I had cheesecake for breakfast this morning. Completely self-indulgent, right? Not on the diet at all, let alone for breakfast. Saturday morning PSA cartoons really did teach me better than this. But it was integral to my writing process. It’s working cheesecake. Really. As writers, we’re told to include all five senses in our descriptions. Sight and sound come pretty naturally. Touch, well, I dare you to write a romance novel without it. Smell is supposed to be one of the most emotionally evocative senses, something about the olfactory part of the brain being close the memory storage unit… or something. But cheesecake is making me think about taste. To read more about food in books, and to comment for a chance to win a copy of Rosemary’s newest release please click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

If you live in the United States then this is perhaps a holiday weekend for you. It is for me, and I’ve been looking forward to it with much anticipation. Ideally I would spend the weekend lounging with a book, but I’m sure my reality is going to be much different. I have no real plans. My youngest son might wish to compete in a local bowling tournament, but I don’t know if he wants to or not. The last time we discussed it he was rather non committal. He does have an appointment with the eye doctor, but that’s the only thing carved in stone in my appointment calendar. I would like to get my house clean, but that’s something that’s usually accomplished when I don’t have people looking over my shoulder as to what I’m dejunking, so reading sounds like a nice staycation escape.. To read more about Sandi’s Labor Day plans, and to enter the weekend only contest click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

One of my pet peeves are the drug commercials on TV that show happy, smiling people who seem totally oblivious to the Voice Of Doom in the background that’s listing all the dire side-effects of whatever they took to get them that happy. So…I got to thinking that nobody warned me before I started to write. No, I just hauled out a typewriter (yes, it was that long ago) and started pounding away. By the time I graduated to a computer, I’d noticed all kinds of side-effects. As a public service, I thought I’d list a few: Symptom: Writing can be hazardous to your health. Long hours spent at the keyboard can lead to eye fatigue, joint fatigue and a whopping case of secretarial spread. Treatment: To relieve eye strain from writing, ensure your computer has several solitaire games, which should be practiced regularly for medicinal purposes. To combat joint fatigue, get a swivel chair or even better, a desk with plenty of interesting things in the drawers that you can take out and play with. Tape dispensers are ideal, as are pens with flowers on the ends. As far as secretarial spread, accept the inevitable and get a bigger…

This week I’m listening to The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews, and while listening one term really struck me. The term was empty literary calories. It was used in reference to tabloids such as The National Enquirer. but I got to wondering if some people might not use it when thinking about romance or other genres which they don’t wish to read themselves. I’m confident that there are people out there who look down upon those people who read anything that is not necessarily thought of as the GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL. It’s my personal belief that reading is wonderful regardless of what the reader is reading. My family is not compromised of readers, but when my son asks for a strategy guide for a video game I’m eager to comply, because after all doesn’t he have to read it to get the information he is after? To weigh in on the discussion click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

August 18, 2009 Day fifteen of the blog tour TORTURED, erotic medieval, Harlequin Spice, Aug.’09-Amanda McIntyre) See the book trailer at: TORTURED. (Available now, Harlequin Spice, Aug. ’09) “How did you come up with this idea?” This is probably the question I have been asked most since this book was released. It’s a bit darker than normal for me, but it is also a love story, laced with hot scenes, drama, villains, mystery and more. To read more about how Amanda came up with the idea for Tortured and to enter the one day contest click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

FAKING IT! Raise your hand—who loves designer purses? We all do. They’re gorgeous, glamorous and desirable—and they look like they cost a million bucks. But wait—you see them in discount stores and on street vendors’ tables.  Why? Because many of those hot-looking bags are phony. Ever wonder where those knock-offs come from? And who’s getting rich? And biggest question of all—how they sell obvious knock-offs without taking heat from the authorities? In life and love, how do you tell the real thing? Charlotte McNally #3MiraSeptember 2009On Sale: September 1, 2009Featuring: Charlotte McNally288 pages ISBN: 0778327191EAN: 9780778327196Mass Market PaperbackAmazon Charlie McNally is hot on the trail of knock-off purses in this action-packed mystery. I’ve spent the last thirty years chasing good stories—and I knew this was a great one! As an investigative reporter in Boston, I went in disguise and undercover to explore the world of counterfeit couture—and the behind-the-scenes business of high-fashion fakes. I also learned some of the secret ways you can recognize the real from the rip-off. We talked to investigators specially trained by the designers to scout out what’s real and what’s fake. They have elaborate manuals chock full of trade secrets, revealing the actual number of…

Though I’m a devoted fan of the vampire tale, you wouldn’t know it by how few books I’ve read in the genre. That’s because I’m very picky. I’m looking for a vampire story with certain elements: 1) No whiny vampires 2) No mandatory killing of food, because it puts a serious damper on sexual interaction related to feeding. 3) No holds barred on the eroticism. To learn more about the type of vampire story that Joey W. Hill likes and to comment in the one day contest click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

I think it’s time to share a deep dark secret about me. I don’t as a general rule keep books, and I don’t re-read. I do have a fairly healthy collection of autographed books, and therefore have developed “keepers”. If I have read that book which is autographed it gets noted in my list of read books, but it doesn’t get re-read. To be truthful I don’t see the appeal of keeping books, and re-reading. I have an embarrassingly large TBR pile because I’m not like many of my friends who can read a book or two a day. Therefore I’m not really in danger of running out of books. Then let us consider the fact that while many authors are retiring, or losing contracts there are still new books being published that yell out read me on a regular basis. Why would I re-read something I’ve read, when there is something new to be discovered. To read more about Sandi Shilhanek’s deep dark secret and for a chance to enter our weekend only contest click here Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

I’ve written eleven novels, and each one has been both joy and challenge. My latest thriller, Trust Me, was no different in that regard. I have found, though, that many readers and new or aspiring authors don’t know about the Five Things that happen once the book is done and on the shelves. These are the time-tested elements that you must brace yourself (and possibly your loved ones and your readers for) when you reach out and pluck down the finished book off the shelf: You will remember some tiny bit of obscure research that you forgot to include. Oh, the hours you spent tracking down the correct serial numbers for a Belgian sniper rifle, or Ivan the Terrible’s underwear size, or the exact farm-to- market road your heroine would drive to reach Blooming Grove, Texas. And scanning over your scene, you realize that the tidbit is NOT THERE. How could this be? It must be the copyeditor struck it out and you didn’t notice. Or maybe you realized you didn’t need said tidbit because it slowed down the story and so like a reasonable person you took it out. But you don’t remember making that edit. Don’t worry. You…

Well, it’s been an interesting week. Work on my new David Hunter novel was temporarily suspended for a sudden flurry of publicity. Which makes a welcome break, to be honest, and gets me away from my desk. But I’ve discovered that one of the side effects of writing about a forensic anthropologist – someone who spends much of his working life with the not-so recently dead – is that you do get some unusual requests. Which was how I came to be in an abandoned cemetery at dusk one evening, posing for photographs in the pouring rain for a German newspaper. Want to know more about Simon Beckett’s photo experiences click here Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.