First of all – I love the cover for your book THE HACIENDA. It seems to capture the mood based on the book’s description. Your book is described as “Mexican Gothic” and “supernatural suspense”. What does that mean to you? How would you describe that for readers? THE HACIENDA is a genre-bending novel that combines elements of historical, horror, thriller, paranormal, and fantasy, tying it all together with a dash of romance. I believe the term “supernatural suspense” signals to readers what kind of experience awaits them between the covers: a suspenseful, terrifying tale of ghosts, witchcraft, and things that go bump in the night. Mexican Gothic is both a comp title (as in, THE HACIENDA will appeal to readers of the novel Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia) and, I believe, a genre in and of itself with ample room to grow! So many things about Mexican culture and history lend themselves beautifully to the Gothic as a genre: ghosts, tempestuous colonial histories, long-buried secrets, buildings that are hundreds of years old, the cultural predominance of and tension between Catholicism and traditional religious beliefs, and the skeletal iconography of holidays such as the Day of the Dead. I eagerly await…

Content Warning: detailed depiction of physical abuse/assault.  *** Prologue Caroline Martin stared up at the ceiling tiles, small and square with tiny black holes that evoked an image of pepper jack cheese. Some were stained from leaky pipes that created ghostly formations of gray outlined in black above her head. The room was cold, and she began to shiver. One of the OR nurses noticed and covered her with another preheated hospital blanket, tucking it in under her chin and over her shoulders. “Thank you,” Caroline said through clenched teeth. She couldn’t move because they had already strapped her down to the operating table at her arms and just below her breasts. They left her legs free, covered with socks and leg warmers, as they would soon be placing her calves in stirrups. At least they had the decency to wait until she was completely under first. But after that, she was certain there would be no concern for her modesty. The pill they had given her fifteen minutes earlier began to take effect. Background noises blended together in a smothered cacophony, and only when someone got up close in her face was she able to focus. Even so, it…

For historical fiction this month, we travel back into the mystic past to explore the land of Druids, Danes, and followers of the Norse gods of Valhalla. What better way to honor Halloween than to delve into an era rich in mythic and supernatural traditions? We begin in the Nordic lands of the ninth century with Johanne Hildebrandt’s two-book series that chronicles the fascinating, violent period when the Scandinavian lands were fought over by adherents of the old gods and those converted to the new religion of Christianity. In THE UNBROKEN LINE OF THE MOON (VALHALLA BOOK 1,) as war rages between Vikings and Christians, rich and beautiful Sigrid holds to the old Norse gods, particularly the goddess Freya, who comes to her in dreams and reveals to her the future. Though her father wants her to marry Erik, a local king, to secure peace between Goths and Swedes, she finds herself drawn to Sweyn, a warrior seeking to overthrow Danish ruler Harald Bluetooth. Will she become Erik’s Queen, or risk all to follow her heart? In ESTRID (VALHALLA BOOK 2), Sigrid’s story merges with those of her twin offspring, Olaf, heir to the kingdom of Svealand, and his sister…

Whether spooky, creepy, fangy, funny, or just plain whacked-out, I love the supernatural. And I’m a “paranormal” writer, through and through. No matter how hard I try to write a straight novel or romance, it turns south toward that big “P.” It’s just something in my blood, I guess. Thing is, though, I have both dark and light sides to my supernatural-loving personality. So after writing a dark historical vampire tale for Kensington Brava’s Immortal Bad Boys anthology, something odd happened one day as I sat in my little home office contemplating the plot line next dark tale. I stared at the shelf displaying my original Barbie doll, and a big question appeared to plague me, as those pesky questions sometimes do. The question was this: Click to read the rest of the blog. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.