One big wish on our wish list for our 109-day go West trip in 2021 was the Badlands. Just by the name, without seeing any photos, or having an idea of what it looks like, people will say are you going to the Badlands? Why yes, of course, we would answer. It’s on the list. When we arrived and I saw it, I started calling it the Big Badlands, because 244,000 acres of, hot, dry, land, is vast. And there’s even a map which reads ‘the Big Badlands’ so I wasn’t the first to name it so. So, what are the Badlands? Badland formations are found on every continent. Dry climate, sedimentary rocks, canyons, and pinnacles make up areas known as badlands. Badlands National Park in the US is ours. It is a desolate and visually stunning place to visit. And in the summer, it is hot. This sun-bleached map will give you an idea of the size of the Badlands and where it ends and begins. The extreme heat and the sun here will bake everything. Bring water and wear a big hat. ‘When the Lakota came here, they saw Paha ska (white hills) – a place of bountiful…

What is the title of your latest release?BLESS YOUR HEART. If you’re not from the South, you might think it’s sweet. It’s not! What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Although I’m one of those obnoxious people who strikes up conversations in elevators, I actually am horrible at elevator pitches. Can’t we just talk about the weather? But… “A rich man from one of Atlanta’s most prominent families has been murdered and it’s up to a working-class detective to find out which one of the city’s upstanding citizens is a killer.” How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I was sitting at a Little League game in Atlanta and somehow my mind drifted to murder! And then I went and got ice cream and the thought passed. The idea of murder in Atlanta, however, stuck with me and the book began to take shape. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?All day long. We’d go see a movie and then bond over cheese dip at Taqueria del Sol. What are three words that describe your protagonist?Mother. Decent. Judgmental. What’s something you learned while writing this book?That I’m a terrible speller. Seriously, spell-check was…

Book Title: THE SUN AND THE MOONCharacter Name: Cadence Connelly I decided to write this from Cadence’s POV as she is BEFORE the events of The Sun and the Moon. You’ll have to read the book to see how she changes! How would you describe your family or your childhood?Lonely. As an only child, with a psychic mom who made it feel like the world revolved around her, I was left on my own a lot. Nature became my best friend, which is probably why I became a park ranger. What was your greatest talent?Easy. My ability to connect with animals. Even wild ones seem to like me! Biggest challenge in relationships?Probably trust. At least, that’s what I would say. Others would probably say I’m quiet, shy, and not easy to get to know, but I am all of those things because I have a hard time trusting people not to let me down. Where do you live?Bar Harbor, Maine, near a marina, close to Acadia National Park. Do you have any enemies?Does my mother count? Just kidding. I don’t know if I’d call her an enemy, but for years I saw her as a villain in the story of…

Welcome to Phoenix, Arizona! The year was 1955. Elvis was on the radio, newspapers cost a quarter, women couldn’t open bank accounts without their husband’s permission, and Dwight D. Eisenhower was the President. My name is Rosa Capistrano, I was a high school senior in South Phoenix, and this was the time and place that my life changed forever. Rogue Columnist: Phoenix in the fifties I lived in South Phoenix, south of the Salt River. South Phoenix wouldn’t be annexed officially into the City of Phoenix until 1960, so at this time, it felt like a whole different world for a variety of reasons. This part of town was lush and rural, lots of farmlands and flower fields and citrus groves. It was also where many people of color lived, largely due to racially discriminatory housing codes that prohibited Black people, Chinese people and Mexicans like myself from living in the white neighborhoods in north and central Phoenix. I didn’t mind though. Golden Gate, my neighborhood in South Phoenix, was a beautiful and tight-knit community. Not many pictures remain today though. Golden Gate was razed through eminent domain for the expansion of Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport in the 1970s. My…

What is the title of your latest release?STILLWATER What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Stillwater is about Luke, a young man whose past catches up with him when the crime boss he worked for as a teenager tracks him down and wants him back on the job. Luke is roped into a hunt for his estranged father, who has disappeared with a load of the boss’s money. As he grapples with a past he’d rather forget, Luke has to call on his diverse set of skills – and hold tight to secrets that could get him killed.It’s a story about a reluctant criminal, about refusing to allow your past to define you, and about learning to be the still water when the sea around you is churning. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?The main action was always going to take place in Melbourne, Australia, because the inner-city vibe suited the story and it’s where I’ve lived a lot of my adult life. Parts of the book are set near Castlemaine, in the bush, which I chose for its rich gold-rush history and the atmospheric Box-Ironbark forest, which is spooky in the mist on…

What is the title of your latest release?LOVE AT FIRST SIGHTING What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?LOVE AT FIRST SIGHTING is a rom-com between a social media influencer who posts about a UFO sighting, and the sexy Man in Black sent to investigate her case. Their investigation into their shared mystery takes them on an adventure full of secrets, subterfuge, and plenty of steam. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I like to set my books in places I’ve lived or know rather well. I think it helps make the location a character, too, so it was an easy pick to set LOVE AT FIRST SIGHTING in Los Angeles. LA has a ton of character, and is admittedly, kind of a weird place sometimes! For a city so new, there’s also something so old feeling about it. I love the Old Hollywood vibes of the 40s and 50s there are markers of that all over the city still. It also helped enhance this vibe of the Cold War UFO hysteria that I wanted central to the story. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Absolutely! I feel like both El and…

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.

Caye Caulker Island, Belize Tuesday, 10th January 2023 When I lied to him for the first time, it sparkled off my tongue as sweet as popping candy. He didn’t even know, he didn’t catch it, and I hadn’t planned to, not really. It just fell out of my mouth, and I wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was shame. Was it shame, or something stronger? A defensive move I’d learned—or a preemptive one—because women have that kind of sixth sense, don’t they? Jacobson’s organ. I read about that once, in one of Dad’s New Scientist magazines, how females are predisposed to listen to their gut; how we can sense fear like we’re about to be fed it. Through broken clouds, the sun warmed the sea. Turquoise medicine. I breathed it all in, deep into my bones. Jet Skis wasped in the distance, irritating the flat blues beyond. Aid lay next to me, five thousand miles of relaxed. Tattoos wrapped around his chest, his neck, his arms, commemorating untold stories with blood and pain and ink. The newest—soft black and grey roses—graced his bicep afresh below the “L.F.” heart. He was resting on his elbows, his foot tapping a rhythm to the…

What is the title of your latest release?KNIFE IN THE BACK What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Burke Broussard’s story is the fourth in my New Orleans series. Several years ago, Burke left the NOPD due to the corruption he found there – and barely made it out alive. Today, he’s a private investigator, getting justice for those victims who’ve been failed by the system. Victims like Naomi Cranston, a former cop who was framed for stealing drugs from the evidence room and who was sentenced to thirty years in prison. A technicality got her sentence overturned, and she’s lived free for a year. But those who framed her are back and this time they’re using her son to force her to bow to their demands. Can Burke help her? Will Naomi find herself after her life was destroyed? Join my New Orleans crew in the final installment of the series! How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I love New Orleans. The atmosphere, the architecture, the food! Back in 2019, I decided to set a series here, thinking that I could take a lot of fun trips for research. And then the pandemic and…

Book Title: THE FRENCH KITCHENCharacter Name: Kat (Harris) Fontaine What is your full name?Kathryn Harris-Fontaine. Profession?pauses and shifts in her chair – Former spy, American Office of Strategic Services (OSS), during WWII. How did you come to that? And was it dangerous? You must have had enemies in that line of work.Yes—but in 1943 France, who really knew who they were? My brother, Gavin, was recruited by the OSS—the precursor to the CIA—from law school and he signed up in secret to serve as a spy in the field. I learned the OSS likes to recruit siblings when Gavin vanished in France and they also recruited me. I followed soon after, parachuting into Nazi-occupied Northern France. It was while hidden in a chateau kitchen that I was classically trained as a chef, as a ruse to help me survive while I tried to make contact with Gavin. But the big task became to keep the rest of my team alive. How would you describe your family or your childhood?It’s complicated. Gavin and I grew up in Boston and were causalities of a family that fractured when we were children. With our father gone, our mother remarried and wealthy (and demanding…