1–What is the title of your latest release? THE WEIGHT OF MEMORY 2–What is it about? Paul Elias receives a terminal diagnosis so he decides to take his granddaughter, Pearl, who he is raising, back to the isolated lakeside area where he grew up. But when they get there, Pearl begins having visions of things that relate to Paul’s teenage years and the mysterious death of his wife forty years ago.  3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  It’s eerie and isolated and really gives the two main characters the chance to work through the situation presented to them: trying to figure out what happened forty years ago, trying to figure out what is real. 4–How did your main character(s) surprise you?  Pearl became very dedicated to the idea of helping this mysterious person she meets in the woods—her courage and determination surprised me.  5–Why will readers relate to your characters?  I think we all want to know what’s waiting for us on the other side of death, and I think we all want to somehow make up for the mistakes we’ve made in the past.  6–What was one of your biggest challenges while writing this book…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE NATURE OF SMALL BIRDS 2–What is it about? In 1975, 3,000 children were airlifted out of Vietnam to be adopted into families in Australia, Canada, and the United States in what was known as Operation Babylift. This is a story of a family who adopted one of these little girls.  3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  This story is set in a fictional town in Northern Michigan. I’m not sure that I’ll ever be able to do my home state justice, but I really love living here. That’s why I love writing stories about people who are fellow Michiganders.  4–How did your main character(s) surprise you?  This is the kind of book that needed more than one main character. That certainly surprised me while I was writing it! Bruce has the 2013 timeline, Sonny narrates 1988, and Linda is the main character in 1975. But, really, all of their stories point to Minh, the daughter who was adopted from Vietnam.  5–Why will readers relate to your characters?  You know, in a lot of ways this is a story about letting go. Letting go of long-held wishes in…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE QUEEN WILL BETRAY YOU (Tor Teen, July 6, 2021). It is the sequel to THE PRINCESS WILL SAVE YOU. 2–What is it about? After a thousand years of political stability, the realm of The Sand and Sky is up for grabs. Four kingdoms, four rulers vying for the ultimate prize, sovereignty over the entire continent: A ruthless old king spinning webs, whose schemes encompass generations. A widowed queen whose only credo is all kings must die. A runaway queen whose unexpected return upends everyone’s plans. And a prince-in-waiting determined to wait no more. Standing against them are a dispossessed princess and her stable boy love with a surprising claim of his own. Their only hope in the face of unspeakable betrayals, enemies hidden in the shadows, and insurmountable odds is the power of true love… 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  I love that the continent of partner kingdoms I have set up feel both real and like a fairytale. The world is somewhat based on the Iberian Peninsula because I studied abroad in college in Spain and loved it—it was really fun to create a world…

1–What is the title of your latest release? WHAT IF YOU & ME 2–What is it about? Andi, a horror writer/true crime podcaster who struggles with anxiety from a trauma in her past, tangles with her grumpy new neighbor, a former firefighter who’s feeling lost after a career-ending injury sidelined his life plans. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  This story is set in New Orleans, where I grew up, so it’s special to me because it will always be my hometown. But New Orleans itself is such a unique, singular kind of place that it gives me a lot to work with—the food the characters eat, the double-shotgun style house Andi and Hill live in, Andi’s aggressively friendly southern hospitality (where she’s just not going to accept that her grumpy, lonely neighbor wants to stay grumpy and lonely.) It’s a fun place to set a story. 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  Andi’s full of contradictions. She loves horror but because she finds relief from her anxiety in it (there’s science to back that up if you’re wondering!). She’s sunshine-y, outgoing, and enthusiastic, but she also has real darkness she’s fighting. I didn’t know when…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE TIGER MOM’S TALE 2–What is it about? A Taiwanese-American woman must return to Taiwan when her estranged father passes away to claim her place in her heritage, or her Taiwanese family will lose their home. She also has to confront her past and what drove her away from Taiwan all those years ago, in order to open her heart to love and family. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  Half of it takes place in New York City and the other in Taiwan. I was born in Taiwan and lived in NYC for over a decade, so both places have a special place in my heart. 4–How did your main character(s) surprise you?  She turned out to be a lot tougher than I had anticipated! 🙂 5–Why will readers relate to your characters?  The struggle to fit in, and feeling not quite Taiwanese, yet not quite American is a feeling that a lot of Americans (no matter their racial background) feels. Also the pull between what your family expect from you, and what you want from life. 6–What was one of your biggest challenges while writing this…

1–What is the title of your latest release? Victoria Christopher Murray: THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN which I co-authored with Marie Benedict. Marie Benedict: THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN, which was co-written with Victoria Christopher Murray. 2–What is it about? VCM: It is the story of Belle da Costa Greene, a woman who walked into JP Morgan’s library in 1906 when she was in her twenties, became his personal librarian, and rose to be one of the most powerful women in the art world. She helped to build Morgan’s art and rare books and manuscript collection. MB: THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN is the remarkable story of J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, who became one of the most important people in the art world during her lifetime and left a lasting legacy that enriched our nation but could only do so by passing as white and hiding her true Black identity because of the racist, segregated society in which she lived. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  VCM: It’s in New York (my favorite place in the world) and so much of it takes place at the Morgan Library which is incredibly beautiful for lots of reasons. MB: The book…

1–What is the title of your latest release? PAWS AND PREJUDICE 2–What is it about? It’s an enemies-to-lovers contemporary romance about a romance-writing heroine who loves her dogs and hides behind snark, and what happens when she’s forced to work with a new guy in town who has a fear of dogs and who basically (on the surface) represents everything she loathes. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  First, it’s set in Alaska, which is just gorgeous. And second, I love quirky small towns, and my town is torn in half by a century-old feud that makes everything about living there far more complicated than it should be. 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  I always knew she used snark as a way to deflect and keep people at bay, but when I started writing her, it became clear that she also did it because she is overprotective of the people she cares about. She’s always willing to make herself a target to take the heat off of others. 5–Why will readers love your hero?  He’s an ambitious cinnamon roll! He brews beer, bakes, cooks, and he knows how to keep a secret. 6–What was one…

1–What is the title of your latest release? TO TEMPT A SCANDALOUS LORD 2–What is it about? Niall, the Marquess of Inverray, is standing for Prime Minister when anonymous political tracts circulate that critique his campaign, and he’s determined to find the writer and put a stop to them. Little does he know the writer is Alicia, the dowager Countess Lindsay…his new bride of convenience. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  This book delves a bit into the political climate of the time, which is not something I initially intended to include. But since Niall is standing for Prime Minister and Alicia pens political tracts, I wanted to include details about the issues that the country was grappling with in 1834, and I found myself intrigued by how political and social life was changing even while some factions were determined it should remain the same. 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  For all the challenges and heartbreak that Alicia has experienced in her life, she is still motivated by kindness. By a fierce sense of justice and equality. And because she feels so strongly about those things, her wealth of love is endless. 5–Why will readers…

1–What is the title of your latest release? Thank you so much for letting me drop by today! My newest release is RARE VIGILANCE, and it’s the first of the new WHITETHORN AGENCY trilogy. 2–What is it about? This book is kind of THE BODYGUARD meets vampire mafia. It follows Atlas Kinkaid, an ex-Marine turned security agent, who takes on an odd job protecting Cristian Slava, the son of a rich businessman. Atlas eventually learns Cristian and his family are vampires and gets dragged into their world and all its complexities. Oh, and he totally falls for Cristian even if he shouldn’t. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  The book is set in upstate New York, and I loved bringing in rural Gothic elements. The history of the region and the transformation of different areas due to boom-and-bust economies is fascinating and opened up a whole world of possibilities, especially for wealthy, nearly-immortal beings looking to set down roots. 4–How did Atlas surprise you?  Atlas was a surprisingly personal character to write. I drew heavily on my own experiences with migraines and headaches when I wrote about him dealing with the same thing. It’s kind of…

1–What is the title of your latest release?  THE GODMOTHERS 2–What is it about? Pitched as “Elena Ferrante meets Big Little Lies”,  THE GODMOTHERS is about four remarkable women from very different backgrounds who are united by marriage in an elegant, prosperous Italian family, and then must take charge of the family’s business when their husbands are forced to leave them during World War II. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  THE GODMOTHERS takes place mainly in New York City and its Westchester suburbs from the 1930s through the 1950s. I worked in the city and I loved discovering its old buildings and the great stories that went with it. That glamorous, dangerous, bygone aura still clings to places like Bergdorf Goodman’s, the Copacabana, the Majestic apartment building, Coney Island, Balducci’s Market, the Plaza Hotel—it’s all still there. 4–How did your main character(s) surprise you? They are so brave! The four Godmothers never fail to rise to the occasion as a team: Filomena overcomes childhood trauma to be a leader and protector of the family; Lucy uses her skills as a nurse to make the right decisions even when she feels betrayed; Amie recovers from an…