Your novel, THE UNQUIET DEAD, is set during the Gilded Age. What is it about that time period that has inspired you? Will you write novels set in other time periods? When I first decided to write A DEADLY FORTUNE, the first book in the Amelia Matthew series (THE UNQUIET DEAD being the second), there was never any question but that I would set it in the Gilded Age. The Victorian/Gilded Age is far and away my favorite time period to read, so it made sense that I gravitated there for writing as well. I think there’s something so evocative about that time period. It’s far enough in the past to feel somewhat exotic, but it’s also comfortably modern in a lot of ways. The people and their motivations feel recognizable to readers. I have ideas for novels set in other time periods, so I’m sure I’ll get around to them eventually. I have part of a WWII book drafted, and a few notes for a book set in the Civil War-era western US.   I love stories with paranormal elements, or about different types of extrasensory perception. What made you decide to give your female protagonist the ability to…

I started reading your Happy Camper series with the second book. I loved the book and I like your amateur sleuth, Zo Jones. I think for a cozy mystery author, it must be difficult creating protagonists who finds themselves involved in murder investigations and inquisitive, without making them obnoxiously so. And I say that as somebody who adores cozy mysteries and the variety of amateur sleuths. Is it difficult to keep finding reasons for Zo to be involved in murder investigations? Thank you for reading! I’m so glad you enjoyed MIDNIGHT SPELLS MURDER. I, too, often read out of order, and honestly, I don’t mind because I think a series usually gets better with time. It is hard to find viable reasons for Zo to be involved in murder. It’s the burden of an amateur sleuth, I suppose. But Zo has many interests, including her Happy Camper shop, her stargazing club, and her newspaper column. Plus she’s incredibly curious. I don’t have to look too far to find a reason for her to get involved in a crime.   Another thing I like about this series are the friends and supporting characters. Do you have that support system for the…

Is it soon apparent in TOUGH JUSTICE who the bad guys are, and the challenge is just finding out how to stop them? Or is part of the mystery uncovering who’s behind it all? Personally, I like a good mystery, and it seems like most readers feel the same. Makes for a good page-turner. Rather than give too much away up front, I’ve done my best to try and keep readers guessing. So, part of the mystery in this story is figuring out who the bad guys are. What do you like about writing romantic suspense? Writing RS allows me to combine elements of my work experience and the interesting (and often quirky!) people I’ve encountered throughout my career, with my love of romance. It seemed like a natural fit for me. Since you have your other Federal K-9 series, I’m wondering what inspires you to write about K-9 agents specifically? Honestly, writing K-9 books was not my brainchild. I have to give credit where it’s due. I owe it all to my very first editor, Karen Grove. I’d just finished the last of my NYPD Blue & Gold series, and we were brainstorming over what I should write next. Karen…

The hero in your book AN UNEXPECTED COWBOY is, no surprise, a cowboy. What do you enjoy about a cowboy hero? As a young reader, I transitioned from Louis L’Amour’s westerns to western romances, so I’ve always loved a cowboy hero. (The romanticized version, of course.) My husband and I enjoy western movies and shows (Yellowstone!), but most of my books are set in New England and cowboys are hard to come by here. There’s something about a man who works hard, plays hard, though, and the hats and boots don’t hurt. (And neither do the snug, faded jeans.) I think many of us have internalized cowboys as a blend of the wild west but with a strong sense of right and wrong, along with old-fashioned chivalry toward women. When I was making notes for the first book in the series and the hero went to the University of Montana, I realized I had the perfect opportunity to bring a cowboy to New England. The fish-out-of-water element was so much fun to play with.   Mallory, the heroine in your story, is a single mother. Can it be challenging writing child characters? It’s very challenging! Making them authentic characters (rather…

First, I just want to say that I love this book’s cover! AB: I do too. It fits the atmosphere of the story so well.   As somebody unfamiliar with this series, when I first glanced at the cover and skimmed the description, I assumed the series was primarily a fantasy series. After looking at the description again, I find there are some murder mystery elements as well. How would you describe this book for readers unfamiliar with this series? AB: CROWBONES and LAKE SILENCE, the previous book set in that part of the Others’ world, could be described as urban fantasy cozy mysteries. I was playing with the idea of what a cozy mystery – amateur sleuth(s) finding dead bodies and helping the police solve the crime – would be like in a world ruled by the supernatural beings, and the stories set in the area around Lake Silence are the result. The first five books in that world (the Lakeside Courtyard stories) are urban fantasy. WILD COUNTRY, set in another location in that world, was written over the template of the old Westerns with sheriffs, gamblers, and outlaws. Of course, when the sheriff is a shifter Wolf and…

Your book, THUNDERSTRUCK, is the first book in your new “Thunderbird Brotherhood” series. Do you know how many books you plan on writing for the series?   At this point, there’s going to be four more books for the Thunderbirds, but I’m hoping to do spinoff books for some of the wolves I’ll be introducing in future books, as well as some of the witches which get introduced in book two.   Or are you just planning to see how it goes? Well, that’s always a possibility. In my case, what I plot out and what actually transpires are usually very different. It’s like fighting with an alternate personality, only it’s the characters in your head demanding things of you. So who knows. LOL   Will each book feature a different couple? At this point, yes. But I could see maybe writing another one with Reseda and Kane, which you’ll understand why after reading book two.   How would you describe the dynamic between Reseda and Kane? They’re very push and pull. They feed off each other, taking and giving without even knowing it. They have a lot of banter which was so much fun to write because of who…

Danielle Jackson: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Jesse! We are big fans of your Aunties series and are so excited to celebrate the release of FOUR AUNTIES AND A WEDDING – congrats! What has been the most surprising thing about your publishing journey so far?   Jesse Q. Sutanto:  Oh gosh, to be honest, EVERYTHING has been surprising about my publishing journey! My first book deal, THE OBSESSION, was a humble deal. Everything was about as typical as it went. My second book deal, THEO TAN AND THE FOX SPIRIT, was slightly larger, but still pretty average. Then the following month I sold DIAL A FOR AUNTIES and things just exploded. Suddenly, I was having calls with producers and giant studios, all of whom were clamoring to buy the rights to the TV/film adaptation. It was the kind of story where, if an aspiring author were to say she dreams of having that kind of road to publication, she’d be laughed out of the room because it’s just so ridiculous!   Wedding planning is already a feat, but with her vivacious and nosy aunties “helping,” things quickly get out of hand for Meddy. Were there any aspects of wedding planning and…

Your new book, THE DETECTIVE’S DAUGHTER, involves your main character investigating a cold case for personal reasons. I love stories like that. What inspired you to write about that subject? Are you fascinated by cold cases, or true crime stories? I am definitely fascinated by cold cases and true crime! Of course, I’m not alone in that, which explains the popularity of the genre. Cold cases are fascinating because they’re the ultimate mystery, that dangling thread that never gets pulled, the question mark that never becomes a period. The JonBenet Ramsey case comes to mind. We can’t stop wondering what happened to that beautiful little girl, we want answers, closure. We look at the pieces of that crime puzzle, analyzing each, wondering where the investigation went wrong.   In the case of THE DETECTIVE’S DAUGHTER, I was drawn to the idea of a daughter being pulled into the case, now ice cold, that destroyed her father. Between the case – a murder and kidnapping inside a powerful and secretive New Orleans family – and my protagonist’s history with it, I had lots of good stuff work with. In THE DETECTIVE’S DAUGHTER, is the focus more on the mystery itself or,…

Who doesn’t love maps? Sure, they can be confusing, puzzling, and downright impossible to fold, but the adventures they hold are amazing. When I saw the latest release by Peng Shephard, THE CARTOGRAPHERS, I had to check it out. It’s a little bit adventure, a little bit mystery, and a whole lot of intrigue and fun. Peng is definitely a writer you want to keep on your list of go-to of authors, so of course I had to invite her to sit down with us at the Cozy Corner and find out how her heroine, Nell Young, came to life.   Kym:  Welcome to the Cozy Corner, Peng! Peng: Thrilled to be here!   Kym: Maps, I love maps! The art of map reading has been lost on the youth of today thanks to GPS giving them directions and that’s why I loved the premise of your latest release, THE CARTOGRAPHERS. How good of a map reader/folder, are you? Peng: Pretty good, although I definitely got a lot better during the writing of this novel! I spent a lot of time looking at one map in particular, the map which the book is based on—by the time I finished writing the manuscript, I knew the…

Your novel, THE BUCHAREST DOSSIER, takes place in 1989 in Romania. Why choose that time and place for your story? What’s your inspiration? By December of 1989, the satellite countries of the Soviet Union had transitioned to democracy through their own versions of a “velvet,” peaceful revolution. All except one: Romania. Its leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, was a Stalinist tyrant who held the country in a tight grip through the use of his dreaded secret police, the Securitate. Romania would become the only former Soviet satellite to have a violent revolution, resulting in over 1,200 deaths, though exact numbers are still not available. And to this day, the people of Romania are still asking whether it was truly a popular revolution, or a coup directed by outside forces. Having been born in Romania, that period of history intrigued me. I have visited Romania many times, both during the communist years and afterward. I believe I can provide an accurate depiction of life under a totalitarian regime both from personal experience and through the eyes of relatives and friends who still live there. I think that in today’s world, it would be enlightening for the public to see what a totalitarian regime…