I’ve spent years enjoying every and any chance to speak at schools, focusing on the importance of story as a way to motivate literacy. My points to students are simple. One, great stories are like great songs; great stories and great songs grab our emotions. Two, we love to mess with other people through their emotions. Three, reading and writing is a delivery system for story. Conclusion? Use this amazing delivery system to enjoy a story in a book, or to write a story and have fun messing with your teacher’s emotions, as long as the words and content of the story are appropriate for your audience. In short, telling story is one of the best ways to connect with people. To tell story is what makes us human, and to be human is to tell story. Then came the day when I learned something that totally shifted my foundational view about story, without diminishing my understanding of the importance of story. My friend, an orthodontist, told me that if he has an emotional bond with his young patients, they are much more likely to follow his advice in the weeks between appointments. He said he connects by doing what…

I’m just learning the ropes, so bare with me since I’m new to blogging and a debut author. My first thriller, SECRETARIAT REBORN, came out last Oct. My first fantasy, FLIGHT OF THE GOLDEN HARPY, was released in June, and my second thriller, SHARK FIN SOUP, hits bookstores this August. It’s been one heck of a rollercoaster ride with two publishers bringing out three novels in two different genres within the last ten months. Although my novels are in the thriller and fantasy genre, they have also been called romances. So much so that before Tor Books bought the fantasy, my agent suggested selling it to Harlequin, saying it was really a love story. Since my novels are multi-genre, let’s talk about it and if romance should play a part in other genres. First off, all my novels have one thing in common. The protagonist is always mid-twenty and a lanky, gorgeous man or in the case of the fantasy, a male harpy. Sorry, but I can’t write a word and get interested in a story unless my juices are flowing, and I’m in love with him. I’ve tried writing other books without a hot guy. Even with a great…

One of the most common questions asked of a writer, and one almost guaranteed to trigger that deer in the headlights look, is where she gets her ideas from. Some authors can give specific answers to that question. “I was watching a disaster movie and thought, what if those two were trapped, thinking they’d die and had sex without ever knowing each other’s names and she got pregnant.” Others use humor to deflect. “I find them on the clearance rack at the department store”. I fall into that group of authors who draw a blank and wish there was an easy answer. I don’t want to say I don’t know because I like to pretend I have a little control over what’s going on my head, at least. But I really don’t. Sometimes a snippet of dialogue will pop in my head. Or an opening scene. Maybe the character. There’s neither rhyme nor reason and all I can do is keep hoping if there’s a Story Idea Fairy, that she doesn’t stop coming around. But with NO PLACE TO HIDE, I had a head start. Jack Donovan and Isabelle Arceneau were introduced in the third book in the series, NO…

Hello, Fresh Fiction Readers! It’s a pleasure to be here. I thought I’d tell you a little about my erotic romance, HIS EVERY NEED. It’s the first book in the Beauty and the Brit series. As a girl, I loved fairy tales, especially Beauty and the Beast. There was something so redeeming about that story and the transformative power of love. How the beast changed from a demanding brute into a caring hero. For me, HIS EVERY NEED is a sexy twist on that familiar tale. Trevor’s not a beast, not exactly, but he’s selfish and isolated. He’s emotionally cut off and when Allie Campbell blows into his life, he isn’t sure what to make of her. But he doesn’t want to let her go. Allie is no damsel in distress. She’s a strong, capable woman whose family is in chaos after the death of her mother. It’s Allie’s job to take care of them. She made a promise, after all. And if it means becoming a mistress to Trevor Blake, so be it. Trevor wasn’t seriously offering Allie the position. He was only joking. Americans don’t always understand his British sense of humor. But he won’t back down, and neither…

The perfect love story in a Barnes and Noble? That’s what happened to me and it’s my love story. It’s also a story heavily on my mind as book 4 NO IN BETWEEN is released on 8-19, since the love of my life helped inspire me to write the Inside Out series, which is now in development for cable TV. So this is how it all began…. Long before my career took off, I was in a Barnes and Noble at the New Release rack, dreaming of the day my books might be there, when my now husband, also a book addict, approach me. From there, love bloomed, and the story gets even better. Diego was a physical therapist, laid off when the office had financial troubles and I was a starving artist. We began auction hunting AKA Storage Wars before Storage Wars existed. During that time, Diego found a journal and started reading. I often jokes he was such a chick reading it. Someone is dead next door! She’s pregnant again! WHAT is she thinking? He decided right then I needed to write a story where someone finds a journal in a storage unit and either someone dies or…

From the moment I began writing the Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime in 2009, Tori Sinclair, Rose Winters, Margaret Louise Davis, Leona Elkin, and the rest of the gang became my friends. They made me laugh, they made me cry, and they made me feel like I was one of them. When I was between books, they still popped in for a visit once in a while, whispering story ideas in my ear. Sometimes those whispers came in the shower, sometimes the car, sometimes on walks. So it wasn’t necessarily out of the ordinary to hear one of those whispers while eating lunch with my youngest daughter. But this time, instead of Leona elbowing her way to the foreground in the hopes of claiming a book all to herself, this particular whisper involved all of them…in New York City, no less. Suddenly, I could see Margaret Louise white-knuckling it in the back seat of a New York City Cab, Leona flirting with the doorman at her hotel, and Beatrice Tharrington snapping photographs of each and every landmark with her beloved Kenny Rogers bobble head in tow. And as each new image played in front of my eyes,…

I don’t remember my first time in the ocean, but I do remember the last time. It was just over a week ago during a weekend getaway with my hubby. You know how when you’re young, you’re gung-ho to race into the water? Who cares how cold it is? Yeah, that wasn’t me this time. I had to get acclimated to the chilly temperature before I moved anywhere. After my DH and I sat back down in our beach chairs, my gaze was stuck on the cutest little guy. He was probably three or four-years-old and stood carefully at the edge of the water holding his dad’s hand. His bright blue board shorts practically reached his ankles, and I had the strong feeling it wasn’t the temperature keeping him from moving deeper into the sea, but trepidation. I know the feeling. You do, too, right? Fear is something we all face at one time or another. I think it’s especially potent when we’re about to embark on something new or different. And okay, for some of you it might also be when you see that big, black ugly spider. No worries! Call me and I’ll come get it for you!…

Adi Alsaid, author of the new contemporary YA novel LET’S GET LOST is touring the web with “Seize the Tuesday” posts to celebrate the publication of his novel. Each piece will focus on a different, fun example of how Adi was able to “Seize the Tuesday” in his own life and how that can inspire others to make a change in their lives too! Seize the Tuesday not only gives readers a glimpse into Adi’s life, but also introduces readers to one of the key themes in LET’S GET LOST of “seizing the Tuesday” – of seizing a moment that can change your life forever. About LET’S GET LOST Five strangers. Countless adventures.One epic way to get lost. Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most. There’s HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend,…

As a mom, my life is ruled by lists. For me, there’s no other way. I’m trying to remember when my little list habit had its genesis. I believe it was back when I forgot a minor deadline, a doctor appointment, and a present for a birthday party…all in the same week. I’ve learned a lot about lists along the way. Here are five things I’ve learned about lists for life and writing: Break the goals into steps and make them reachable. I’ve made impossible lists before and found it really difficult to stay motivated with “organize shoebox full of loose photos” and “finish writing book” on my list. It’s so much better to see “spend 15 minutes sorting loose photos by event” and “write two pages today,” instead. Block out distractions. When we’re focused on knocking items off our lists, distractions really stand in our way. For writers (and, well, probably most everyone else), distractions might be the allure of the internet. They might also be our kids, television, or our attempts to multi-task. I’ve found that I tend to finish tasks a lot quicker if I eliminate distractions. This might mean disconnecting from Wi-Fi or asking my kids…

I have a standing ban on my books with my Mom. Why? My mom is a devout Christian and while I still consider myself a person of faith, I know that the things I write about and that she’s not cool with. Also, dude… She’s my mom. She’d wash my mouth out with soap at most of my books and well, lets face it, she’d seriously consider scrubbing my brain as well. Because, well… I’m not exactly what you’d call a good girl. Sure, you might not know it from the look of me. I’m very big on manners and being polite and being responsible and other junk like that. But secretly (sorta), I have other interests. I love a good rowdy tale. I grew up with chain smoking, hard-talking, rough-walking women. Strong women who also happened to enjoy being women. And I often wondered why I didn’t see them in my books very often. I don’t relate well to the innocent Mary-Sues who never see a good murder coming. And I can’t stand a useless heroine who throws herself in front of an enemy gun just for the heck of it. I love a good adventure, a heart pumping…