Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

Have you ever wondered what delicious fun you could have if you weren't trying to hang on to your dead-end job, but instead were trying to get your boss to...fire you? That's the premise behind my first Casablanca release, coming out in May: Fire Me: A Tale of Scheming, Dreaming and Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places. It probably seems crazy to think about letting a job go in these economic times, but who hasn't wanted to shout "take this job and....you know" when things at the office become too much to bear? It's a fantasy everyone has probably cherished at one moment or another. It's a fantasy that Anne Wyatt gets to live when, on one fine spring day in Washington, DC, she goes into work determined to hand in her resignation to her business quality guru boss, Mitch Burnham. She has a spanking new job all lined up thousands of miles away and is eager for a fresh start. But she changes course when she learns that the wild and unpredictable Mitch (...

The months of spring are what I like to call "RWA conference season" because many regional chapters of Romance Writers of America hold local writers conferences. These small to mid-sized conferences are a gold mine of opportunities for writers at all levels of experience and publishing. First, these local conferences offer a variety of workshops for writers from beginner to advanced. Workshops cover topics including basic craft, state of the publishing industry, and promotion. Some conferences even offer workshops by experts in fields of interest to writers, such as law enforcement, history, or computer technology. Most RWA chapter conferences bring in acquiring editors and top agents to not only share their experience and knowledge of the publishing industry, but also to take book pitches from attendees. The chance to meet and talk with an acquiring editor or agent is invaluable to an unpublished writer. Even if you don't think you have anything to sell...

While writing my blog for Wickedly Romantic on Monday, I went on a Hero-Hunt. What is a Hero-Hunt you ask? One of the best parts of being a romance author. But it can also be one of the toughest. I have Logan, the hero of Catch of a Lifetime , in my head. I know what he looks like, how he sounds, how he smiles. I know his backstory, I know all his emotions with the opening of the book. I know this guy. But I like to have the visual. The first two heroes were easy: Reel is Matthew McConnaughey from Failure To Launch , and Rod is a combo of Matt and Hugh Jackman (since Rod and Reel are twins). But Logan doesn't look like a celebrity, so how to find him? A lot of internet research is hit or miss. I scored a hit with this one. Googling didn't quite work when you plug in characteristics, or "sexy guy," or "hot guys." (You get some pretty interesting pictures though when you do...) So I thought, let me check models. Again with the interesting pictures. It took me...

By Robin Kaye If you asked me, I’d have to say…A GOOD REVIEW When the Goddess of all publicists, our very own Danielle emailed me to tell me the ARCs (advanced readers copies) of Too Hot To Handle had gone out to reviewers, my first thought was, Oh my God, I’m going to be sick. Which was quickly followed by, What if they hate it? Which then led to, My dream career is over and I have to get a real job. I know, I’m neurotic. I say a little neurosis adds character and my husband seems to buy it. He lovingly calls me his cashew: an expensive nut. I’m not sure how long I suffered, I guess I could go back and search my emails, but suffice it to say it was a long, long, long time. And then, all my worst fears were realized… No, just kidding. I received another email from Danielle, the subject line stated “New Review” when I got the guts to open it, she had written: “An early review but a good one. ☺” Relief flooded my system. I read the review, and after thanking God profusely, I think I m...

Hello, everyone! Another week, another Monday...and I was completely gypped out of this past weekend, since we were moving into our new house (with the help of our parents, who came up because they love us enough to withstand several days of moving-related torture). I'm still awash in boxes, and there are still piles of things laying around waiting to be put away, but at least we're completely extricated from the rental house. I wasn't sure that was EVER going to happen. And also, I'm puzzled as to when, exactly, we accumulated so much useless crap. Wow. Anyway, considering the continuing insanity around here, this sounds like the perfect time to indulge in a new book. Not that I'm at all sure when I'm going to be able to sneak off and read in the near future, but man, does this picture look like a good idea. Turns out I'm not the only person craving a good book, though, and this is where the "help a reader out" bit comes in. When I (finally) manag...

by Danielle Jackson There are a ton of things to think about when you’re on the internet—especially since the World Wide Web is where you do most of your promoting. It’s easy to get carried away on an anecdote about something that inspired your novel, and before you know it, the comment section is full of little bits and pieces of your actual life: your current town, your first pet’s name, why your best friend inspired your antagonist, and those hot sex scenes? Possibly everything your husband hasn’t done. You’ve heard me say it before, but T HINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE POSTING before you post it. Why’s that you ask? IT NEVER GOES AWAY ! And you never know who might be reading it? You might think your first grade teacher it too old to know what the internet is or how to even turn on a computer, but you never know… Additionally, I know that many of you in addition to this blog, have personal websites, are on Facebook, have a MySpace page, Twitter, etc… I don’t mean to sound like the overbe...

posted by Aunty Cindy aka Loucinda McGary It's March, and that means I now have LESS than six months before my next book is released! The Treasures of Venice is another romantic suspense with some paranormal elements. It is actually the first romantic suspense novel I ever wrote, and it was a finalist in the 2006 Golden Heart contest. Recently, I was hanging out on an online forum where a lot of young aspiring writers were asking published authors questions specific to their latest works. This seemed like a good place to start blogging about my new release. Here are my answers to the top five questions they asked: 1) What gave you the idea for your book? I heard a piece of music on the radio. I listen to classical music and when an unfamiliar piece came on that I liked, I listened and then the announcer said, “That was the incidental music to the opera Jewels of the Madonna by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari.” I went home and googled the opera and the composer, who happened to be a...

Please welcome our guest blogger Charlotte Hughes! Award winning author Charlotte Hughes began her writing career publishing newspaper and magazine articles before becoming a New York Times best selling author. Charlotte makes her home in Beaufort, S. C. Best known for her FULL series with Janet Evanovich, she has written over 40 books, ranging for the 3 mysteries she wrote for Avon to Mira’s HOT SHOT. Her newest release, NUTCASE centers on Atlanta psychologist Kate Holly and the humorous antics of her friends, family and patients. In the process she learns that the life of a psychologist is enough to drive anyone nuts. Readers are invited to visit Charlotte online at www.readcharlottehughes.com , where she also blogs regularly. And today you can see she's talking about one of our favorite subjects -- chocolate! “Hello, my name is Charlotte Hughes, and I’m a Chocolate Addict” I have never met a box of chocolate I didn’t like. Any writer worth her salt knows that writing and ch...

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...