immersed in 1918 Nashville. Do you edit as you draft or wait until…

What is the title of your latest release?THE FIX What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Eleven years after surviving a traumatic home-invasion where she loses her mother and sister, a young woman once again finds herself the target of a disturbing and confusing scenario that is almost certainly connected to the original crime. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I decided on Virginia because of its close proximity to DC. There is some content that relates to the political scene and specifically, a family of “fixers,” who help those who have found themselves in political hot water, and so that location was necessary. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely. Cami is brave and wise, her depth honest and hard-earned. I would love nothing more than to sit over a cup of coffee and have conversations about life and love and finding peace after pain. What are three words that describe your hero?Loyal, strong, introspective. What’s something you learned while writing this book?This book actually took quite a bit of technical research as my hero is a computer specialist who works for the NSA and helps the heroine locate a person…

Excerpted from The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf MADELINE Madeline struggles into a sitting position and looks around. Charred lumber litters the lawn. The canopy over the dining tables has collapsed and is covered in dancing flames that a handful of guests and waitstaff are trying to smother with what- ever is handy: cowboy hats, table linens, an old horse blanket. Other guests are gathered in small, tight clusters, holding on to one another. Some sit in the grass crying, others stand slack- faced, as if in shock. Through the smoke a rodeo clown appears, his brightly colored clothing now blackened with soot and his makeup running down his sweaty face. The clown is helping the photographer, who is bleeding from the head. But it is the old storage barn that Madeline finds herself fixated on. Huge f lames shoot from the hayloft window and the roof. Someone pulls a hose from one of the horse barns, and suddenly buckets and containers of all sizes appear. Others, including Johanna’s husband, Dalton, are running toward the burning barn and tossing water onto the structure. They know that one wayward spark could ignite the house or, worse, the barns filled with her…

Excerpt from OTHERWISE ENGAGED by Susan Mallery: SHANNON VAN HORN pulled into a parking space in front of the construction trailer that was the main office of her boyfriend’s gardening business. She clutched the steering wheel tightly and gave in to the scream that had been building for the better part of the morning. Unfortunately the cry that echoed through her ten-year-old Corolla did little to make her feel better. She was a mess. A total and complete disaster of a person. Sure, she was basically nice, and if she ever used public transportation, she would absolutely give up her seat for someone in need—although this was Los Angeles, and everyone drove, so it was more of a spiritual assessment than a reality, but still. She would do it. But being a nice person didn’t make her any less of a mess, and wasn’t that a kick in the head? She grabbed her bag and the folder she’d brought from work, stomped up the three steps to the trailer and flung open the door. “My life is chaos,” she announced to Aaron, her boyfriend of eleven months. “Why do you date me?” Aaron, a tall, rangy guy with curly brown…

What is the title of your latest release?ON THE EDGE OF TRUST, A Logan Point Novel What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A decorated but wounded FBI undercover agent is drawn into an investigation with a true crime podcaster to clear her nephew of a murder charge. As the investigation intensifies, they find threats targeted at themselves. They’ll have to combine their skills and rely on their growing relationship to outsmart the killer. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I always wanted to write a follow-up of Scott Sinclair’s story in Shadows of the Past that was set in Logan Point, Mississippi. Scott was the teenage alcoholic and at the end of Shadows of the Past, he’d made a change. It’s not ten years later and he’s an undercover FBI agent who was wounded in the line of duty and is rehabbing in Logan Point. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Definitely! And since I have two, I’ll answer for both: He can play chess…and he has a great sense of humor. And Tori would keep the conversation going—she’s an extrovert who loves people. What are three words that describe your…

What is the title of your latest release?MURDER AT THE CHRISTMAS EMPORIUM What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Seven seeming strangers are trapped in a quaint London shop on Christmas Eve. What looks like an innocent mistake turns deadly when they find a body in Santa’s grotto and realize a killer is among them. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?A while ago, my editor Kelly Smith visited Liberty of London, a famous shop in London’s West End which is built in a mock-Tudor style, all wood panels and creaky floorboards. Liberty is beautiful and not in the slightest bit creepy but got her thinking – then it got me thinking too. So often in Christmas crime stories people are snowed in at remote locations, but I was intrigued by the idea of being trapped in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world. Nobody lives in central London any more, and the place is like a ghost town over Christmas so the chance of rescue is actually pretty slim. The Emporium was such a creepy setting, I really enjoyed creating it. Would you hang out with your heroine in real…

What is the title of your latest release?NOT TODAY, SATAN What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?The devil’s daughter risks everything to get a falsely condemned boy out of hell and ends up confronting all she thought she knew about her power and her future. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I read Dante’s Inferno as a freshman in high school and was fascinated by the world Dante created, where the punishment fit the crime. I always knew I wanted to write my own re-telling. Then I decided I also wanted to write a fun YA rom-com and thought, “okay but what if I combine the two ideas?” Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?I think I’d want to hang with her, but I’d be intimidated by her. She’s a lot more outspoken than I am. What are three words that describe your hero?Stubborn, Kind, Sarcastic What’s something you learned while writing this book?I learned a lot about my own insecurities and how much of my life I spend trying to please other people. But I also learned that’s not always a weakness. Do you edit as you draft or wait…

Have you ever sat down with a couple friends who really click together and feed off of the other in such a brilliant way, that you don’t feel like a third wheel? Instead of feeling left out, you find yourself mesmerized by their thought patterns and the way they just seem to click on a cylinder the rest of us miss altogether. That’s what happened to me when I took on the dynamic duo (think modern day Bat and Robin) of Kat Hillis and Rosie Thor and their recent release of DEAD & BREAKFAST which is a perfect example of how good their chemistry is. Kym: Welcome to The Cozy Corner on Fresh Fiction, Kat and Rosiee!Kat: Hi Kym! It’s lovely to be here! Kym: I must confess, this is my first interview with a duo author format. What made you decide to write a series together?Rosiee: This series really started as a series of jokes back when I first came up with the idea. It was just a title and a basic concept for a while, a few silly puns etc. but it didn’t start to feel like a real story until Kat came along. When we talked about…