1–What is the title of your latest release? Two novellas in one book: A Chance Inheritance plus The Third Wish 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A Chance Inheritance: What happens when three cousins are thrown together to run a beer, bait and bologna shop because of a chance inheritance in Catfish, Texas. The Third Wish: Jessica made three wishes when she was eight years’ old. Meeting her father was the third one, but twenty years later it came with some extra baggage in the form of Rocky Rycroft. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? A Chance Inheritance: Catfish, Texas is a fictional town, but it’s right on the Red River, and being from that area, I know the place very well. The Third Wish: Set in east Texas and Panama City Beach, Florida. Both are places that I love and have visited several times. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Oh, yes. It was very hard to leave my characters behind when I had to finish the novellas. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? A Chance Inheritance: Chris Adams, patient, romantic, sexy. The Third Wish:…

Good mornin’ to all y’all at Fresh Fiction. Thank you so much for inviting me and my characters from The Empty Nesters back for a visit. As military wives for the past twenty years, Carmen, Joanie, and Diana through wars, rumors of wars, death, divorce, fears, and joys, but nothing had prepared them for the day they walked away from the army recruiter’s office in downtown San Antonio. Each of them has a daughter, and each of those daughters had followed in their father’s footsteps and enlisted in the Army. They suddenly find themselves on an emotional roller coaster as they experience all the pain of the empty next. Then, Tootsie, their dear old next-door neighbor insists that they go on a crazy road trip with her on a road trip in her giant RV. Her nephew, Luke, has agreed to drive, so all they have to do is say yes, and pack their bags. Their destination is an old farmhouse in the ghost town of Scrap, Texas, right next to the Red River, but there’s lots to see and experience on the trip itself. Jefferson, Texas is just one of their stops along the way – or at least it…

Please welcome New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Carolyn Brown! Her latest book, THE MAGNOLIA INN, is in stores now.  1. While a lighthearted novel, The Magnolia Inn explores grief, loneliness, regret, and ultimately, redemption. What inspired these heavier themes throughout the novel? Carolyn: They say you should write about what you know. I lived with a father who was a weekend drunk and then with an alcoholic stepfather. They were both good men underneath all their problems, but the problem was there in both instances and it affected a lot of people around them. 2. Female friendship is such an important part of this book. I absolutely LOVED the characters of Aunt Sugar, Dottie, Lucy, and Flossie! They are four women who know what they want and aren’t afraid to ask for it, but even more importantly, they are there to support each other and Jolene no matter what. How did you go about bringing such authentic women to life? Carolyn: I simply combined some of the strongest women I know into those characters. A short story here about a sweet lady who has long since passed away. Miz Marie told me once that she’d hired a man to…

You have been a full time writer for several years. What’s the best and worst parts of your job? The best part is when my characters talk to me and give me direction or little bits of their past to work into the story. The worst part is when they stop talking to me. I have a plaque in my office that says, “I know the voices aren’t real but they have the best ideas.” Disclaimer here: When I’m writing their stories, they are very real to me. Do you have any habits or rituals that get you in the right mindset to write? Just to sit down in my office chair and get started. I can write in a hotel or in another place in the house, but I like my own chair in my own office much better. If you had to choose one career highlight what would it be? What are some of your goals for the future? There are several career highlights…winning awards, getting new contracts, receiving notes from fans telling me how much they love my books or better yet, from a fan whose life has been changed for the better by something I wrote….

Hello to Sara and all y’all at Fresh Fiction. I always enjoy myself, whether it’s a book club visit by phone, Ritas & Readers event or having the privilege of attending a book club night. I’m here today to talk to y’all about my newest release, THE SOMETIMES SISTERS. Harper, Tawny and Dana have inherited their grandmother’s small lakeside resort that includes a café run by Granny Annie’s long time friend, Zed. He’s real proud of the recipe book that his mother handed down to him from her mother, and from the look of it, maybe it went back more generations than that. So today we’re going to list the top five things that are mentioned in the book that Zed offers as the daily blue plate special. On Sunday, his blue plate special is chicken and dressing, cranberry sauce from scratch, mashed potatoes (none of that powdery stuff from packages but real potatoes), gravy and corn on the cob. People come from miles to eat at the café on Sunday and there’s usually a waiting line. Fridays were Harper’s favorite. She loved Zed’s pot roast and homemade yeast rolls, covered with butter and right out of the oven. She…

Good mornin’ to all y’all folks at Fresh Fiction and thank you so much for inviting me back to your site to talk about THE STRAWBERRY HEARTS DINER. I’d always wanted to set a book in a cozy little 50’s style diner somewhat like the character Leroy Jethro Gibbs visits in the television show, NCIS. So it was exciting to get the opportunity to get to spend time in the Strawberry Hearts Diner with Jancy, Vicky, Nettie and Emily. Jancy wasn’t planning on being in Pick, Texas any longer than it took for her to visit her grandmother’s grave and then drive away. But fate stepped in and she found herself sitting in the Strawberry Hearts Diner parking lot watching her car burning to a crisp. With very little money and a driver’s license that was only good for a few more months in her purse, she would’ve rather had a job somewhere else than the diner. But there she was, taking the HELP WANTED sign out of the window. Things could have been worse but even with room and board plus a salary and tips, she’d have rather been working anywhere else. After all the sweetheart of Pick would…

HOW TO MARRY A COWBOY, Mason and Annie Rose’s story, is the final book in the Cowboys & Brides series that started out with BILLION DOLLAR COWBOY last year. Mason was one of four cowboys who showed up on my porch a couple of years ago. They were all sexy as the devil in blue jeans. They had hats in hands and were there to ask me to write their story. And I refused. They were all rich cowboys and I had no idea how to write about the rich and famous. But I did listen to them a little and it didn’t take long for them to convince me that they were really good old boys and that the money didn’t make them any different than the other cowboys I’d written about. I didn’t realize until I started writing HOW TO MARRY A COWBOY that Mason Harper had two personal rules and he’d never crossed the line before. The first one was to never get involved with a woman in the house, no matter who she was and the second one was to never get involved with the nanny of his twin daughters, Lily and Gabby. Then Annie Rose shows…

Thank you Miz Sara and everyone at Fresh Fiction for letting me make a stop here on my recipe blog tour for THE RED-HOT CHILI COOK-OFF. I’m so excited about the second book set in Cadillac, Texas. There’s a brand new lingerie shop in town called Bless My Bloomers, run by three cousins, Carlene, Alma Grace and Patrice. And things are heating up at the panty shop because Carlene found some bikini under pants in her husband Lenny Joe’s briefcase and they damn sure did not belong to her. Now Alma Grace is the president of the Easter program committee at the local church and she’s headed for a committee meeting. In Texas, folks don’t just go to a committee meetings empty handed. No, sir! It’s a fine time to take along food and Alma Grace arrived at the church fellowship hall with a platter of jalapeno poppers and a dozen peanut butter cupcakes. Lord, no, Alma Grace didn’t make them herself! Alma Grace could sweet talk a nun into a black lace corset and fishnet hose but she couldn’t make toast without it resulting in sirens and fire trucks. God bless her mama’s cook. An excerpt about what happened…

Hello, my friends. It’s been a long time since I chatted with you here. Did you miss me? Laughing, probably not since we’ve had many many authors stop by and be our guest at Fresh Fiction, more interesting than what I usually rambled about. And so, here we are and I’m not quite sure what to say. Well, today is book club tea day in Texas. It’s a late one because the tea room holds it at 3:30pm to 5:00pm. That’s the strange thing about teas I’ve found over the years, the ‘proper’ time ranges from noon to 6pm. Each venue has their own idea of what is right. Most believe that a tea was a snack between luncheon and dinner so the ladies wouldn’t faint. I guess I’ve always thought of it as similar to feeding your kids when they came home from school before the family dinner. Give them a quick sandwich or snack and they won’t tear the kitchen apart rummaging for food. But whenever tea is held there is always someone who expresses that it’s too early, too late but never just right. Ah, well, life goes on. From experience I am certain the Chocolate Angel…

Hi y’all! And how is everyone at Fresh Fiction today? In southern Oklahoma things are hopping right along. Spring has sprung. Summer is well into coming into its own and the flowers are blooming. And I have a new book on my bookcase! LOVE DRUNK COWBOY just hit the stands today and I’m so excited I could just dance a jig with a peg legged pirate, or maybe do some line dancin’ with a tall, dark sexy cowboy! Yes, indeedy, that does sound better. LOVE DRUNK COWBOY is the debut book in the new Spikes & Spurs series which has grown into four books already with the possibility of more on the horizon. Red’s Hot Cowboy will be out in September; Darn Good Cowboy Christmas in October and an untitled fourth book in the spring of 2012. What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas. Right? That’s what Jasmine and Ace thought when they had a secret wedding but then it was broadcast on national television and the secret was out of the bag. We haven’t come up with a name for it yet but believe me, my fabulous editor Deb Werksman will find a perfect fit for…