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Interview with Betta Ferrendelli, Author of On the Border

What can you tell us about your new release, On the Border?

On the Border is the fifth book in my award-winning mystery series featuring reporter Samantha Church. This time Sam works with a cub reporter to uncover a money laundering scheme involving undocumented workers.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I watched the movie Fried Green Tomatoes years and years ago and loved it. I read the book, but in this case, I thought the movie was better than the book. The story touched me deeply and having written all my life and professionally for many years, I decided I wanted to write books to tell my own stories that I hope would resonate with people as much as Fried Green Tomatoes has for me.

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

Honestly, I don't have a favorite, but the two I like the most and have meant the most to me include The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and The Prophet by Kahil Gibran, which was given to me by my eighth grade teacher when I graduated from high school. I also love the last four or five paragraphs of A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean.

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

Kahil Gibran would be my guest, and my question would be, "What is your first memory of life?"

What's your favorite thing about writing?

Having finished, ha, ha! Actually the process, writing, thinking, rewriting, editing and watching as it all unfolds into a good (I hope!) story. I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I see the manuscript pages piling up.

What is a typical day like for you?

I do work full time as a writer for a healthcare magazine. For now, like the rest of the planet, I am working from home. A good chunk of my day is spent writing and being on the phone or in Zoom meetings for work. There's lots of traveling involved with the magazine when there isn't a pandemic. We were in Nashville in February and Chicago in early March. I also work out with a personal trainer two times a week, along with working out in my home gym. I play lots of golf, which works well with social distancing. Now that I have finished writing the latest book, the nice thing about the little free/down time that I do have is that I can enjoy it. When I am "novelling" as my sister used to call it, I use every free moment to work on the book.

What scene in On the Border was your favorite to write?

There were many, but my favorite scene comes when Sam goes her daughter's softball game and has to retrieve a softball that was hit over the fence. She's not the ace athlete her daughter, April, is. She has a little trouble throwing the ball back to the team and some of April's teammates make fun of her.

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

"The answer is always no unless you ask."

Betta Ferrendelli is the author of the new book On the Border.

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Interview with E.F. Skarda, Author of The Mortal God

What can you tell us about your new release, The Mortal God?

This book is what I would consider Adventure Science Fiction. It really has a cinematic tone to it, along with some comic book undertones. I started writing this story when I was 13 years old and was really into superheroes at the time. Essentially, the story follows a supersoldier named Kyle Griffin and his team through a series of events that finds them questioning their allegiances, along with their very beliefs in the society around them. Kyle’s decisions bring them into conflict with the government’s divine ruler, Lord Aeron, who also happens to be Kyle’s grandfather. In a thematic sense, it’s a story about choices, principles, and emotions, and how those can drive what our reality becomes.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

Honestly, I’ve always loved writing. For the longest time I just did it for myself. If there was a situation in my life that I didn’t feel was fair, I could write about it and see it turn out however I wanted. That made me feel powerful. I just think that there’s real freedom in being creative, and I want that be a permanent part of my life.

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

Number one is Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. Revolutionized the way that I viewed science fiction. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is in that realm as well. I’m also a big fan of the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown, as well as the Reckoners series by Brandon Sanderson.

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

I would want to talk to Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, the two authors that go by the pen name James SA Corey, also known as the men that created The Expanse series. I think that their world building is so complete and immersive, I would love to get in their heads on how they envision their scenes, and how they develop their plot lines. It would be so illuminating.

What's your favorite thing about writing?

I mentioned before, it’s the freedom. The freedom to create anything you want and see it play out in your mind. We all have things that we wish we could do, or wish we would have done, but writing makes that all possible. I think it’s the closest humanity will ever get to true divinity.

What is a typical day like for you?

Well, let’s see…I usually wake up around 6 am, work out for an hour or two, then pack up my eight-year-old son and drag him with me to my office for several hours. I’m a physical therapist by trade, so I see patients most weekdays, though that’s been a bit different with the pandemic issues lately, as I’ve been playing the role of school teacher as well. After work, I come home and we make dinner, and after my son goes to bed, I get the chance to sit down and write. I’ll generally do that for two or three hours before going to bed and starting all over again.

What scene in The Mortal God was your favorite to write?

There’s a scene where Kyle’s team, led by his second in command, Captain Jackson Hilton, is left to seek refuge with a group that they once considered their enemies. Needless to say, it doesn’t go over well, and the team is taken hostage. It wasn’t initially a part of the book, but as I was editing it I could see the exposition happening so clearly…it probably took me only forty-five minutes to write the entire chapter. It was the fastest I’ve ever seen my fingers move across the keyboard. I wish all inspiration could be that definitive.

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

I tend to gravitate toward a “no days off” philosophy when it comes to writing and self-improvement. I always want to go to bed better than I woke up. Whether that means I’m a little stronger, a little smarter, or a little more humble…as long as I made progress that’s enough. The same goes for writing. If my current project is a little closer to being complete, then the day was a success.

E.F. Skarda is the author of the new book The Mortal God.

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Interview with Tricia O'Malley, Author of Ms. Bitch

What can you tell us about your new release, Ms. Bitch?

This book is inspired by my true story. The story takes us through an emotional rollercoaster of a divorce to learning to stand on your own and giving love another chance. And what better way to start over than to go scuba-diving in Mexico? Sure, falling for the handsome scuba instructor is a bit of a cliché but I lived it. Readers will find my novel empowering and honest. I hope once they are finished they will scream from the rooftops: "I am in charge of finding my happily-ever-after.”

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I started writing after my dog was stolen and I was able to recover him safely. Something about that experience propelled me to write the story, and I haven’t stopped writing since. I think being a writer has always called to me, but I never gave it a chance until I had an inciting incident that pushed me into the career I was meant to be in all along.

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

That’s a terribly difficult and unfair question to ask anyone who loves reading as much as I do! I read around two or three books a week. One of my favorite books that I finally read this year is The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman. I read it in my hammock by the water. My first favorite books from my youth that resonated deeply with me is a book is called: The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. I just wrote a blog on the books that helped me most when dealing with divorce or any tough times, each one on this list is very special to me. https://www.triciaomalley.com/blog/

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

Grace O'Malley, the infamous Irish pirate queen, which I've based my Mystic Cove series off of. While she is a real historical figure, her history is so unique for her time (well, even now!) I'd likely ask her where she found the strength to give birth at sea and lead her ship into battle a mere hours later. Can you imagine?!

What's your favorite thing about writing?

A common piece of advice given to authors is to “write what you know.” I agree with that, to a point, as I also think you need to write what you know and in genres you love. But your voice, your experiences, and stories you’ve gathered along the way will all weave into your work. I have visited all the locations in my books to really make sure I can transport my readers there, even the fictional Siren Island is based on the Caribbean Island where I live. Writing allows me to travel, work from anywhere, and bring my readers along with me for the ride.

What is a typical day like for you?

I can describe my perfect day. It was something that I wrote out for myself years ago when I started writing. I needed to have a goal that I was working toward that wasn’t strictly a financial one. I wrote down that my perfect day was going to be: Get up and go scuba-diving, grab an iced coffee, write in the afternoons. While somewhat simplistic, this is the goal that I’ve worked toward for years now and am happy to report that I have those happy days regularly now.

What scene in Ms. Bitch was your favorite to write?

I’m inspired by travel and the majority of my books are placed in dreamy locales. I love to take my readers to beautiful locations and let them dip their toes in the waters of Siren Island or explore the Emerald Isle while finding out about the secrets of the Mystic Cove. With that in mind my favorite scene in Ms. Bitch is where I am scuba diving with the bull sharks in Mexico. I love sharks and regularly donate to those that dedicate their lives to protect them like The Sea Shepard. I lived this particular scene in Ms. Bitch, and every time I read those words, I am transported back to the beauty and awesomeness of spending time one hundred feet underwater with those stunning sharks.

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

There's no such thing as failure - it's all a learning experience. Another would simply to be "take risks." Ultimately, you never regret taking a chance on your dreams.

Tricia O'Malley is the author of the new book Ms. Bitch.

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Interview with C.C. Scharon, Author of Blood Never Washes Out

What can you tell us about your new release, Blood Never Washes Out?

Blood Never Washes Out is a thrill ride with DEA Agent Jake Castillo as a secret kept for decades is revealed, layer by layer, challenging everything Jake thought he knew about his life.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I don’t think anyone in particular inspired me to become an author. I just always loved stories and I’ve been writing them for as long as I can remember. My husband sent me on the path of doing it professionally when I complained about wanting to write a book. He told me to stop talking about it and get to work.

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

Top five is hard to pick, but here are some good ones. These kept me turning the page, which is my biggest criterion. Outlander, The Da Vinci Code, The Giving Tree, Kiss the Girls, Tell No One.

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

Harlan Coben. I’d like to ask him how long it took him to get his magical ability to tell fantastic stories in such an interesting way.

What's your favorite thing about writing?

What I love most about writing is the author’s God-like ability over everything that happens. What characters do, what dangers they face, who lives, and who dies. Your story is the only place in the world you can control fate of everyone.

What is a typical day like for you?

I like to write in the morning, so I put in a couple of hours almost every day. If I’m in the middle of a big project, that sometimes grows into an all-day affair. The rest of the time, I’m doing whatever suits my mood with family and friends.

What scene in Blood Never Washes Out was your favorite to write?

Definitely the scene at the end where all the pieces come together with a few extra twists. After all, I wrote the whole book to get to it.

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

Enjoy every moment.

C.C. Scharon is the author of the new book Blood Never Washes Out.

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Interview with Jocelyn Fox, Author of A Curse of Blood and Sea

What can you tell us about your new release, A Curse of Blood and Sea?

A Curse of Blood and Sea is an epic fantasy set in the world of the Fae War Chronicles, though readers don’t necessarily have to read the previous books in the series. (There’s even a short story in the form of a history lesson in the front of the Kindle edition that summarizes the story so far.) As the Fae world enters a new golden age after a brutal war, the Seelie Court, Unseelie Court and the wolf-warriors of the Northern lands set their sights on rebuilding, but a new threat rises across the sea on the island of Haven, where Seafarers dock their ships crafted of dragon bones. A shopkeeper’s assistant, a slave turned healer, and a Merrow raised as a Seafarer race against time to solve the deadly curse before it decimates the entire Fae world, and they each have to answer the question: how much would you sacrifice to save not only those you love, but strangers a world away?

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I started writing my own stories when I was seven years old, after I read The Chronicles of Narnia. Storytelling enthralled me, and the more books I read, the more I wanted to write.

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

I’m going to count J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings trilogy as one, because that’s certainly a classic for any fantasy reader. Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series is another favorite, as well as Garth Nix’s Sabriel. I also really admire the world building in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. I read a lot of really dark fantasy when I was a kid, looking back on it, and I also borrowed all my dad’s Stephen King novels and gave myself nightmares.

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

I would want to interview Stephen King. The way he talks about writing has always resonated really deeply with me. I’d ask him how he moves between the worlds he’s built, because I’ve been working for years within one fantasy world—technically two, I suppose, since my books take place in both the Fae and mortal worlds. And I’d also ask if he has any advice for learning new genres. He’s such a versatile writer and I’ve always admired the breadth of his work.

What's your favorite thing about writing?

I love experiencing the story with my characters. I get lost in the adventure and I’m just as surprised as the reader sometimes when a character dies or a new plot wrinkle introduces itself. Writing is my escape hatch from reality.

What is a typical day like for you?

It really depends on the status of my current project. There’s momentum that builds throughout a draft, so I’ll write more hours in a day if I’m hurtling toward the finish. I’ll usually get up, drink my coffee and read for about half an hour, then listen to a podcast while I cook breakfast. I’ve been really into true crime podcasts lately, and I also enjoy long-form interviews like NPR’s Fresh Air. I’ll write for a three or four hour block in the morning or in the early afternoon, and sometimes for a few more hours after dinner. When I need a break from writing, I’ll go for a run, paddle board on the lake near my house, do some yoga, or another physical activity that gets me out of my own head. It’s really a gift to have so much time to work on writing now, because for the first eight years after I started this series I was in the Navy and carving out time to write sometimes came at the expense of sleep and my social life. That time crunch taught me how to be very productive in a short span, and that skill still serves me really well.

What scene in A Curse of Blood and Sea was your favorite to write?

I really enjoyed writing the triumphant first appearance of a new dragon ship in the port of Haven, which happens near the end of the novel. It’s the first new dragon ship in centuries, and the Seafarers who form the nucleus of its crew were exiled from their last ship for saving each other from a kraken—their story starts in The Dragon Ship. Mal, Hex and Jem were the first Seafarers to set foot on Seelie land in centuries and convinced the Sidhe queens to help them build their ship from the bones of a dragon that had been killed during the war. Their journey was a quest to prove everyone who’d doubted them wrong, but all three of them also grew up in a lot of ways during the hardships they endured together. It felt like the homecoming of a Navy ship after a long deployment, and the story of the exiled Seafarers came full circle.

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

I love the Thoreau quote, “I want to live deep and suck the marrow from life.” In addition to Thoreau’s ideas of living fully, my personal ethos was definitely shaped by my time in the military in two different ways: first, my teammates’ lives were on the line if I didn’t do my job well and accomplish the objective; and second, I realized that my own life is a wild and precious gift. So I view discomfort and even pain as a privilege, because often that means I’m moving in the direction of my goals, working through challenges, and growing in the pursuit of living deeply.

Jocelyn Fox is the author of the new book A Curse of Blood and Sea.

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Interview with Katy Regnery, author of At First Sight

By Katy Regnery

I have loved writing contemporary romances based on beloved fairytales ever since I wrote my first in 2014: THE VIXEN AND THE VET, which was inspired by Beauty and the Beast. Since then, I’ve published six more: NEVER LET YOU GO (Hansel & Gretel), GINGER’S HEART (Little Red Riding Hood), DARK SEXY KNIGHT (Camelot), DON’T SPEAK (The Little Mermaid) and SHEAR HEAVEN (Rapunzel), which was originally marketed as one of two novellas, twinned with AT FIRST SIGHT (Aladdin).

Except…after I wrote and published SHEAR HEAVEN in 2017, I immediately experienced “series fatigue.” Uh-oh. What is “series fatigue”? Well, it’s when an author who’s written a number of books in a particular series runs out of energy to write more. (And if you were supposed to write a duo if novellas, the timing really sucks.) The reality is that as much as novel writing is a job for writers, it’s also a creative process, and forcing creativity often produces a sub-par result. So, with much regret, I packed up the series for a while, and told my fairytale fans I’d return to AT FIRST SIGHT when I was ready.

Last summer, in July 2019, I was asked to participate in an anthology, and remembered my promise to finish AT FIRST SIGHT someday. I opened up the outline I’d started in 2017, made some changes to update the characters, and started writing. It was going pretty well, too, until I lost 10,000 words. (Insert sound of needle scratching vinyl record.)

Umm…say what? Yeah. I lost it. All of it.

Apparently, when you open a document directly from an email attachment, you’re supposed to save it to your local drive before editing it. I didn’t. I opened it and started working on it…and continued working on it for three straight days. When I closed the file to e-mail it back to myself? I lost it. All 10,000 words. (The horror.) My heart was broken. Heck, novellas are only 30,000 words anyway! I’d lost over 30% of the story, and all of my will to write it. I withdrew from the anthology and told myself that my Aladdin retelling wasn’t destined for publication.

And then, in March 2020, Covid-19 arrived, turning all of our lives upside down.

For me, this meant six weeks of writer’s block such that I’ve never experienced. I couldn’t bring myself to start the project I had previously slated (Kodiak Lumberjack) and every new project I considered felt too big, too insurmountable, too much.

If only, I thought to myself, I could just write a novella. Short and sweet, it wouldn’t feel like too much. Maybe it would jumpstart my mojo again.

And that’s about when I remembered AT FIRST SIGHT.

When I opened up the document in late-April, I found an old outline from 2017, an updated concept from the summer of 2019 and not much in the way of writing.

Deciding to start fresh, I went back to the first novella, SHEAR HEAVEN, and re-read all the parts that included AT FIRST SIGHT’s heroine, HSH Valentina Yasmina De’Medici. And then I watched the 1992 cartoon version of Disney’s Aladdin. And somewhere along the way, a new concept for AT FIRST SIGHT emerged, ready and willing to be written.

It only took me three weeks to write AT FIRST SIGHT, and I love it. I love the familiar structure. I love the updates to settings and characters. I love the way you can read SHEAR HEAVEN and AT FIRST SIGHT together, or enjoy each as a standalone novella. I have hidden “Easter eggs” throughout the story…anagrams of names from the fairytale (my Aladdin, for instance, is called Ian Ladd), references to characters we know and love, and subtle nods to the movie we all love. I hope my readers will be enchanted and delighted with the updates.

Bet best of all, three years later, my readers will have Valentina’s in their hands. It’s good to keep promises, even if you’re a little late fulfilling them.

Thank you so much for inviting me here to talk about AT FIRST SIGHT today. For all of you fairytale lovers out there, I hope you’ll give it a try!

Katy Regnery is the author of the new book At First Sight.

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The Story Behind Never Walk Alone by Willow Rose

By Willow Rose

While I wrote this book, we were all still in the middle of lockdown due to the Coronavirus or Covid19. If I had written this book at another time, before all this craziness happened to our world, it wouldn't have been believable. But now, a lot of these things have become our reality: overwhelmed hospitals, lack of equipment to treat patients, people unable to say goodbye to their relatives, some of them having to do so on FaceTime, all of us being told to stay inside and not socialize. It has truly been a crazy time, unlike anything even I could have imagined.
What first inspired me to write this book about a new virus, slightly different from Covid19, was the story about patient zero in Italy who woke up after three weeks in a coma and had no idea what had happened and how many people he had infected, including his father, who had since died from the disease. The guilt must have been overwhelming. I just knew I had to write about a person who went through what he did, and so it became Harry's sister, Reese's story. If you want to know more, you can read about the Italian patient here:

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/04/italy-patient-one-family-coronavirus-covid19/610039/

You might wonder, why another virus story? Well, when I wanted to write another Harry Hunter book, I knew I couldn't just write an ordinary thriller or mystery in a usual setting. Not with what was happening in the world. There was too much going on around me, and it felt bland—like it didn't really matter. Somehow, I had to incorporate a virus into my story. I had to write about what I was going through, what we all were going through. I like to write about the world I am in, and this is our normal right now. Who even knows what normal will look like from now on? Hopefully, this won't go on forever, and we'll be able to get back to—if not our old normal, then a new normal—soon enough.

Willow Rose is the author of the new book Never Walk Alone.

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New Mystery and Thriller Books to Read | June 2

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 Willow Rose, C.C. Scharon, Betta Ferrendelli, Iris Johansen, and many more. Enjoy your new mystery, thriller, and suspense novels. Happy reading!

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New Romance Books to Read | June 2

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 Tricia O'Malley, Katy Regnery, Rifi Strawn, Penelope Sky, and more. Enjoy your new romance books and happy reading!

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New Books to Read in Literary Fiction | June 2

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 Emily Giffin, Brit Bennett, Naoise Dolan, and many more. Enjoy your new literary fiction books. Happy reading!