Popular novelists use pseudonyms to write romance novels, and romance novelists use them to write erotica. But when I wrote What A Mother Knows, it was my real name going on the cover. So naturally, when I wrote the big love scene – okay, sex scene – I worried about what my daughters would think. The story is about a mother’s quest to find her daughter, so already it hits close to home. At first, I was more concerned with how the girls might judge the daughter’s part. Then I realized I was working even harder to get the mother’s part right, to make her believable and sexy, all at the same time. It wasn’t just the romance that worried me, it was the fact that there are some undeniable similarities between us. Sure, Michelle is taller and thinner, but her desperate need to protect her daughter? That’s all me. So when it was time to write the big love scene, I started to sweat. I wanted to make it as hot as possible, but my daughters will read it as soon as it comes out. I wanted to go crazy, but there was important plotting to be done amid…

From Mary Ting author of Crossroads Saga: CROSSROADS, BETWEEN and BEYOND. I started walking in circles around him, engrossed by his wings. His shirt was torn on the back. From where the wings protruded out, there were long slits to form an upside-down V. He was beautiful, his wings were beautiful, and I was even more in awe of him. Perhaps my reaction embarrassed him, as he quickly closed them. It was amazing how they completely disappeared without a trace of their existence remaining. Even his shirt showed no sign that it had been torn to allow such a phenomenon. “May I please take a look again? For me, please?” I pleaded. “You’re not freaked out?” He looked utterly astonished. “Should I be?” I wondered why he felt embarrassed about his precious gift. “I thought it might freak you out. Something not by human standards.” I leaned closer and placed my hands on his shoulders. “I’m not freaked out. I think you are amazing just the way you are. I wouldn’t want you to be any other way,” I said tenderly, trying to sound convincing with my words and through my body language. His eyes were still steady on the…

In the earliest days of man, when the saber toothed tiger stalked its prey, another predator came into being. This creature was two-legged, and walked upright, but could also fly, having bat like wings that stretched above it at a span of twelve feet, or more. So starts DETOUR TO DUSK, by Linell Jeppsen. Although this novel takes place now, in the high woods of Washington State, everything that drives the plot line has its origins in ancient history. Think of the giant Pterodactyl…The vampires in my novel are quite large, standing 6’5 to 8 ft. tall. They are strong and physically perfect. They also have gigantic leathery wings, which match their hair color and skin tone. Raul, David and Lael are among the “Old Ones.” David is gorgeous, with long golden brown hair and fierce eyes like an eagle. His sister, Lael is very pale, with dark red hair and eyes as blue and shiny as sapphires. Even Raul, the villain of this story, is beautiful, with long blond hair that he keeps in dread-locks that fall past his knees and mesmerizing, black eyes. In the late 1600’s, a new vampire comes into being, the first of his kind….

One of the questions an author hears most is, “Where do you get your ideas?” and for a book about a hero who has very nearly sold his soul, that curiosity is understandable. (Don’t worry, with Lady Vivian’s help, Darius wins it back, and then some.) The usual answers I’ve heard or given are: I read widely in the historical period original sources. I take stories that aggravated me in some particular, and tweak them so they become satisfying to me. I read the classics (or watch movies), and then ask myself, “What if….?” until something germinates with that whiff of possibility about it. Those answers are not inaccurate, but they are incomplete, at least for me. I’d met Darius Lindsey in an earlier book, THE VIRTUOSO, wherein he was a secondary character with a strong sense of loyalty toward the hero. Darius popped up again a book about his sister Leah’s romance with Nicholas Haddonfield, and once more, Darius’ protective, responsible streak was much in evidence. And yet, this dude was miserable. I didn’t know what he got up to off the page when he stayed out until all hours, or disappeared to ride across the countryside, but I…

Have you seen the new book by Lauren Dane? LUSH is the third book in the Delicious series, about a group of friends and their sexual adventures. Set in Bainbridge Island, Washington, you get to meet each of them and their lovers. Our review of LUSH by Annie Tegelan Bon appétit, readers! Lauren Dane has delivered yet another sizzling installment in the Delicious series. LUSH is an exquisite blend of sweet and sexy, making it a dessert that readers will devour! Mary Hurley is a busy body. With running her catering business, she hardly has any time to indulge in things like relationships. However, at her friend’s engagement party, she meets Damien Hurley, a rock star who has all the right moves. Their chemistry is explosive and Dane heavily explores that chemistry in a series of trysts that are super nova hot! It was so easy to fall for a hero like Damien Hurley. He’s got the looks and the swagger of a rock star, but isn’t cocky or arrogant. But perhaps the sexiest thing about Damien is his willingness to pursue something more with Mary. His life has been pretty fast and furious, but Damien wishes for something more…

I had my “coming of age” right when chick-lit and chick flicks were at the fore. I went from a teen to a twenty-something during the late nineties to early noughties. I’ve just written a book, SECOND CHANCE, involving time-travel to the summer of 1998, and I’ve realised that year (and the surrounding ones) defined me – and my writing. So here’s a list of some of my favourite reads from “way back when”. Hope you spot a few of your faves in there too!… · BRIDGET JONES. London writer Helen Fielding’s fictionalised newspaper columns about a thirty-something single woman were turned into a novel in ‘96 (and later another book and two films). They centred on a lass trying to make sense of life and love with the help of a surrogate “urban family” of pals – very much a theme of the nineties (think Friends and Sex and the City). · SEX AND THE CITY. Before Sarah Jessica Parker became “Carrie” was the anthology of New York newspaper columns by Candace Bushnell, based on her and her friends’ lives, published in ‘97. The phenomenon spawned a TV series and movies – plus, the current Carrie Diaries prequel novels…

Hi, Fresh Fiction-ers! I’m Macy Beckett, author of the Sultry Springs series: where first loves find second chances. Today I want to dish about romantic gift-giving—you know, a gift that goes above and beyond the ol’ flowers and candy routine. Something with sentiment behind it. In my newest release, A SHOT OF SULTRY, Trey Lewis (who you met in book one) gives Bobbi a seemingly trivial gift that touches her deeply…a handheld Tetris game.  Why does the present resonate with her? Because she’s a slightly-neurotic control freak who likes to put everything in its place. Here’s an excerpt that explains how Bobbi feels: As she topped her own high score for the fourth time, she reflected that while Tetris wasn’t the most expensive gift she’d ever received, it was—hands down—the most thoughtful, because it showed that Trey knew her. He’d seen this game displayed by a cash register and had thought of her, and that was the real reward. This wasn’t some token present from the jewelry store like the hastily purchased white gold earrings her ex had given her for Christmas a couple of years ago. Lovely hoops, to be sure, but she must’ve mentioned half a dozen times…

I’ve always been passionate about art and intrigued by art forgery. I decided to put years of study and research to good use by including both in my romantic suspense, IDENTITY CRISIS. As a writer, it’s great to be able to incorporate a personal interest into a novel. One item on my bucket list is to visit the top ten art museums in the world. I have six down and four to go. The first time I admired the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris, I couldn’t believe how small the painting is for being the most famous painting in history. But like everyone, I was curious about her enigmatic smile and I wondered what she was thinking while posing for Leonardo da Vinci. What I didn’t wonder was, Is this painting real? The painting was stolen in 1911 and was found two years later, which has caused some debate over the years as to whether the original or a forgery was returned to the museum. It’s estimated that 20-25 percent of all artwork in museums are forgeries. Thomas Hoving, a former director at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, stated that 40 percent of the artwork…

While I was in college, I had the opportunity to intern in Kiev, Ukraine. Days before the internship began, a few other interns and I flew into the London Heathrow airport to catch our connecting flight to Moscow and then on to Kiev. But when we reached London, there was a problem. Russia had changed their Visa laws a few days before, and now, even though we were never leaving the Moscow airport, we needed Russian visas…which we did not have. We managed to be bumped to a flight leaving the next day, so the next morning, we rushed to the American embassy and shelled out big bucks for expedited visas and returned to the airport…only to discover that our flight out of Russia no longer existed on the airlines records. And the next flight they did have wasn’t scheduled until the next week—long after our new visas expired. We were left with two options, cross out the dates on our visas and write in a new date accompanied by mysterious initials or fly to Russia pretending we didn’t know our next flight had vanished and hope the airline took care of it. (There was one other option that involved…

Our guest today is Barbara Taylor Sissel, an author, freelance writer, book reviewer, and editor. She lives and writes in The Woodlands of Texas. Her latest book from MIRA is EVIDENCE OF LIFE. To commemorate the book she had wine bottled and labels made from her cover. Here is what she has to say about why she did it. You had wine bottled and gorgeous labels made from your book cover image. What was the inspiration behind this wonderful idea? Celebration! I work with four critique partners. In addition to the diligent vetting of each other’s work, we’re each other’s cheerleaders. That support is really invaluable, because writing is mostly done alone; there’s a lot of waiting: to hear whether something has sold, and once it has, and it’s published, then you wait for reviews, and after it’s been out a while, you wait to hear about sales. By the time I signed my contract with MIRA for EVIDENCE OF LIFE, and a second novel, I’d been sending my manuscripts around for a while, a long, waiting while, and my partners were with me every step of the way keeping the faith and ladling on the encouragement. It took so…