Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

By: Marie Force Good morning! As you read this I'll be on my way to Washington, D.C. for RWA's national conference. I'm roadtripping this year with two of my New England writer buddies. One of them, Kristan Higgins, won the RITA last year for contemporary for her fabulous book "Catch of the Day." If you haven't read it, be sure to check it out! Over the last year she and I have become informal critique partners, a first for both of us. So I worry for Mike, our third passenger, because Kristan and I can talk our faces off, and he might wonder what he's gotten himself into! Mike can more than hold his own with us, however. He's the one who went up to Nora Roberts at RWA last year and said these famous words: "I've never read a word you've written, but I hear you're quite good. My friend here would like to meet you." Nora got such a kick out of him, she bought him a drink. Now THAT is networking! I'm sure my sides will be aching ...

By: Marie Force Welcome to the party! Come on in, have a drink, hit the buffet table, and settle in for a good time! That's what I'll be saying tomorrow night at my book signing party at which I expect about 90 people. I've been very blessed to have a huge circle of supporters cheering me on from the sidelines. Love at First Flight is dedicated to them because they kept me going long enough to write and sell Line of Scrimmage, which in turn led to this one—a ten-year labor of love from idea to publication. The book is set in Baltimore, one of my favorite cities. I lived just south of B'more, as the locals call it, for three years in the 1990s. I have vivid memories of pushing my now 14-year-old daughter around the Inner Harbor and Fells Point in a stroller. When the Southwest planes used to go over our house on their way to the BWI Airport, she'd say, "Welcome to Baltimore. Enjoy your stay." My son, who is almost 11, was born in Bethesda, MD, right before ...

By: Marie Force It always seems so far off in the future, and then suddenly it's HERE! Tomorrow is the official launch date for Love at First Flight, even though it's been in stores for a week or so already. I'm already hearing from readers, who are enjoying Michael and Juliana's story! One of them wrote to me over the weekend: "I started reading it at the book store for over 2 hours and finally decided to buy your book. I loved the story you created between Michael and Juliana. I couldn't stop reading because I wanted to know what happened. I loved how you wrote the character of Michael ... I've been looking for another new author to read and I'm happy I found you. I'm glad I went home when I did because you wrote all the emotional parts so beautifully that I couldn't help crying." There'll be lots of opportunities to win copies of Love at First Flight and Line of Scrimmage this week! Come by the launch party tomorrow here on th...

By: Marie Force I've always been oddly, strangely, and some would say bizarrely, fascinated with crime, cops, the law, lawyers, and TV shows about all of the above. LA Law and NYPD Blue were two of my favorites. I've never been much of a fan of the Law & Order shows because I need me some romance with my blood and gore! I also cruise the Internet and big-city newspaper websites for news about chilling crimes. I read the police reports, the indictments, and all the court motions. Sometimes I follow a crime story for years—from perpetration to prosecution. It'll probably be no surprise to hear that I've written three romantic suspense novels—the most challenging and satisfying projects of my entire life (other than the two kids I'm in the midst of raising). The idea for one of my RS novels came from cruising the newspaper crime sections. In light of the true confessions above, is it any wonder that Love at First Flight (on sale July 1) includes . . . wait for it...

By: Marie Force I love music. I love the power of music. I love the way a certain song can set just the right mood whether it's in real life, a movie, or a book. Music plays a role in every book I've ever written. In "Line of Scrimmage," Ryan played the guitar and used music to woo his wife, to remind her of what they'd once had and to show her what they could have again. In "Love at First Flight," Michael plays the song "When You Say Nothing At All" to show Juliana what he's feeling at a critical point in the book. In another of my as-yet unpublished books, the hero lip-sings to "The Way You Look Tonight" after he first makes love to the heroine, letting her know in his own way that he'll never forget her or that moment. "Tupelo Honey" by Van Morrison inspired an entire book, which took shape from start to finish in my mind over the course of a single playing of the song. Because of copyright laws, we can't incl...

By: Marie Force Writing is a lonely, solitary pursuit. For months, even years, we spend large chunks of time with imaginary characters who, for the time they're with us, are as important to us as any of the "real" people in our lives. When I'm neck-deep in a book and it's going well, I wake up thinking about what I'm going to write that day and go to sleep thinking about what comes next. Often, I even dream about it. I force myself out of the bubble to work the day job and to take care of my family. But when I'm making beds or driving or drying my hair, I'm plotting. Despite this immersion, for all the time that I'm taken over by a story, only my family and a close friend or two even know it's happening. Once the book is finished, you expect the world to pause to acknowledge this enormous accomplishment. But in my experience it goes something like this: "That's awesome, Mom. Congratulations! What's for dinner?" It can take mon...

By: Marie Force So you've got the brilliant story idea. Congratulations! You're on your way to writing a novel! You're starting to understand your characters and the journey you want to take them on. However, even knowing as much as you do about the book you want to write, the decisions are just beginning. On top of all the quirky things that make your characters who they are, you need to know, for instance, what time of year it is. Depending on where your story is set, time of year is critical to what your characters wear, their outdoor activities, etc. In Line of Scrimmage, when Ryan interrupts Susannah's dinner party, it's early February. He comes into the house wearing a beat up sheepskin coat that she despises. In that instance, the season provided me with a tiny slice of conflict I could use to ramp up the tension between them. All these small things add up to a big picture over the course of a novel. Outside of characterization, I think the most critical deci...

By: Marie Force Hello, Casa friends! It's been a while since I visited with you all, and I've missed you! Since we last chatted, I've gotten great news on my second book. First, it has a new title, which I love, and a cover that I adore! This was the third book I ever wrote, and I finished it just about three years ago. I'm very excited to see it as a real, live book in July! While of course I loved my debut novel Line of Scrimmage, I'll let you in on a little secret. I love this second one even more. My characters, Michael Maguire and Juliana Gregorio, meet at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport on a Friday evening when they are on their way to visit their significant others in Florida. He's engaged to Paige, a high-maintenance yet lovable woman he's dated for four years. Juliana is looking forward to seeing Jeremy, her boyfriend of ten years who has seemed distant lately on the phone. During the flight, Michael and Juliana commiserate on the pit...

By: Marie Force Line of Scrimmage ends with an epilogue in which Ryan's number is retired at an elaborate ceremony before the final home game of the Denver Maverick's season—their first season without Ryan as their starting quarterback. Attending the ceremony with Ryan are his wife Susannah and their daughter Hope, who is four weeks old. Ryan hints that he's anxious to be "back in the saddle" with Susie, but as we moms know, there's no saddle action for six weeks after a woman gives birth. So if you wondered how Ryan and Susannah's story continues, here's the next chapter. It picks up six weeks to the day after Hope's birth when the family is getting ready for a cozy Christmas at their cabin in Breckenridge, Colorado. Ryan hated Christmas tree lights. He hated unraveling the huge, knotted ball of hell, he hated trying to get them evenly distributed on the nine-foot tree, he hated the way Susie always made him re-do it at least once and often twice,...

By: Marie Force Yesterday I had lunch with a new-ish friend who read and loved Line of Scrimmage. The last time we dined together she asked if she could read another of my books. I said sure and sent her my latest, a romantic suspense. Today, she asked if we could talk about the book. She had so many questions about the process and the origins of the story. (She also mentioned that my brain must be a busy place. Personally, I prefer the word chaotic.) Did I want to talk about the book? You betcha! As writers, we wait FOREVER (or so it seems) for our work to see the light of day. It can take years from when we finish a novel until the day we hold it in our hot little hands as a real, live book. "Same Time Sunday" will be out in the Spring of 2009—only 10 years after I had the idea and three years after I finally wrote it. In many other creative fields, the gratification comes a little sooner. Write a song? Here, let me sing it for you. Complete a painting? Put it up on a wall ...

By: Marie Force and Robin Kaye's Hubby Stephen, The Original Domestic God Marie: In the months leading up to the launch of Romeo, Romeo , I read Robin's many blogs extolling the virtues of her real-life domestic god. One thought kept running through my mind: NO FREAKING WAY! No man is this perfect! It's just not in their DNA! So I began to challenge Robin a little bit on the blog. Tell us the truth, I would say. He can't be this perfect. But she continued to sing his praises. Now, I ask you, what woman do you know who's been married more than fifteen years and still acts as her husband's glowing PR agent? Most of us are looking for ways to dispose of the body by then, not talking about how FABULOUS he is! Over the next few months we heard of only one chink in his armor—a favorite tree of hers that he cut down without (gasp) her permission. The result? She didn't speak to him for weeks. However, he probably still brought her coffee in bed every morning despit...

By: Marie Force This past weekend, I attended the NJ Romance Writer's annual conference for the first time. The conference was really well done and full of great info. I enjoyed keynote speakers Eloisa James and Lisa Scottoline, who both encouraged us to write from our hearts and our lives, to write what we know and believe to be true. I think that's really important advice, and while we can't always experience what our characters do (hello, never been married to an NFL star my own self), it's essential that we tap into our own wealth of life adventures to bring life to our characters. Last year I wrote a book about a woman who was dealing with the aftermath of her mother's death. I don't think I could've done that story justice before I lost my own mother. I knew exactly how my character felt, what chores she had to deal with, the logistics of probate court and cleaning out her mother's belongings. I still choke up when I read certain parts of that book...

By: Marie Force I'm being asked "what's next?" a lot now that "Line of Scrimmage" has been out for more than a month. It reminds me of when I got married and people started asking when we planned to have kids. Then we had our daughter and they asked if we'd be having another one. Once we had a daughter and a son, a few asked if we were going for number three, but that tapered off once they took a good look at the glazed look in our eyes from a baby who didn't sleep for the first 18 months of his life. Now that my first published "baby" is out in stores, the question becomes what's next? I'm very excited about my second book, "Same Time Sunday," which is based on a conversation I overheard in an airport ten years ago. A young man and woman waiting with me for a delayed flight were talking about the difficulties of their long-distance relationships and both were worried about the weekend ahead. They discovered they were on t...

By: Marie Force I just got back from a conference in Phoenix put on by the company I work for by day, a membership organization a lot like RWA only we support government finance professionals rather than romance writers. Our conference was on internal control & fraud—not how to do it but how to find it and stop it. I enjoy this annual conference because I find the stupid schemes people try to pull off and think they'll get away with to be endlessly entertaining. Anyway, I met a guy named Greg from Atlanta who said something that really got me thinking. After the conference, Greg and his girlfriend were heading to Sedona for a few days. One of the things they planned to do there was a hot air balloon ride. Greg had never done this before and wasn't sure he really wanted to. "I'm not opposed to the height," he said. "I'm opposed to the risk." Spoken like a true auditor! However, his comical comment got me thinking about all the risks each of us had...

By: Marie Force How do you define romance? This question occurred to me as I watched one of those infernal Cialis commercials. You know the one, with the man and woman in side-by-side bathtubs holding hands as they gaze out over the sunset. Now, I ask you, how is that romantic? How does it even work? Do they carry the water out in buckets, moving quickly to get in while it’s still hot? Are they in robes—God I hope so since the naked bucket line conjures up a whole other set of images—until they get tub-side at which time they doff the robes and hope the neighbors didn’t pick tonight to grill on their deck? Once our happy twosome is finally IN their respective tubs, is he wondering how to get her into his tub or is he more worried that he’s going to be the one who gets the dreaded four-hour erection? Every time I see those bathtubs, I laugh. Something tells me that’s not what the Cialis marketing folks were aiming to achieve. But then I start to wonder if other people think the side-by...

Happy September 1! Today is the day Line of Scrimmage officially launches. I'm pleased to invite you to attend the launch party here and simultaneously on my blog . All this week, everyone who comments will be entered into a drawing. I'll be giving away two copies of Line of Scrimmage as well as two Barnes & Noble gift cards! One week, four winners! Enter again over on my blog for four more chances to win! Both contests end at midnight Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, September 5. I want to thank my family and friends for sharing in the excitement of these last few weeks with me. So many people helped to get me here, and I thank you all for your endless support and enthusiasm for my books. Line of Scrimmage is dedicated to my parents, George and Barbara Sullivan, who always said I could, and to my husband Dan and our kids, Emily and Jake, who stood by me while I did. I wrote the following paragraphs for my website, but I thought today would be a good day to retell my sto...

By: Marie Force Eleven months ago today, I got The Call that Sourcebooks wanted "Line of Scrimmage." Last Wednesday, I returned from vacation to find my box of author copies on the front porch. Over the weekend, my phone rang off the hook with friends and family telling me they had received their pre-ordered copies from Amazon.com. On Monday, I saw it for the first time in stores! Yesterday, friends in Boston, Virigina, and California reported sightings in their local bookstores. It's been a very exciting week, to say the least! The best part is that because of the time of year, my husband and kids were with me the first time I saw the book and the first time I saw it on a bookstore shelf. It was nice to be able to share the excitement with them. Here's a photo of my first visit to the book in a store: Next time I'll be sure to take a moment to put on a little eyeliner and some lipstick! Here's a photo of the fabulous neighborhood my husband's last name pu...

By: Marie Force The books are in the warehouse! With those six words from our Casablanca publicist Danielle Jackson last week, my excitement level reached an all-time high. Just when I thought I couldn't be more pumped up for the launch of "Line of Scrimmage," something else happens! Now that the printed copies are in, they will begin shipping to Amazon, Borders, B&N and other outlets. Within the next few days, I might see a copy in my local bookstore. I'm starting to believe this is really going to happen! As a card-carrying member of the Worst-Case Scenario Club, I own the handbook and according to my kids, I'm always anticipating disaster (they're starting to wise up to my disaster planning and like to call me on it, but that's another post). If there's something to worry about, I've got it covered. The country will suddenly run out of paper, a tornado will suck up the truck carrying my books and send it to Oz, or, worse yet, no one will lik...

By: Marie Force I've just come from the RITA and GH Awards ceremony that capped off RWA's 28th Annual Conference in San Francisco. It's been an amazing few days during which I finally met our lovely editor Deb Werksman, along with our dynamic publisher Dominique Raccah and publicist/blog mate Danielle Jackson. Last night, Dominique took us all to dinner. I ended up in a limo with Casa blog mate and buddy Loucinda McGary (aka Aunty Cindy who took me and some of my New England Chapter friends to a fabulous hole in the wall in Chinatown on Thursday night) and new Sourcebooks author Judi Fennell. As we were coasting up and down the huge hills of San Francisco, we were talking about our kids and our dogs when all of a sudden it dawned on me that we were in a LIMO that our PUBLISHER had provided. I urged Cindy and Judi to join me in a "moment" to celebrate this significant occasion in our writing journey. So next year, when we're all together in Washington, D.C., if...