Max Bravo #1 July 2010 On Sale: June 22, 2010 Featuring: Max Bravo 304 pages ISBN: 0312559739 EAN: 9780312559731 Hardcover $24.99 Add to Wish List Mystery Pet Lovers Buy at Amazon.com The Dog Park Club by Cynthia Robinson Max Bravo, an opera singer, is the unlikely protagonist in the first in a dynamite new cozy series that is wry, darkly comic, terminally knowing (David Gates, bestselling author of “Jernigan”). A noir tale of dogs, murder, and purple fleece jackets. Max Bravo is vain, arch, brittle, and bored. His opera career has stalled out on the mid-tier. His hobby — debauchery — has become routine. And there’s not enough fairy dust in the world to change the fact that, after a thirty-year adolescence, Max is finally middle-aged. But when Max becomes enmeshed with the eccentric regulars at a Berkeley dog park, he finds himself swept along into a bumbling, keystone chase to corner the murderer of a beautiful and beguiling young woman. Excerpt 1 I saw Amy Carter the day before she disappeared. It was in Berkeley, at the dog park. Amy was always there. She was a regular. There were eight of us regulars. We dropped by, drifted in, just…

This summer, I’m indulging in some of the FAB books I’ve been dying to read all winter and spring. Join me, then check out my blog in July where we’ll be talking about what we love about each of these jewels. There will be a special contest just for fans who comment on my summer reading challenge!!! Don’t miss out ;o) Anna’s Challenge Here’s the list: THE OCEAN BETWEEN US by Susan Wiggs BLUE-EYED DEVIL by Lisa Kleypas BEACH MUSIC by Pat Conroy STEAMED by Katie MacAlister TRIBUTE by Nora Roberts AIN’T SHE SWEET by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (I reread it EVERY summer) WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte (another summer tradition)

ThrillerFest V, the world’s most diabolically delicious literature festival, chills New York City July 7-10, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel There’s only one event where New York Times best-selling masters of the art lurk around every corner, agents appear in broad daylight and fans conspire with writers in the wee, small hours of the night – ThrillerFest V, the International Thriller Writers’ fifth annual celebration of their genre and the largest event of its kind in the world. The highlight of the event will be the gala ITW Thriller Awards Banquet on Saturday when the heroes of suspense will be honored: International best-selling author Ken Follett will receive the 2010 ThrillerMaster Award given by 2009 recipient David Morrell. Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down will become the first recipient of the True Thriller Award Brad Meltzer, recipient of the 2009 Silver Bullet Award, will present the 2010 award to Linda Fairstein And this year’s winners in the categories of Best Hardcover Novel, Best Paperback Original, Best First Novel and Best Short Story will be revealed. But the list of the notables doesn’t end there – more than 50 best-selling authors and another 200 up-and-comers will be at the…

Beach and Vacations at Fresh Fiction! Today (June 14th) is the LAST DAY to enter the summer’s hottest contests. Lots of great prizes await you. Click here for Pack Your Beach Tote Contests Add your own vacation story and be entered in our special “vacation planner” drawing to win a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate. Just tell us your vacation plans, summer reading list, recipes or whatever you’re doing this summer. Click here to add your own bit: reading list, vacations plans, food, whatever.

Yesterday was the DFW TeaReaders annual Boas and Tiaras tea. It’s the one time of the year that we try to dress a bit for tea, and show our fabulous selves with wonderful tiaras and colorful boas. Last year I had to miss the event because of family obligations, but this year I was lucky enough to attend! As usual the food and fellowship were divine! If there’s a downside to this event it’s that it’s so big it’s hard to know where to sit, and who to socialize with. I know I missed meeting several newcomers to our events, and I really hope that they return often so I can get to know them. This year was a bit different I believe in that we had a raffle drawing. We had very generous authors who donated great prizes. Amongst the authors donating were Dakota Cassidy, Michele Bardsley, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Dianna Love, Claire Avery and Jaye Wells. If I missed an author donation I’m terribly sorry and know it was greatly appreciated. Did I mention that I was lucky enough to win one of the baskets donated by Michelle, and got a galley of her new book, Cross Your Heart?…

May 2009 On Sale: May 5, 2009 496 pages ISBN: 0451462718 EAN: 9780451462718 Hardcover $24.95 Add to Wish List Science Fiction Buy at Amazon.com Flood by Stephen Baxter The “deeply scary”(BBC Focus) new novel from a national bestselling and critically acclaimed author. Four hostages are rescued from a group of religious extremists in Barcelona. After five years of being held captive together, they make a vow to always watch out for one another. But they never expected this… The world they have returned to has been transformed by water—and the water is rising. As it continues to flow from the earth’s mantle, entire countries disappear. High ground becomes a precious commodity. And finally, the dreadful truth is revealed: before fifty years have passed, there will be nowhere left to run… Previous Picks

I read a blog post recently, written by a woman who was announcing that she was “quitting” Urban Fantasy. She stated that the genre was so glutted, and there were so many substandard books–all apparently filled with the same tropes–that there was nothing in urban fantasy worth reading anymore. Moreover, the comments section was filled with people expressing similar “I’m done!” sentiments. This made me sad for a number of reasons, the first of which is–of course–because I write urban fantasy. But the biggest reason this announcement saddened me was the pure illogic of it, coupled with the self-denial on the part of the blogger. She was obviously once a fan of urban fantasy, and now in her desire to steer well clear of it, she was going to be denying herself all of the potential that urban fantasy (and paranormal romance) has to offer. That being said, I could see why she’d grown weary and jaded. It seems impossible to turn around without seeing something related to Twilight or True Blood or any of the other vampire-inspired media. When it’s this “in your face” the impulse to draw back and get some space is practically reflexive. On the one…

These days I’m the author of a series of thriller novels featuring Dr. Derek Stillwater, a troubleshooter for Homeland Security. Derek’s particular area of expertise is biological and chemical terrorism. He’s been favorably compared by reviewers and readers to Jason Bourne, Jack Bauer and Jack Reacher. (Yes, I’m flattered). The most recent Stillwater novel is THE FALLEN. In March I had a book launch party at Aunt Agatha’s Mystery Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and I wisely stocked the store with family members. While I was giving my spiel, apparently Robin Agnew, Aunt Agatha’s owner, leaned over to my brother and asked him if I looked like Derek Stillwater. To which he responded, “When he was younger.” I can’t tell you how bizarre an exchange that is to me. In addition to the Derek Stillwaternovels I’ve had a couple standalones. One is an e-book for Kindle, DANCING IN THE DARK, which features Joanna Dancing, a high-level bodyguard and security expert. She ain’t me. My first novel, DIRTY DEEDS, features Meg Malloy, a computer troubleshooter who made a fortune before the dot-com bubble burst and now spends her time doing short-term computer projects. She ain’t me, either. What brought this home…

I grew up in Los Angeles, one of the largest, loudest cities in the world. There’s a lot to love about living in a city. The sights, the sounds, the colors are exciting and energizing. No matter what your interests, you can always find classes and groups where you can meet like-minded people. Then there are the events. Every day, a hundred ways to answer the question, “What should we do today?” Art shows and museums. Live music and theater. Baseball and basketball. (I’ll confess. My answer to the aforementioned question would only be “Let’s go to the game” if there was a high-end luxury spa around the corner named The Game.) I’m big on luxury, and I enjoy instant gratification. I like that cities are on the cutting edge of technology. I like thorough cell phone coverage. When smart phones move to 5G, city people will be the first to be wowed by everything they can do. I love living in a cultural melting pot. I love walking down the street and not understanding all the languages I hear. I love the cosmopolitan feeling that comes from mingling with people from all over the world. Immigrants bring the colors…

I don’t know whether accountants hear about children who dream of doing taxes or if parents brag to plumbers about kids gifted with a plunger and wrench. But I’ll tell you this much: parents (mothers especially) frequently confide that their son or daughter (daughter, usually) loves to write and hopes to be an author someday. They say that like it’s a good thing. And I kind of don’t get it. That is, I understand the kids’ ambition – if that’s the right word. When I grow up, I want to stay at home in my pajamas and make stuff up about people who don’t exist. But why do parents want that for their children? Is it because they think that if your name is on a book, you must be making a lot of money? Or do they not realize that most authors – at least the ones I know – consider themselves to be just a little bit . . . off? It’s not just that some (most) of us have certain slacker tendencies. I recently asked twelve author friends, “What three adjectives best describe yourself or most writers you know?” Four of the twelve authors responded (there’s that…