Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
J.J.A. Harwood | 20 Questions: THE SHADOW IN THE GLASS
Author Guest / May 6, 2021

1–What is the title of your latest release? My latest release is called THE SHADOW IN THE GLASS. It’s my debut novel and I’m very excited! 2–What is it about? It’s a dark retelling of Cinderella which I’ve set in Victorian London. If you like your fairy tales dark and you’ve always been a bit suspicious of all those fairy godmothers who go around handing out magic for free, then this is the book for you! 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  Victorian London is full of contrasts and contradictions all crammed into one city – you’d find fabulous wealth right next to abject poverty. And of course, it’s full of gothic potential. All those flickering lights and spooky old houses are such fun to write about! 4–How did your main character(s) surprise you?  Eleanor is one of those characters who’s very good at twisting things around so that it doesn’t seem like anything that happens is her fault. Even when I was writing her, I was surprised just how far she ended up going! 5–Why will readers relate to your characters?  One of Eleanor’s biggest goals in the novel is to make a better life…

Emily R. King | 20 Questions: WINGS OF FURY
Author Guest / March 25, 2021

What is the title of your latest release? WINGS OF FURY What is it about? It’s a new tale inspired by ancient Greek mythology. Fans of both CIRCE by Madeline Miller and WONDER WOMAN will make the acquaintance of Althea Lambros, a young woman who must fight both with—and against— the gods to save her family. Althea’s world is ruled by Cronus, the God of Gods, whose inheritance is the world and women, his playthings. He takes mortal women as prizes and discards them when he’s through. No woman dares to defy him. After her mother is taken from her and dies as a result of Cronus’s cruelty, Althea is determined not to suffer the same fate as so many women before her. To honor the dying wish of her mother, Althea promises to take care of her sisters no matter the cost. Following the vision that has been revealed to her by the Fates—that she will crush the Almighty and free the world from his terror—Althea travels to the southern isle of Crete, where women who seek refuge from Cronus live hidden among the exalted Boy God. The Boy God, Zeus, the only son of Cronus, is believed by…

Alexia A. Chamberlynn | Playing with Your Creative Passions
Author Guest / December 23, 2020

It’s both a blessing and a curse to have two big passions in life. That’s been me from a very early age. I wrote my first story about a girl getting a pony for Christmas when I was six (not in ANY way meant to manipulate my parents into getting said pony). I tried to write my first novel when I was twelve, also about a girl and a horse. After that, my writing strayed into the fantasy lane, with a horse making a cameo here and there. Until I had the idea a few years back to write a fantasy western. And to make that fantasy western a feminist twist on the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Fast forward to today. A WAR OF DAISIES, the first book of seven in the Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse series, released in late October. It has been a super fun ride (pun intended) combining my two passions into one. I even got really crazy and decided to star in my own book trailer with my horse Max. In it, we portray Death and her pale horse. It made perfect sense when the idea popped into my head – I mean, I…

Barbara Barnett | My Five Favorite Locations in ALCHEMY OF GLASS
Author Guest / April 22, 2020

Hi everyone! Like the first book in the series, the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Apothecary’s Curse, Alchemy of Glass features some very cool settings. Especially since the novel weaves together several narrative threads into a provocative braid. The Ravines north of Chicago One of my favorite places since I was a kid, the Ravines are a twisty series of deep chasms and bluffs along the Lake Michigan shoreline about 20 miles north of downtown Chicago. Laced with beautiful vistas of the lake and graceful mansions, this area is especially compelling and mysterious when the wind blows off the lake, creating waves that seem more Santa Monica than Chicago. Simon Bell’s Victorian mansion, now occupied by molecular geneticist Dr. Anne Shawe, is along this stretch of shoreline is about 100 feet above a rocky beachhead. Gaelan Erceldoune’s Apothecary Shop In Alchemy of Glass, Gaelan has only just moved into the apothecary, as this part of the novel takes place eleven years before the events of The Apothecary’s Curse. Gaelan has moved from an affluent section of London into the squalor of Smithfield to tend to resident who have no other medical options as gentleman physicians would dare not dirty their hands in…

Richard A. Knaak | Top 5 Unexpected Twists
Author Guest / March 27, 2019

It should be no surprise to both readers and writers that often a story will take turns not originally expected by the author. I’ve had this happen, but never so much as with my BLACK CITY SAINT series. Here, then, are the five that caught me most off-guard. 1) Minor characters who refused to be so minor – It’s nice to have a world populated by more than just the main characters. Each novel has its share of minor ones who, hopefully, give it more depth. One of the earliest was Barnaby, who was meant to be someone who Nick had helped, and so provided him with occasional transportation. Then I began to think about why Barnaby had needed Nick’s help, which brought in another supposedly minor character — Joseph, Barnaby’s son, and a very bad egg who had run afoul of Nick. Suddenly, the history of this pair turned the storyline I was working on in an utterly different direction. Joseph’s secret involvement with the Wingfoot Express airship disaster and how Barnaby now sought to help his son, currently a resident of the Dunning mental facility, have become essential elements of the series. 2) History lending a hand to…