If you love stories packed with small-town secrets, messy family drama, and a good dose of Southern grit, you won’t want to miss my chat with Polly Stewart about her latest novel, THE FELONS’ BALL. Polly shares the real-life places that inspired Ewald, Virginia, the colorful Macready clan, and why she’d personally rather keep the past buried. From moonshine cocktails to dream casting and her next twisty mystery, this interview is like swapping stories on a front porch — come join us! Jen: This story has a lot of Southern grit and family drama. Did you grow up hearing wild stories like Trey’s Felons’ Ball? What sparked the idea for this cast of characters?Polly: I wish I could say that I came from a family of great storytellers and big personalities like the Macreadys, but that wouldn’t be true. My parents are both academics, and while my dad’s roots go deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, my mom is from the Midwest and was always a little surprised that she ended up living in Appalachia. Like a lot of people, I spent most of my childhood wishing I could get away from the small-town South, although there’s nowhere I’d rather…

What is the title of your latest release?HER MANY FACES What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?It’s the story of Katie, a waitress on trial for poisoning four powerful, wealthy members of the private club where she works – but it’s told from the perspectives of the five men who think they know her best. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I wanted the private members’ club where Katie works to be a very exclusive, secretive one that has politicians and celebrities among the clientele – that had to be London. And London also offers an anonymity that really suits both Katie and Gabriel, her childhood best friend who is one of the narrative voices, as they both come from a small seaside town and have their own reasons for escaping into the crowds of the city. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Definitely… but with my guard up. What are three words that describe your protagonist?Unpredictable, passionate, misunderstood What’s something you learned while writing this book?One of the narrative voices is Tarun, Katie’s lawyer, and I spent time working with a real criminal barrister to make sure those sections were…

Pepper Reece here, owner of the Spice Shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. And no, I don’t mind one bit if you call me Spice Girl or the Mistress of Spices. I started coming to the Market with my mother when I was little. (I just turned 44, so you do the math.) We lived in Grace House, a peace and justice community up the hill, and she did most of the cooking. That was the whole-wheat era, not long after the Market was saved from “urban removal.” Founded in 1907 with the mission of bringing producers and customers face to face, it’s the longest continuously operating farmers’ market in the country, open 363 days a year. Thanks to the voters, the Market became a city-within-a-city, with its own governing council and historical commission. I admit, I have struggled with their rules a time or two. But every day, I’m grateful for the citizens of the Emerald City who saw that our past was the key to our future. It was the perfect time for enterprising young people tempted by the Market’s low rents and the intriguing spaces to found businesses, many still thriving. Among them was Jane, who founded…

What is the title of your latest release?PERILOUS TIDES What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Jo Cattrel is in hiding and working at a storm-watching lodge on the Washington Coast after the suspicious death of her mother. When she receives a mysterious message from her father, she must leave her sanctuary to find him. However, on the ferry crossing she becomes a witness to a murder and becomes the next target. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?This is book two of the Hidden Bay series set on the Washington Coast. I had always wanted to set a story at a lodge where people go to watch storms rolling in off the Pacific Ocean. This region of Washington State—the Olympic Peninsula—doesn’t have much cell service and even satellite is iffy, so I thought it would make a great place for a suspense novel. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Jo Cattrel is a gifted artist and worked as a forensic artist and is handy with tools. She has an interesting mind and thought process and is really an all-around great person and would be fun to hang out with. What are…

What is the title of your latest release?THE ODDS OF GETTING EVEN What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Opposites attract when a shy snake scientist falls hard and fast for a poker-playing artist in this twist on the classic screwball comedy The Lady Eve. What starts as a vacation romance turns into an ocean-hopping quest for revenge, culminating in a showdown at a Wild West-themed festival in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Celebrities, secrets, mistaken identities, and snakes are all on tap in this over-the-top farce about taking a gamble on love. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?For each of the three books in this loosely connected series, I wanted the setting to play a major role. The first was always going to take place in Hawaii, and I knew the third would be set in the south of France, but it took a little longer to decide where to situate the second half of Book 2. On a practical level, I was looking for a landscape I knew well enough to bring to life on the page, and western South Dakota was familiar to me from having lived there many years…

Welcome to the Outer Banks in North Carolina! When I moved here from New York, it took me a while to get used to the small-town vibe where gossip spreads like wildfire the moment someone new in town arrives. But now? I’ve made Corolla my home. Not only do I get to spend my evenings drinking wine on my wraparound porch, and walk to the beach for sunset ponderings, but I get to live my dream by running my own shop in the cute town of Duck. Flirt is my baby—my passion. I feature products from female-run businesses that includes hand-made jewelry, candles, fashion, home accessories, and art. It’s a place that makes women happy. Plus, the location is downtown near the water, where you can take a stroll and enjoy the other unique shops and grab a coffee from the café. Don’t forget to indulge in Duck Donuts, my go-to sugar treat and famous worldwide. You can also pop into the local bookshop and pick up my sister’s latest romance novel that hit the bestseller list. Or take a wild horse tour with Brick Babel—the owner of Ziggy’s Tours—and see these beautiful animals run wild in the dunes. After…

Sitting on my couch in New Jersey, while my husband was at work and my two toddlers and infant napped, I entered in my credit card information and hit send to become a business owner for the very first time. And by business owner, I do in fact mean that I was the latest to sign up to be a gullible pawn in the latest and greatest multi-level marketing company.             The now defunct company offered designer jeans at a “huge saving.” Once you were a Fashion Consultant (that’s me!) you could host denim parties where your closest friends and fellow girl bosses would gather, mingle, and leave with a brand-new pair of—likely bedazzled—jeans. It was a dream! And not just because it was 2011 and designer denim was all the rage, but because as a stay-at-home mom with three small children who moved to a state where I knew nobody, the prospect of having a community again was too good to pass up. Of course, at the time, I thought I was signing up to bring in some extra income and “build a business from my kitchen table” or whatever it is that these companies say to all the…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Tasha Coryell! Writes: I write fun thrillers for readers looking for something to escape into. In my second novel, MATCHMAKING FOR PSYCHOPATHS, the protagonist deals with her engagement breaking up by getting a little too involved with her psychopathic clients. When body parts start showing up at her door, she needs to figure out whether it’s someone from her present or her past that’s trying to take her down.  I wanted to capture the thrill of watching reality television dating shows with the suspense of my favorite thrillers. About: Minnesotan seeking readers who love a fun thriller. I enjoy reading but also watch a copious amount of television while cross stitching. I’m currently in the midst of viewing Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and can spend hours dissecting Summer House and Southern Charm. I spent 11 years in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and can roll tide with the best of them. When I’m not writing, reading, or watching TV, you can find me on a long…

1–What is the title of your latest release? CARVED IN BLOOD (book 3 of the Hana Westerman Thriller series)   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? CARVED IN BLOOD is the third of my Hana Westerman novels, described as the first thriller series about a Māori detective written by a Māori author – that Māori author being me. Spoiler alert (if you haven’t read the first books), at the end of book one Hana quits the police force, traumatized by her biggest and final case – the hunt for New Zealand’s first serial killer. Early in CARVED IN BLOOD, there’s a shooting. The father of her child, her ex-husband Jaye, is gunned down in a bungled liquor store hold-up. As Jaye recuperates, Hana finds herself being drawn back to the career she has left behind. And little by little she starts to suspect, the shooting might not have been a heist-gone-wrong. Jaye might have been deliberately targeted. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? As with the other Hana Westerman books, CARVED IN BLOOD is set in Auckland, the biggest city in New Zealand, with a population about the size of Philadelphia. It’s…

Book Title: BURYING THE LEDE       Character Name: Trisha Connell How would you describe your family or your childhood? The less said about that, the better. Essentially, I raised myself. I did spend time in a Catholic orphanage for a while. That was good, especially since I was close to the priest who ran the place. Except he died in a hit-and-run and, I ended up in foster care, which sucked, except for my best friend, later husband, Nicky, who I met in a foster home. He’s gone now but I wouldn’t be alive without him. Still, I learned everything and anything there is to know about Manhattan, the popular stuff and the hidden corners, when I was on the street. What was your greatest talent? Persistence. I want the story. I’m not intimidated by those who are hiding things. Okay, I’m just plain not intimidated. I’ve been through enough in my life that very little scares me. Also, I love writing. I love the feeling when my fingers are flying over the keyboard, and the story just pours out of me. Significant other? Since Nicky died, there hasn’t been any one significant until I met Grayson. I don’t know where…