1–What is the title of your latest release? THE MISSING WITNESS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? LAPD Detective Kara Quinn, currently on loan to the FBI, returns to Los Angeles to testify against the human trafficker who took a hit out on her last year. But when the suspect is killed and a government whistleblower disappears, Kara realizes there’s a deadly conspiracy reaching into the highest branches of city government, and possibly the FBI. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Missing Witness is the fifth book in the Quinn & Costa series. I always knew that one of the books would bring Kara back to LA. In book one (The Third to Die), Kara is on administrative leave because of an officer involved shooting. When she’s set to return, she learns her partner was killed and her identity leaked by the press – effectively putting a price on her head. So she was loaned to the FBI’s Mobile Response Team. Now, she has to return to LA to testify. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? The Quinn & Costa series has an ensemble cast. While Kara…

THE NIGHT ISLAND Exclusive Excerpt   “What do you know about the list?” she asked, not bothering to answer his question. “If it’s the one I’m looking for it’s a list of names of people who took a certain psych test several years ago.” “The informant offered to sell it to you, too?” she said. “And, apparently, to whoever got here first.” “The list wasn’t the only thing the first buyer took.” She glanced back at the door, remembering the energy on the metal handle. “Whoever it was grabbed our informant as well.” Luke Rand’s eyes got a little intense. “What makes you so sure the informant didn’t decide to disappear after making the first sale?” The disturbingly soft way he asked the question rattled her nerves. She needed to stay focused. “Just a guess,” she said in her coolest tones. She could tell he knew she was lying, but he did not press her. She hurried on. “You came to the same conclusion, didn’t you?” “Yes.” “So, if the informant and the list are gone, why are you still here?” she asked. “I thought it would be interesting to see who else showed up.” “Right.” She paused. “That was…

1–What is the title of your latest release? ALWAYS SOMETHING SINGS. The title is from the Ralph Waldo Emerson poem. And that poem, or a portion of it, provides an important clue to solving the mystery. 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Nothing ever happens around here; Ada Reed was told when she agreed to step in as “acting” sheriff. But the murder of a young woman at a gold mine was hardly part of the bargain, nor was the troubled soldier who admits to the crime. Disrespected, unprepared, but undaunted, Ada must find and bring to justice the real killer. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Time is an important part of the setting: 1951. America in the post-war years was suddenly safe and prosperous but frozen with fear over atomic bombs and flying saucers. It was a time of innocence, but also of deep prejudices. Narrowly defined women’s roles, disproved by war-factory work, were still being pushed in movies and magazines. We were on the cusp of the modern age, but barely on the cusp. My own family’s campfire stories seemed to be set in those years, as well, and…

The core of most objects is tough and hard to crack. It’s the center, seed, or nucleus, usually storing what makes up the object. Think of a seed and how it has the properties to grow into an ear of corn or a tree. Translate that seed to the core of a living, breathing story. The intimacy is emotion, and the character must have a reason to reveal the heart of their being. When a writer discovers the why of actions (motivation), the uphill climb to resolve a problem or reach a goal takes on purpose. The challenge is forcing the character to reveal the emotions that are often bound in pain. The character doesn’t understand their emotional wound prevents them from their full potential and prohibits them from achieving success. Feelings wrapped in physical, mental, or spiritual suffering rise from fear, grief, guilt, shame, anguish, sadness, sorrow, torture, betrayal, bitterness, depression, loneliness, oppression, abandonment, persecution, physical abuse, verbal abuse, and more. Our characters don’t want to relive the events causing these sensations any more than we do. It’s easier to stuff emotional baggage. Our characters need a reason to share what happened, and the motivation must be bigger than…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE HIKE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Four friends leave behind their everyday lives and stride out into the beautiful Norwegian wild – nothing between them and the mountain peak but forest, sea and sharp blue sky. But there’s a darker side to the wilderness. A woman went missing a year ago, scarring the mountain with suspicion and unanswered questions. Now the friends are hiking into the heart of the mystery. And waiting on the trail is someone who’d do anything to keep their secrets buried – and to stop the group walking away alive. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I wanted to examine how the wilderness can switch from being a place of beauty to a landscape raw with danger. Norway felt like the right setting to explore this because its sheer, rugged scale provides true isolation. It’s the perfect place to have an adventure – or to disappear. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I would be strapping on my backpack and joining these four women in a heartbeat. They are complex and flawed and messy…

Book Title: DEADLY FROST Character Name: Sparrow James   How would you describe your family or your childhood? Hi guys. Sparrow James here. I grew up on the west coast with a nature-loving family. My love of birds came from my mother, hence my name, but I got the biology bug from my father. I love field work; however, I don’t like the water. You see, my father was a marine biologist and I nearly drowned while on the ocean, hence my choice of wildlife biologist where I can keep my feet firmly on the ground. I have one brother and one sister. My entire family has been my rock after everything that happened. You’ll have to read the book to learn the details.   What was your greatest talent? I’m a black belt in Taekwondo. After growing up petite and people constantly underestimating my being able to take care of myself, I decided to master Korean martial arts. It has proved invaluable ever since.   Significant other? Well, now, that one is tricky. You see, I had a fiancé. He was a fellow wildlife biologist like me, but he disappeared two years ago when we were on a field…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE ST. AMBROSE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? This is Heathers meets Girl Interrupted, a dark academe suspense story. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I didn’t- it was what Sarah M. Taylor, the main character, showed me- a prep school in New England in the early nineties.  She came to me in a dream, and I knew I had to write her story- though I had no idea where it was going to take me! 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely.  In fact, after writing Sarah’s story in first person, I feel like I did! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Weak, strong, and resilient.  I know the first two are contradictory! 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That if you wake up two hours earlier, every day, you can accomplish a lot even with a heavy workload already going on. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? It depends on how bad the daily drafting is!  If it’s really rough, I’ll go back,…

THE SHARK’s main character Riley Tatum is a survivor of a serial killer known as the Shark, who murdered young runaway girls as part of a sadistic poker game.  Though drugged and battered, the younger Riley escaped this killer and went on to build a successful life. Now Riley is a Virginia State Police trooper and is a highly respected police canine tracker.  She and her canine partner are often tasked to follow the scents of missing people as well as escaped criminals in the mountains of rural Virginia.  They are considered one of the best teams in the region. What was the idea that sparked THE SHARK?  I was attending a writer’s conference years ago and a young woman stopped as I was signing books.  She suggested that I make a female uniformed officer the hero of my next book.  People toss ideas at me all the time, but this one stuck.  It didn’t take long before I could see Riley Tatum. I began researching possible jobs for Riley, and I finally settled on a canine tracker.  Then it was a matter of learning all I could about this profession.  Books, mystery writers’ meetings and interviews with active-duty canine…

1–What is the title of your latest release? ABOVE THE FOLD. (That’s the term for a front-page headline on a newspaper, literally above the halfway point where it’s folded.) 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Punk rock Lois Lane in 1980s New York City. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? That was a long and winding road. I first wrote this book in the early 2000s, and it took place during that time. I didn’t sell it (and self-publishing wasn’t an option then) but that was likely a good thing because I’ve improved as a writer over the years. However, despite shelving it, the story never left me. I’d fiddle with it over the years, but newsroom work kept changing so fast that every revision was instantly dated. When it came time to revise once more, my then-agent, Saritza Hernandez, suggested I set the story in the 1980s. That turned out to be the click that turned the key on the whole story. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Hah! That would be exhausting. I’d hang out with her at a club or to grab a drink or…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE REVENGE LIST 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? When Frankie Morgan loses her “forgiveness list” – the names of people who have wronged her in the past, and whom she could work to forgive – she thinks nothing of it. But as the people on Frankie’s list have increasingly serious accidents, Frankie knows she’s in trouble. She wrote her own name on the list because her past self is the one person she’ll never forgive, and if she doesn’t find out who’s behind the attacks, she might be next. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I often set my books in Portland, Maine, because we drive through it when visiting family in New Brunswick. It’s beautiful! 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Yes! I think it would be very interesting to spend the day with Frankie (providing I don’t make her angry). 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Protective, fierce, quick-tempered. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That anger is a valid emotion, just like any other. It’s not the anger, but how we handle…