Sara Mills

Sara Mills lives in Alberta, Canada in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. She is freelance writer, wife and mother of three. Her passions include collecting swords, raising Golden Retrievers and hosting a house full of hamsters, guinea pigs, turtles and puppies. Aside from animals and swords, Sara loves film noir, Humphrey Bogart and The Maltese Falcon. Miss Fortune is her first novel. You can visit her website at www.saramillsbooks.com.

I AM NOT OBSESSED—Okay, Maybe a Little


Bookstores can be dangerous places. Seriously. I have to watch my every move. One false step can change the course of my future. Pick up the wrong book and bam, I’m sunk.


Choosing a book can have long-term consequences. I have to be very careful what I purchase because I have the tendency to be a bit single-minded. To the point of insanity, really. You see, once I start reading a particular author, I usually can’t stop until I’ve read all of his or her books. Their entire backlist.


This is okay when I read authors who have only ten or twelve books published, not bad at all, a nice little distraction, but if I pick up a novel written by someone who has fifty or more books published, I’m moving into the long-term commitment category. It could take me months to read them all, and I can’t concentrate on anything else until I’m done. And I mean anything. And occasionally I don’t even like the books the author writes. (I went through an awful Ian Fleming phase that nearly killed me.)


Then when I’ve read all the books published by authors I like, I start counting days for their next book to come out. I check their websites, ask around, and usually pre-order their newest releases from my local bookstore. And then I wait anxiously for that special day to arrive. Give me a book I’ve been waiting for and I can be done in a matter of hours. I won’t eat or sleep or answer the phone until I’ve turned that last page.


It’s odd because I’m not this obsessive in other parts of my life. I mean, my house is hardly ever tidy, my laundry is always piled up on the laundry room floor. For goodness sake, I own three dogs. The dog hair alone in my house would bring an OCD person to the brink of hysteria, but when it comes to books, I have no control. I eat, breathe and dream books.


Am I the only one with this problem? Please tell me it’s not so . . .


Here are a few books that have made my most anticipated releases list in the past few months:


Havah by Tosca Lee – Tosca’s first book Demon was so eye opening and so powerful that I’ve been waiting for months for the release of her second book. I’m glad I got in on the ground floor with this author, my thanks to Michelle, who made sure that I didn’t miss this amazing author.


The Bugman Series by Tim Downs – I love Nick Polchak, the Bugman, and any mystery by Tim Downs is an auto buy for me.


The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner. I read everything by Susan Meissner, and she has never once let me down. Be it mystery or women’s fiction, Susan puts out beautiful, compelling novels filled with characters and stories I can’t forget.


A Constant Heart by Siri Mitchell. This is the first historical I’ve seen from Siri, but I can’t wait to get my hands on it and soak in the new genre. Siri is the rare author who can always surprise me. Her books are all different but the thread that runs through them is a fascinating story, compelling characters and a style of writing that I absolutely love.


There are so many authors on my auto-buy list, but I’m always willing to make room for a few more. And once I’ve been won over, I am a dedicated, if slightly obsessed fan for life.



Miss Fortune