Last December 25, a stranger reminded me why I’d wanted to write this book. “Merry Christmas!” he called to my wife and me, as we were taking our morning walk around the neighborhood. Instinctively, I replied, “Thanks, but it’s not our holiday.” He said, “Chanukah is over.” Startled that he knew the word or what I was referring to, I approached him, thinking to explain. “No, Chanukah starts tonight.” “It’s over,” he repeated, in a tone that said we were too. And he made an odd, aggressive-looking gesture, putting his palms together and rotating his arms vigorously, back and forth around his body. Only then did I notice he was wearing a desert-style military helmet, white pants with blue camouflage markings, and a military belt with pouches, as for ammunition. Belatedly, I wondered whether he was armed, and how we’d extricate ourselves from this confrontation. “I wish you peace,” he said, almost spitting the word. “May a hundred hallelujahs follow you.” My wife and I walked away, dazed and upset. After I’d calmed down, I thought of TO SAVE A LIFE, which my publisher was editing just then, and felt a little better. This bigot had shouted me down, but…

Music has always played a large role in my writing process, both for inspiration and to get me in the right mindset when writing. When working on my debut medieval fantasy novel, THE PRINCESS KNIGHT, I used countless playlists to help me and keep me focused (that I have available on spotify for anyone who wants to listen). These are just a few songs that I would listen to nonstop during the writing and editing process: “Hazel Eyes” by Sabrina JordanSometimes, songs just feel like a book, and that’s why I’m starting with “Hazel Eyes”. While taking place in an entirely separate world, THE PRINCESS KNIGHT is loosely inspired by Irish folklore and history, and this song is exactly how I want that world to feel. Also, it doesn’t hurt that one of the protagonists, Clía, does have hazel eyes. “I fell astray, but in you, I have foundThat I am ever bound to your hazel eyes” “Brutal” by Olivia Rodrigo“I feel like no one wants meAnd I hate the way I’m perceivedI only have two real friendsAnd lately, I’m a nervous wreck” In THE PRINCESS KNIGHT, Clía’s life is thrown upside down when a neighboring prince, Domhnall, backs out…

What is the title of your latest release?EXTREMITY What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?When a former detective is pulled out of forced retirement for one last case (oh yes, we love a classic trope!), she discovers an impossibility: there are two identical bodies of the victim, both murdered in different places. It just gets weirder from there: think True Detective if written by Philip K Dick. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?It’s a book about excess and billionaires and police, so it had to be a major city, but I also wanted to keep it very true to me and my culture, so there was really no other choice than to set it in London. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Dear god no. She’s an acerbic, depressed mess. She’d have absolutely no time for my nonsense. She’d actually probably be very intimidating to be around, I think. What are three words that describe your protagonist?Intelligent, single-minded, haunted. What’s something you learned while writing this book?I learnt a lot more about guns that I ever had. I sent it to an ex-army and generally gun knowledgeable friend of mine…

What is the title of your latest release?DEATH AT THE DOOR What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?When death knocks, they answer. The odd couple of crime-solving from Anthony Award-winning A NEW LEASE ON DEATH returns in DEATH AT THE DOOR, where a ghost and her living roommate find another supernatural mystery on their doorstep and must navigate the fine line between the dead and the living to bring a killer to light. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?Boston is the perfect setting for a ghost story. It’s a modern city with old (for America) roots. It’s also a city of contrasts—old and modern, urban and suburban, posh and gritty at the same time. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Which one? Ruby, one of my protagonists, is very much the cozy mystery heroine. She’s sweet and has way too much energy for me to keep up with her. Cordelia, the other protagonist, is more like me. She’s a little rough around the edges. She’s also a ghost, which makes hanging out problematic. What are three words that describe your protagonist?Ruby is young, sweet, and perky. Cordelia is jaded, snarky,…

What is the title of your latest release?BLIND DATE WITH A WEREWOLF What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?When an old dangerous werewolf is given five blind dates for Christmas, what could possibly go wrong? (Hint—everything does) How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I’ve been working on parts of this story for years, but when I wrote Winter Lost, I realized that this story dovetailed with that one. So I set it just before and during the events of that book. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?I hang out with ‘em all, every day. The protagonist of this book is a particular favorite. What are three words that describe your protagonist?Beautiful. Dangerous. Vain (Is it vanity if he’s right?) What’s something you learned while writing this book?Dating in the electronic age is full of pitfalls and roses. Also dead bodies, vampires and a lioness. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?Yes. What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?Cubano Pizza. It has dill pickles on it—just like the sandwich. But it’s better because it’s pizza! Describe your writing space/office!I have two. I have a lovely office that…

What is the title of your latest release?THE THINGS GODS BREAK What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?After winning the Crucible and Hades’s heart, Lyra finds herself stuck in literal hell—Tartarus. In a race against time and monsters, she must find her way out and back to Hades. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?LOL. A bit of a spoiler alert for those who haven’t read book 1… the cliffhanger is a bit of a doozy. It also determined where book 2 would pick up. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely. Lyra is one of my favorite heroines to write. She may say everything she’s thinking, even when she shouldn’t. But she’s honest, funny, loyal, and, to me at least, always interesting. What are three words that describe your hero?on the edge What’s something you learned while writing this book?That writing any kind of time element is…really hard. Really, really fun, but dang that was hard. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?I edit as I go, take notes on the bigger changes, and then do another few passes after I’m done. Edits are…

Exclusive Excerpt from The Bell Tolls at Traeger Hall by Jaime Jo Wright: Waverly craved a glass of milk from the kitchen to settle her nerves. But with no one to ring for, she would have to get it herself. And the idea of walking from her second-floor room to the kitchen frightened her. She would need to traverse the broad staircase, pray that phantoms weren’t waiting to claw at her, and then—the horrors—she would need to make her way through the back hallways that were typically left to the help to maneuver. Kitchens weren’t normally thought of as fearsome places, but any room in Traeger Hall tonight was potentially frightening. She would need to be careful to slip past the parlor and her aunt and uncle’s remains and hope their eyes were still closed, not open and staring lifelessly at the ceiling. The undertaker, Mr. Fitzgerald, would have made sure they stayed shut, wouldn’t he? With glue perhaps? How did one shut a dead person’s eyes and make sure they didn’t pop open by accident? Could a dead person’s eyes spring open by reflex? Already halfway down the staircase, Waverly shivered. The grand entryway rose from the ground floor…

Excerpt from Dark Design by Nancy Mehl Erin enjoyed her walk with Adrian. He was more talkative than she was, and that helped her to relax. They had so much in common. He’d been on the police force in Chicago, but the out- of- control crime and the lack of support from city officials had left him discouraged and wishing he were still in Sanctuary, where his grandparents had raised him. When the chief of police retired a few years ago, he’d jumped at the job. “This place really is a sanctuary for me,” he told her as they made their way down a trail that led to a large lake. “I feel so at peace here. Since my grandparents died, the people who live here have become my family. I’m especially close to my officers. Besides being great people, they excel in their jobs. I’d put them up against any police officer in any city. Sometimes I can’t understand why they stay here. They could work anywhere. Like I said, things are usually pretty quiet— at least until you came to town, and we had to confront a serial killer.” “I hope you don’t think my being here had…

I always build a playlist as I’m working on a book. I don’t really listen to music while I actually write–it usually distracts more than helps me–but I like to play it to get into the headspace, and the process of figuring out the book’s sound can help me hone the vision for the book itself. For WHEN THEY BURNED THE BUTTERFLY, which is about a girl gang with fire magic in 70s Singapore, I drew heavily on angry women songs, especially with rock bents. Some of the songs I think encapsulate the book’s aura are: King – Florence & the Machine“But a woman is a changeling, always shifting shape/Just when you think you have it figured out/Something new begins to take” and “I need my golden crown of sorrow, my bloody sword to swing/I need my empty halls to echo with grand self-mythology/I am no mother, I am no bride, I am king”In this book there are girls with changing faces haunting the streets, which hover on the precipice of some oncoming change. I call it the coming-of-age of both a girl and a nation; it’s an era of creating your own mythology and figuring out who they want…

My name is Dr. Carrie Vogel, and I’m twenty-four years old. Out of those twenty-four years, I’ve spent all but a handful in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Cheyenne is a modest front range, prairie town. Once called an “End-of-the-Tracks” town due to its placement on the Transcontinental Railroad, Cheyenne is a treasure of a town hidden in plain view. The railroad built its way west and reached Cheyenne in 1867. My family and I followed shortly after. To say moving to Cheyenne was a wild adventure is an understatement. There was really very little to be had at that railroad watering hole. We lived in a tent, as did many of the citizens. We endured gunfights and robberies, Indians and blizzards just to get us started. There were more saloons and brothels than there were churches or other places where decent folks could gather, but still we remained. The town fathers saw this as a place that would one day rival Chicago. It would be the crossroads of the United States, maintaining numerous roadways, railroads, and stage lines. I left Cheyenne to go east to school and become a doctor, but when I returned in 1890, I found the place greatly changed,…