Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present MarcyKate Connolly! Writes: Fantasy novels with undertones of classic stories. MarcyKate’s most recent book, TWIN DAGGERS (out August 25!), is a fantasy spin on Romeo + Juliet . . . if Juliet and her twin sister were magic-wielding spies out for revenge in a world of magic versus machines. About: MarcyKate loves books, dogs (especially pugs!), and caffeine, and has minor obsessions with Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and Grimm’s fairytales. She’s a night owl who enjoys staying up late plotting all the terrible twists that will befall her characters, researching strange and/or paranormal things, or reading an unputdownable book until dawn. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: • Loves confident, mission-driven girls • Enjoys being immersed in complex fantasy worlds • Sucker for star-crossed lovers • Doesn’t mind a betrayal or two What to expect if we’re compatible: • Feminist spins on classic stories • Girls who know their own worth and the boys who love them • Ancient conspiracies…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Hanna C. Howard! Writes: Young Adult Fantasy: My debut novel, IGNITE THE SUN, is on sale everywhere on August 18! About: Thirty-something YA author seeks readers for her fairy-tale-esque fantasy novel which includes: a heroine morphing from insecure and afraid to bold and self-assured; an ensemble cast featuring a mage, an elf, a naiad, and a banshee; a cross-map journey; lots of elemental magic; a literal spin on the light and dark theme; a splash of romance; a witchy, heart-devouring bad gal. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Loves traditional fantasy (think Tolkien, Rowling, and C.S. Lewis) Is fond of curling up with a cup of tea and a book on dark, atmospheric days Falls for best friend/boy next-door type of heroes Wants to see personal growth in their heroine Likes a powerful, strong leading lady Has dealt with anxiety, depression, or SAD Likes being outdoors Goes for fast-paced action Enjoys a complex fantasy world with a unique magic…

The idea of ROARING was very simple at first. I wanted to write a book in the 1920s and I had it in my head that I wanted the main character to be a singer in a speakeasy. But what gave it that special twist? What made it fantastical and not just historical? Then came the idea of using one of my favorite things ever–mythology. What if she was a siren? That monster in greek myths that lured sailors to their deaths. That’s when I realized I had a book… . . a siren in a speakeasy! Her siren song could lure patrons to her bar and keep them coming back, which is, of course, good for business. From there, I knew I wanted to weave in more monsters and create a historical world rife with the paranormal. I had ideas to use monsters like dragons, werewolves, minotaurs, krakens, gorgons, and the like. But they weren’t all from Greek mythology and I knew I needed something that tied this paranormal world together. I had to answer questions like…why were all these monsters running around in the world? What was their purpose? The more research I put into learning about these…

one Roxy Brayburn and a broken heart 1974 Dear Mama, Losing Lucas has embittered me to the world, to every couple on the beach, Elle, Santa Maria, and even you. You’ve had twenty years with Daddy. Why didn’t I get that with mine? I expected to live with Lucas and Mayhem and maybe a whole bunch of babies for the rest of my life. But then Lucas jumped off the cliffs like he was late for an appointment. You know what that means. I can’t look at Elle after what she did, and if I have to fight this battle, cleanse my Brayburn blood, I have to do it away from here, where I can’t hear the water whisper, where I can’t feel its pull on my heart, never mind my body. I been thinking, Mama, Santa Maria is just like us, like Brayburns. It seems like a good, safe place for some free love and a party on the beach, but once you peel back the first layer, you realize it’s a lie, and what’s underneath is rotting and dirty. Spoiled, like meat that’s been sitting out too long. I know what you’re thinking: I’ll be a Brayburn wherever…

Out July 7th, The Princess Will Save You is a gender-flipped damsel-in-distress tale inspired by one of my most beloved cult classics: The Princess Bride. First and foremost, this isn’t a retelling. Rather, it’s a love letter to all the things I adore about William Goldman’s spin the classic damsel-in-distress fairytale–True love! Sword fights! Mouthy pirates!–as well as an examination of the one thing about the story that I found more and more frustrating as I grew into adulthood: Buttercup’s character arc. I’m assuming the majority of the Fresh Fiction readership knows the story here, but in summation, Buttercup’s adventures in The Princess Bride go like so: Our princess starts off the story as a commoner, so sure in whom she is and what she wants: her farm boy, Westley. And even after Westley disappears, the presumed victim of the notorious Dread Pirate Roberts, she has the same fierce spark. Buttercup has been plucked from her common life to be a princess, and from the outside has everything a girl could ever want, but still she’s willing to push back. Then, when she’s kidnapped by supposed pirates, Buttercup fights back, tries to escape, and uses what she has to try…