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Interview with Cynthia Kumanchik, Author of Automation Nation

What can you tell us about your new release, Automation Nation?

Automaton Nation is a coming-of-age novel that relates to anyone who has experienced the excitement and difficulties of a first love. The story transcends time and place where the characters must overcome insurmountable odds.

Automaton Nation is perfect for fans of Twilight and Hunger Games, where the stakes are high, love is unexpected, and characters survive in a dystopian world. Val Tate, daughter of a prominent scientist, falls in love with robotic Dat against her parents’ objections.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I've always liked sci-fi and YA genres. I'm intrigued with future worlds and characters that adapt and change to evolving societal values.

What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?

Divergent series

Becoming

Game of Thrones series

Kindred

Small Great Things

Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask

George RR Martin would be my first guest. How did you develop the badass character Tyrion who conquers all odds and is still very relatable?

What's your favorite thing about writing?

Escaping to other worlds through the magic of words and images.

What is a typical day like for you?

The morning starts with coffee, a walk and meditation. I dedicate a block of time for book promotion, editing and writing copy. Then in the evening I watch a good sci-fi movie for new ideas.

What scene from Automation Nation was your favorite to write?

I enjoyed writing the first chapter where Dat is introduced as one of the new Model 500 series at the governor’s Gala, showing his robotic and human tendencies. The reader is inside his mind as he becomes attracted to a young woman, the daughter of the prominent scientist who created him, yet disgusted by the influential people who inspect him like an object. Dat charms his prospective buyers by speaking French and is quickly purchased. But he shows his true colors when robot terrorists invade the Gala and he rescues the beautiful Val from death and mayhem. Their attraction is ignited and from then on, they are destined to be together. The suspense of the terrorist attack with the spark of love at first sight, was a great and fun way to start the novel.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

“Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life. “

Thich Nhat Hanh

Cynthia Kumanchik is the author of the new book Automation Nation.

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Interview with Brian J. Purcell, Author of The Divination of Celia Connolly

What can you tell us about your new release, The Divination of Celia Connolly?

The Divination of Celia Connolly is the first book in a new mystery series. The series revolves around Celia Connolly, a private detective who uses magic to solve mysteries. She is quirky, witty, intelligent, and crass. She often seeks guidance from her friends and mentor, Maya Patel. In The Divination of Celia Connolly, Celia investigates a case for an attorney to help get his client out of jail. The investigation leads to a series of murders with a personal connection to Celia. Numerous obstacles and challenges hinder her pursuit for justice, but she continues to move forward, even when her advisers tell her to rest. It is a mystery full of unapproved magic, conspiracy, intrigue, and wonder as she navigates a world with real magic.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I was inspired to start writing by a junior-high teacher who liked an assignment enough to let me read it to the class. I've always been an avid reader, starting with The Boxcar Children and Goosebumps and progressing through Harry Potter and then more explicit mysteries from the likes of Robert Ludlum and John Grisham. My favorite stories were always Sherlock Holmes books. At the end of it all, the support of my Great Aunt, Sister Maura Purcell, always inspired me to push myself.

What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?

My top five books are more a list of my favorite series and books: 1) Sherlock Holmes Adventures, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; 2) The Matarese Circle and The Matarese Countdown, by Robert Ludlum; 3) The Lynching: The Epic Courtroom Battle that Brought Down the Klan; 4) The Game of Thrones series, by George R.R. Martin, and 5) Ready Player One.

Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask

I think my first guest choice would be J.K. Rowling. She weaved fantasy and mystery together perfectly in the Harry Potter series, and I would ask her what her inspiration was for creating her world and the mysteries within it.

What's your favorite thing about writing?

My favorite thing about writing is immersing myself in the world I create, and letting the characters grow in ways I did not imagine at the outset of the story.

What is a typical day like for you?

Typical days for everyone changed recently. I am lucky enough that my job allowed me to work from home during the pandemic. As a tax attorney, most of my time working is spent researching and writing about tax laws and policy throughout the country. I'm also a big sports fan and I love to watch soccer and baseball when they are on. I find time to fit in reading new books, which has been true crime and legal thrillers, and writing my stories.

What scene from The Divination of Celia Connolly was your favorite to write?

I think there is a tie between two scenes for me. In one scene, Celia is being interrogated by agents of the fictional Bureau of Magic Use and Regulation (BMUR), playing with the English language and frustrating the agent. The second scene was at a park early in the book which started to build the magical world the series is set in. Introducing magic to our world was a challenge, but it was fun and interesting.

Brian J. Purcell is the author of the new book The Divination of Celia Connolly.

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Interview with Kelly A. Nix, Author of Kaji Warriors: Shifting Strength

What can you tell us about your new release, Kaji Warriors: Shifting Strength?

I am very excited about it. It's the first entry of the Kaji Warriors series, which centers around a group of young warriors surviving a culture dictated by strength and honor. In Shifting Strength, you're introduced to the world of Kaji as Atae and her friends navigate the dangers of their training, the Sula Academy Tournament, and the royal egos of an unstable monarchy.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I've been an avid reader since elementary school, and I've never been shy about diving into a new fictional world. It started with K. A. Applegate's Animorphs series, and I haven't stopped since. Also, fan ficiton helped lanch my confidence as a writer. I enjoyed writing story lines for everyone's beloved characters, and the feedback from readers was really positive, so I decided to create something original. I'm hoping my readers enjoy it too.

What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?

I prefer book series'. When I discover new characters that I enjoy, I latch onto them. I love Kim Harrison's Hallows Series. I am a big Rachel & Trent shipper. I also enjoy Jim Butcher's Dresdan Files series,Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series, Rachel Vincent's Shifter series, and Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson series.

Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask

I would invite K.A. Applegate, and I'd ask her how she came up with such a unique story line. She created wonderfully well-developed characters with rich back stories and an adventure that spanned 54 short novels. Because of her, I looked forward to every scholastic fair my school held.

What's your favorite thing about writing?

I experience this high after completing a scene or chapter that really speaks to me. There are several chapters like this in my new book. Everytime I re-read them, I get chills because I've written them exactly how I've seen it played out in my mind, and I hope the reader experiences everything that I've intended for them.

What is a typical day like for you?

I have a full-time job that is seperate from my writing, and it requires me to travel often. I usually write on planes and in hotels, but I get the most done when I'm in my recliner at home. It's my creative space. I work from my home-office when I'm not traveling, so I spend most of my work day on the computer. I usually write in the evenings when I'm winding down for the day.

What scene from Kaji Warriors: Shifting Strength was your favorite to write?

The first scene between Atae and Kandorq is my favorite scene. I mean, I really like their second scene together too, but the first one is kind of the beginning of Atae's mental struggles. It's the first time that she's ever truely felt weak and vulnerable. This scene sets the stage for her character arc over the next several chapters.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

"It is what it is." I don't know who said it or when I picked it up, but it has changed my total persona. It keeps my anxiety levels at a minimum and helps to identify the things that I cannot change. That way, I can focus my resources on the things that I can change.

Kelly A. Nix is the author of the new book Kaji Warriors: Shifting Strength.

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Interview with C.J. Foster, Author of A Seaside Story

What can you tell us about your new release, A Seaside Story?

This is a compelling and touching story of family, responsibility and love. I first started writing the “A Seaside Story” during one of my military deployments oversea years ago. I was missing someone very close to me and was inspired to write a story that touched on our love. While this is not a military story in any way, the feelings of belonging and the deep meaning of love between two people and responsibility to family are very much a part of the story.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I was inspired by telling stories to friends and family, encouraged by them to put these words to paper.

What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?

How about my top five authors instead: Stephen King, Tom Clancy, Tess Gerritson, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Allen Poe

What's your favorite thing about writing?

Creating realistic scenes where the characters emotions come through.

What is a typical day like for you?

Get up a few hours early before work to write, then spend the evening with my family after work.

What scene from A Seaside Story was your favorite to write?

Towards the end, there is a very emotional letter written from one of the characters to another. It was very cathartic for me to write, as it echoed the deep feelings I have for my spouse.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Never quit, never give up on your dream.

C.J. Foster is the author of the new book A Seaside Story.

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The Story Behind The Romeo Arrangement by Nicole Snow

By Nicole Snow

Writing rarely goes as planned. Some books need major time and energy to be whipped into shape. Other times, you just hit a groove with a book that brings together everything you love. My latest and greatest romance novel, The Romeo Arrangement, definitely falls in the second category, and it shows!

Surprise chemistry, a pretend love scheme, harrowing suspense, comfy small town feels, and one wildly funny mad rooster. That's just a taste of what's happening when one high-stakes fake engagement gets way too real.

Grace Sellers is at the end of her rope. She's lost her home, her father's worryingly sick, and every stitch of sanity holding her life together is about to be unraveled when she hits the road for a new life. Grace has lost her faith in wishes by the time she's cornered at a bar in Nowhere, North Dakota, by a brute looking to finish her off.

Then an unexpected Romeo steps in. The handsome stranger. The man who declares her his fiancee. The beast with an exasperated butler who runs off the bully, and then practically drags Grace and her dad back to his large ranch for the night.

It's too good to be true. And it only gets crazier when Grace finds out who her mysterious hero really is, and it's officially time to freak out.

Ridge Barnet, billionaire heartthrob, moved to small-town North Dakota to escape the Hollywood limelight and start over after a tragic case of revenge. The pretty stray he picks up one stormy night at his favorite bar threatens to wreck his low profile.

Too bad fate could care less. Soon, he's doubling down on his Romeo scheme to save Grace's life while fighting back a very real obsession that with dynamite potential to upend his life.

If there's one thing I'm hooked on as a writer, it's the deep dive for love. Throwing two emotionally scarred characters together in their darkest hours always makes the chemistry extra intense, the fight so much more satisfying, and the Happily Ever After that much sweeter.

Ridge and Grace go through the ropes without mercy. We're talking a relentless gauntlet with everything on the line and a fierce attraction that won't be denied. But of course I threw in lighthearted comic relief and everything sweet-as-pie about small town life. And when the fireworks hit and these two hearts meltdown, it's a beautiful frenzy.

I'm insanely proud of the vivid punch The Romeo Arrangement packs and I hope you'll agree! Don't miss this romance thriller while it is free with KIndle Unlimited!

Nicole Snow is the author of the new book The Romeo Arrangement.

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The Story Behind Shattered Kingdom by Angelina J. Steffort

On June 30, my eleventh book, Shattered Kingdom, was released, a (young adult) epic fantasy series about a girl who's heart could change the course of history. “Fae, magic, and a heart-throbbing adventure will keep readers entranced until the last page,” as readers say and a “perfect read for fans of Throne of Glass.”

The story follows seventeen-year-old Gandrett Brayton, who has resigned herself to a life of servitude as a Child of Vala, devoting her life to the goddess and the Meister who runs the priory where she has lived for the past ten years. When brooding Nehelon storms in and offers her a chance to leave, Gandrett is left with an impossible choice: run, or work for the man who forced her into the Order to begin with. Soon she is being drawn from a simple life of servitude into the political intrigues of Neredyn, and Gandrett must learn that where she is about to go, her sword won’t help her--especially when it is her heart on the line.

In the world of Neredyn magic is forbidden and the Fae have been dormant for centuries. Mages are exiled, except for those few who are gifted by Vala, the goddess of life and water. Sives, the northernmost kingdom has been split even longer and in Shattered Kingdom, for the first time there is a shimmer of hope for peace for Sives, when Gandrett Brayton decides to embark on an epic journey with Nehelon, who himself has a damning secret.

Gandrett is a warrior. Vala’s Blade, they call her for her cunning and her strength and accuracy in combat. But she never went into the Order willingly. She was torn from her mother’s arms and committed into a life in the desert where nothing but the priory of the Order of Vala and the ruins of the once great city of Everrun exist. It is Gandrett’s dearest wish to see her family again, but hoping for something even that simple can be dangerous when your path has been predetermined by the strict code of the Order, where she will serve with her sword until the day she dies. Or will she?

Shattered Kingdom is my first book. Not the first one I ever wrote, but the first story idea I had in 2010 when I ended up writing Wings instead. How that came about? I am glad you asked.

Let me take you back to January 2010, when I was still living in Berlin, Germany, and preparing for a trip to Sweden. The weather was according to the season and whatever time I didn’t spend studying (working on my MBA), I spent on catching up with my work at the company where I was employed back then.

One night, I woke up with a headache, racing pulse making me leap out of bed and dart for the bathroom to down a glass of ice-cold water. That was the time when nightmares were haunting my sleep and even drawing the creatures that I encountered in those hours that were supposed to give me rest and replenishment wasn’t enough to rid my thoughts of them. So I sat down and started writing that scene--the scene where Gandrett Brayton gets picked to join the Order of Vala and is torn from her home at the age of seven. Sixteen long and sloppy pages. And then--nothing. Not even a breeze of a thought.

The next day, I did some research. The geography, the culture, the style of clothing, all of those details, I jotted them down, named them (named the world Neredyn, the bothenia root from which the Sivesian people make ale), specified what they were, why they were, and even put together a cast of about twenty characters. And again. Nothing. No more words that would help me put together a book.

Nothing for eight long years. At least not for Shattered Kingdom. The other ten books (Wings Series and Two Worlds Series) bubbled out of me, but Shattered Kingdom patiently waited in the drawer until 2018 when my illustrator took on the monster-task of creating the map I’d sketched. From the moment I saw Neredyn the way it was supposed to be, the story took form and expanded, and I soon knew that it would be a seven book series rather than a standalone. So this year, when COVID-19 hit and we went into lockdown in March, I was ready and used the limited degrees of freedom to finally write Shattered Kingdom.

And here I am, ten years after that nightmare in Berlin, and blown away by the initial reactions of my readers. Shattered Kingdom has already climbed high on Listopia recommendation lists for Throne of Glass fans. I am receiving wonderful emails with thoughts and reflections on the story, the characters, and guesses about how the story continues (Thank you for all your heartfelt words and great feedback!). Book two in the Shattered Kingdom series is already in the making. Wicked Crown will be released in fall 2020.

Angelina J. Steffort is the author of the new book Shattered Kingdom.

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The Story Behind Diamond in the Rough by Skye Warren

By Skye Warren

Thank you for having me on NewInBooks! I’m Skye Warren, the New York Times bestselling author of dangerous romance with over 1.5 million books sold. I make my home in Texas with my family, sweet dogs, and evil cat.

After writing over thirty novels, something happened. I started to lose my way.

The stories I set out to tell had been told. Who was I as a writer?

I went to a talk by author Courtney Milan on what to do when you lose your core story. She said to give yourself permission to write a different genre. I’ve always written romance. Maybe it was time to explore women’s fiction. Or thrillers.

An idea for a dark book took hold of me.

I started writing the book… and someone tall, dark, and handsome walked onto the page.

It’s a dangerous and sexy romance, exactly the kind of book I first became known for.

So there was the irony—in giving myself permission to stray completely, I circled back to my first love. In the interim I’ve written books that are less dark, less edgy, less dangerous. And I’ve gained more skill, more perspective. Now I’m back, and hoping that readers will embrace this new/old dark side of my writing like they did before.

DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH is the story of a woman caught in our worst nightmare. A white van. A dark hood. It takes courage to survive in the face of danger.

It takes even more courage to love.

"Diamond in the Rough is masterfully written, sinfully sexy, and utterly addictive! Skye Warren proves why she is the queen of dark and delicious romance." - Giana Darling, USA Today bestselling author

"A novel full of intrigue, secrets, lies, and a love that won't be denied, Diamond in the Rough is easily a top read of 2020." - Celia Aaron, author of The Bad Guy

"Five glowing stars! Diamond in the Rough is the dark and dangerous world that I love from Skye Warren. You will be completely caught up in Elijah and Holly's story from the first page to the last." - New York Times bestselling author Aleatha Romig

Skye Warrenis the author of the new book Diamond in the Rough.

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New Mystery and Thriller Books to Read | July 7

Hold on to the edge of your seat as we hunt for clues and solve the case with these exciting new mystery and thriller books for the week! There are so many bestselling authors with new novels for you to dive into this week including Romona Simon, Brian J. Purcell, Karen Hamilton, Camilla Lackberg, and many more. Enjoy your new mystery, thriller, and suspense novels. Happy reading!

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New Romance Books to Read | July 7

Looking to fall in love with some new romance reads? You’ll adore these exciting new novels! This week you can get your hands on books by bestselling authors Carla Laureano, J.S. Scott, Jessica Hawkins, Marni Mann, Kylie Scott, Carrie Ann Ryan, Skye Warren, Nicole Snow, Meagan Brandy, and more. Enjoy your new romance books and happy reading!

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New Books to Read in Literary Fiction | July 7

Literary fiction readers are in for a treat. This week’s latest releases list is full of intriguing reads you won’t want to miss! The new releases list includes so many bestselling authors like Judith Keim, C.J. Foster, Charlie Kaufman, Lynn Steger Strong, and many more. Enjoy your new literary fiction books. Happy reading!