1–What is the title of your latest release? WHAT BECAME OF MAGIC 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? WHAT BECAME OF MAGIC is a tale of ley lines and magic, found family, a powerful coven, and the many ways we love one another. It is the story of Aline Weir, a witch and outcast who doesn’t believe she belongs the world until the fates intervene, and she is tasked with saving it. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? It’s based off a real place! Serenbe is a wellness community in GA, outside of Atlanta, and it bears a striking resemblance to the town of Matchstick. The rest of the places in the book are based on the town I grew up in, and on the locations of ley lines in the world. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? I would love to be friends with Aline. I feel like I already am, since I know her so well. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Willing, brave, kind. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? How to move through loss. I wrote this novel over the…

1–What is the title of your latest release? NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF PRINCE WERE ALIVE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? When an incoming hurricane disrupts a busy mom’s life and (spoiler alert, marriage), she’s got to beat the storm without losing her marbles. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I live in Savannah, Georgia. It is a beautiful coastal city full of creative, hilarious, and passionate people. For many years, we were lucky that major storms scooted by us and then we got walloped by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, which inspired the action of the book. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. I would buy her beer and tell her she’s a great mom. Also, I would tell her it was rude to say those things about Taylor Swift and she should listen to Midnights so we can discuss it. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Plucky, vibrant, seething. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Rejection makes me a better writer and human. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I edit in…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired you to write EVERYTHING MUST GO? Camille Pagan: I’m the eldest of three sisters, so I’ve always wanted to write a novel about that complicated but often-wonderful dynamic. As Laine observes, “Being raised by the same parents at the same time was like being the last few to speak a dying language.” That’s how I’ve always felt when my sisters and I have had to deal with stressful family situations. The novel is also about the choices we make at midlife (I’m there now!) and the difficulty of dealing with dementia, especially in its early stages when it’s not always apparent there’s a “real” problem. Not all of my novels are inspired by my life, but this one definitely was.   Jen: What’s happening in Laine’s marriage that causes her to question the future? Camille: Laine and her husband Josh have been together for years, and they have a comfortable if staid relationship. But when Laine’s beloved dog, Belle, dies, she realizes that she actually isn’t happy with Josh—who is absentminded about everything, including their marriage—and is tired of being the one to keep the status quo for everyone in her life … including Josh. The…

Rachel Gibson: First let me say Hello to everyone at Fresh Fiction. You all give the best events and parties, and it’s great to chat you again.   Your new book DROP DEAD GORGEOUS involves some body swapping—what appealed to you about that idea? Were you a Freaky Friday fan?  I loved Freaky – “I’m like the Crypt Keeper!” – Friday, but it wasn’t the inspiration for DROP DEAD GORGEOUS. The idea for DDG came from my deep dislike for amnesia plots. I’ve always said that I would never write an amnesia book. However, I am a contrarian which mean that at some point I’m going to twist and bend a plot until it works for me. Every book I’ve written starts with “what if…” What if one woman’s soul jumps into another woman’s body, and she must pretend she has amnesia for the rest of her life?   The thing I like about body swapping or soul swapping stories – depending on how you look at it – is that the characters in the swap often learn more about what makes them unique, and their personality and perspective sometimes evolves. Would you say that’s true of the main characters in DROP…

I’ve been a geek since birth. I was raised on Star Trek (the original, styrofoam-rock, red-shirt-guy-killing Star Trek) and my parents took us to see both Barbarella and Planet of the Apes at the drive-in. So, when I was asked by an editor at Penguin to take a stab at writing in the genre of Chick Lit, I sort of balked. I mean, what do I have in common with those elegant Chick Lit writers? I associated them with cheerleaders, slutty high school girls (not the same thing, mind you), makeup, high heels, and the felonious application of Newton’s Laws of Motion. But then I had what I thought was a great idea: Chick Lit for geek girls like me. That led to the creation of The Queen Geek Social Club, and subsequently, Queen Geeks in Love and Prom Queen Geeks, which debuts this month. I had great fun writing the books; the main character, Shelby, was the person I would have been in high school if I’d had any confidence and a better sense of fashion. But one thing in the books has had an interesting impact on readers: the inclusion of Euphoria, Shelby’s humor-impaired robot, nanny, and tracking…