"If you stand up for nothing,
you'll fall for anything."

— Anonymous

Tomorrow’s Sun by Becky Melby

“There’s a story in this place.”

That’s what I said to my husband as we ate lunch at a quaint little restaurant in Rochester, Wisconsin, not far from where we live. The history on the menu said the brick building, originally called the Union House, was built in 1843. Local legend claims there was once a tunnel leading from the building to the Fox River and that in the 1800s fugitive slaves were ushered through the tunnel to the Union House where they could rest before the next leg of their journey. That was enough to spark the muse. Research showeed other places in Rochester that were stops on the Underground Railroad, so I started asking “What if” questions. What if someone bought an old house with the intention of flipping it and discovered links—lost letters, a forgotten room—connecting the house to previous owners who were involved in the Underground Railroad...and a secret romance?

Here’s a sneak peek at the opening contemporary scene of Tomorrow’s Sun:

What do you call the place you live if it isn’t home?

Emily Foster blew her bangs off her forehead and ...

I have a confession!

I never used to read historicals!

There I've said it. Shocking isn't it?

Why you may ask. (You might not ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway)

I read, or skimmed through some as a teenager. Chatted about them, forgot them. But never really got the hang of reading the genre. Which for someone who loves history, and has a degree with history as an integral part of it, is somewhat strange!

Then someone introduced me to a series, and at a loose end I began to read. At first I was hooked, the characters were believable, the storyline gripping. By book three I was bored. I could see the way the author thought, and what was going to happen. It was books one and two rewritten. New names, new area of the country, the same story. Worse-the geography of the area written about was ALL WRONG! I stopped reading.

     Now we can't all go to where we write about (more's the pity, I'd love to set a book in Vanuatu or Hawaii and have to visit first) but we owe it to our readers ...

First, let me say to everyone, how honored I am that you asked me here.  It’s great to be able to meet everyone and take a moment to chat.  Second, I’m here to introduce my newest book, Third Grave Dead Ahead.  Third, let me “unload” about Charley just a little bit.

I am Darynda Jones, and I am the author of the Charley Davidson series.  I love being able to say that.  I love telling her stories, and I love Charley; however she is very stress inducing.

Charley Davidson is the heroine of my first three books.  She’s a P.I., a grim reaper, accident-prone and in dire need of a 24-hour chaperone.  What’s that you say?  She has one in Reyes Farrow, Son of Satan, male-model god, savage-hero extraordinaire.  I question that.

For instance, in Third Grave there’s these Rottweilers guarding an abandoned mental institution and an outlaw biker gang owns them.  As her luck would have it, she gains the dangerous attention of both, dogs and biker gang.  Then there is this murderous husband who hires her to find his “missing” wife.  And I’m proud for her that she solves the ...