By the next morning, the snow has stopped, but many of the back streets are still sporting a sheen of black ice. Tommy’s picked up a cold somewhere, and so I wrap my head in a scarf to protect myself from the wind whipping between the buildings, and head out to Claire’s Patisserie for croissants. After taking a single step into the street, I dash back inside to grab my camera. The grey overcast hemming us in for weeks has blown away overnight, and the sun is rising through low fog like a ripe red dragon’s egg, way down the end of our street. I’ve been taking pictures as long as I can remember. My dad was a photographer before I was born, and there were always cameras around the house when I was small. He shot for AP overseas–Falkland Islands during the conflict, and Ireland too–but after I came along, he mostly freelanced. And when I made it into NYU, I majored in photography. I’ve always planned to take it further, but–well, you know. Life gets in the way. With this news about the bookshop, the chance of returning to film school is looking increasingly unlikely. These days I…

Jen: What inspired you to write Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing? Allison: Well, I wanted to write something that reflected how it feels to be a woman in this particular moment in history and time. I tried a different approach with a different manuscript – I rewrote about 100 pages of that book several times, and it just wasn’t working. I knew what I wanted to say, but I wasn’t quite sure how to get there. Then, as good ideas often do, the version of Cleo, the Senator, struck me one night, and from there, I looked for an interesting way to examine her life. Not as a politician, but as a human, and I settled on exploring her regrets, which wasn’t an approach I’d ever read. And thus, Cleo McDougal, unapologetic Senator, was born. What role does the word “power” play in relation to the story? Oh great question! For me, this book is not about politics at all. I worked hard to ensure that. Rather, it is about power in all of its iterations, which is something that I think so many women are considering now too. Who has it, who abuses it, who gives it generously, who takes…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  A Little Bit of Grace 2–What is it about? After the implosion of her marriage and the loss of her mom leaves Grace Adams entirely alone in the world, a letter from a relative she never knew she had sends her on a trip to a tropical paradise, where she starts to uncover answers about the eccentric woman her family never mentioned: an octogenarian who writes a viral relationship-advice blog, a compulsive (and highly successful) matchmaker. . . and the keeper of an unimaginable family secret held for more than fifty years. It’s a story about the choices families make and how they color what we believe, finding forgiveness for the unforgivable, and starting over when the happy ending ends. 3–What word best describes your main character(s)?  For Grace, it’s underestimated; for her Great-aunt Millie, it would have to be something like expansive, extravagant, magnificent, fantastical. 4–What makes your story relatable?  Grace holds family so dear and is so deeply loyal that in caring for everyone else she has lost touch with what she wants for her own life. I think that’s incredibly common for so many of us these days, particularly women, who often seem to feel…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  WHAT YOU WISH FOR 2–What is it about?  It’s about love, loss, and finding joy on purpose. School librarian Samantha Casey gets the worst new boss in the world–and he just happens to be the not-quite-forgotten biggest unrequited crush of her life. 3–What word best describes your main character(s)?  Resilient. Hopeful. Real. (That’s 3 words!) 4–What makes your story relatable?  It’s a story about people who are trying like heck to find joy in the midst of all their struggles and hardships.   5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?  Sam turns to her friend Alice, and Duncan turns to his sister Helen–but more and more, as the story goes on, they turn to each other. 6–What do you love about the setting of your book?  It’s set on Galveston Island, on the coast of Texas, which is the historic beach town where I write all my books. 7–Are you a plotter (follow an outline) or a pantser (write by the seat of your pants)? I’m a hybrid! I always start with a plot (more like a list of things I think will happen), and then, as the characters…

Hi, Susan! Welcome to Fresh Fiction! Please tell us about yourself and your new book, THE LOST AND FOUND BOOKSHOP. First of all, thank you for making this a fun conversation. You’re the first real person I’ve talked to all day, since I’m deep into my book-in progress. This is my favorite moment in the life cycle of a book–the moment it finds its way into readers’ hands. Suddenly it’s not my baby anymore. It belongs to the readers, the reviewers, the book groups, the librarians, and I can’t wait for them to read it. I wrote this book during a momentous year in my life. It reflects one of my sweetest fantasies–owning an independent bookshop. Even when I was a little girl, I used to imagine what it would be like to live in the garret of a creaky old building, above a bookstore that is a vibrant community center. The fantasy comes to life on Perdita Street in San Francisco’s historic district. Natalie Harper is a wine exec in Archangel, California (shout out to readers of The Apple Orchard and The Beekeeper’s Ball). She never planned on taking over her mother’s beloved but struggling bookshop. She never planned…

Meet the Sisters in Jamie Beck’s If You Must Know Your newest series, Potomac Point, releases this week with If You Must Know. Please tell us about the sisters that are at the center of your novel.  Amanda is the middle child. She’s diligent, earnest, hard-working, and generous. She wants the people she loves to be happy and feel her love. Her weakness is a deep-seated insecurity—a sense that she is not interesting enough to be lovable. This leads her to overlook when she is being taken for granted because her need to be pleasing is omnipresent. Erin is the baby of the family and her late-father’s pet. She is outgoing, fun-loving, and views her average intelligence as a blessing (rather than lamenting that her siblings are smarter). She is willful and has her own way of moving through the world. The big weakness she has is her impulsiveness, whether with jobs or relationships. As she approaches her 30th birthday, she’s looking to mature and create a more stable life for herself. Arguably, Amanda has led a pretty charmed life – no real worries about money, no problems in her relationships, a big house, doting husband… Then her world comes crashing…

Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Jill! Please tell us about yourself and your new book, IT STARTED WITH A SECRET. Hello, hello, I’m Jill Mansell, this is my 32nd novel and I’ve now sold over 13 million copies of my books worldwide. This one will hopefully make readers laugh and cry and is set in Cornwall in the UK, so it’s a nice sunny seasidey read full of fun characters you’ll enjoy spending time with. Oh, and they all have secrets! You’ve been writing romantic comedies for a long time – what has changed the most since you started writing? The internet! Smartphones! My older books tend to have plots that revolve around not being able to find out details about people or to be able to make contact with them. Nowadays these problems can be solved in a split second, and it’s a complete nightmare for all authors of contemporary fiction. Plotting is far more tricky than it used to be. There’s such a thing as having access to too much information! One of my favorite things about your books is the huge cast of characters, each one with a distinct personality. How do you manage all of them? I…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  Careful What You Click For 2–What is it about?  Online dating. Four church members–in their quest for lust and love–do the unimaginable. Blinded by desire, the characters are determined to sex the lover of their choice. 3–What word best describes your heroine?  Fallible. 4–What makes your hero irresistible?  There is no hero in Careful What You Click For. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help? Loved ones. Law enforcers. In some instances, as church members and friends, they depend upon one another. In a particular situation, one character has no means to communicate with the outside world and must rely upon God to deliver him from evil. 6–What do you love about the setting of your book?  Atlanta, Georgia, is intriguing. Churchgoers and politicians often share the same bed. I enjoy taking the characters from Sunday service to the bar to show how Christians are sinners. 7–Are you a plotter (follow an outline) or a pantster (write by the seat of your pants)? I’m an artist first. My characters are real to me. I don’t like to get ahead of them and dictate their direction. I outline four chapters at…

Flora was ten minutes early. Did that matter? Nerves were jumping around in the pit of her belly, but she always felt that way before seeing Jack. A man striding past gave her a wide berth and she realized it was because she was smiling at nothing in particular. Feeling positive, she walked up the steps and rang the bell. One day, she promised herself, she was going to have a proper front door of her own. Maybe flanked by olive trees, or pots filled with trailing plants. Jack opened the door. He was wearing jeans, and his shirt was open at the neck. His feet were bare and there was a hint of shadow on his jaw. Here in his own domain, he seemed younger and more relaxed. “You found us okay?” His gaze connected with hers and she felt a searing flash of chemistry that almost knocked her off her feet. Feeling a little disorientated, she stepped into the house. His fingers brushed lightly against hers, sending a shimmer of heat coursing through her. For a wild moment she thought he was going to simply kick the door shut and drag her against him, but instead he closed…

Jen: What inspired your latest release, This Won’t End Well? Camille: For my fortieth birthday, my husband, two children, and I went to Paris. It was an amazing trip. We stayed in a magical apartment in Montmartre that had sweeping views of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. We couldn’t have found a bad meal if we tried, and we managed to do just enough sightseeing to make the most of the vacation without burning ourselves out. But eight days is a lot of family time–especially for a writer used to spending long stints alone in front of her computer. By the day after my birthday, I’d had so much togetherness that I felt like I couldn’t hear myself think. My husband, bless him, quickly realized this and volunteered to take our kids to a park on the Seine so I could go for a walk by myself. I was strolling along the river, thinking about what a feat it is to successfully manage relationships–even, or maybe especially, when they’re with the people you love most–when a single sentence popped into my head: Hello seems like such an innocuous word, but it’s really a portal to loss.  Which is, of course,…