Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Carly Phillips | Feeling Lucky?
Uncategorized / June 2, 2009

Everybody fantasizes about going to Las Vegas and winning big. And certainly, we’ve all seen the “Whatever Happens …” TV commercials and secretly wished we were experiencing the spontaneity and frenzy of Sin City shown in these ads. Excitement and luck run rampant there. Everywhere you turn, someone or something is beckoning to you to try your LUCK! Mike Corwin, the second Corwin cousin heads to the gambling capital for just such an experience, but will the infamous Corwin Curse that has plagued the males in his family for generations follow him? Or will he end up on a lucky streak that lasts a lifetime? This is the premise of my newest novel and the second book in my “Lucky” series, LUCKY STREAK. And sometimes, thankfully, luck pays off for me! I definitely don’t like to presume good things will happen, I like to hope. I’m afraid of jinxing something. Can you really do that? I rarely tempt fate. But it’s an interesting concept, isn’t it? Luck? LUCK is fickle. And yet many of us believe. When I ask myself why, I realize it’s because of HOPE. It’s the possibility that Lady Luck will step in and pick us up…

Susan Mallery | What do our characters wish for?
Uncategorized / June 1, 2009

In the last hours before college graduation, I was saved from life as an accountant by a continuing education course titled “How to Write a Romance Novel.” Not that there’s anything wrong with being an accountant. It’s just that, for me, the infinite realm of numbers couldn’t possibly compare to the infinite realm of characters. Numbers can’t surprise you by making bad decisions. Numbers don’t have quirks that make you laugh. (Except for 43,770. For some reason, 43,770 cracks me up every time.) But “infinite” can feel overwhelming to a writer facing a blank page, and I’m always on the lookout for a new tool to get to know my characters better. I think I found one in Debbie Macomber’s wonderful book, Twenty Wishes. Anne Marie, a young widow, is stuck in a rut of grief and decides to make a list of twenty wishes, hoping this will give her something to look forward to and will restore her positive outlook on life. The bubble wrap popping scene is a hoot! I want to have a party like that. What would I learn, I wondered, if I did this exercise from the point of view of my characters? What new…

Karin Tabke | Bouncing Off the Walls!
Romance / May 27, 2009

If someone doesn’t glue me down soon I’m going to hurt myself. Why all the extra energy? Lot’s of reasons. Despite this economic downturn and the lull in publishing, romance has not only survived, it’s thriving! Take that, literary snobs! Okay, that isn’t nice, but it’s how I feel. Would someone please tell me what is so bad about losing yourself in a passionate love story? One that ends with a Happily Ever After? Hot heroes to die for, heroines we’d like to befriend and that warm fuzzy feeling we get when we read The End. How can anyone have issues with that? Not me, and I don’t defend romance either. I blow off the snarky comments with a shrug of my shoulders and a suggestion to the naysayer that perhaps they might want professional help to deal with that cynical chip on their shoulder. Okay, maybe that is a wee bit defensive, but it’s true! Click here to read the rest of Karin’s blog and to leave a comment. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Alexandra Benedict | The Reunion Romance
Uncategorized / May 14, 2009

For me, the main appeal of a reunion romance is the prospect of getting a second chance at love. Have you ever wondered “if only …?” or “I wish I had known then what I know now”? Time and experience seasons us, and the reunion romance offers characters the opportunity to right past wrongs. As an author, writing a reunion romance can be fun (I get to start off with the passion and emotion), but it can also be challenging as the lead characters already know each other; there’s no “getting to know you” period, for the hero and heroine already share a history. I, then, have to inform the reader about the characters’ pasts, weave their time together “off stage” into the central story. In the end, the effort is worthwhile. Click here to read the rest of Alexandra’s blog and to leave a comment. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Stephanie Bond | How to Refill Your Creative Well
Uncategorized / May 12, 2009

I’m coming off a crazy-hard writing year where I wrote 3 manuscripts for my BODY MOVERS humorous mystery series so they could be released back to back. I also wrote 3 manuscripts for Harlequin Blaze, (romantic comedies), also for back to back release. And I wrote 2 manuscripts for novellas. The schedule tested me physically and mentally, and afterward, I confess, I was zapped. My brain was mush—I could barely remember the names of the characters I’d written, much less come up with something new. But I had more projects on the horizon (after a short break), so I knew I had to do something to recharge my batteries. Here are some tips to regain your creativity if you’re in a slump: Adjust your Zzzzzzzs. Physically, you need to adjust your sleep patterns up or down to get 7-8 hours sleep. I got way too little sleep most of last year, so now I’m making an effort to go to bed an hour earlier. Conversely, though, too much sleep can leave you feeling lethargic, so if you’ve gotten into the habit of sleeping in, you might want to set your alarm to get up a little earlier and get a…

Amy J. Fetzer | The Challenge of Writing a Series
Uncategorized / May 1, 2009

Jack of all trades… A master of none? Well not quite. I don’t consider myself a master of anything, even writing novels. Each one is challenge. I’ve written 36 books in about five subgenres of romance; Historical, historical time travel & paranormal, Desires, Intrigues, even a Bombshell, but my favorite to date is my romantic thrillers, Dragon One. The idea for Dragon One arrived in a hotel room at RWA national with my roommate, Maureen Child and one of those black and white speckled notebooks. Writing about Marines had to wait until my husband retired, otherwise, the Public Affairs Office had to read and approve anything I wrote. Not going to happen. Yet being the daughter, wife and mother of Marines, the advantage of living around predominantly men my entire life is I know them. I’m not saying I’ve figured men out, but I understand how military men will react to the most common events. The rest, I make it up. It doesn’t hurt to sleep with your source, either. =) Click to read the rest of Amy’s blog, comment and enter her blog contest. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Kathryne Kennedy | What type of shape-shifter are you?
Uncategorized / April 28, 2009

A reader commented that after finishing one of my books, she started looking at people differently. Started noticing that many people reminded her of certain animals. And then she had fun guessing what type of shape-shifter they might be. So let me back up for a moment. My Victorian fantasy romance series, The Relics Of Merlin, features all shorts of shape-shifters. In Enchanting the Lady, my hero is a were-lion. In Double Enchantment, my hero is a were-stallion and his sister is a were-swan. In my newest release, Enchanting the Beast, the hero is a were-wolf, and my heroine’s assistant is a were-snake. Click to read the rest of Kathryne’s blob and to leave a comment. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Sara Reyes | Adventures in World Building, or Let This World Go!
Saturdays with Sara / April 25, 2009

Books I read this week, all good for me: Buy Your Copy todayOrder Your Copy todayPre-order Your Copy today This week it seems everyone’s been talking about “series” or “trilogies” or “quartets” or something implying a bunch of books all taking place in a world created by an author. Not necessarily one in outer space, but it can be. Or it could be a historical world, as in Mary Balogh‘s Regency period, or it could be contemporary-historical-futuristic hybrid, as in Jayne Ann Krentz‘s “Arcane Society”. Or it could be international as in Karen Kendall‘s “Take Me” world. It could be contemporary with paranormal flavors such as Christine Feehan‘s “Drake Sisters. Or thrilling contemporary as in Alison Brennan‘s “Prison Break.” Each author manages to create a “universe,” populates it, makes a set of rules and then invites us in to enjoy. Recently some favorite authors seem to be forced into making a series instead of sticking to what they do best — write a self contained world for a single book. One of our topics of book club conversation is that some authors are very good at “world building” and others not-so-much. We are talking about really good and favorite authors…

Tina Leonard | MAKING LISTS
Uncategorized / April 15, 2009

I love lists. I am a list-maker, a list-keeper, a doodling scribe of anything on any surface. My kids have picked up a dinner napkin as we left a restaurant because I had jotted a few ideas down on the paper. Bless their hearts, they were afraid to leave behind one of Mom’s Big Ideas. Lists keep me organized, make me aware of how much I get done in a day or not done as life may have it. I also love bestseller lists, especially when one of my books or a friend’s book makes its way onto the hallowed spaces. Recently, my four-book series, The Morgan Men, was fortunate enough to make a few lists, one book being first on the eharlequin.com list, and another staying on same list for about eighteen days in various spots. Throw in a Waldenbooks/Borders list for three weeks in a row for my March book—culminating in the #2 spot in the third week!–and I began to ponder the scattered good fortune in the universe. (Remember, I am a student of listing—I try to figure out these random occurrences, whether or not I can find an answer being irrelevant). Greater minds than mine have…

Leigh Greenwood | Series, Series, Series
Uncategorized / April 13, 2009

I didn’t set out to write series. I fell into it by accident. I was watching the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers with my younger son about twenty years ago. We didn’t pay much attention. He was eight and preferred trying to wrestle his father to watching a musical even though it was his idea to watch the movie together. (Since he’s never watched a musical before or since, Providence’s hand must have been at work.) After it was over, I thought that seven brothers looking for wives would make a good idea for a series, never dreaming it would turn out to be an idea for me. Sometime later, I realized I had a group of brothers in my head. I didn’t know where they’d come from or why they were there, but they were remarkably well defined. A little bemused, I asked my agent what I should do about them. She suggested that I write a proposal, let her send it out, and see that happened. Thus was born the Seven Brides series. A John Wayne movie, The Cowboys, gave me the idea for my The Cowboys series. He recruited schoolboys to help with a cattle drive….