Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

Halloween is serious business in my neighborhood. Every year, several houses in my area get totally decked out for Halloween. Being the creative folk that we are, my family couldn’t just sit back. We jumped onto the Haunted Neighborhood bandwagon. In all honesty, we were already decorating our house before there even was a bandwagon. My nephew, who is a pirate at heart, ended up building a full sinking pirate ship in our front yard. There’s even a hanging tree.   And we can’t forget the fog machine. What would a haunted pirate ship front yard be without one of those? So I invite you to view our own version of ooky and spooky… The two pictures above show the construction of the back bow of the pirate ship. The lights inside really help cast an eerie glow, especially at nighttime.     These two pictures are from last year. The back part of the ship is a new edition. We don't have any pictures of the back part at night yet. ...

The sounds  and animals of spring have always been considered ordinary in my small suburban neighborhood. I live in Michigan, just north of Grand Rapids. It's fairly normal by most standards. We have squirrels, chipmunks, robins, and rabbits, raccoons and the occasional opossum. The typical varmints. But a few new sounds have been popping up in my yard. There are some odd chirps, although I have to admit they aren't all together unpleasant. Just a little foreign. And it's not just birds. There are frogs--although it's safe to assume they've simply taken up residence in our still unopened pool. The most daring of my backyard wildlife is by far the squirrels. Even during the winter months. We had two unwelcome visitors to our fireplace. Some cute little squirrels dropped in for unexpected visits within two weeks of each other. The second  visit wasn't very pleasant for us, or the squirrel for that matter. The little guy avoided our live trap like the plague. ...

Yay! It's official! The second book in the Demons Unleashed series has hit the shelf! It's time to heat up those cold December nights! Double Woot! Here's the scoop: Serah SanGermano runs a successful catering company in a Midwestern town. After she inadvertently helped her friend unleash a legion of demons, she's been trying to hide her own newly discovered powers. Matthias Ambrose, a mysterious demon mercenary sent to protect her, has his own secret- one that will embroil them both in the scandal from hell. From the Back Cover: A Recipe For Disaster... Matthias Ambrose is a demon mercenary who never took sides, until his attraction to the spunky caterer he was hired to kidnap leads him to almost botch a job for the first time in eight hundred years. Now he must protect her from his former clients, but even an ice-cold demon like Matthias struggles to resist her fiery charms. Or The Perfect Ingredients For Passion... Completely engrossed with plan...

I'm thankful for a lot of things, so it was really hard to narrow it down to just one. This week was full of ups and downs. One thing that helps us is the ability to laugh. There's just something about laughter that helps sooth our souls. Whether you're watching a Mel Brooks Film (Spaceballs is still my favorite) or reading the Sunday comics, those giggles just work their magic. This got my curiosity piqued, so I decided to do a little research. Why exactly is laughter the best medicine? I mean really? Are there really health benefits to laughter? And the answer is YES! There are tons of physical, as well as mental, benefits to laughter. Some of the physical include cardiovascular, blood sugar, pain relief and even immunity. It improves your mood and can help relieve stress and anxiety. The main reason is that laughter helps release endorphins, neurotransmitters that when released act as an analgesic which can help lower pain and increase someone's feeling of well b...

Get out of Hell's Kitchen! When I heard that August's theme was about the heat, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist. While I was schmoozing with readers, my fellow authors, and esteemed members of the publishing industry at the AAD conference in Philadelphia, I received the author review copy of my December release, Demons Like It Hot . I'm totally geeked! Not only is the cover gorgeous, the back blurb is the total awesomesauce. The second book in the Demons Unleashed series stars Serah SanGermano, a successful caterer who tries to hide her magical nature and Matthias Ambrose, a mercenary sent to Earth to protect her. Matthias has some pretty dark secrets that could threaten their trust. Here's the lovely cover: And here's the blurb that was sent to me the day I left for AAD. I was pretty darned stoked . Oh, another heat reference! A Recipe For Disaster... Matthias Ambrose is a demon mercenary who never took sides, until his attraction to th...

OMG! Those three letters pretty much say it all. Well, almost. Let's just say when June 1st rolled around, my heart was beating a mile a minute. My palms were sweaty. I gnawed my teeth. I kept googling my name and book title to see if any reviews had posted. Is this normal for someone? My family insists I'm obsessed. They don't realize that this is my baby. I'm supposed to be slightly obsessed. Okay, I admit, I am more than slightly obsessed. But hey, it's my first Sourcebooks Casablanca release. I think I'm entitled to be a little obsessed. Luckily, I was able to put my obsession on hold for the weekend. I made the six hour journey south to Cincinnati to attend Lori Foster's Reader and Author Get Together. This is my first time attending this event and I guarantee it won't be my last. I had a great time. I met tons of awesome readers, authors, agents, editors and bloggers. There were tons of prizes to win, including several Nooks and Kindles. But the re...