Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

Today, June 20th, is the solstice, and the first day of summer! And while spring is probably my favorite season overall, I have a longstanding affection for the early days of summer and the surge of energy and enthusiasm that often accompanies them. Celebrating the solstice, which can include Midsummer Eve and Midsummer Day   ( June 23-24), can take many forms. In Santa Barbara, where I lived for several years, there would be a parade on the Saturday nearest the official date. Spectators would line up for blocks to watch fantastically dressed people and/or elaborate floats travel from lower State Street to Alameda Park. Usually, there would be a theme. Last year, it was “Sci-Fi”—this year it will be “Legends.” (Click on the following link to see the 2015 parade in full swing.) 2015 Santa Barbara Solstice Parade A similarly festive atmosphere can be found in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries, where the solstice is celebrated with floral wreaths, dancing around t...

So, it's my birthday week. Technically, my birthday was on Monday, the 14th, but this has turned into a week-long celebration, and I'm totally fine with that. :) I turned 31 this year. So far, it sucks a lot less than turning 30 did. A lot of my friends claim that they feel more comfortable and happy with themselves and their lives in their 30s, but personally, my 30th birthday threw me into a big ol' pit of depression. I think it was just the realization that in 30 years on this earth I hadn't accomplished anything I thought I needed to. I don't have kids, I don't have a college degree, and my day job is still the one I was working during summers in high school. I felt like a failure for a long time during my 30th year. But, now at 31, I've realized some things. Despite not finishing college, I'm becoming a successful author. Within the next two years, I should be able to safely transition to writing full-time. Not many people, college grads or no...

Horse Sculpture in park in Zhejiang Province, China, photo by Jakub Halun After a year in which Christmas and New Year's blew in and out like a tropical storm (at least in my house), it's something of a relief to have a "do-over" on the latter.  Chinese New Year just happens to fall on January 31, so Gung Hay Fat Choy, everyone! Happy Year of the Horse! Like so many Chinese festivals, the New Year is a lunar celebration, meaning that it tends to fall between late January and mid-February. So if your birthday occurs before the Chinese New Year, you are still a child of the previous year, associated with that zodiac sign, regardless of what the Gregorian calendar says.  (By the way, 2013 was the Year of the Snake, and I was once informed with great earnestness by a Chinese storekeeper helping me shop for a dinner party that "The Horse follows upon the tail of the Snake"--a suitably portentous-sounding phrase!) Those born in the Year of the Horse are co...

September 19 marks this year's Mid-Autumn Festival. Held on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, during the full moon, this traditional Chinese festival celebrates a successful harvest, close family ties, and hopes for the future. Friends and family gather together to express thanks for their good fortune and (being only human) to pray for a little bit more, whether in conceptual or material form (wealth,  health, longevity, a spouse, children, a book contract . . . well, you get the idea!) Lotus Seed Mooncake with Egg Yolk, photo by a vlxyz Chinese culture being what it is, food is, of course, involved. Particularly mooncakes--rich, dense pastries boasting a variety of fillings, including lotus paste, red bean paste, taro, nuts and seeds, ham, and candied melon. Some also contain yolks of salted duck eggs for additional richness, though those are something of an acquired taste! Insanely caloric, mooncakes are traditionally cut into pieces, distributed among a ...

Last weekend I had a birthday. This in itself wasn’t a surprise. My birthday, like that of most people, happens every year around pretty much the same time. No, what surprised me—in an amazed and delighted way—was the variety of sweets involved. And my threshold for being surprised by sweets is pretty high, being descended as I am from a father who invented his own praline recipe and a grandfather who liked to consume four cookies with his midmorning coffee each day. Here, take a look at the weekend’s bounty: A friend and I escaped our kids for an afternoon and sampled these French macarons , made with almond flour and filled with ganache. The flavors, clockwise from top, are chocolate hazelnut (like Nutella, but handmade), chocolate orange, cherry lime, and coconut caramel. Being a fan of coconut, this last one was my favorite. That buttery dark caramel was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. These are Indian ladoo , made with besan (chickpe...