It’s never easy being a middle child, and that’s kind of how I think of book 3 in my McCauley Brothers series. RUINING MR. PERFECT deals with Cameron, the youngest McCauley sibling, but the book is sandwiched between two books that made me cry at times when writing them. It’s a challenge to write a story about four brothers and not have them all be the same. They’re raised in the same house, by the same people, but must have different flaws and vulnerabilities. Yet they can’t be so polarizing that they’re caricatures instead of characters. Big difference. In book 1, THE TROUBLEMAKER NEXT DOOR, Flynn is a charming, decent guy who hasn’t found Ms. Right yet. Enter Maddie, stage left. In book 2, HOW TO HANDLE A HEARTBREAKER, Brody has some secrets that have molded him into the man he is today. He’s sexy and funny, but wounded emotionally. Abby is just the woman for him, because she won’t take less than she deserves, and that she knows he can give. Book 3, RUINING MR. PERFECT, pits Cameron against a stubborn woman with a hard heart and a troubled parent with a hard head. Cam has always been the…

As an author, I’ve found that inspiration for books can come from anywhere. And I truly mean anywhere. For example, the idea seed for the Magic Potion mysteries sprouted at a rest stop off I-75 in southern Georgia. More than a decade ago, my family was making its way from Ohio to Florida (16 hours in the car—have mercy!), and we were somewhere in southern Georgia—the part of the trip where slap happiness and delirium sets in and snacks have run out—when we knew it was time to stop for a bit. Walk around. Guzzle caffeine. Restock Peanut M&Ms. We’d just begun looking for a place when we spotted a roadside attraction billboard that contained the magic road-trip words: Clean Restrooms. It was called Magnolia Plantation, and I’m not even sure if it’s still there. Back then, it was a delightful oasis of sights (aisles and aisles of stuff) and smells (pecans, mostly) and sounds (love a Southern accent), and it did, in fact, have clean restrooms. As we wandered around, our delirium slowly wearing off, I spotted a small section of books. And I found this gem (see picture!). I knew immediately that it had to come home with…

So much about the Christmas holidays is wonderful. We get together with friends and family we might not see at any other time of year, cook our favorite foods, decorate the whole house, sing the good old songs, give and receive thoughtful gifts…. Even if we also sometimes wish we could find a place to hide and take a three-day nap. Then there’s the weather, which means we can be traveling at the least convenient time of year. And the budget, which must accommodate travel expenses, holiday shopping, holiday meals (with libation), holidays guests, and holiday heating bills. And the folks who react to the holidays by over-imbibing, or channeling Attila the Hun in the mall parking lot, or the children who MUST come down with the flu on December 20th, or the relatives who revive the feud that should have died a quarter century ago (the feud, not the relatives….). And that’s all before Christmas itself. The holidays, in other words, can be stressful. Really, really stressful. The characters in my Scottish Victorian holiday romance, WHAT A LADY NEEDS FOR CHRISTMAS, have added to their yuletide stress by becoming engaged. Dante Hartwell is a Scottish mill owner who seeks…

For me, writing Victorian mysteries is pure joy! First of all, I love the Victorian age. There was so much going on then; so many new discoveries. Transportation was fascinating, going from the horse-drawn age into the age of the horseless carriage. Gaslight was slowly giving way to electricity. Fashions had great variety, both women’s and men’s. Manners – now so many lost – were de rigor. The class system was alive and well, for good or evil, yet there were endless opportunities for anyone with ambition. Without question there were many dark sides to nineteenth century life, yet for the writer this can only be considered a plus. One can certainly focus where one wishes and the very knowledge of aspects of the darker side of Victorian life play well into the potential plots and stories of the mystery writer. My protagonists are Bram Stoker and his assistant Harry Rivers. Stoker is very much the fount of knowledge while Harry is the ever-willing partner/associate. The relationship falls somewhere between Holmes-and-Watson and Wolfe-and-Goodwin. Stoker, coming from Ireland, has a vast store of occult knowledge – together with a belief in leprechauns, ghosts, magic, and the sixth sense – and finds…

If the question is where I get the ideas for the stories I write the simple answer is…people. All of my writing is pretty much character driven. That is not to say that I’m not concerned with the other elements of literature…plot..setting etc. but these things concern me fundamentally in how they interact with the characters in my stories. Description as in the case of a beautiful sunset i.e. the watery glow slipped beneath the sea causing the last light to radiate across the shimmering water turning the world for that brief moment into an impressionist painting-works to my mind much more when seen through the eyes of a character. What is the mind-set, the emotion, the internal conflict going on? How does this visual effect or affect the character? I try to create characters in the context of the story that are believable and real. Even with their quirks, they are the kind of people that you could meet in the course of everyday life. My favorite bumper sticker is…we’re all dysfunctional deal with it…or as Virgil Dalton, the central figure in DEATH AT THE BLACK BULL says, “We’re all broken just in different ways”. I’d venture to say…

For me, the main difference between writing YA (young adult) and adult romance is the narrative voice. When I write romantic suspense, I use what I call “deep point of view” — every scene is written from the perspective of one of the main characters in the story. So in each scene, it is as if the reader is inside one character’s mind, sharing his or her thoughts as he or she describes what’s going on in. And of course, since the main characters in my adult romances are, well, adults, that means every scene is told through a filter of adult priorities, adult vocabulary, and adult experience. But when I co-wrote NIGHT SKY— my first YA novel — with my daughter, Melanie, we wrote in an entirely different narrative voice. First of all, unlike any of my adult romances, we decided to create NIGHT SKY in the first person. The entire story is told by our main character — sixteen-year-old Skylar Reid. And there’s another huge difference: NIGHT SKY takes place in a paranormal futuristic world, where certain young women — including Sky herself — have been targeted for abduction because they possess super-human powers. Most of my adult romances feature…

… which I hope is good luck for both my readers and me! Thanks for inviting me to blog here again, Fresh Fiction. Since I last visited in January of this year, I’ve had four books published: TEACUP TURBULENCE, my last Pet Rescue mystery for Berkley Prime Crime; UNTAMED WOLF and LOYAL WOLF, both Harlequin Nocturnes in my Alpha Force miniseries about a covert military unit of shapeshifters; and now… LOST UNDER A LADDER, my first Superstition Mystery! LOST UNDER A LADDER is being published by Midnight Ink. It introduces protagonist Rory Chasen, who, with her adorable black and white spaniel-terrier mix Pluckie, visits Destiny, California, a town where superstitions reign. Why do they go to Destiny? Because Rory’s beloved fiancé Warren died a few minutes after walking under a ladder, and she needs closure. And the only way she can achieve it is to determine whether superstitions are real. Maybe. Soon after they reach Destiny, Pluckie insists that Rory enter the back room of the Lucky Dog Boutique. There, they find Martha Jallopia, the shop’s owner, lying on the floor. Martha is ill but conscious. She says she knows she is going to be fine since black and white dogs…

We’re delighted to meet all of you here at Fresh Fiction. This has been a great year for the Murder, She Wrote series of mysteries. It’s our 25th anniversary! There are now 42 books in the series which is based on the popular television series starring Angela Lansbury. The 43rd is written and at the publisher. While the show stopped production years ago (although you can see episodes in syndication on many cable services), you can still follow the exploits of our intrepid amateur sleuth as she trips over bodies and stays one step ahead of the police in tracking down murderers. Each book is an original mystery that finds Jessica Fletcher solving crimes all over the world, as well as in her beloved Cabot Cove, Maine. The latest book, DEATH OF A BLUE BLOOD (October 2014), brings readers to the Cotswolds, a part of the charming English countryside with rolling hills of farms and villages, thatched cottages and quaint pubs, and Castorbrook Castle, home to the Earl and Countess of Norrance. The lord and lady of the manor have invited Jessica Fletcher and her dear friend Scotland Yard Inspector George Sutherland to be their guests at a New Year’s…

Forewarned is forearmed, especially when it comes to Major Jack Ballentyne, the hero in HARD TO FORGET. A man who’s motto is: The end justifies the means, and f*ck the collateral damage. Yes, he’s somewhat lacking on the conscience front, but he has his reasons. He’s a Special Agent for a start. With the British Intelligence Service. Tasked with leading a particularly dangerous unit of men unofficially known as ‘The Assassins’. A motley crew of rule breakers whose activities are ‘plausibly deniable’ by necessity. Back to forewarned…Jack’s not exactly communicative, he’s more a man of action, (vengeful action) so here are a few subjects best avoided should you chance to engage him in conversation. 1. Shooting Lowry. It’s an incident he’d rather forget. 2. Having Lowry court marshaled. Another incident he’d rather forget. 3. His twin, Richard. These two brothers took ‘sibling rivalry’ to the extreme, and the consequences were devastating. 4. Climbing or Base Jumping. Two activities guaranteed to raise the hairs on Jack’s neck fast. (see Caution 3 above) 5. Patient Peter. A serial killer so foul, even Jack’s cast-iron stomach churns. 6. Trust. Jack has a few issues having experienced the whip-lick sting of betrayal. 7. The…

While I’m in my writing cave, I thought it’d be a good idea to check in on #Squidge and see what he’s been up to… Squidge attended #HMK2014, that Hot Mojave Knights book convention this past weekend in Las Vegas, NV with my assistant, Kelly Oakes,  and proceeded to enjoy himself while I wasn’t around to keep him in line. Here are the highlights of his weekend: Upon checking in to the hotel, Squidge immediately claimed his side of the bed. Did you know he snores? And he’s quite the bed hog. Kelly left Squidge in charge of selling tickets to the Naughty PJ Party and the cash drawer came up a little short, I think he has a slight gambling problem. Squidge helped the Authors Write Hand team get ready for the party, by playing hide and seek inside the Pink Camo bags donated by author Sharon Hamilton. Squidge and 50 of his closest friends attended the event and caused all kinds of a ruckus. The highlight of the evening by far was when Squidge decided to take the “hot potato” for a test drive. This naughty game included a latex body part and lube, played in “hot potato”…