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 Freddie P. Peters, T.J. Jones, Kate McGinn, and many more. Enjoy your new mystery, thriller, and suspense novels. Happy reading!
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 Christopher, Amanda Prowse, and many more. Enjoy your new literary fiction books. Happy reading!
Set off on an adventure to new worlds this week! This selection of new science fiction and fantasy books will surely please! Science Fiction fans should be excited about the latest from bestselling authors Ken Macleod, Alex White, Chris Ward, and more. If Fantasy is what your library needs, you’ll be able to pick up the latest from Michael Lynes, Shayne Silvers, Michale J. Allen, and more. Enjoy your new science fiction and fantasy books. Happy reading!
Are you an avid reader of Young Adult books? This week you are in luck! With all of these new novels, you’re bound to find a new favorite book to add to your reading list. This week includes new novels from bestselling authors Aidan Wayne, A.L. Knorr, Susan Cunningham, and many more. Enjoy your new young adult books. Happy reading!
Looking for some new biography and memoir books for your library? There are so many new releases this week that you’re bound to find a new favorite. You can pick up new novels from Bill Yenne, Peter C. Bjarkman, J. Marshall Craig, and more. Enjoy your new biography and memoir books. Happy reading!
What can you tell us about your new release, My Sister's Detective?
My Sister's Detective is the first of a series featuring Eric Slater. Slater is more human than most of the detectives I read about, and that's what makes him fun.
What or who inspired you to become an author?
I remember reading countless books as a child and always thinking that I could do that!
What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?
It's easier for me to say who my favorite authors are, and I'm dating myself here. Everyone says Fitzgerald, and for good reason, I always liked John MacDonald, Zane Grey, and I liked Hemingway's short stories more than his novels.
Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?
Can I interview ghosts? Because I really want to ask Salinger, "What the hell?"
What's your favorite thing about writing?
What I love about writing is crawling into my characters head and living their reality.
What scene in My Sister's Detective was your favorite to write?
Hard to pin down my favorite scene, but I like putting people together and keeping them in character, whether it's comedic or all out war.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
T.J. Jones is the author of the new book My Sister's Detective
Connect with T.J. Jones
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What can you tell us about your new release, Destroyer's Blood?
What can I say…it’s my new baby! I think it’s a nice story, the first of a planned trilogy, and a natural outgrowth of the characters we first met in the short story/novella prequel, “It’s in the Blood”.
In this full-length novel, Destroyer’s Blood, our MC hero Dev (short for Devcalion) and his companion/conscience/protector ‘Tray (short for Betrayer) are taking a well-deserved break, hiking together in the wilderness and trying to re-establish their relationship which had been transformed at the conclusion of their conflict with Zeus and Hera on Mount Kazbek. Tray now has access to her second level of abilities, including the ability for full telepathic speech. No longer confined to song or vibration, her sassy personality emerges along with her ability to express her feelings and emotions. She and Dev have to figure out how to integrate all the changes that have happened to them. The growth of their relationship is a central theme in Destroyer’s Blood. There’s plenty of great action too! The villains are bigger and the monsters are badder…woo hoo! It’s a fun story!!
What or who inspired you to become an author?
Great question! I would have to say it was three things. My mom, first of all, is a great writer. She also read to us, (I am the oldest of five kids), and introduced us all to stories, both classics and more popular works, at an early age. Secondly - I read a LOT of great authors, especially those in the sci-fi genre like Heinlein, Bradbury and Asimov. They were my heroes as a young man. I admired their writing and I wished to be able to emulate them. Last, I was inspired and compelled to write the story of the life and untimely death of my second son Christopher Aaron. Christopher’s story, “There is a Reaper” was my tribute to him. It was and is a very personal work, both difficult to write as well as cathartic. I published that first work in 2015 and the reaction of people who got to know Chris through my writing, who otherwise would never have been able to know him, was very humbling and also extremely gratifying.
What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?
“East of Eden” – John Steinbeck, “The Lord of the Rings” – Tolkien, “Nine Princes in Amber” – Rodger Zelazny, “Stranger in a Strange Land” – Robert Heinlein, “Heart of Darkness” – Joseph Conrad and for short stories anything by Ray Bradbury (or for novels – “Fahrenheit 451”) – oh really I could name about two dozen more… lol.
Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?
Well that is another super question. I think I would want to have the great John Ronald Reuel Tolkien on my talk show and I would ask him to tell us all about the origins of Middle Earth and all the backstory of the legend he created. I’d also like to get his opinion of what has been done in the present day with his original works. I suspect he would not be all that pleased!
What's your favorite thing about writing?
Finishing! Lol!
In all seriousness, I do enjoy the process, but writing is hard work! It requires time and patience and great perseverance. Creation takes a lot out of me and crafting a story, with well-constructed characters and a plot that moves well and has depth and complexity as well as adding realism and world building (a necessity for the fantasy genre) is just plain difficult! I love writing but I love having written even more!
What is a typical day like for you?
Is there a typical day? I mean I’m sure there is…somewhere…but I don’t have many – lol! Both Margaret and I have a LOT on our plates. We have two grandchildren, we host a weekly radio show together, and I have many chores and duties. I also still go to work every day, four days a week most weeks, and we do actually heat our whole house with wood, (hence the handle @woodheat – which has become my ‘brand’) – so that all keeps us busy! Most of our days start early and end late – but we’re happy with each one. Typical is something we do try to avoid though – lol…
What scene in Destroyer's Blood was your favorite to write?
Oh there were quite a few! No spoilers, but writing scenes where the relationship between Dev and Tray was going through some significant challenge or change were among my favorites. The penultimate conflict scene was right up there as well, not to mention all of the scenes where they go at each other and we get to see how funny they are and how much they care for each other. Last some of my favorite scenes to write were close action sequences when Dev and Tray are fighting against monsters or gods or other villains. Action is the key to exciting prose and there is a LOT of action in Destroyer’s Blood – those scenes are always fun…
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
I don’t know if I have a philosophy that can be encapsulated by a quote lol! I do have some favorites. One I quote often is by Vonnegut (who by the way deserves to be on the list above…”Slaughterhouse Five” is a GREAT book…and how could I leave off Pirsig’s “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” or Catcher in the Rye…or for that matter Heller’s “Catch 22”!!) but back on task! One of my favorite Kurt quotes is: “If you can do no good, at least do no harm.” It’s very Zen, and sort of Hippocratic too, in a way. I guess it is a good way to live and I do try to live to do some good, and certainly not harm anyone or anything.
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What can you tell us about your new release, Breaking Point?
Breaking Point is Book 2 in the Henry Crowne: Paying the Price series but a book that can also be read independently.
Situated in the City of London, this psychological thriller combines different worlds that unexpectedly collide. Whereas COLLAPSE (Book 1) was written against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis, BREAKING POINT takes on a $350 trillion financial scandal and its cover-up. It also explores how high-finance, terrorism and …art interact with one another, fuelling the intrigue and the development of the characters caught in it.
What or who inspired you to become an author?
I love art, visual arts, music, cinema, theatre and of course reading. I always wanted to be an artist… I love to tell stories, as a kid just to make my family laugh or now to see the effect it has on my audience. I dreamt of new plots all the time and I almost lost the plot during my time in Investment Banking in London! I am glad I eventually found it again.
What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?
The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?
Haruki Murakami
How does he write about and build worlds that are so surreal and yet so completely credible?
He has been criticized by the Japanese literary establishment for being influenced too much by Western writers. What would he say to that?
What's your favorite thing about writing?
Hearing the characters finding their voices as I developed them. Giving them more depth and authenticity and finally seeing them act, react, think and feel to become totally alive.
What is a typical day like for you?
I try to be organized and split my time every day between writing and what I call “anything else” when I am in writing mode. As I write longhand my first draft, I allow myself several hours of writing time daily interspersed with other activities. It can be something as mundane as admin work or it could be walking which I really enjoy in particular if I need to sort out a difficult passage in the plot line.
What scene in Breaking Point was your favorite to write?
It would be a big spoiler if I fully disclosed that but… I can perhaps say that I enjoyed creating a tense denouement at the end of the book.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
Philosophy, where do I start… perhaps three words help capture it: respect, kindness, honesty.
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What can you tell us about your new release, Make Me Stay II?
Make Me Stay II is a contemporary, second chance romance that I caved in and decided to continue after so many reviews craving more of Donavan and Avery. Avery Castle comes from an affluent family, but all the riches in the world didn’t help her parents love their deaf daughter. But her childhood best friend Donavan did. He learned sign language just for her and has been with her every step of the way. However, her parents will do some serious meddling in book one causing a rift between the bad boy and their good girl. In this installment, Donnie and Avery are still dealing with the residuals of her parents’ intentions. So expect a gut-wrenching love story, laughs, a few cries, and some seriously steamy moments.
What or who inspired you to become an author?
Can’t recall. I snuck books to bed before I could crawl. Luckily, I transitioned from The Baby Sitter’s Club to Christopher Pike then Harlequin romance.
What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Along Came a Spider, James Patterson
Tears of the Moon, Nora Roberts
The Velvet Promise, Jude Deveraux (It was my first tango with steamy romance)
Jane Eyre, Emily Bronte
Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?
James Patterson. His Masterclass on Creative Writing is everything, and I felt like I was in his presence while he spoke. The advice he gave about dialogue and just his process in general is priceless. I would ask him to read the first page of my psychological thrillers and give it to me straight!
What's your favorite thing about writing?
Creating my own world. Fleshing out my feelings. I work in the mental health field, which can be particularly daunting. So, when I’m writing books, I can “off” people. Romantic Suspense is the ultimate stress relief: the action, the sex; it’s therapeutic.
What is a typical day like for you?
I write in the morning when my characters are loudest, calling out for attention. Then life calls, the typical stuff. Get my two daughters ready for school, go to work, and return home in time for my husband’s cooking. Maybe a little kickboxing if I’m not too lazy.
What scene in Make Me Stay II was your favorite to write?
Avery and Donavan are at her parents’ house for a black-tie Valentine Day event. Donavan has her sneak upstairs to her childhood bedroom, which has been decorated in the same manner as it was during their first Valentine’s. Avery’s pregnant and so the scene begins rather sweet, funny, until the heat is off the Richter scale.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
Choose joy.
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By Penelope Bloom
When I sat down to plan my most recent book, His Package, I thought about how nice it would be if I was someone who liked to outline. I imagined spending a few hours or maybe even days to get an extremely detailed guide for my book down on paper. I'd know everything from the way it ends to when the characters fall in love. It would mean I'd pretty much have a sense of whether the book was good or bad before I'd so much as written the first chapter.
Cool, right? Maybe not so much. At least not for me.
A well-plotted book is great for a lot of things. It means you can set up a really satisfying ending and a plot with a lot of moving parts. You can have twists and turns and surprises galore, and you can arrange all of it to come crashing down with the perfect crescendo at the end, all while having complete confidence that every last piece will fall into place.
When I first started writing, I tried to outline. I made a very detailed outline, in fact. I had every single turning point in the story mapped out and even used an excel sheet to map the approximate word count these points should fall on. That worked for about 10% of the book, and then something happened.
Every author I've talked to has a different process. For some, they absolutely live by outlines. Those outlines can be detailed spreadsheets with pages and pages of information down to how every conversation in the book will go, or they can be as brief as a paragraph or two to sum up the book.
For my books, I decide in my head how I want the characters to meet. That's it. For His Banana, I wanted him to walk in on her with his banana in her mouth. For Her Cherry, I wanted him to buy/"steal" her cherry pie. For His Package, I wanted his package to end up in her mailbox, and all the crazy innuendo that would follow.
That's pretty much all I decide on before I start writing the first chapter. I think the best advantage to writing this way is it lets my characters be real. I'm often learning who they are as a reader would be. I learn it in the way they respond to situations and the way they speak. The more I get to know them, the more I'm able to shape the story to fit them. I can put them in situations that I have learned will be hilarious or uncomfortable for them in particular. Basically, I'm not stuck to following a pre-planned plot that might not be ideal for who my characters turn out to be.
The biggest downside to writing this way is I end up having to pretty heavily revise the first 25% of my books almost every time. I rarely have a great feel for my characters until the story is farther along, and that means I end up having to go back and tweak their mannerisms or the things they say to fit the personalities I've learned for them. It's kind of a weird process, and not extremely efficient, but I feel like it gives me characters that are living and breathing.
I have no idea if any of that is interesting to somebody who never plans to write, but hopefully, it was! Maybe the next time you read a new author, you can try to make a guess on whether they're an outliner or someone who wings it. As for me, I know I'll continue to write my stories on the fly, and I'll continue to take the tons and tons of stress it causes me.
Also, don't forget to check out my newest release, His Package. It's the fourth installment of the Objects of Attraction series, but they're all written as standalones. Considering this one takes place in December and through Christmas, there's no better time to dive into the story!
Penelope Bloom is the author of the new book His Package
Connect with Penelope:
Author Page
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