I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Chrstine Amsden. Today, Christine shares her creative journey and new release, Knot of Souls.

Here’s Christine!

What was your inspiration for this book?

The idea for Knot of Souls came at the end of 2020, after a year of working social media for two state senate campaigns. Politics is always fraught, but in the midst of a global pandemic, trolls were out in force, leaving me wondering how two opposite sides could ever come together on anything. In November, I sat down at my computer, stared at a blank cursor for a minute, and typed out three words:

Write something happy.

Joy got a name before she got a plot!

Now, it’s hard to write something you don’t feel, and I didn’t feel happy at the time, but I did manage hopeful. The key hope I wanted to ignite? That two very different beings at cross-purposes can find a way to work together, and even become close.

What is the best part of being an author? The worst?

My favorite part of being an author are the times when someone sends me an email and tells me they loved my book(s). I recently got one from someone I’ve known for seven years who only just got around to reading me, and she said, “Why did I wait so long???” Those kinds of things put a smile on my face every time.

The worst part of being an author has been grappling with how big a role luck plays in success.

Describe your writing space.

I write in a basement office where the only light comes through a small, high window covered with stained glass sunflowers. Due to a visual impairment, I write almost exclusively on a desktop, using a very large monitor mounted on an arm that I bring so close to my face that my (hot pink) keyboard is under and behind it. The keyboard clicks. Click click click. I love the tactile and auditory feedback. On a table nearby, I place a jar candle that I light when I’m working on a novel. The scents vary; I like to keep things interesting. Right now it’s vanilla, but I’m probably going to move to something more woodsy soon.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

Self-confidence. (Is that a superpower? It feels like a superpower!)

Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?b>

Games! I’ve been learning chess for a year or two, and I play some video games … they aren’t all accessible enough, but I’ve gotten into cozy ones like Stardew Valley. I read a lot, both fiction and nonfiction, and as I primarily read on audio I knit to have something to do with my hands. I also enjoy walking, yoga, and a good cup of tea.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Never forget to play, and to take joy in your work.

Book Blurb

Two souls, one body …

When Joy wakes up in an alley, she knows three things: she was brutally murdered, she has somehow come back to life … and she is not alone. She’s been possessed by an inhuman presence, a being that has taken over her dying body. That being is powerful, in pain, and on the run from entities more dangerous than he is.

Shade, a Fae prince on the run, didn’t mean to share the body he jumped into. Desperate and afraid, accused of a murder he didn’t commit, he only sought a place to hide—but if he leaves Joy now, he faces discovery and a fate worse than death.

Forced to work together to solve multiple murders, including her own, Joy and Shade discover hidden strengths and an unlikely friendship. Yet as their souls become increasingly intertwined, they realize their true danger might come from each other … and if they don’t find a way to untangle the knot their souls have become, then even the truth won’t set them free.

Knot of Souls is a stand-alone buddy love fantasy that forces two very different beings to work together … and come out stronger on the other side.

Knot of Souls is available at Amazon.

Book Excerpt

Joy

The first thing I realized, after I died, was that my body could walk and talk and no longer needed my help for any of it. I was in there, able to look through my eyes and hear through my ears, but even the simple task of aiming my gaze had slipped outside my control. I was a passenger inside my own mind, an observer along for the ride.

Kristen had been right, I thought numbly as I struggled to make sense of my new reality. Had it only been lunchtime today when she’d told me I’d never get ahead if I didn’t learn to assert myself? “Take control of your life,” she’d said, “or others will take it for you.” She couldn’t have been thinking of anything quite so literal. Whatever was happening to me, it wasn’t because I’d failed to advocate for a promotion at work or refused to ask out a coworker.

Right?

My body reached my car and slid behind the wheel. A rattled thought—not my own—cursed as it tried to understand how the contraption worked. How much can cars have changed in only a century? Visions accompanied the thoughts, memories—again not my own—of a classic car, gleaming black and elegant, its top down, my bobbed hair whipping around my face as I laughed with glee, a white-faced young man at my side gripping the door, begging me to slow down. I did not.

Which brings me to the second thing I realized, after I died: I was no longer alone inside my own mind.

Whoever was in there didn’t seem to have noticed me yet. Fine. I slid into the smallest corner of my brain I could find, ignoring the intruder as they struggled to figure out how to work an automatic transmission. Maybe they’d get frustrated and give up and go find someone else’s body to possess.

Holy shit! I’ve been possessed by the ghost of someone who died in like 1930.

But why?

I tried to remember what had happened, but the images danced just out of reach. I recalled that the night had been unseasonably cold for October, the chill biting through my inadequate jacket as I hurried to my car, parked in a garage two blocks away from the shelter where I’d been volunteering. Hugging my arms around my torso for warmth, I took a shortcut through an alley and …

There was a noise. I’d startled, my heart pounding in my throat, already on edge because of the argument.

Wait. Back up. There’d been an argument. That seemed significant, but my scattered thoughts couldn’t piece it together as yet, not when a bodily intruder fumbled at the gearshift of my two-month-old Hyundai Accent with only fifty-eight “low monthly payments” left to go.

Low is such a relative word.

– Excerpted from Knot of Souls by Christine Amsden, Christine Amsden, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

Christine Amsden is the author of nine award-winning fantasy and science fiction novels, including the Cassie Scot Series.

Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but Christine believes great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. She writes primarily about people, and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.

In addition to writing, Christine is a freelance editor and political activist. Disability advocacy is of particular interest to her; she has a rare genetic eye condition called Stargardt Macular Degeneration and has been legally blind since the age of eighteen. In her free time, she enjoys role playing, board games, and a good cup of tea. She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and two kids.

Website | X | Facebook | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

Christine Amsden is giving away 2 epub sets of the 4-book Cassie Scot series (gifted through BookFunnel! This includes Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective, Secrets and Lies, Mind Games and Stolen Dreams. Enter here.

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.

• Two winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one set of the 4-book Cassie Scot series (four books total).

• This giveaway starts July 1 and ends September 26.

• Winner will be contacted via email on September 26.

• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

I’m happy to welcome back multi-published author Petie McCarty. Today, Petie shares her new release, Christmas Watch.

Blurb

The Watchers Series

Fallen angels seeking parole for their betrayal . . .

Someone is watching Rachel . . . but who? And why?

Child psychologist Rachel Kelly has her Christmas stocking full of troubles this holiday season, both personal and professional. Recently separated from her boyfriend, Rachel still loves him but has no idea how to win him back. If that’s not enough to cause her sleepless nights, she’s uncertain how to handle her newest therapy client—a six-year-old boy who claims he talks to Watchers. And a Watcher is coming to help Rachel.

Lt. Jake Dillon has his heart broken when his fiancée Rachel, without warning, suddenly calls it quits. Yet when a stalker crashes Rachel’s Christmas party and takes her young clients hostage, Jake is the first person Rachel calls. Now he has a choice to make—stand back and wait for the cavalry to save her, or step in and try to save her himself. Time is running out, and Jake may be their only chance for rescue.

Unless Rachel’s young Watcher spy is telling the truth . . .

This romantic suspense tale with paranormal elements is Book 2 in The Watchers series . . . A captivating tale of small-town Christmas romance that will leave you looking over your shoulder and wondering, Is someone watching

Excerpt

Jake whipped his BMW into the Azalea Center parking lot and switched off his headlights in one smooth motion. Guided by the light from the few streetlamps, he coasted to a silent stop next to Wally’s Jeep, though his emotions had urged him to come screeching around the corner like the cavalry. Common sense and the need for stealth won out. He couldn’t risk driving the trespasser underground only to have him surface later after Jake had gone.

Clicking off his interior lights, he unlocked his glove compartment and drew out his Sig Sauer, then climbed out and quietly pushed the car door in until the latch held. He waited several seconds to let his eyes and ears take in the entire scene. Damn. All the landscaping crowded around the Center provided a multitude of places for a trespasser to hide.

He put a hand on the hood of Wally’s Jeep. Still warm, even in the cold night air. A brief stab of guilt hit him for dumping his team so abruptly in the Beef n’ Barrel. Couldn’t be helped.

He scanned the closest landscape beds for some sign of Wally. A stiff north breeze whipped across the parking area, stirring up leaves and debris. Barely visible through the treetops, the almost-full moon blazed bright.

He made his way past the large perimeter oaks to the interior sidewalk and began a slow circle of the building, checking sections of the garden as he paced. All the offices on the west side of the building were unoccupied, and all the windows were dark, with a few showing vestiges of their interiors due to adjacent emergency lighting.

Rachel’s office, just around the corner, faced the back of the property. At this time of night, her office interior would be entirely visible with her lights on. Jake knew this because he’d snuck over here enough times in the last few months to observe her office from the garden. He was pathetic and, every few weeks, needed a glimpse of her to get by. A wry smile twitched the edges of his mouth. He could’ve been called in as a trespasser on any one of those nights should someone have spotted him and cared enough to make the call.

Careful to remain off the sidewalk, he silently paced toward the back garden. If the trespasser was a stalker, then the perp probably knew the Center had no security guard and no security system. A fact that had always bothered Jake.

At the back corner of the property, he crossed the sidewalk to inspect the landscape areas adjacent to the building. With quick steps, he shifted from one landscape bed to another. Crouching as he left the larger camellias, he moved through the shorter azaleas and Indian hawthorn.

Clearing the corner, his position even with the back of the building, he paused to reconnoiter and stared at the faint pool of light cast by an overhead office. Rachel’s office.

As his gaze rose to the second-floor office, his eyes searched for the all-too-familiar figure. Without thinking, he straightened to his full height, clearly visible to anyone glancing out the window. Yet no one searched for a figure in the garden. All eyes in the office were busy.

Rachel stood with Olivia and her children on one side of the conference room. On the other side of the room, a man in a worn red jacket and baseball cap faced them. Pointing a gun.

This was Jake’s horrible nightmare.

Author Bio and Links

Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—”The Most Magical Place on Earth”—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her “day” job to write her stories full-time.

These days Petie spends her time writing new Cinderella series tales, her new The Watchers series, sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and more contemporary romance standalones to go along with her two previous releases—Any Fin For Love and Ambush in the Everglades.

Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in Book 2 of The Watchers, Christmas Watch.

Website | Facebook | X | Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon Author Page

Giveaway

Petie McCarty will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Petie on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

I’m happy to welcome psychologist and author Susan Harris Howell. Today, Susan shares her debut novel, The Spirit of Vanderlaan.

Blurb

When beloved professor, Samantha Hayes, learns that her favorite four students live in as many of her old dorm rooms, she wonders how it happened and for what purpose. As she and her student entourage explore the possibilities, they uncover a death years ago and what appears to be the ghost of the dearly departed. All of this stirs up Samantha’s long-held fear that she was responsible for that death, challenging all she thought she knew about herself and the work she holds dear. They must figure out what happened before Samantha gets fired for “dabbling in the paranormal.”

Excerpt

As she walked to her first class of the day, Samantha congratulated herself that for the first time this semester she would arrive at her own class on time. A glance at her watch revealed she even had five minutes to spare. With Douglas Hall in sight and her classroom on its main floor, she was sure to make it on time—

“Samantha!”

Grrr! So close. Although showing up late for class frustrated her, she was mostly annoyed by the person who was about to detain her. If I ignore him, maybe he’ll go away.

“Samantha!” This time he was more insistent.

Samantha released a breath of resignation. She should have known better. He wasn’t the kind to be ignored. Samantha turned to face him as she reached the door of the building. She hadn’t been at Vanderlaan long enough to flout someone who carried the weight around here that he did. “What can I do for you, Len?”

Dr. Len Titus stood before her, dressed as always, in a suit with a starched white shirt and tie which he would loosen by afternoon. His graying hair with a precise part on the side had become his hallmark, along with his hands-on-hips pose and gravelly voice. Levi’s imitation of each was spot on, although professional decorum required that Samantha refrain from the encouragement her laughter would ensure. Since Len Titus was of slight frame, someone unfamiliar with this man might assume passivity or weakness. Not Samantha.

“I see we’re both teaching in Douglas Hall this semester,” he said. “Hope I won’t be in your way.” He peered over his wire-rimmed glasses. “Or you in mine.”

Samantha took a breath, gritted her teeth, and walked through the door. She would use the back entrance next time.

Author Bio and Links

I am a psychologist, speaker, and author of The Spirit of Vanderlaan, my debut novel released in December of 2024. This book is a fun, cozy, ghost story featuring a professor, Samantha Hayes, and her lively band of students who get caught up in solving a campus mystery. This book draws on my teaching career of over thirty years to capture the camaraderie and warmth between a professor and the assortment of personalities which inhabit her office.

I have also published extensively on equality between women and men. My first book, Buried Talents, explores the subtle ways women are discouraged from entering male-dominated occupations. Buried Talents was named a winner in InterVarsity Press’s 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards.

My husband and I have two grown children, a daughter-in-law, one adorable grandson, and an incorrigible beagle named Doc. While Doc doesn’t understand a word I say, he fully supports my books and their content.

Website | Instagram | Facebook | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads | BookBub | Email List & Monthly Blog | Amazon Buy Link | Barnes & Noble Buy Link

Giveaway

Susan Harris Howell will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Susan on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

I’m happy to welcome award-winning, best-selling author Patricia Leavy. Today, Patricia shares her creative journey and new release, Shooting Stars Above.

Interview

What was your inspiration for this book?

When I was ten years old, I tried to write a novel. I don’t remember all the details, but it was a love story about two people who help each other heal. I wasn’t able to finish it at the time, being that I was only ten. One night in late 2019, I stepped out onto the balcony of my home office and looked up at the stars. Like a bolt, Shooting Stars Above came to, as a complete book, which was different than my previous novels. I wrote the first draft in only ten days, completely immersed in the story world. It was magical. I believe Shooting Stars Above is the novel I tried to write at the age of ten. I think the seed lived inside of me my entire life. It took years of writing other books to develop the tools to actualize that bolt of inspiration. There’s a saying that “hurt people hurt people,” but sometimes that isn’t true. Sometimes people in pain are able to love others in extraordinary ways. That’s the core inspiration for the book. Really, it’s about the healing power of love and learning to balance darkness and light in our lives.

What is your favorite quote?

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost

Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?

I love art. I spend most of my time at art museums, art galleries, watching films, and listening to music/going to concerts. I also love travel and I’m a total foodie.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Develop a relationship with your work that isn’t dependent on anything external—positive or negative. That’s how you protect your creativity.

What are you working on next?

I fell so deeply in love with the characters in Shooting Stars Above that it became a series called The Celestial Bodies Romances. There are six books written to date and I genuinely love each more than the one before. We’ll be releasing one each spring. Shooting Stars Above includes the first chapter of the next book, Twinkle of Doubt. Each novel takes place a year after the last and follows the same characters, although some fun new characters are introduced across the series too. Each series title explores love and a different theme. The first book is about love and healing. Other topics include doubt, intimacy, trust, commitment, and faith. While there are different kinds of dramatic events that happen in each book, I can promise you each is filled with love, a few laughs, and hopefully a bit of inspiration. While each novel is a contained stand-alone book, and there are no cliffhangers, if you read the entire series there is also a larger narrative arc. Really, the series is about learning to balance lightness and darkness in our lives so that we may live in full color. Before the next series book comes out, I’m releasing a different novel called Cinematic Destinies on September 2, which is already available for preorder. It’s a romance with multiple love stories and a fun film shoot in Iceland. It’s a total feel-good for readers who enjoy Hollywood love stories with heart. I loved writing it.

Blurb

For fans of Colleen Hoover comes an emotionally charged contemporary romance about a internationally best-selling novelist and a federal agent fighting to heal past wounds.

Tess Lee is a world-famous novelist. Her inspirational books explore people’s innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel—but despite her extraordinary success, she’s been unable to find personal happiness. Jack Miller is a federal agent working in counterterrorism. After spending decades immersed in a violent world, a residue remains. He’s dedicated everything to his job, leaving nothing for himself.

The night Tess and Jack meet, their connection is palpable. She examines the scars on his body and says, “I’ve never seen anyone whose outsides match my insides.” The two embark on an epic love story, but old traumas soon rise to the surface as Jack struggles with the death of a loved one and Tess is forced to confront her childhood abuse. Can unconditional love help heal their invisible wounds? Together, will they be able to move from darkness to light?

Excerpt

“So, what do you do?” she asked.

“I’m a federal agent with the Bureau—counterterrorism. I joined the military right out of high school, Special Forces. I was in the field, often deep undercover, until about a year ago, when I took a desk job as the head of my division.”

“Wow, you’re like the real-life Jack Bauer. You even look a little like him, with that whole rugged, handsome hero thing you have going on,” she said.

He blushed and ran his hand through his light brown hair. “I promise you I’m no Jack Bauer, even on my best day. People thought that character was so tragic, but the real tragedy is that Jack Bauer doesn’t exist, and you’re stuck with guys like me.”

She smiled. “What made you choose that line of work?”

“My parents raised me and my siblings to value community, to be patriotic. My father was in the military and then became a firefighter. The idea of service always seemed important. I wanted to serve my country, to protect people. It’s hard to explain, but when I see someone innocent being threatened, I’m willing to do whatever is necessary to protect them. I know it sounds cliché, but I feel like it’s my purpose in life.”

“That’s noble,” she remarked.

He shook his head. “The lived reality often isn’t. When you spend most of your life in the abyss, it gets pretty dark.”

“A residue remains, right?” she asked.

He looked at her intently, a little surprised. “Yes, exactly.”

“I understand. You convince yourself it’s all been for something that matters more than you do, that whatever part of yourself you sacrificed was worth it, because it simply has to be.”

He looked at her as if she had read his innermost thoughts. “Yes,” he said softly. “Tell me, what do you do?”

“I’m a novelist.”

“What are your books about?”

“That’s a difficult question to answer. I guess I wanted to write about everything: what it means to live a life, why it’s so hard, and how it could be easier. To walk people through the darkness, in a way. Perhaps my goals were too lofty, and in that respect, each book fails more spectacularly than the one before.”

The bartender smirked.

Tess wistfully said, “Maybe reality can never live up to our dreams.”

Author Bio and Links

Patricia Leavy, PhD, is an award-winning, best-selling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chairperson of Sociology & Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College. She has published more than fifty books; her work has been translated into many languages, and she has received more than one hundred book honors. Recently, her novel The Location Shoot was featured in Ms. Career Girl’s “10 Perfect Books to Get Your Fall Reading List Started” and She Reads in “Novels to Read if You Love Classic Movies” and was the 2024 Best Book Awards First Place Winner in Women’s Fiction. Patricia has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” Patricia lives in Maine and serves on the board of the London Arts-Based Research Centre. In addition to writing, she enjoys movies, art, reading, and travel.

Website | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

Patricia Leavy will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Patricia on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Patricia Leavy is giving away copies of CINEMATIC DESTINIES, her upcoming romance from She Writes Press. How to get yours? It’s easy… just complete the Rafflecopter below and you’ll receive one from the author! Plus, one lucky entrant will receive a $150 Amazon gift card!

So, what’s the book about? Here’s the info:

For fans of Tessa Bailey and Hannah Grace, Cinematic Destinies is a feel-good, contemporary romance about a trio of adult children searching for love and beauty in the shadow of their parents’ legendary Hollywood fairy-tale romance.

Legendary actor Finn Forrester and his wife philosopher Ella Sinclair Forrester met on the location shoot for Jean Mercier’s film Celebration. The world has been captivated by their fairy-tale romance since Finn famously proposed on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. As the couple now prepares to celebrate their thirtieth wedding anniversary, they wonder if their children will ever find love.

Eldest daughter Betty is excelling in a medical residency program in New York City—and has convinced herself that distancing herself from emotions is the path to success. Youngest son Albert, a recent college graduate, is trying to find his footing in Boston as he struggles with his identity. Free-spirited Georgia, her mother’s spitting image and an actress following in her father’s footsteps, has been cast in Jean Mercier’s final film, mysteriously titled Beauty. When she arrives on set in Iceland and meets her costar, sparks fly. Is history repeating itself? How has growing up in the shadow of the world’s most iconic love story affected each of the Forrester children?

Reviews

“If you’re a romantic with a brain and a heart, this is your jam . . . I closed the book with a full heart and a goofy grin.” Literary Titan, 5-star review

“Cinematic Destinies is a stunning and poignant celebration of romance, the magic of movies, and life itself. The exotic Icelandic film set, well-drawn characters, and smart writing make this book impossible to put down . . . This is a gorgeous novel.” —Laurel Richardson, author of Lone Twin

“Overall, the writing, the characters, the little nods of sizzle, and the brilliant family dynamic make this book a winner. Very highly recommended.”—Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review

“Leavy’s latest must-read novel features a trio of romantic storylines about the quest for love and identity in the shadow of a Hollywood fairy tale . . . Cinematic Destinies is a spellbinding ode to love, art, and what it means to live.” —Mary E. Weems, author of Blackeyed

About the Author:

Patricia Leavy is an award-winning, best-selling author. Formerly Associate Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College, she has published more than fifty books; her work has been translated into many languages, and she has received more than one hundred book honors. Her most recent novel, Shooting Stars Above, was featured on People “10 Romance Books to Read After Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry.” She has also received career awards from the National Art Education Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, and other organizations. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” In 2024 the London Arts-Based Research Centre established “The Patricia Leavy Award for Arts-Based Research.” Patricia lives in Maine. In addition to writing, she enjoys art, reading, and travel.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cinematic-Destinies-Novel-Carpet-Romance-ebook/dp/B0DWNGNM1Z/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0

Patricia Leavy will award a free digital copy of her upcoming book CINEMATIC DESTINIES to the first 7500 people who enter the Rafflecopter and one lucky entrant will receive a $150 Amazon gift card.

Rafflecopter Giveaway: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f5181/

I’m happy to welcome award-winning mystery author B.T. Polcari. Today, he shares his creative journey and new release, Lucky Secrets.

Interview

Describe your writing space.

In my house I have a downstairs 300-square-foot office 100% dedicated to my writing plus a walk-in closet with a bookcase and shelving attached to the walls. In the office is an 8×12 Turkish rug (reds and blues); a fully-connected desk set lining two walls comprised of a six-foot red-maple desk, a side return, corner computer work desk (with computer and family photos), and side credenza with file drawers (on it sit a TV, printer, and mementos); two red-maple bookcases full of books, awards, and mementos on a far wall; and two red-maple visitor chairs with black fabric. On the walls my desk unit spans are two white boards with scrawled notes and reminders plus framed awards and mementos.

Where my office differs from others is it has a treadmill, an electronic stringing machine for tennis rackets (I have strung my own rackets for the last 25 years), and a battered orange traffic cone that was given to me years ago as an inside joke (no – it wasn’t because I ran over it). Hanging on the other two walls are awards and photos from my pre-writing career.

Most important of all – on the floor in front of the credenza are two dog beds with blankets for our three pups, all rescues. Every morning, they follow me downstairs to work and sleep almost the entire time I am working, and then follow me back upstairs at the end of the day to settle into their big fluffy beds while I go for my walk.

What is your favorite quote?

“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” Nathaniel Hawthorne

I love this quote so much, it is written at the top of one of my whiteboards next to my desk. While I don’t necessarily like Hawthorne, his quote resonates with me because it is very true. During the editing phase of a project, I work so hard to make sure the prose flows and is not continually chopped up by long, complicated sentences or overuse of certain words or dialogue tags. I make sure the dialogue flows with just enough action or dialogue tags to ensure the reader knows who is talking without slowing down the scene. Michael Jordon made playing basketball look easy. But when nobody was watching, he was putting in the work.

Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?

I enjoy my 3-4 mile walk each day after a full day in the office. It is great to get outside, breathe fresh air, and clear my head. I also enjoy bowling (career-high season average of 226), tennis, and fantasy football. And this past year, I tried my hand at fantasy hockey (I don’t know much about the NHL) and really enjoyed it (finished 4th out of 10 teams), so I’ll be back playing it again this year! I also enjoy watching college and pro football, college basketball, and the grand slam tournaments for tennis and golf.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Write every day, even if for only 30-60 minutes. Writing every day builds momentum, and if you consistently do this, you will improve. “Practice makes perfect” is an adage for a reason.

Speaking of perfect, don’t let perfection get in the way of progress (paraphrasing Winston Churchill). First drafts are all about getting the story out of your head and onto virtual paper. Don’t get caught up trying to make that draft perfect by agonizing over sentence structure, pacing, word choice, etc. Later during the very important editing process these things will be identified and addressed. It is during editing that a book goes from good to great (hopefully).

Find a writer’s critique group. There are plenty online and possibly in your own town. When I started writing in 2013, I honed my skills in critique groups on Wattpad. I learned a lot from some talented people in a certain “by invitation only” group on the site. Accept criticism in these groups for what it is intended to do – make you a better writer. But if the feedback isn’t supportive and instead just mean or rude, then simply find another group.

What are you working on next?

I have several projects in various stages of development. One is a YA mystery for boys after an agent expressed an interest in me giving it a shot. I have the next Sara book fully plotted and ready to write – I just need to decide how I want to go about it (yes, I understand, this is intentionally vague – sly wink). I am in the early stages of fleshing out a spinoff with Mrs. Majelski – she is a huge favorite of my readers, my editors, and myself. The enigmatic old lady is such a blast to write into my stories, so why not write a story with her as the main character?? I also have the first seven chapters of a political satire written, and have been querying agents for a completed police/crime/detective murder mystery and an international historical thriller. So, just a few things going on.

Blurb

College student Sara Donovan is in the homestretch of graduating when a mysterious package arrives with an invitation to an exclusive contest. One that will drastically change the winner’s life. Included are unsettling photographs from forgettable chapters in her life and a threatening note strongly suggesting she participate.

With no good options, Sara enters the contest and finds herself at a fabulous mansion up against eight formidable opponents, each with a dark secret and all racing to solve seven levels of riddles and puzzles.

After a contestant’s body is discovered, Sara contemplates dropping out when another package arrives, its chilling contents making clear she’s at the center of a dangerous game with deadly consequences if she quits. But what it doesn’t say is—what happens if she wins?

Excerpt

Winston forced a smile. “The founder imparted to me that every contestant was personally selected because each of you has a secret that absolutely must remain—a secret. Especially from law enforcement.” He glanced at me and raised an eyebrow. “Since the winner of the contest will become fabulously wealthy, it would seem, everyone is here because of a potentially—lucky secret.”

Zoe’s head whipped toward me. With eyes wide, she mouthed law enforcement. I threw her a little headshake, even as my body exploded in tingles. I have no such secrets—anymore. I think. A picture popped in my head of the open safe-deposit box with the gold artifact, gold bar, and emeralds. With my name on the signature card. Somebody obviously manufactured a secret for me. But why? And is it the same for all the contestants? Were they also blackmailed into coming for something they didn’t do? Or were they…

Buy Links

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Author Bio and Links

B.T. Polcari is a graduate of Rutgers College of Rutgers University, an award-winning mystery author, and a proud father of two wonderful children. He’s a champion of rescue pups (Mauzzy is a rescue), craves watching football and basketball, and, of course, loves reading mysteries. Among his favorite authors are Richard Osman, D.P. Lyle, Frederick Forsyth, and Michael Connelly. He is also an unapologetic fantasy football addict. He lives with his wife in scenic Chattanooga, Tennessee.

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Giveaway

B.T. Polcari will be awarding a $20 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Visit the author on the rest of his Goddess Fish tour here.

I’m happy to welcome Wild Rose Press Susan Dalessandro. Today, Susan shares her new release, A Whisper in the Trees.

Blurb

For Gabby Patterson, a dedicated, but sometimes obsessive, cross-country runner, junior year is her time to shine. She has to start thinking about tomorrow: the future college recruiters and scholarship offers. But today means beating her impossibly skinny rivals any way she can.

Then eerie encounters in the woods and a cute secretive guy with the same quirky musical tastes interfere in Gabby’s plans. Sweet CJ is connected to the forest mystery… and to what’s happening to Gabby. But hard truths aren’t that easy to run from…

Excerpt

My stomach groans and I brace my hand on the trunk of a small tree, a sudden bout of dizziness overwhelming me.

I can’t stand here all day, so I proceed into the woods, beneath the canopy of tall, sturdy oaks and sheltering pine trees. Fallen leaves crunch underfoot as I follow the dirt path, narrowing as it skirts the edge of the cliff. Hurrying, I push deeper into the heart of the forest before I steel myself and take the plunge into the clearing, the place that’s caused me such angst these last few weeks.

I pause as a breeze splays loose strands of my ponytail across my face. The cool air refreshes as it passes through my nose and my mouth, filling my lungs. Okay, this isn’t so bad. But as I shuffle to the other side, a fog descends upon me like damp, heavy drapes. Dizziness slams me and I lose my balance, my vision blurring. I slump to the ground, fatigue sinking into my bones. That’s when the music cues and the song streams through me. An ache throbs in my head. My empty stomach groans as I rise off the grass and brush myself off. Just leave me alone.

Author Bio and Links

I’m a lifelong lover of books and storytelling and hold an M.A. In Applied Math, a subject which finds its way into many of my stories.

I live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with my husband, two sons and two dogs. I gather story ideas as I run in the early mornings with my dogs. Running is the perfect environment for me to think and create.

My debut novel, Complex Solutions, a YA coming of age thriller, released March 16, 2021. Strong Enough, a YA novel, part of the Play Like A Girl series, came out on August 8, 2023. My latest novel, A Whisper In The Trees, a YA romance with paranormal elements, releases on June 30, 2025 with The Wild Rose Press.

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Giveaway

Susan Dalessandro will be awarding a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Susan on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

I’m happy to welcome back author Gemma St. Claire. Today, Gemma shares her new release, An Armor of Petals, Book Two of Daughters of the Duchess.

Blurb

Fans of Keira Montclair will love this sweet medieval romance.

She wears a shroud of guilt she didn’t earn. Raised in a tavern, Beverielle is an illegitimate daughter of Duke Philip III. But the Duchess Isabella seeks to right Philip’s sins. When she brings the lass home to the castle to raise as a lady, Bevvie’s hope sparks. Sadly, her life’s choices are not hers to make. The duke weds her to an Italian merchant: a reluctant bride, then soon after, a widow.

Beverielle’s Scottish roots rise to the surface when she meets the brawny Highlander. Her hopes for love renew—until she discovers she may be carrying the Italian’s child. Knight Ròidh Keegan has been called back to Scotland when the flame-haired girl arrives at Germolles Castle.

Can the knight, soon to be laird of his own castle, consider a pregnant widow for his bride? His heart says aye, though a long journey and many obstacles lie in their path.

Excerpt

Lifting her heavy black skirt, Bevvie crouched to peer through the tangle of treacherous, thorned branches beneath the white rose bush. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dimness, but then she saw them.

At first she thought it was a nest of mice, and shrinking back, she nearly landed on her bottom on the path. But then a mouse did appear—swinging dead from the jaws of a striped, gray cat who picked her way along the stone wall lining the garden. The creature dropped its quarry just outside her nest, then hopped in to nuzzle her babies.

Kittens! It had been over a year since Beverielle had seen a cat, since none seemed to reside at either Coudenburg or Germolles. They had been treasured wards of the Beguines in the convent at Antwerp, where the felines kept the complex free from the vermin perpetually creeping up from the docks at port. Bevvie remembered one she favored, a brown tabby and white male she’d named Adam. Sometimes, when the prioress wasn’t watching, she’d snuck the furry bundle up the steps to her sleeping quarters, which she shared with several of the other postulates. Fortunately, none of them paid the cat much mind.

Cats, however, were not widely favored by common folk, especially here in the southern regions. For some reason, the creatures had gotten a bad reputation as being advocates of the devil. She’d heard some of the servants gossiping about the healer who’d come to Coudenburg to treat the ostler’s wife, Eva of Utrecht. Eva had nearly died from a nasty blow to her head. But between the ministrations of the healer and the barber-surgeon from Brussels, she had survived. Some said ‘twas a miracle. Others said such an unlikely outcome ‘twas the work of the devil.

The healer, she’d been told, housed a number of cats in her small hovel at the edge of the village.

Beverielle thought it ridiculous to blame an innocent animal—and one who served a real, useful purpose—for anything. Especially for a miraculous recovery!

“Have ye dropped something?”

The booming voice behind her caused Bevvie to lose her balance, and she landed hard on her bottom in the middle of the path. She peered up to see a giant of a man standing over her. With the brilliant sun directly behind him, she squinted, but no details about him revealed themselves save for the fact that he was huge.

Flustered, embarrassed, and sweating to death under her heavy woolen mourning clothes, Bevvie struggled to her knees before she saw the man’s big paw stretched out in front of her face. Timidly, she placed her hand in his.

‘Twas rough and hard, and unusually warm. Not unnaturally so, as if he were fevered. But warm in an invitingly pleasant sort of way.

The kind of warmth that sent tingles up her arm, little shock waves. By the time she made it to her feet she gazed up into the golden eyes of a man she recognized. ‘Twas Sir Ròidh Keegan.

Buy Link: https://amzn.to/44yhYkG

Author Bio and Links

Gemma St. Claire grew up in upstate New York many moons ago. She achieved her Bachelor of Arts from the New York Institute of Technology, followed by her Master of Fine Arts from Lesley University. She married her very own, HEA husband and raised three beautiful humans before bouncing about the country. She has landed in Florida and is finally able to devote her life to her writing.

Gemma is passionate about history, particularly the Middle Ages. She’s been to Belgium once and is set to travel back there in August of 2025, where she hopes to discover even more stories to spin and share with her readers.

She loves to hear from her readers, so drop her a note! You can find her here:

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