1–What is the title of your latest release? THE MEDICI CURSE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A family curse. A missing heirloom. A house full of secrets. A daughter suspected of murder returns to her late mother’s lavish estate in Tuscany only to face long-buried secrets. A suspense novel that leans into the Gothic and supernatural. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I took a trip to Tuscany with my husband to visit family and was inspired to write the novel. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Good question! Anna de’ Medici Rossi has real issues. She’s come into her inheritance and is heading back to her mother’s family villa in Tuscany to decide whether she can really live in the house where she murdered her mother. That means facing her troubled past. So, she might not always be easy—or safe—to be around. That being said, I absolutely would hang with Anna. We both love art, opera, and good wine, and we both paint. So I think we could find something to talk about. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Tortured. Artistic. Determined. 6–What’s something…

Excerpt from A BOOKSELLER IN MADRID by Mario Escobar: My father was a writer. We had loads of books at home, our huge library bigger than anyone else’s I knew except my grandfather Gábor’s. He was a well-known playwright who passed away when I was young. I inherited another passion from my father: his love for the French language. We Germans have always had a somewhat ambivalent relationship with the French, swinging between deep admiration for their culture and literature and complete disdain for so many other things. Yet since Adolf Hitler’s rise to power and relentless attempt to take over every aspect of German society, France had become just one more enemy to take down. My other grandfather, Klaus, came from a much humbler background, and his family trade was woodworking, though he became a pastor. I was just a child when he built me a lovely little bookshelf for my room in our house on the outskirts of Berlin. From then on, I played at being a bookseller. I practiced all the time with my two sisters and my friends. When I finished my degree in French philology, it was the most natural thing in the world for…

Book Title: THE PECULIAR GIFT OF JULY Character Name: Anita Odom, proprietor of the Island Grocery How would you describe your family or your childhood? I grew up here at the Island Grocery. It was just the three of us—Dad, Mom and me—running the shop and living in the apartment above the store. I’ve been working the cash register since I was nine. Ebey’s End is a small town on a small island. Everyone needs groceries, so they came to us. We didn’t go out much. After Mom died, it was just me and Dad. He needed me, so there was no going anywhere after that. Now, I’m in my 40s, live in the apartment I grew up in and run the shop by myself. I’m not saying it’s great, but it’s comfortable. Then July showed up. Technically, we’re cousins, but until the social worker called, I didn’t know she existed. Now she lives here with me. And look, I’m glad and all, I’m just saying someone might have mentioned the whole weirdly-specific-psychic-ability thing. That’s the sort of situation you want to prepare yourself for. What was your greatest talent? I am very good at this. Show me your grocery…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE NIGHT SPARROW 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Elena Bruskina joins the Red Army as a sniper to get revenge from the fascists who murdered her family, but when she’s ordered to give up her rifle to become an interpreter, she is entangled in a secret hunt for the most evil Nazi of all. From the bestselling author of Daughters of the Occupation. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Since THE NIGHT SPARROW is based on true events, the setting was determined by the historical events within the narrative. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! Elena is a loyal friend who speaks her mind and secretly questions Stalin’s motives. I can imagine vigorous conversations over coffee with Elena.   5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Modest, decisive, valiant. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Of the hundreds of things I learned, what stands out most is the disturbing way these sniper women, who risked everything to fight for their country, were greeted at the end of the war. Instead of being celebrated as heroes,…

Book Title: BOUND BY STARS Character Names: Weslie Fleet and Jupiter Dalloway Interviewer: Let’s jump right in, shall we? What brought you aboard the maiden voyage of the Boundless? Jupiter: I’m on my way home from my Earth Experience Mission with my parents. Weslie: Won a ticket. Interviewer: Speaking of parents, how would you describe your families? Weslie: Pass. Jupiter: Come on, Wes. Weslie: Fine. Small. Interviewer: And yours, Jupiter? Jupiter: My sister was the best person in the universe. My dad is cool. Mom is…complicated. Interviewer: What do you consider to be your greatest talent? Jupiter: Weslie’s an incredible robotics engineer. Weslie: Jupiter’s good with people. Obviously. And an incredible artist. Interviewer: Do either of you have a significant other? Weslie: That’s a weird way to ask a 17-year-old if they’re dating anyone. Jupiter: (glances toward Weslie) Interviewer: Okay, next question. Where do you live? Jupiter: Elysium. The capital habitat city on Mars. Weslie: Earth. Interviewer: Do you have any enemies? Weslie: How much time do you have? Jupiter: I don’t think so. My cousin and I butt heads, but I wouldn’t call us enemies. Interviewer: Greatest disappointments? Jupiter: Recently. Leaving Earth. Weslie: Humanity. Interviewer: Greatest achievements? Weslie: My…

Excerpt from HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST CHARM by Lillie Vale Kiara Mistry is—in a word—gorgeous. In two, devastatingly gorgeous. What’s left of my frazzled mind promptly scrambles. Because Kiara is giving me that vexingly dimpled smile that could level a city, and she has Devon Lake on her arm. The same boy whose shoulder I tapped in AP Chem last week to borrow a sheet of notepaper and promptly lost my heart to. Which brings me to the next thing Kiara is: an obstacle. I grit my teeth, thankful for the same gauzy swathes of fabric I was cursing a minute ago. Now they shield me from view in the back of the tent while the visitors in front are still brightly spotlighted. Not only is Kiara the last person I want to see, but the inside of a psychic’s tent is not a place I want to be caught. But it’s just like Prior’s End to direct its capricious, fickle magic my way, using a generous sprinkling of what the whole town calls occasional magic. Because I definitely don’t believe in occasional magic. Or sometimes-if-you-squint-sideways-real-hard magic. Or magic at all. Not really. Not anymore. I simply can’t. Because…

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 Dana Elmendorf! Writes:Southern Gothic stories steeped in magical realism with a kiss of supernatural kiss. A tale where ghosts show up in the form of birds and the dead whisper secrets. A place so real you’d swear it’s real. Dark family pasts full of twists and turns. About:Born and raised in the South, my life was colored by Granny’s recipes, cicada songs and lightning bugs, and stories handed down in half-truths. I write about polite towns with rotting foundations. I like a little haunting in my fiction—ghosts, omens, buried secrets, and people trying their best to pretend everything’s fine. I’m drawn to stories where the weather feels like a character and the line between good and evil is murky as the Mississippi River. When I’m not writing, I’m probably outside under some tree that looks like it holds a secret, wondering if the birds know. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: What to expect if we’re compatible: GRAVE BIRDS by Dana Elmendorf A…

1–What is the title of your latest release? TOWN OF SHADOWS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? In Victorian London, using magic earns you a noose, but uncovering its secrets often leads to something far more deadly. When Dorothy St. James’s father is taken by a kidnapper called the Rook, she strikes a desperate deal with Ashley Gardner, a master illusionist, to help her discover the mysterious masked hero who’s been rescuing the victims. Ashley agrees to give her three clues as to his identity, but he won’t make them easy. In fact, he’ll make them impossible, because he has his own dangerous reasons for keeping Dorothy away—and Ashley always gets what he wants. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’ve always had a fascination with London, probably due to my seeing every Sherlock Holmes adaptation in existence. There’s this elegance and charm to it, while still maintaining a cold undercurrent of grit. To me, it’s the obvious setting for a story that’s both whimsical and grounded. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. She reminds me a lot of friends I already have. 5–What are three words…

Book Title: REPORTS OF HIS DEATH HAVE BEEN GREATLY EXAGGERATED Character Name: Ray “Spike” Thorns How would you describe your family or your childhood? I was a jolly fortunate young man to be born into peacetime, arriving as I did on the very day that World War II in Europe came to an end. Doubly lucky that I enjoyed such opulent surroundings. My father had been unable to serve in the military (trouble with his legs at the crucial moment, an affliction that mercifully never again returned). That he had to remain in Britain frustrated him no end, but ever resourceful, he succeeded in making an absolute fortune whilst his contemporaries were away fighting. We had a quite enormous house in the wilds of Kent, with its own lake, a rose garden where I could pick flowers for my mother, and four lavatories no less! Alas, it was not to last. By the time I was five he was working later and later into the evenings; my brother Denny and I would stay up – past midnight sometimes – to steal a glance at Dad pulling onto the drive in his Bentley and disembarking in his three-piece Savile Row suit…

Book Title:  MURDER ON THE BOOKS Character Name: Charlotte “Charley” James How would you describe your family or your childhood? Growing up as an only child, I kept to myself a lot. I read a lot, and I think that’s what started me on writing.  When the stories I read didn’t appeal to me, I’d make up new ones. What was your greatest talent? Some would say writing; I say it’s a flair I have for putting puzzles together. Significant other? Not at the moment, but there is someone I’m hopeful will develop into something. Biggest challenge in relationships? Finding the time Where do you live? I recently moved back to my hometown of Austin, Pennsylvania after suffering a severe case of writer’s block. I’m now the owner of a mystery bookshop. Do you have any enemies? I’ve never been particularly friendly with Barbara “Barbie” Donaldson, a detective on the Austin force – not sure if she qualifies as an enemy.  Nemesis, perhaps? How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place? I’m totally satisfied with Austin, after all I grew up here…