I’ve only read your paranormal romance. Tell me about this suspense anthology you’ve done with Lisa Jackson and Lisa Childs. How did this collaboration come about? It was a suggestion from my editor at Kensington. Lisa Jackson wrote the first story and created the St. Cecilia’s School for Girls in Salzburg, Austria. The school is the connecting point for the three stories. I wrote the second story and then Lisa Childs did the third.   How does this work differ from writing your other types of stories? This one is more of a thriller. My full-length stories are romantic suspense that are heavy on the mystery. A shorter format makes it hard to do a mystery.   Do you enjoy doing an anthology? It was so much fun. Usually, writers work in solitude so when I get a chance to collaborate, I’m always excited. The short format is a challenge, but it’s always a creative way to write a story I’ve wanted to do, but didn’t feel as if it had enough to become a full-length novel.   It seems like each story has the past haunting the present. What do you find compelling about that theme? You’re right! I…

Jennifer Vido: How did your admiration for The Great Gatsby inspire your new release, BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FOOLS?    Jillian Cantor: I’ve long been a fan of The Great Gatsby as a reader, but I’ve also always felt there was more to the women’s stories beneath the surface. Daisy says in the original that the best thing a girl can be is “a beautiful little fool.” But I always felt certain she was so much more than that! My novel explores Daisy’s story, as well as Jordan’s, Myrtle’s, and Myrtle’s sister, Catherine’s. What happens during the investigation of Jay Gatsby’s death that sends the police in a tailspin? In the original novel, Jay Gatsby is murdered, and George Wilson is found shot dead nearby, and the police wrap up the case as a murder-suicide. In my novel, one detective finds a diamond hairpin in the bushes by Jay Gatsby’s pool, and that leads him to start looking closer at the women in Gatsby’s orbit. Let’s talk about the three suspects, starting with Daisy Buchanan. How is she connected to the murder victim? Well, as we know from the original novel, Daisy and Jay met and dated in 1917 in Louisville, where…

One of my favorite authors – Marie Harte – gave us an interview talking about her new super spicy paranormal romance series. What can you tell me about your new “Between the Shadows” series? I know the most recent installment – Book 2 in the series – came out December 14th. I know it’s about vampires, and that the first two books got sexy facelifts with awesome new covers. What else? I’m so in love with Between the Shadows! It’s a blend of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. The center of this series is the Night Bloode—a clan of murderous vampires who would normally kill each other, but they’re under a spell to become kin (family). Think snarky, vampire band-of-brothers who meet their match in the women they come to love. The Night Bloode clan has been tapped to work for the goddess, Hecate. (Oh, and they hate gods too. Vampires are really arrogant.) She’s gathered them to fight a coming darkness that has the potential to end everything. Hecate has a plan. Force these vampires to find love and they’ll fight heaven and earth to protect it. Each book is a standalone, yet they build up to an ending…

Your book ALONG CAME A PRINCE comes out February 15th. What can you tell us about it? ALONG CAME A PRINCE rounds out my Regency novella trilogy called Regency Bon Bons. The heroine, Sonia, is the stepdaughter of the heroine in book 2 (A Kiss for Luck). There, Sonia was a debutante—this story starts a few years after her come-out. Sonia’s most steadfast suitor during this time (she has turned down several proposals of marriage), is Mr. Townsend, who is very quiet and quite dull. He never ventures an opinion or a compliment and rarely talks about anything but the weather. He is proper and polite to the point of tedium. All that changes when Mr. Townsend suddenly kisses Sonia in a garden at a soiree. The kiss is passionate, and she sees a man of deep feeling and many secrets behind the mask. After that, Mr. Townsend decides he should cease calling on Sonia, fearing to embroil her in his truly dangerous life. Sonia, not liking that he now avoids her, delves into his past, and learns, to her astonishment, that he is a prince in disguise. Not only that, but danger follows him, and he could be taken…

As an avid romance reader, I see these “Colton” books advertised everywhere, and I know they’re not all written by the same author. What’s the deal? Do the same group of characters show up in each book? Does each work as a standalone? The Colton books are known as continuities, usually a series of about six to twelve books. Each continuity features a family branch of Coltons and each book is written by a different author. We are given guidelines to write the book. Usually characters from previous books do make appearances in the subsequent books. For example, Colton 911: Chicago, Under Suspicion, is my book. It’s Book 12 in the continuity. Sean from Book 1 is friends with Harry, the hero of my book. Sean and his wife January make a few guest appearances in Under Suspicion. I do know my book can be read as a standalone, but it’s more fulfilling to read the previous 11 books in that particular continuity. How would you describe your latest book in the series, Colton 911: Under Suspicion? Would you say there is an equal amount of action, mystery, and romance – or does one dominate more than the other? In…

As I write this blog my flower beds are in bloom. My irises are gorgeous, my daisies are abundant, and my carnations are fragrant. It’s too bad something dark and sinister is creeping into the shadows. That’s right, a murderer is on the loose in my garden and an APB won’t do my beauties any good. Because tonight they will face one of the worst killers known to their kind—Jack Frost. Their death by his hand (or heroic saving by mine) might lead to some nail-biting moments on my part, but I have a feeling I’m the only one who’s truly invested or interested in their next chapter. I mean it’s not like the New York Times will write about their premature death or my valiant attempt to save their lives. But I have dug up some truly newsworthy mysteries Jack Frost can’t touch. The covers caught my eye like the blossoms in my yard, the plots are much better formed than my best buds and the characters charmed me with their style and wit. Yes, the mysteries are in bloom, and all we have to do to catch the culprits is keep turning the page. Wicked Honeymoon  An Ivy…

Jen: What inspired you to write Perfectly Famous? Emily: I love writing about strong women who are at crossroads in their lives and need to figure out how to find happiness again. In this case, I set out to tell the stories of two women—a famous author and a former journalist—whose issues are very different, yet, in the end, they manage to save themselves and each other. I also wanted to give my readers a fun, deliciously dark thrill ride with some major twists and turns. What happens to author Ward DeFleur that tears her life apart? Her 16-year-old daughter, Stevie, is abducted and killed, while Ward is busy launching her new book. How does Ward’s life change after the tragedy? Ward flees the sheltered town in Connecticut, where she lived with Stevie, and disappears. She reneges on all future book tour events and the other novels she’s contracted to write. She feels responsible for what happened to Stevie and like she can’t go on with things as they were. Nothing makes sense to her anymore. She lives in constant fear and in a state of depression. What happens in Bree Bennett’s life that leads to her taking a job…

In A Good Man, the narrator Thomas Martin has the outward appearance of a man who tries to always do the right thing and sees himself as a protector, provider, and patriarch . . . and then his world unravels. What inspired this character? I was originally inspired by a tragedy that happened in the extended family of a close friend several decades ago. I was also frustrated with what I’d begun to see as a trend in contemporary literature, where something shocking and gruesome happens, but a detached point of view without agency keeps the reader at a safe, voyeuristic distance. I wanted to subvert that storytelling trend in order to fully explore toxic masculinity and the dangers of outdated gender norms. This is your debut novel. In addition to The Adversary by Emmanuel Carrère, were there any other true stories that inspired A Good Man (without giving away the ending)? Did you need to do any research to create Thomas’s world? I read a good deal of relevant true crime, including Joe McGinniss’ Fatal Vision and Errol Morris’ A Wilderness of Error, which is a critique of McGinniss’ book. I also read a lot of longform journalism about…

Kym: Welcome back to the Cozy Corner, Lynn! Lynn: It’s so nice to chat with you again. 🙂  With three working series, you are one busy woman! What keeps you on track the most? I do a lot of planning. A. Lot. I use Asana to track the projects – like writing a book. Or planning my release. It sets up dates to check in as well as gives me check list inside each project to backward plan the process. I have a google/phone calendar (as well as a day job online calendar) and I’m good at blocking out big things. Like deadlines.  And releases.  The other thing is I’m not afraid to re-plan/re-organize if things go sideways. (Like a few months ago when a novella took me twice as long to write as it was planned for. New series, I needed more time but I hadn’t planned for it. The good news is I had some free writing time that I could move somethings around.  Since book 4 in the Tourist Trap Mysteries, you’ve done two novellas in-between each full-length book. That alone is an incredible pace without sticking your other two series into the mix, and you’re the…

Jen Vido: What inspired you to write Finding Home Again? Brenda Jackson: In Book 1 of the Catalina Cove Series, which was titled Love in Catalina Cove (October 30, 2018), I introduced secondary characters, Bryce Witherspoon and Kaegan Chambray. It was quite obvious they had history that hadn’t ended well, and I felt it was time to tell their story When Kaegan Chambray returns to Catalina Cove to run the family business, what’s his biggest fear? His biggest fear was failing as a business owner. He’d never intended to take over his family’s shipping company and knew the people who had worked for his father would depend on him. He believed they deserved to get paid fairly for the hard work they did and for their years of loyalty to a man who Kaegan at times felt didn’t always appreciate them. He wanted to be a better boss to them than his father had been. How does Bryce Witherspoon feel about Kaegan’s reappearance? She’s not happy about it at first, but then she comes to accept that there’s not and never would be anything between her and Kaegan again, and it was time to move on with her life. A…