Danielle Jackson: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Alexandria! COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS is a second chance romance (one of my favorite tropes). What were some of the challenges of writing this romance trope? What were your favorite parts of the process?   Alexandria Bellefleur:  Striking the right balance between informing the reader of Margot and Olivia’s past while not overwhelming them with backstory details proved a bit of a challenge! I didn’t want to rely on flashbacks so I tried to incorporate small memories into conversations to show how close they once were while also giving them opportunities to get to know the people they’ve become after ten years. I love the tension that’s inherent to the second-chance trope—Margot and Olivia have chemistry, they think it might be mutual but they second-guess the situation since it didn’t work out between them the first time around. They know how devastating it can be if it doesn’t work. That combination of tension and stakes was a lot of fun to play around with. Olivia is a wedding planner—what a wonderful occupation for a romance novel character! What kind of research did you do to get acclimated with the wedding industry?   I spent…

Danielle Jackson: Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, Mariah! We are happy to have you hear and celebrate the release of THE DATING DILEMMA with you. Before we chat about your book, I have to say—I love all of your TikTok and Instagram videos. They are so much fun! What do you think it is about romance writing that lends it so well to your videos? Do you have a couple of favorites you’ve made (feel free to link to them)?  Mariah Anekenman:  Thank you so much! I’m excited to be here and more excited to talk about my Tiktok addiction, lol. I have a background in theater and was raised by a professional clown so point me to an audience and I am geared up to entertain! My favorite thing about the romance genre is how vast it is. There’s a romance out there for everyone! So I like to include that in my videos and just celebrate the joy and inclusion of romance. Plus it’s always fun to take the hate this genre gets and turn it around into a celebration of success because as we all know romance is a billion-dollar industry, can’t get numbers like that unless you’re…

Danielle Jackson: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Lizzie! Congrats on the publication of YINKA, WHERE IS YOUR HUZBAND?. How does it feel to have your debut novel out in the world? Can you tell us about your journey into publishing?  Lizzie Damilola Blackburn: Thank you! It feels absolutely insane. (In a good way!) A few years back, no one, not even my other half had read YINKA, WHERE IS YOUR HUZBAND? in its entirety, so it’s kind of surreal that people, complete strangers, will now be reading it. It’s also very exciting because when I was writing YINK, I used to wander around bookstores and visualize my book on the shelves, and now, I’m a published author!  In terms of my journey to publication, it took me roughly five years. YINKA started off as a short story on a blog that I ran in 2014-15. The decision to turn it into a novel came after I met an incredible author called Jackie Ley. She felt as though the concept – a British Nigerian woman feeling the pressure to settle down – would make a brilliant novel. However, I had no formal writing experience, so I took on the challenge, blindly. As…

Danielle Jackson: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Chandra, and congrats on your debut novel, DIGGING UP LOVE! Can you tell us your “journey into publishing” story?   Chandra Blumberg: Thank you, Danielle! I always dreamed of becoming an author, but for a long time, I bought into the mistaken belief that writing wasn’t a viable career and getting a book published was as unlikely as hitting the lottery. While I continued to write—mostly short stories and essays I never planned to show anyone—I didn’t seek publication until a few years ago. I started off writing parenthood essays and was in the midst of querying a non-fiction humor manuscript about motherhood when the March 2020 pandemic shutdown hit. At that point, with all the uncertainty in the world and the chaos of a family of six living in quarantine, I was ready to switch gears from writing about my daily life and delve back into fiction. I drafted DIGGING UP LOVE during the covid shutdown as an escape of sorts and got so much joy from spending time with my characters and story. The adage about writing the book you want to read really held true for me. I took what I’d…

Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Radhika, and congrats on the publication of your book, 30 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MYSELF! The concept of this book is so much fun and follows a woman on a journey of self-discovery and self-love (and acceptance). Where did the inspiration for this novel begin?   It came from my own life! I went on a self-love journey a few years back, in my late twenties, after I had a break-up with the person I thought I’d marry – just like Nina does. It was a really difficult time, but I believe that it’s from the lows that we really grow and evolve, and from then on, my life completely changed for the better. I made a conscious effort to love myself, to ditch my negative self-talk for positivity, and as time went on, I realized I was suddenly thriving in my career, my personal life, and most importantly, with myself. The whole journey was so interesting and funny and hard and important all at once that I knew I wanted to write about it. I decided to turn it into a novel so I could explore a character going on a self-love journey, but also…

Jen: THE ATTIC ON QUEEN STREET is the seventh and final book in the Tradd Street series. How did you arrive at the premise? Karen: The best part of a series is that it’s basically one long book with multiple plot lines that get resolved throughout the series.  Since I knew THE ATTIC ON QUEEN STREET would be the last, I knew that for the first time that loose ends weren’t a possibility.  Every single unanswered question, mystery, plot, character arc had to come to a complete resolution.  And, of course, the conclusion of the major cliffhanger at the end of the previous book, THE CHRISTMAS SPIRITS ON TRADD STREET.  This gave me the main guide I needed for this book’s premise.  The second, but equally important guide, was the spin-off series that will follow the Tradd Street Series.  Nola Trenholm will be the main protagonist, as will a new character, Beau Ryan, who is introduced in The Attic on Queen Street.  Beau is from New Orleans which is where the new series will be set, and there is a lot of mystery surrounding him and his family.  This is why at the end of the book, Nola is headed…

Danielle: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Carrie! We are thrilled to have you here. Can you tell us about your new series, Sea Spray Island, that starts with your latest release, CELEBRATION AT CHRISTMAS COVE?  Carrie: The books in my Sea Spray Island series are humorous, heartwarming holiday romances set on an island where the scenery is gorgeous, the townspeople are quirky, and the heroes and heroines are definitely not looking for love…but they’re finding it anyway!  Celeste is still grieving the loss of her mother and had plans to spend Christmas in the Caribbean, but her plans are thwarted, and she ends up on a small Massachusetts island. What do you think readers can take away or learn from Celeste’s predicaments in this novel?   Without giving too much of the plot away, I hope readers will connect with Celeste’s experience of believing she knows exactly what she wants in life until she encounters obstacles that force her to consider other possibilities she might not have imagined for herself.   Nathan is also dealing with loss, and he wants the holiday season to be very special for his daughter, Abigail. When he meets Celeste, he’s unsure if he’s ready for…

Danielle: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Kerry! Congrats on the release of your debut novel, THE WEDDING RINGER! I’d love to know more about your publishing journey.   Kerry: Thanks so much, Danielle! THE WEDDING RINGER is actually the third novel I’ve written. I wrote my first manuscript in 2015, and it lives in a desk drawer that shall never see the light of day. In 2017, I wrote a women’s fiction manuscript and entered the mentorship program Pitch Wars, where I was selected as a mentee and spent a few months working with romance author Melissa West. After Pitch Wars, I queried that manuscript but didn’t land an agent. I did, however, learn a great deal about plotting, story structure, and pacing. In 2019, I wrote the manuscript that would become THE WEDDING RINGER and entered Pitch Wars again. This time, I was mentored by women’s fiction author Susan Bishop Crispell, who helped me expand on the book’s emotional depth by adding more of the protagonist Willa’s internal reactions and using characters’ physical actions to convey emotion.  After the Pitch Wars agent round, I found myself with multiple offers of agent representation. I’d dreamed for years of an agent requesting a…

Danielle: Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, Karen! We are so excited to have you here. It’s a bittersweet day, because the last book in the Tradd Street series, THE ATTIC ON QUEEN STREET, has finally arrived. What has writing this series meant to you? How do you think you’ve changed during the course of writing about Tradd Street?   Karen:   The idea for the series began in 2005—sixteen years ago!  A lot can happen in sixteen years.  My children, then 13 and 11, have gone through high school, college, and grad school (lots of graduations!) and are now launched into adulthood with one wedding on the horizon.  We acquired two dogs, and lost one, remodeled our kitchen, bathrooms, and pretty much everything else, and bought a beach house.  We survived a pandemic and I inherited the care of my elderly parents.  All this while writing all seven books in the series plus nineteen other books and a chapter in an anthology.  I’m not sure I slept very much! I had never written a series before, and when the idea first hit me, I knew immediately it had to be set in a Southern city filled with lots of history, gorgeous architecture and, of course,…

Danielle Jackson: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Rhys! We are so happy to have you here to chat about your long-running series, Royal Spyness. What are some of your favorite things about writing about Lady Georgiana and all of the mysteries she gets involved in?   Rhys Bowen:  I have become so fond of these characters, it’s rather like going back to a high school reunion and reconnecting with old friends. And who wouldn’t want the chance to spend time with the royal family and eccentric aristocrats? The newest book, GOD REST YE, ROYAL GENTLEMEN, is a holiday mystery novel! Did you do anything fun to get in the mood while writing a Christmas novel? Were there any unforeseen challenges writing a mystery with some added holiday cheer?  I was actually writing this last October to December so it was a good time of year as the stores already had all their Christmas items. Also, I usually spend my winters in Arizona where it isn’t cold and Christmassy. Because of Covid, I stayed home in California so there were cold winds and occasional rain. It would have been harder to write it in July. The big challenge about writing a holiday mystery…