Over the past three weeks, I have been surrounded by milestone birthdays. My northern neighbor hosted a multitude of family and friends to celebrate her granddaughter’s first birthday. It had a cowboy theme. The guest of honor donned a pink hat and matching boots. Her outfit changed hourly but stayed primarily pink. When they moved in, the father of the baby was three. He was a ball of energy, especially around Halloween. I’m in the background of his life but remember the milestones. My southern exposure neighbor’s family hosted her ninetieth birthday. A castle bouncy house appeared in her backyard for her great grandchildren to enjoy. She sat in her favorite chair, glass of wine at the ready, faithful dog at her feet, and greeted her guests like a true grande dame. She told me she feels seventy-five, which I take as a good thing. We’ve been together for a few decades, so I share many memories with these two neighbors. The passage of a husband, parents, siblings, and sadly, children. Both have an all are welcome attitude. That added to the success of their parties. After a full afternoon and evening, everyone left fed body and soul. Via text,…

Each Monday the Smashwords store lists the top ten most highly anticipated indie fiction ebooks based on the previous week’s preorder accumulations. Each title on the list is scheduled to release within the next week. To help the talented authors on this list accumulate even more preorders, click the title of the book. The hyperlink will bring you to a Books2Read page where you can order from your preferred ebook retailer. If the preorder is part of a series, click the hyperlinked series title to learn about the other books in the series. Be sure to check back Friday for a list of the Top 25 Bestselling Indie Ebooks.

Book Title: WEIRDOS WELCOMECharacter Name: Rae How would you describe your family or your childhood?You would ask me that. Honestly, that’s personal. And it makes me uncomfortable. How do I know I can even trust you with this information? What was your greatest talent?My brain sets me apart from the pack. I look at things from a different view than most. People sometimes hate me for that. That bothers me. Like a lot. I want to learn all I can about certain subjects. I may infodump about these special interests of mine, but hello? If I’m telling you about what excites me then trust me, it means that I respect and even love you. Some call it “out of the box” thinking, which sounds weird to me because what’s supposed to be in the box? Or is the box empty? Confusing. Significant other?Wow. You really don’t care about boundaries, do you? I don’t know if this boy I like is a significant other yet. You know what else? I’m not sure I’m even ready for a significant other. Biggest challenge in relationships?I realize I have made quite a few mistakes in my personal life. I almost lost my bestie because…

Welcome to Jen’s Jewels, your go-to destination for the hottest new fiction. This week, I’m featuring FORTY GOING ON NINETEEN by Kristina Thornton. If you’re searching for your next unforgettable read, you may have just found it. LIGHTNING ROUND What’s your favorite way to spend a slow July afternoon?I enjoy going on long walks among the trees with my family. I live in the countryside in Derbyshire, England in a small village in the heart of the National Forest, and you can walk for miles surrounded by woods and fields. It’s so relaxing. And my husband loves to get the BBQ out in the summer. He and my sons cook a beautiful steak! What snack, drink, or sweet treat always finds its way to your desk when writing?Coffee, always coffee! I also like to nibble on cashews and biscuits (cookies). What’s one thing that instantly helps you slip into a creative mindset?Simply sitting at my desk with a coffee and opening my laptop puts me in the mood to write. I have a little desk under the stairs (it’s nicer than it sounds!) that has shelves above it, which are full of my favorite novels and writing craft books. It’s…

Excerpt from POP STARS AND PLAYBOOKS by Juliet Rhodes: “Well, if it isn’t Griffin Hayes! Everyone, let’s give him a warm welcome.” The crowd cheers. She lingers before him, her lips parting gently into a playful grin that feels as if it’s entirely for him. Griffin’s heart picks up, his gaze glued to her. In the moment before she lifts the mic, she winks and it practically stops his heart. Aria turns to the crowd and talks with miraculous ease. “I didn’t have a chance to meet Griffin before the show, but I’ve been looking forward to it ever since I saw the video. So, what’s the final verdict? Are you my number one fan?” She reaches out a hand to bridge the gap between them and dances her fingertips down his shoulder. A shiver runs down his arm, and Aria’s glow eclipses the crowd behind her. Griffin holds her stare, and his smile grows. After a beat, he looks away and laughs, and it surprises him when he hears it broadcast across the venue. “Guilty as charged.” He grips his chin, massaging it bashfully as he sneaks another close-up look at her. “And thank you all for having me….

Each Friday the Smashwords store reports the bestselling indie fiction titles based on the previous week’s sales. If an author has more than one title eligible for the list, only the highest performing title will be included. This ensures high-performing titles receive the accolades they deserve, while providing up-and-coming authors the visibility they have earned. Don’t miss Monday’s Top 10 Hot Preorders List, where Smashwords will provide a list of the most highly anticipated ebook preorders.

What is the title of your latest release?THE NIGHT HUNTER What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?If Lucy Foley, wrote a murder mystery in the South African bush. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I wanted to pick a place that I knew very, very well. My father is South African, and I’ve been going on Safaris since I was only a child. We moved a lot as I grew up, but no matter where in the world we were living, my parents always made sure that we came back to South Africa to see the wilderness. It was a big part of us as a family. It was only after I started writing that I realized what a perfect location for a thriller it makes! No phones, no police and plenty of predators to clean up after a dead body… Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Probably. We’d run in similar circles back in London, but I feel like she’d be way more high-achieving and ambitious than I am! What are three words that describe your hero?Stubborn. Resourceful. Ambitious. What’s something you learned while writing this book?I really deepened my…

What is the title of your latest release?MAGGIE AND ARTHUR’S MAGIC MOMENT What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?When a deadly spell threatens their school, linguist and Incantation Translation professor Maggie and her annoying (and annoyingly handsome) colleague Arthur have to put aside their differences to stop the magic from destroying the campus. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?MAGGIE AND ARTHUR’S MAGIC MOMENT takes place in a secondary world that is similar to our own in many ways. The geography is based on the landscape I grew up loving in the mid-Atlantic, based on areas in New Jersey and Virginia. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely! I would be honored to call Maggie a friend. She’s loyal, funny, and fun. Plus, we could exchange volumes of poetry and talk about translation all day. What are three words that describe your hero?Serious, kind, and dedicated. What’s something you learned while writing this book?Maggie is a Linguistics and Incantation Translation professor, and, once upon a time, I was a linguistics major. It was fun to study linguistics again and find things I could weave into the magic system. One of my…

What is the title of your latest release?PRIDE COMES BEFORE A FALL What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Sparks fly in this Regency Romcom when a principled, fiercely independent woman who wants political reform but finds herself falling for one of the enemy – A duke! How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I’ve set it in Bath because it’s a city that I love but have never set a story in. It was also a really good excuse to go there for another research trip. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?I absolutely would because Portia Kendall is a no-nonsense, intelligent woman who stands up for justice – which the world could do with a bit more of nowadays. However, I think I would be a bit like her best friend Kitty in the story, who likes to poke fun at her and encourages to be less serious. Sometimes poor Portia, who does love to lecture, really does need to take a chill pill. What are three words that describe your hero?Funny, loyal and overprotective What’s something you learned while writing this book?LOL – I learn something when I write every…

What is the title of your latest release?WHEN MIKAN ROAD WAS OURS What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?When a mixed-race Japanese American English teacher unexpectedly receives a copy of his estranged great-uncle’s memoir, he uncovers long-buried family secrets and is forced to contend with all he’s inherited, willingly and unwillingly. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?Given the story chronicles Japanese American history, specifically the story of a family connected to agriculture and affected by WWII incarceration, it needed to be set on the west coast. But for the current-day narrator, I chose a small suburb setting because it felt like he would be drawn to a town (that to him) serves as a bit of a cocoon and feeds into his desire for isolation. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely! I’d love to sit down with Yua and Eiko and hear more of their stories. To me, those two characters are the heart of the book. What are three words that describe your hero?The book features quite a number of characters, so I’ll answer this one in reference to the Murano family as a whole: loving, resilient, reflective….