As a child, I lived in two worlds … the world of books where imaginary friends, adventures, and romance swept me away … and the real world where my family had its share of problems.  My father used to drink a lot, making our home life a little unpredictable; that was his escape.  Mine was into the world of imagination. In books, I was transported to far away places.  I had incredible adventures with imaginary characters.  I solved mysteries, ran with the bulls, sailed down the Mississippi, crossed the wild west in a covered wagon, panned for gold, learned how to stomp grapes into wine and fell in love over and over again. There was no limit to the places I could go, the adventures I could have.  Libraries and bookstores were my favorite places.  I devoured all the usual series books.  I loved heroines like Nancy Drew.  And my mother introduced me to some of her favorite series from when she was a kid like Cherry Ames, a nurse who went to war and Beverly Gray a journalist in a time where women didn’t have those kinds of jobs.  Anyone remember them? As I got older, my mother passed…

Hi everyone! It’s great to be here and I have to thank the gang at Fresh Fiction for inviting me. I’ve been learning something about “author branding” lately and trying like heck (okay I said heck but you know I mean the other h word – the hot one) to come up with something that suits me, the person, and me the author. These are not separate people to me. I don’t know that I have a public persona. I’m just me, always. I’m the sort of person who decorates a lovely staircase with a trailing philodendron under a skylight. It’s all very elegant and pretty. Until, in a fit of irreverence, I slipped a purple glass garden slug on the side of a step overlooking my front hall. Yes. . .  look closely and you’ll see my irreverent side. In every story I write, there’s an edge of irreverent humor I cannot and will not suppress. I take almost nothing seriously. Life’s too short and if you like a little fun in your romance novels, sooner or later, you’ll find me. And today, you’ll find me in full form in STROKE OF MIDNIGHT, my newest release from Carina Press….

Below is the transcript of an interview from Witch Central, the online radio talk show where Evan Trueblood, Molly Everhart Trueblood’s husband, is a part-time talk show host. Witch Central features everything witchy all the time, the talk show dedicated to witches, vamps, weres and other creatures of the night, both in and out of the closet, and only supernats willing to register with the show’s producer are permitted to sign on and listen. The interview is totally fictional, as actually giving it would thrust Jane from the skinwalker-closet, and she isn’t ready for that. Not at all. But if she was, well, this is how it might go. We break into the middle of the show, just back from a commercial break. Evan: Welcome back listeners. As you all know, after reading the first three books in the Skinwalker series, SKINWALKER, BLOOD CROSS, and MERCY BLADE, I have problems with Jane Yellowrock. She is on my personal BLEEPlist. That said, I’m known for being willing to reconsider my stance on every kind of supernat, so with fairness in mind, tonight we welcome my wife, Molly Everhart Trueblood, our interviewer—and an earth witch—and Jane Yellowrock—skinwalker and all around dangerous woman….

Hi, everyone! It’s great to be blogging at Fresh Fiction today. I have a secret to confess.  I have a dark side. Very dark.  When folks look at me, I’ve often been told I look (at least) semi-sweet and fairly innocent.  Ha. Such a lie. Maybe it’s the soccer mom persona that fools them. When I’m alone and I’m writing, that sweet act vanishes.  Instead, I let the darkness out.  That darkness really came out when I wrote my “Deadly” romantic suspense series for Grand Central Publishing. In those books, I jumped right into the minds of serial killers. My husband worried that I was a bit too comfortable writing from the killer’s perspective. Actually, I still think he worries that—I’ve seen the suspicious glances that he gives to me. However, it’s not just my villains who have such a lethal edge. Instead, my heroes and heroines often have some rather lethal characteristics, too.  In DEADLY HEAT, my heroine is a fire fighter. Lora can’t be afraid of death—she faces it every day.  But when her lover is killed in a blaze, the desire for vengeance consumes her, and it’s that lust for revenge that creates the shadows that surround…

Anyone who’s seen the movie It’s a Wonderful Life remembers the scene where Clarence the angel shows George Bailey that his never being born doomed his wife Mary to life as a spinster librarian. Oh, the horror.  While it’s hardly surprising a movie made in 1946 would reinforce such ideas about librarians, surprisingly the “Marian the Librarian” stereotype still persists to this day.  As someone who has worked in the library field for twenty years, I’m always happy when I read a book or see a movie featuring a librarian that knocks the sensible shoe wearing, glasses on a chain, hair in bun, shushing stereotype on its butt. Maya Sinclair, the heroine of my latest novel, The Paris Secret, is a librarian. And you better believe I left out all the outdated, stereotypical librarian nonsense when I created her.  I wanted Maya to be able to join the following ranks of my favorite fictional librarians. I have no idea if succeeded. But if readers find her to be even half as smart, sexy, and resourceful as the librarians listed below, then I’ll be happy. Gloria Mundy/Foul Play-I saw this movie when I was twelve and it’s been a favorite ever…

I love a bit of bad boy. I’m know I’m not alone either. But I am intrigued, especially given my latest character, pirate Van Gast, what turns a man who should be someone you run from screaming into a lovable rogue? In short, why is he lovable not undatable? In the interests of research (obviously I would not trawl literature and film for examples of sexy men just for myself) I think I may have the answer. Or rather, answers. First and foremost, they are fun. Hans Solo with his laconic wit, Mal Reynolds’ one liners, Captain Jack Sparrow’s grin. Sinbad, Ali Baba, Aladdin. Every character Errol Flynn ever played…They reduce the gravest danger to something that’s fun, exciting, thrilling. Different. Then you have to add a dash of charm. James Bond’s ability to talk a woman into bed in about three seconds flat. The Marquis De Carabas’ languid grace, Richard Sharpe’s élan. Without charm he’d be just another thief or womaniser. The third element is, I think, the most important. What elevates our man from just bad to rogue. Bravery, especially for others. His moral code maybe different, but he has got one. Hans Solo risked everything when it…

I thought I’d share a bit today on my ideal writing day, and if it has ever happened… I’m sure every author has their own idea of the perfect writing day! My ideal writing day would be waking up on a beautiful 80-foot sailboat floating just off the coast of Rarotonga—the smallest of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. I’d work and drink coffee on the deck for between for six and eight hours, taking breaks to cool off in the water and maybe do some snorkeling. Of course, I’d have a great looking chef to cook my meals and refill my coffee. (I wonder if there’s a Starbucks on Rarotonga?) In the evening, we’d sail to one of the islands while the sun sets, dock, and go to dinner and then repeat the process. I have a friend who flew to Rarotonga just the other day so I’m just a little green with envy. I guess it’s easier for him since he lives in Auckland, but still, it seems so wonderful, I’d like to trade places. My actual writing days are not nearly as romantic. I wake up praying my husband made coffee. If my coffee is not…

My mother made me an addict. She introduced me to comics and forced me to read books. My enrollment in drawing and photography classes came with my discovery of motor skills. The woman was relentless in immersing me in theater and symphonies. Now I visit libraries and bookstores as if they’re dealers. I roll Playbills, light them and inhale. I’m a woman who pumps art straight into her veins, and finds joy in sharing her drugs of choice. I first expressed my addiction through a career in graphic design.  Inspiration came from color, fonts and illustrations. Art movements were translated into graphics, and when a client was happy I was thrilled. Design is storytelling, like all the arts I grew up loving, but it is flash fiction—a tale told in a glance. I craved more. Much later I began writing screenplays and poetry, which led to prose. Before then I’d been talking about writing. My words never equated to more than “I can start whenever I want to.” I didn’t, though. Not until—in true addict-style—I hit rock bottom. I couldn’t regroup until I’d turned tears into ink and emptied myself onto the page. Once I’d written through the pain fiction…

Maggie Walsh, the heroine of the Talk Radio Mysteries, hosts a talk show on WYME, a south Florida radio station. My agent pitched and sold the series as a cross between ”Frasier” and “Murder She Wrote.” Like Fraiser, Maggie is a licensed psychologist who gives up her private practice for the fun and excitement of live radio. And like Jessica Fletcher in “Murder She Wrote,” she solves a murder in every book. Sometimes two! When I was promoting REEL MURDER, book two in the series, Kate White, editor of COSMO and a New York Times best-selling novelist, asked me if I’d like to be a guest on COSMO Radio. Naturally I jumped at the chance. I was invited on the Wake up With Taylor Show, a morning talk show on Sirius Radio hosted by the irrepressible Taylor Strecker and co-host and producer, Kenny Z,  Both Taylor and Kenny,  a stand-up Manhattan comic are smart, witty, high energy people. And above all, they are entertaining. The show is fun, fast-paced and careens from pop culture to politics to arts and entertainment in a nanosecond. If you’re an author and lucky enough to be invited on their show, (or any live radio…

I’m a published author….who writes in four different genres…for three different publishers. Crazy? Maybe. Living life to the fullest while youth and energy are on my side? Definitely. Yes, just call me the Sybil of Writing because each of the genres represents a part of who I am. Various chips in the mosaic that makes up me. I am a hopeless romantic who believes in a soul mate and the one–and so I enjoy inspiring others through really sexy and funny romance stories. I am a teen at heart who is way too enraptured by all things celebrity and fashion–and I get to relive it all through my teen fiction series centered on celebrity. I graduated from college with a Social and Behavioral Science degree (and a Psych minor) and have always been intrigued by people and the motivation–conscious and unconscious–behind their actions particularly in relationships. And what better way to explore my fascination than through mainstream women’s fiction! And then there’s urban fiction–which for me is any story set in an urban environment similar to the one in which I grew up in Newark, New Jersey.  And I loved growing up in Newark–flaws and all: flirting with boys b-balling…