Jennifer Vido: What inspired your latest release, THE KEEPER OF HIDDEN BOOKS? Madeline Martin: I found some incredible journals by Warsaw’s public librarians about their efforts through the Nazi occupation during WWII. While the looting and pulping of Polish books was rampant, the librarians were secreting books away – hiding them in boxes and under debris and even storing them in a secret warehouse. When Nazis closed the libraries, the librarians opened a secret one under their noses, ensuring there were still ways for their patrons to read books when they needed them most. But subterfuge around secreting books to readers was also happening within the Warsaw ghetto walls. People hauled their own personal collection of books in suitcases to share with one another. And a librarian of the Warsaw Public Library opened something called CENTOS, which was a secret library for children disguised under the auspices of being a care facility for orphans. CENTOS was truly ingenious with secret shelves that flipped around to hide the books within. Those amazing effort were so inspiring!   Jen: How does Zofia’s love of reading bring her comfort in war-torn Poland? Madeline: When I create my characters, I delve into the country’s…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, HER, TOO? Bonnie Kistler: I usually can’t reconstruct where my ideas come from, but in the case of Her, Too, it was literally “ripped from the headlines.” Like much of the world, I was riveted by the trials of those prominent entertainment figures (you know who they are) who were accused and ultimately convicted of sex crimes. What struck me in each of those cases was that the defendant was represented by a woman attorney. There was an obvious strategy in his choice. A woman could very aggressively cross-examine the female victim without offending the jurors to the same extent that a male lawyer would have. A female attorney could also soften her client’s image in subtle ways, like leaning close to speak to him, touching his shoulder, etc. Non-verbal cues that send a subliminal message to the jury that he can’t be the monster the prosecutor is claiming. But what fascinated me wasn’t the defendant’s choice of counsel. Rather, it was the lawyer’s choice to take his case. It made me wonder if she felt any inner conflict and how she might have rationalized her decision. I wondered if she was the…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, THE SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS? Kristy Woodson Harvey: For starters, I started writing this book during the pandemic, and I just wanted to go somewhere fun! And outside! So I knew I was going to write a book about summer camp. But my family actually ended up going to a family camp during that time, and, while we were there reminiscing with friends about our own camp experiences, this story really started to take shape.   Jen: Who is June Moore, and what’s her connection to Camp Holly Springs? Kristy: June Moore is the owner and director of Camp Holly Springs—and protagonist Daphne’s aunt. Daphne and June have been through a lot together, namely losing Daphne’s mom and June’s sister. Throughout the course of this book, Daphne really begins to realize how Camp Holly Springs brought her back to life after that loss. And June begins to realize that maybe she’s used camp as an excuse to hide from the real world. But this place is incredibly special to both women, and they have a hugely vested interest in saving it.   Jen: Who are Daphne, Lanier, and Mary Stuart, and how are they…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, HOTEL LAGUNA? Nicola Harrison: The first time I started thinking about this novel was in the height of the pandemic. We were still living on the East Coast, staying home, and everything felt so uncertain. I couldn’t travel to do physical research so I thought to myself, where do I want to travel in my mind and live in my imagination for the next year and a half or two years or however long it takes me to write this novel. I kept coming back to the idea of Laguna Beach, a place that I know very well and have a lot of fond memories. I lived there after college and both my parents are artists and have exhibited in art galleries and the festivals in Laguna. I wanted to dream up scenes and adventures and quirky characters all living their lives in this beautiful, bohemian town that is a haven for artists. Once I settled on the time period of the 1940s and learned about the women who worked on the Homefront during the war, taking on jobs previously reserved for men, building airplanes and ammunition and tanks, I started to merge…

Jennifer Vido: For readers unfamiliar with the Cape Sanctuary series, please give us a brief overview. What makes it such a special place? RaeAnne Thayne: Cape Sanctuary is a fictitious town in northern California, roughly based around Trinidad. It’s a community made up of sometimes quirky, always caring people who consider themselves fortunate to live in a place of beauty and peace, where neighbors help each other. I call Utah my home, eight hundred miles from the nearest beach, but I absolutely adore beach towns. I took two of my favorites, Cannon Beach, OR and Pacific Grove/Carmel, CA, and combined them to come up with Cape Sanctuary, a place beloved equally by artists, writers and those who love the outdoors. Each of the five books in the series (THE CLIFF HOUSE, THE SEA GLASS COTTAGE, THE PATH TO SUNSHINE COVE, SUMMER AT THE CAPE and now THE CAFÉ AT BEACH END) is a standalone title, connected to the other books in the title only by geography. It doesn’t matter which book readers start with!   Jen: What inspired THE CAFE AT BEACH END? RaeAnne: I love reading about characters who have reached rock bottom, with nowhere else to go, so…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired you to write a novel about Radio City Music Hall in its mid-century heyday? Fiona Davis: I got an email from a former Rockette who was in her 80s and suggested the building as a location. We got on the phone and she had so many wonderful stories, I knew I had to do it.   Jen: What was your research process like for this novel? And, what’s something fascinating you uncovered along the way? Fiona: I interviewed a number of Rockettes, some who danced there in the 50s and 60s, some later. I got a terrific backstage tour of Radio City Music Hall, and read as much as I could about the era. I was surprised to learn that in the 50s, Radio City was a movie house, and the Rockettes performed four times a day in a stage show that was based on the movie’s theme, doing up to 600 kicks per day.    Jen: What’s happening in nineteen-year-old Marion Brooks’ life, causing her angst? Fiona: Marion wants to be a professional dancer, something her father is absolutely against. Marion’s mother, who wanted to be an actress, died when Marion was a little girl,…

Jennifer Vido: You’re back with another fabulous beach read! What inspired your new release, THE COMEBACK SUMMER? Ali Brady: We each have a younger sister (coincidentally, both are named Elizabeth!) and one day, we were discussing how in a family, you seem to get slated into a specific role during childhood and it can be difficult to break out of those roles as adults. We wanted to write about the beautiful, complex, and challenging relationship of sisterhood—and how those roles we play in childhood shape us for the rest of our lives. From there, we created the characters of Hannah and Libby, two sisters who are best friends, roommates, and business partners. They love each other, but they’re perhaps a little too codependent and enmeshed in their roles, and in THE COMEBACK SUMMER, they learn to break out of those roles and follow their own paths.   Jen: What’s happening in the sisters’ lives, throwing them into a tailspin? Ali: Hannah and Libby are running their late grandmother’s PR agency, which has been losing clients since she passed away. As the story opens, they’ve just lost their last big client, and are worried that they might have to close the…

Jennifer Vido: What’s the inspiration behind your latest release, BETWEEN TWO STRANGERS? Kate White: I get germs for book ideas from all sorts of places – news headlines, snippets of overheard conversation, memories, and so forth. But with BETWEEN TWO STRANGERS, the germ originated from a really crazy experience I had. After my mother died, the brother of mine who was her executor learned from the bank that a fairly substantial check from her small estate was sent to a woman whose name we didn’t recognize. My brothers and I were stunned. Who was this person? Did our mother have a secret we never knew about? After a family discussion, one of my other brothers recalled that the last name of this woman was the former married name of a much-married relative of ours. When approached, she admitted she’d received the check and had assumed my mother simply wanted to leave her something, which was a stretch for sure. Further exploration revealed that the whole thing was a terrible bank error. A new check was issued to my brothers and me, and though the bank had the right to ask for the money back from this woman, they never did….

Jennifer Vido: What’s the inspiration behind THE HOUSE ON PRYTANIA, the second book in the Royal Street series? Karen White:  I am currently contracted for a total of four books in the Royal Street series, so I knew while writing the first book, THE SHOP ON ROYAL STREET, that I needed to make sure there were lots of opportunities for growth not just for the main protagonist, Nola Trenholm, but also in terms of storylines.  THE HOUSE ON PRYTANIA starts right where the first one ended (and it’s written so that if you haven’t read the first you won’t be lost).  Nola has already come through her first crisis (although it won’t be her last!), and both she and the reader believe she’s primed and ready to begin her new life in New Orleans.  Except, well, forces beyond her control are just as prepared to stop her.   Jen: Let’s talk about Nola. My, how she has grown! For readers unfamiliar with this series, please give us a snapshot of this character, including her highs and lows. Karen:  We first meet Nola as a thirteen-year-old in the Tradd Street series where she shows up unannounced on her biological father’s doorstep…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, FIFTH AVENUE GLAMOUR GIRL? Renée Rosen: After completing The Social Graces, I mentioned to a friend that I had absolutely no idea what I was going to write about next. She had just finished working on a documentary involving one of Estée Lauder’s sons and suggested I take a look at Estée’s life. Well, after just one google search, I was hooked. Estée Lauder came out of nowhere to claim her crown as the queen of the cosmetic industry. She started out as a true underdog, and I’m always inspired by strong women who beat the odds. But beyond her sheer drive and determination, I discovered a fascinating story filled with unexpected twists and turns, both in her professional and personal life. I couldn’t believe no one else had already written a novel based on her life.   Jen: Who is Gloria Downing, and what’s happening in her life? Renée: Gloria Downing is the (fictional) narrator of the story. She meets Estée at a pivotal time in her life. Gloria’s father has just been convicted of a scandal that makes front page news and in the name of self-preservation, Gloria must reinvent herself….