Imagine meeting someone who was young, handsome, protective, and handy when it came to fixing a leaky tap or taking out the villains. He’s the go-to guy in the community for problem solving and leadership. Everybody likes him. He oozes competence and has a great sense of humour. Unfortunately, he’s not only from the wrong side of the tracks, but is the wrong species entirely. Just to complicate things, this alpha male with the Ruger Blackhawk is the only person standing between you and an unknown killer who just beheaded your roommate. This is what happens to Talia Rostova, the fugitive vampire in FROSTBOUND, the latest in my Dark Forgotten series. When she meets Lore, the hellhound Alpha, the first thing he does is chain her to his bed for safekeeping. It makes perfect sense to him—even if she does a lot of yelling—until he stops thinking of Talia as simply a vampire and a murder suspect wanted by the cops. FROSTBOUND is an adventure story, but it’s also a very sensual tale about forbidden love and personal choices. For those who haven’t been following the series, it’s a stand-alone book. For those who have, you’ll recognize a lot of…

Who are the dark forgotten? No, it’s not the contents of the sock drawer. My stories are set in present-day Fairview, a university town in the Pacific Northwest. It’s like any other North American city, but things are changing fast. The supernatural beings among us have been out in the open since the year 2000, which has created both fascination and fear among the human population. But that’s just half the story. Long, long ago, all the various supernatural species lived side-by-side with humans. Then, nine sorcerers got together and built a supernatural prison dimension called the Castle.  They desired to be the most powerful beings on earth, so they put all other magical creatures into the Castle dungeon.  This included were-beasts, vampires, hellhounds, demons, dragons, unicorns—you name it.  It really didn’t matter if the other species were hostile to humans or not; they were killed or imprisoned for the crime of having magic. Of course, a few monsters got away and survived in the shadows, and they became the modern vampires and werebeasts that “came out” in Y2K. They’ve just made peace with the humans and are starting to get a slice of the good life:  credit cards, cell…

Junior! Don’t chain your uncle in his coffin again! The Dark Forgotten series is about a lot of things: passion, adventure, mystery, and learning to live with a world that’s gone in an utterly unexpected direction. It’s also about families, whether we’re talking blood relatives, vampire clans, or a pile of hellhound puppies. At the centre of the stories is the Carver family. They’re witches who have served the people of Fairview for hundreds of years, but tragedy has scattered the current generation. One of the themes of the series is how the Carvers reunite and heal. Of course, every family member does this on their own unique terms, and you wouldn’t believe who some of them bring home to dinner. Kids these days! At the beginning of Ravenous, Holly Carver is the one left running the family ghostbusting agency. Her parents were killed in a car accident, and her sister, Ashe, has gone to live in Spain. Holly’s grandmother, though still full of spit and vinegar, is in a seniors’ residence. It’s up to Holly—and her scrumptious vampire partner, Alessandro Caravelli—to save the day when a portal to another dimension starts spewing demons, hellhounds, and other surprises into their…

December 1 is the launch of Scorched, the second installment of my Dark Forgotten series. Without giving away too many details, the action picks up about a year after Ravenous ends. It’s a stand-alone story, but most of the characters from book one return. Those interested in the fate of Fairview’s police detective, Conall “Mac” Macmillan, will have all their questions answered. Mac is a delightful character to work with: smart, gorgeous, down-to-earth, sense of humor, and basically an all-around good guy. Nevertheless, the agreement between the International Union of Fictional Characters (Paranormal Romance Division) and the Fellowship of Twisted Authors, Inc. gave me a free hand to make his life metaphorical and literal hell. That’s part of the deal that brings you, the readers, the best possible stories. The fellowship stands behind their Tortured Hero Guarantee To read more of CELEBRATE WITH A SCORCHING GOOD TIME and to comment for a chance to win a copy of Scorched please click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Launching a book is a peculiar business. First, the concept of “launch” is a bit different from the writer’s end. She’s already sent the manuscript away over and over again – to the editor, to the copy editor, for page proofs, and on and on. And yet the darned thing keeps coming back like a pesky cat and, sadly, editors are about as easy to ignore as a yowling Siamese hanging from the screen door. What began as infatuation with one’s literary child quickly morphs to irritation. That’s a sure sign Baby Book has hit the difficult toddler stage. But books grow up too fast. When it finally launches, the author doesn’t actually have much of a role to play anymore. Sure, a party is nice, but all the stuff that matters is all beyond her control, subject to grand and incomprehensible market forces. Baby Book is all grown up, out in the cold, cruel world and about to encounter fast cars and loose readers. Will the universe be kind? Click here to read the rest and enter Sharon’s one day blog contest. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

There’s a lot to be said for the submarine sandwich. There can be as much bread, cheese, veggies and cold cuts as the maker desires. If you want two kinds of cheese, go ahead. Mayo and mustard? Why not? The only limit is appetite. Which is all good until your boss points to a sandwich box made for the usual peanut butter and jelly sized affair. That moment of “hmm, how am I going to get this sucker in there?” sums up my experience of writing the paranormal romance. I have to tell a many-layered story as clearly and efficiently (and as briefly!) as I can. For any author, there’s a lot on the kitchen counter when they’re building the universe of their book: there’s character, plot, and setting, plus: In a romance, there’s the whole fall-in-love experience. If it’s a historical novel, the author needs to bring the past alive, right down to the horseshoe nails, gun smoke and corsets. If it’s science fiction, fantasy, or paranormal, there’s the whole supernatural universe, with its vast array of creatures, rules of magic, and other cultures to explain and make compelling. For a good paranormal or urban fantasy romance, where you…