Liliana lay in bed wide awake. She’d been laying there for hours, unable to sleep for some reason. The problem wasn’t memories this time. Something felt . . . wrong. At midnight, she’d checked with the doorman to make sure everything was okay downstairs. He’d politely told her everything was fine but had seemed confused. Or maybe he’d thought she was crazy. Finally, she got out of bed, went over to the windows, and looked out over the darkened city. Her thoughts turned toward God, asking him to make sure everything worked out all right. What that “everything” was she had no idea. The elevator dinged. That has to be Meric coming home. She walked out of her bedroom as he was walking off the elevator. The shadows were too thick to be able to see details, but she recognized the way he moved. He glanced at her and hesitated, just for a second. Then he turned and headed toward his room. Relieved to see him home, she shifted to step back into her room. Then she noticed something was off about the way he walked. Meric closed his door with a quiet click. She walked past the living and dining rooms…

My husband and I have this long-standing disagreement. He likes names like John and Jane—literally the more boring the better. I, however, like something with some interest. While I have to work with him on naming our baby, I don’t have to give a hoot what he thinks about my character names! I am a collector of names. I have files in my phone for girl names, boy names, and surnames. Whenever I come across something interesting, I add it to the list and then pull my character names from there. Side characters usually have something I like but not one of my top favorites, except when I have a theme going. In NEVER MISS, which is a Christian romantic suspense book releasing from Revell on May 4, 2021, my female main character’s family all has names related to combat and fortification, which is fitting for a family of snipers. Their last name is Tolle simply because I’ve always liked that name. Bastion – her father Redan – her uncle, Bastion’s brother Caponier – her cousin Ravelin – her cousin The male character’s parents’ names are more personal. Lee Vaile is his father. Lee is my father’s middle name, and…