Jen: What inspired you to write A WOMAN OF INTELLIGENCE?  Karin: I really liked the idea of writing about a struggling mother against the backdrop of the Cold War. I was dealing with my own postpartum depression and identity loss and wanted to channel that into a book. Admittedly, at first, I wanted her to be an assassin with a LOT of anger, but my editor talked me out of that one! So she is a spy with a LOT of anger instead – ha. While I was starting to piece together the story, a friend told me about Elizabeth Bentley, a Vassar College grad like me. She graduated in 1930 and went on to study Italian, earning a master’s degree in languages from Columbia University. While at Columbia, she joined a Communist Party cell and then fell madly in love with Jacob Golos, a Ukrainian-born revolutionary who conducted Soviet espionage. While Elizabeth Bentley certainly inspired the book, I did not follow her story that closely. She wasn’t a mother, and she didn’t live a gilded life in New York. But I loved the idea of giving a struggling mother a secret life and a sense of purpose. What leads…

1–What is the title of your latest release? JOHN EYRE: A TALE OF DARKNESS AND SHADOW 2–What is it about? JOHN EYRE is my dual timeline, partially epistolary, partially gender-reversed, supernatural Victorian gothic retelling of Charlotte Bronte’s JANE EYRE (and one other Victorian classic I can’t reveal without spoiling the story). It’s about strength, allyship, the struggle between light and darkness, and the battle with real-life monsters. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  I loved being able to incorporate all of my favorite Victorian gothic trappings. There’s atmosphere and creepiness galore. 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  Bertha Mason Rochester may well be the strongest heroine I’ve ever written. Not because she started out strong, but because, in a deeply horrifying situation, she finds a level of strength she didn’t know herself capable of. By the end of the story, she’s become a formidable opponent. Truly a force to be reckoned with. 5–Why will readers love your hero?  He’s thoughtful and compassionate, and he knows how to listen. He doesn’t start out as an ally—a man willing to risk his reputation to help a woman—but by the end of the novel, he understands what it means…

1–What is the title of your latest release? IN HARMONY 2–What is it about? It’s about musician, Nyah Monroe who is living a dual life as a classical double bassist and an underground dance music DJ. She’s trying to manage two careers on her own but needs help. Enter super-agent Tommy “Boombox” Mills who not only wants to help Nyah but secure the career legacy he’s envisioned for himself. He needs her and wants to make her famous. The problem is, she makes the rules and flying under the radar is her sweet spot. On a deeper level the book explores some intense themes like evaluating one’s legacy, inheritance, staying true to oneself, and loving someone through imperfection and challenges. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  I love that it takes place in some of the most simplistically enjoyable parts of New York; like Central Park on a summer day or even an apartment for one. Small underground clubs are the connective tissue of the city’s heartbeat and I wanted to highlight that scene because as the years pass, there are less of them around. 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  I love how she pushes…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE CALYX CHARM 2–What is it about? It’s the third book in the Sacred Dark series, so it’s also about resurrection, second chances, and found families. This one in particular features star-crossed lovers, Violetta and Tibario, who come from feuding households. Tibario died during this feud, only to return to life as a blessed cat-soul. Violetta, a seer, has foretold the destruction of the world as they know it due to the escalation of their families’ battle. So when Tibario returns to her with an apocalypse hanging over them, they have a chance to start again and create a new future together.  3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  I absolutely loved writing a setting in which trans people are part of the cultural background. I also love the fantasy drama of grandiose witches and primeval spirits, set around resurrection, dark sorcery, and thunderous prophecies. It’s meant a lot to me to tie all these together with flairs of swashbuckling romanticism. 4–How did Violetta surprise you?  It felt like Violetta was one surprise after another. She was a complicated character to write because her story is so personal, so…

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…

Danielle: Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, Melonie! We are so happy to have you here to chat about your new book, TOO GOOD TO BE REAL. Where did you get the idea for this novel, which is set at a rom-com resort? Melonie: I was actually working on a different book proposal for my editor, loosely based on my favorite rom-com, 10 Things I Hate About You. While I was brainstorming the plot points, I started thinking about how much fun it would be to actually get to experience some of the romantic moments in the movie, and other rom-com movies I love: paintball fights and karaoke serenades and kissing in the rain… and then BAM! The idea hit me. Why not? I love the movie Austenland, which is about an estate that provides guests a chance to live in the world of Jane Austen novels… so I decided why not create a resort that offers the same immersive experience for fans of romantic comedies? And thus, TOO GOOD TO BE REAL was born. I love how there’s an awesome girl group at the center of this story—your main character, Julia, brings her friends Kat and Andie along with her…

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…