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I just finished teaching an online course entitled Hooks & Cliffhangers, Scene & Sequel. One of the exercises I asked the students to do was to break down the pacing elements of a model book in their genre.

Nancy Bilyeau’s fourth novel, The Blue, is a historical thriller with a titillating dollop of romantic suspense. Bilyeau's previous books include the historical trilogy The Tapestry,  (an Oprah Pick),  The Chalice, and The Crown. The trilogy was published by Touchstone (Simon & Schuster) and featured Joanna Stafford, a displaced young nun in Henry VIII’s England.

The Reversible Mask starts is all about the Spanish Armada, which refers to both the Spanish Fleet that was supposed to meet up with a Dutch fleet and overthrow Elizabeth I, and has come to refer to the two battles that led to the Spanish defeat in 1588. Until I read Loretta Goldberg’s book, my association with the Spanish Armada was the vague  awareness knowledge that Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, had something to do with it (he was a purchaser for the Spanish Royal Navy at the time they outfitted the Armada). 

The Spirit in Question is Cynthia Kuhn's third book in her Lila Maclean series, after  The Semester of our Discontent and The Art of Vanishing, which I wrote about earlier here. Lots of humor, both in the voice and in the inside jokes. After reading this book, no one will ever want to teach at a small college.
 

I'm here to blog about Snowbound, Maria Alexander's second installment in her Yule Trilogy series. Usually when I write about the second book in a series, I'm quick to say, "it can stand alone." But that is not the case here. You really have no idea what's happening unless you've first read Snowed, (Bram Stoker Winner for Superior Achievement in a YA novel and Anthony Award nominee).

ANTHONY NOMINEES FOR BEST SHORT STORY

In 2016 I wrote an article for The Big Thrill about Susanna Calkin's A Death Along the River Fleet. A Death Along the River Fleet was the fourth in a series that started with A Murder at Rosamund's Gate, about Lucy Campion, chambermaid, who must use her wits and every other available resource to solve a mur

Nancy Cohen’s latest novel, Hair Brained  is a Finalist in the RPLA. Hair Brained is the fourteenth installment in the Bad Hair Day Mystery series, starring Marla Shore (now Marla Vail), a Florida salon owner who is as good at solving mysteries as she is at styling hair. Titles in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries have made the IMBA bestseller list, been selected by Suspense Magazine as best cozy mystery, won a Readers' Favorite gold medal, and earned third place in the Arizona Literary Awards.