Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

Next week hundreds of romance authors and readers will beheading to Kansas City for the annual Romantic Times Booklovers Convention . If you're a reader or writer of romance and you've never been, you really have to go. (Just FYI, next year we'll be in New Orleans). This is a really fun convention because it's all about readers and writers meeting and mixing. Lots of authors on the Casablanca blog will be there, waiting to meet readers! I'm participating in several fun events. The first is Wednesday afternoon. It's UNDRESSING THE HERO. Whether they wear cravats, kilts, or cowboy boots, a hero is a hero--and when you meet one, you just know. We'll play an interactive game, where readers undress a life-size hero, piece by tantalizing piece.  Sounds fun, huh? Then I run off to join my friend Deeanne Gist for her workshop, BOTTOMS UP: VICTORIAN WOMEN'S CLOTHING FROM THE INSIDE OUT. I get to play lady's maid and help Deeanne dress layer by lay...

Publisher’s Weekly —one of the Top 10 Romance Picks for Fall Romantic Times —“Lively, utterly delightful adventure romance. The witty, sexually charged dialogue fuels the rivalry between the realistic characters and sets the pages flying.”—Kathe Robin Long and Short Reviews-"Ms. Galen spins a good yarn with an action packed story, lots of intrigue and flames between the husband and wife who star in this story." LASR Book of the Week Winner! Rarely can I pinpoint the inspiration behind a novel to one moment. In fact, most of the time I manufacture an idea out of sheer necessity. But while watching the movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith , with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, I found myself asking what i f? Yes, that dangerous question that plagues authors. What if… What if Mr. and Mrs. Smith lived in 19th century England? What if they weren’t Mr. and Mrs., but Lord and Lady? What if they were elite spies for the Crown, rather than assassins, and what if th...

Please give a warm welcome to Leigh Michaels, who is back to party with the Casababes to celebrate the release of her second book with Sourcebooks, Just One Season in London! Thank you to the fantastic company here at the Casablanca Authors blog, for inviting me back to celebrate the launch this month of Just One Season in London , my second historical novel. After writing 80 sweet traditional contemporary novels, I was ready for a change – that’s why my most recent books are historical romances instead. But with every book I write, I try to do something different – to push just a little harder, to see if there’s something extra I can do to make the story spectacular for readers. So though Just One Season (like my first historical, The Mistress’ House ) is a triple story, it’s a tale with a difference. This time the three stories are woven together. The three romances of the Ryecroft family – young Viscount Ryecroft, his sister Sophie, and their mother Miranda – are going ...

by Libby Malin www.LibbysBooks.com What a month it has been! My Own Personal Soap Opera hit the shelves, and I hit the virtual road for my eco-friendly virtual book tour, stopping by blogs hither and yon, answering questions about writing and having a blast. Seriously. I did have a blast. On this blog tour, I decided to throw three sheets to the wind and write funny and silly as well as serious and writerly. My favorite stops, in case you missed them: Fresh Fiction on April 7 where I penned a "scholarly essay" on How to Write the Comedic Novel. This here blog on April 13 where I was interviewed about my little-known history. The Love Romance Passion blog on April 12 where I talked about soap operas. The Books and Needlepoint blog on April 20 where I talked about books I "faked" reading and more. The MamaWriters blog yesterday where I talked about how to nurture a writer in your family, using my sweet and talented daughter (who has a book coming out this fall!...

I am a romance writer . I am a mystery writer. The two sides of me have been battling for years and finally had it out, once and for all, when I was planning Lady Anne series. Which would win? Well, oddly enough, they decided to share a series, and the end result was Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark , Book 1 of the Lady Anne series, now available. I wondered from the outset whether I was taking a chance. Would romance readers embrace the mystery elements that are a strong thread in the series? Would mystery readers get impatient with the strong romantic undertones? Would paranormal fans be put off by the rationality of my heroine? Would readers of historical romance be offended by the gothic and paranormal touches that enliven the novels? In other words, was I trying to be too many things to too many people? I threw caution to the wind because ultimately, I came back to the central core of my beliefs about writing. I’m your average reader, in a lot of ways. As long as I write what I...

Am I the only author who sits for weeks, or maybe months, wondering with trepidation what their publishing design crew is going to come up with for their book cover? It is a rhetorical question because I know for a fact that many of you have expressed the trauma of a cover that just wasn’t right for some reason. I didn’t fret over it too much the first time around – ignorance basically – but was eventually faced with the anguishing dilemma of what to do when the sample proudly unveiled by my editor was, shall we just say, a bit too “sweet” for my brand of manly Mr. Darcy! Eventually it all worked out and after about a dozen evolutions I ended up with a fabulous cover for Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy ~ Two Shall Become One . Don’t you agree? Yep, the design folks came through and exceeded my wildest imaginings! Fate, divine intervention, my persistence, or plain market savvy – whatever the driving force, my “final” cover is amazing. When it came to Loving Mr. Darcy ~ Journeys Beyond P...

Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark is now available! I'm so pleased with the reviews this book, the first in a series, is getting. Publisher's Weekly says: Simpson (Awaiting the Moon) launches her Lady Anne historical mystery series with flair. Read through this blog and then comment to win yourself a copy! A couple of years ago I was happily writing paranormal romances, werewolves mostly, with a fallen angel thrown in for contrast. Paranormal is great stuff; you can make anything happen as long as you offer a good explanation and stay consistent. Who can tell you that your werewolves can’t transform any old time they want, not just at the full moon? But I'm a natural born skeptic. If someone told me there was a werewolf in the next room, I’d say, “Get me a leash and a pupperoni, ‘cause I’ll bet my argyle socks that werewolf is a husky or a malamute!” So… that’s where Lady Anne began, to be honest, with me, and my natural skeptical sarcasm. However… the Lady Anne series ...

Hi, all. First, let me introduce myself: I am a new author to Sourcebooks. My name is Donna Lea Simpson (aka Donna Simpson in my previous life as a Regency author with Zebra), and I write (mostly) historical romance. Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark , set in the Georgian era in England, will be released April First, no fooling! I thought for my first blog entry with the Casa Babes I would introduce the two main characters of the Lady Anne series, Lady Anne Addison and Lord Anthony Darkefell. A few weeks ago I was looking for something on Amazon.com… a review clip from one of my Regencies, maybe? And I came across a newer reader review of one of my older novelettes in an anthology called ‘Untameable’, one of the Zebra Regency themed anthologies. My story was entitled ‘A Rogue’s Rescue’. The heroine was Miss Ariadne Lambert, a spinster of humble appearance, but determination and grit. Jaimey Grant, the Amazon reviewer, said she gave my story five out of five for the heroine, and when ...