I love the chance to get to explore fun settings in my fiction. That’s one of the reasons OUT OF TEMPER: Bean to Bar Mysteries Book 3 is set Aboard a cruise ship. The ship in my fictional cruise line is sailing out of Galveston, from the terminal just down the street from where I placed Felicity’s shop. In the book, she’s still active in her role as chocolate maker: this time she’s been asked to do demos of her work aboard the ship. I’ve been on a number of cruises, even done enrichment lectures aboard ships myself. And there are so many things that make me want to go back. Here’s my top 10. 10–Eggs Benedict. Because I’m not going to get up early enough to make Hollandaise for myself at home. I’ve found Eggs Benedict on the breakfast menu of every ship I’ve been on. (Though I’ve by no means been on all cruise lines, so your mileage may vary.) The fictional cruise line in my book offers a Texas-themed menu, so Felicity gets Chicken Fried Steak Benedict. 9–Shore excursions! You never know where you will be able to go. (Bonus: It is always warm in the Caribbean.)…
In February 1987, I was thriving. I was performing in local Seattle clubs to promote my new album and researching a historical fiction novel based on the life of Joan of Arc. I was in love. But then I got a headache that wouldn’t go away. Throbbing pain made me nauseous. Over the course of a week, my vision morphed from tones of sepia brown to black nothingness, and I became blind in one eye. There were blood tests, spinal taps, and visits with doctors tapping my joints with rubber mallets. How many fingers do you see? And then the final, fateful test with an ophthalmologist who didn’t mince words. See those white spots? I squinted with my good eye at the black and white Seurat image of my brain. You definitely have Multiple Sclerosis. I took a sobbing breath, already knowing my world would never be the same. The headache morphed and moved throughout my body, a wolf chewing my arm, a knife stabbing my back. But, eventually, I discovered a hidden secret. Extreme pain left me with the most significant, most liberating gift the universe could ever give –the realization that I had nothing left to lose. I…
I’m often asked about my writing routine. How I write. When I write. Where the ideas come from and how I get each one onto the page. For me, ideas have never been a problem. I have too many most of the time. The trick is deciding which ones I connect with most. My characters help me with that when they show up and start talking. The loudest, most determined one always gets the most airtime inside my head, invading my creative bubble so insistently I can no longer ignore them. Sometimes, it makes for a chaotic start to my day! One thing for sure, though, remains consistent about my writing routine. I’m a morning person, pure and simple. So when I tell people I get up at 5 AM, seven days a week, to write, I am invariably treated to incredulous looks and even a few “Are you crazy?” comments. Maybe I am. Then again, maybe I’m just the right amount. My imagination is alive early in the day. From the moment I open my eyes, the story I’m writing comes to life inside my mind and characters take shape and form. There’s just something about a quiet house…
My first book in the Enchanted Rock Series was GOODBYE, LARK LOVEJOY. With its many characters, the novel provided threads to pull from later when I began writing the future books in the series. Of those, Sissie Klein was a minor character, married to a man who, to put this kindly, was confused about his commitments and priorities. Although her role in the first novel was that of a supporting character, Sissie whispered to me, “I have a story, too.” I considered how easily we make assumptions about relationships from the outside, asking: Why is she/he with her/him? How did they get together? What keeps them in the relationship? What’s keeping them from leaving? So I gave it a whirl, writing Sissie’s story in first-person because I wanted to see what Sissie saw, hear her thoughts, and sense her emotions. I sat with her when she learned she was pregnant. I feared for her newborn daughter’s fragile health, and I grieved when her marriage hit the rocks. Sissie taught me a thing or two about assumptions, but that’s not all I learned while writing this novel: Everyone has a story. Don’t overlook the possibilities of the quiet girl at the…
Hi everyone, I’m A.J. Locke, author of the upcoming urban fantasy novel, MAGIC DARK, MAGIC DIVINE with Entangled Publishing. Today I thought I’d share a fun interview with my four main characters, Pennrae, Callan, Gideon, and Toji, as a way of introducing them so you can get to know what they’re like before you meet them on the page. The answers they give don’t just pull from the book either! You’ll learn tidbits about them here that don’t echo in the novel, so it’s a great bit of insight into who they are as well as what their relationships with each other are like. I hope you enjoy getting to know my crew a bit. Q1: Give one word to describe the others Penn: Oh, this should be good… Gideon: Unflattering descriptions will be heckled. Toji: Gideon is one of the most fiercely caring people I know. Penn is unfathomably protective of those she cares about. I don’t know Callan very well yet, but he has to be strong if Penn has him by her side. Callan: I definitely need my strength. She throws a mean punch… Penn: Watch it before one really comes your way. Gideon: Me next! Toji,…
Body Positive is a term I’ve been hearing a lot lately. That could be because I just wrote my first-ever #OwnVoices YA romance. It’s called CUPCAKE, and it features a teen girl named Ariel who is an amazing baker, movie addict, and a reluctant princess when she is nominated onto her high school’s Homecoming Court. She also just happens to be plus-size. That ‘just happens to be’ is actually very important to the book. When I was growing up, there weren’t a lot of stories—either in film or literature—that had characters who are plus-size, let alone ones that were happy in their own skin. Ariel (aka Cupcake) loves herself as she is. She loves her body. She’s a healthy teenager with a healthy relationship to food. That self-love, though it may waiver slightly, is the beginning and end of everything. When I sat down to write this list, I knew that there still wasn’t a lot of representation of plus-size characters—especially in YA. But I also realized that several of my favorite movies/books on this list may be body positive—but they typically feature main characters who struggle with their weight for most (if not all) of the story and are…
I’ve written nearly a dozen Christmas stories and the challenge for each of them is writing something new and different. From lost and found reindeer to Highland kilts and mystery and romantic suspense, to billionaire wolves, white wolves, red wolves, SEAL wolves, and even jaguars, I’ve enjoyed giving them the holidays to look forward to. I think the hardest part for me is figuring out what people should get for Christmas. I have the same problem with picking out gifts for family and friends. When they have a Christmas wish list, I do much better. Wouldn’t it be neat if the characters in my stories all had Christmas wish lists too? It would make my life so much easier! I have lived in the south or in moderate climates for most of my life: Florida, Texas, California, so snow isn’t usually a big issue in the winter. Though with the weirder weather we’re getting, who knows what the future will bring. In the Houston area, we had temperatures in the teens for a week last year, breaking all records and we had lots of snow too. But I’ve also lived in places where we’ve had regular snowstorms—got stuck in them,…
OBJECT LESSONS was inspired by an eccentric Chicago heiress named Frances Glessner Lee. In the 1940’s, Lee designed 18 miniature models of crime scenes to train police investigators. Built to the scale of one inch to one foot, and complete with tiny victims, Lee’s dioramas are enigmas begging to be solved. Here are Lily Sparks’ favorites: 1: Three-Room Dwelling: Robert and Kate Judson, and their baby Linda Mae, are shot to death in their tidy little house. Their phone is off the hook, the table’s set for breakfast, the murder weapon—a rifle—is on the kitchen floor, and both doors are locked from inside. 2: Attic: Miss Jessie Comptom, a spinster, hangs from a rafter in her attic. Old letters and other relics of her past are scattered beneath her. One shoe dangles from her foot; its mate is on the stairs. 3: Dark Bathroom: Maggie Wilson lies face-up in a bathtub in a rooming house. Fully clothed, she appears to have fallen in backward. She had two male visitors that night, and there’s a liquor bottle on the floor. 4: Kitchen: Mrs. Robin Barnes lies on her kitchen floor. The stove’s gas jets are open, and her face has a rosy…
I would be willing to bet that everything you think you know about queer history is wrong. Actually, I would be willing to bet that you were never taught queer history to begin with, especially not in school. So how is it possible that there is an entire, emerging and thriving sub-genre of Historical Romance about a part of History that never existed? Because love has always been love, no matter what a small handful of historians writing in the mid-20th-century might have wanted people to believe. What’s this? Historians are biased in the way they interpret and report History? They’ve swept a bunch of details under the carpet to advance a particular narrative that denigrates an entire demographic? No! Say it ain’t so! In fact, it’s true. The notion that, prior to the Stonewall Riots of 1969, all gay men were closeted, ashamed of themselves, isolated, and that they would be instantly put to death if they came out is a deliberate distortion, sold to the public by people with an agenda. The truth is that homosexuality in all its forms has been much more widely accepted throughout history than most of us were taught. Actual, academic historians like…
In SLEIGH BELLS RING, Amber Evans is the maid of honor for her best friend Samantha Darling, and Kip Covington is the best man for Nathan Snow. Amber and Kip have been at odds for a year, trying to outdo each other in every aspect of wedding plans. Now that it is their job to plan the bachelor and bachelorette parties, they can’t agree on a theme. Kip oversteps his bounds and invites them all to a joined party at his couples’ ski resort in Vermont. The bride and groom and thrilled, so Amber has no choice but to go along with the plans. That got me thinking about bachelor and bachelorette parties. I’ve been married for thirty-two years, so I haven’t been to a bachelorette party or thought about one in quite some time. In doing research for this book, I was amazed at the themes that are out there now, from wild to flat-out crazy. Here are my top ten favorite ones: A Friends-Themed Bachelorette Party You can arrange your very own Central Perk inside your bachelorette pad with a Friends-themed bachelorette. You can send the coffee mugs home with guests as favors, after your Instagram shoot. You…