Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

As an author, I've been asked "How did you get published?" a lot. I have a couple of pat answers for people who don't really know me, and they're perfectly good answers. Just not complete answers. 1) The long answer. I say, "Write a book. Submit your queries and while you're waiting to hear from all the agents and editors that you (of course) researched to be sure you've targeted the right people, write another book. Rinse and repeat until someone asks to see more. Send the best proposal or full manuscript you're capable of crafting at that time. (Be sure it's whatever they ask for, exactly as they ask for it, and no more or less than what they ask for.) Write another book. Rinse and repeat until you get an offer. I don't go beyond that point, because people don't really want to know about contracts, etc. They just want to know how to get 'the call'. 2) My other answer is, "Work your tail off, and Don't. Give. Up....

Note: Names have been changed to protect the guilty. Long, long ago, little Susanna (me) and her mother visited their favorite place in the mall: Waldenbooks.  I was a lucky girl because my mother said she would buy me a book.  She drew A Little Princess from the shelf. It was lovely and pristine then, not the ragged Velveteen Rabbit of a book that rests beside me on the table as I type.  It still had its pretty pink cover adorned with a lovely Tasha Tudor illustration. I hadn't written “Susanna Loves Tommy” in a heart on the back page yet and the binding hadn't come unglued.  “I think you may like this book, Susanna,” my mom had said. For the record, my mom is a bookoholic and is rather adamant about the books she recommends.  Fortunately, she has excellent taste. She calls, emails, or texts me about books that she thinks I should read. If I am sitting alone in a chair, she will plop a book in my lap and order me to read it.  However, that...

When I began writing my first romance HOW TO TAME A WILLFUL WIFE, I had no idea I was re-telling a play by Shakespeare. I dreamed of a woman and a man meeting in her bedroom, when he knew that they were engaged and she did not. The first chapters of the novel were born from that dream. I got up that morning, went to my writers group for tea and scones, and sat down and wrote the beginning of the book straight from the dream. Image courtesy of Pixomar/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net Of course, that was in 2007, and I spent many nights revising the novel since then. And as I was revising this book, which for years I called THE TAMING, I began to see that I was delving into my obsession with Shakespeare as well as into my obsession with romance. Needless to say, unlike Kate in The Taming of the Shrew , my heroine Caroline is not tamed. Indeed, she does her best to tame her gorgeous, stubborn husband, Anthony. Their battle of wills often ends up in bed, but as the novel goes on, ...

by Amanda Forester I am excited to announce the release of my very first e-book novella:   The Highland Bride's Choice !   I have returned to the Scottish Highlands to check in on a few of the Campbell sisters (there are a lot of them).   This book is the first in a Highland Trilogy that follows the Campbell clan's adventures during a May Day clan gathering that gets crashed by some pesky English troops. Practical Elyne Campbell is pleased to marry whomever her brother has chosen for her. Unfortunately, she is more attracted to Tavish Grant, the cousin of her intended than the prospective groom himself. When she is caught outside the castle gates during a siege and is forced to spend time hiding with Tavish, the attraction grows beyond all hope of practicality. Each book in the my Highland novella trilogy is actually a medieval prequel to my Marriage Mart trilogy set in the Regency time frame.   In The Highland Bride's Choice, Tavish Grant is the ...

by Danielle Jackson Some of you may know this, but in addition to being a publicist at Sourcebooks, I’m an avid baker. I. LOVE. BAKING. Which is sort of a tough hobby to have when you have to fit in a wedding dress pretty soon… but oh well! I still love to bake, and I especially love to share baked goods with friends. I’ve gone as far as to schedule weekly “snack days” in the Sourcebooks PR department. We have a schedule and we all take it VERY seriously. And more often than not, we all make something homemade (though we do not judge store-bought items). The last few years I’ve alternated baking things for family and friends with making crafty items for them. It’s a lot of work, but I think these special handmade—and sometimes edible!—items are really fun. Here are three of my all-time favorite things to bake, and share with people! The photos below are my own :) Mini-Pecan Tarts (from our very own CAROLYN BROWN!) I love these for the Fall—and they are...

Launch Party & Giveaway by Tracey Devlyn I’m so excited to be back on the Casa blog and introducing you to A Lady’s Secret Weapon , the third book in my Nexus series. Writing Ethan deBeau’s story was both a challenge and great fun. Because he’d made special appearances in A Lady’s Revenge and Checkmate, My Lord , I thought it would be a cinch to craft his journey. Not so. The more I wrote, the more I realized that I’d barely touched the surface of who Ethan was in my previous books. When it came time to dig in and get to know my reluctant boudoir spy, I found myself paralyzed by the prospect. So many readers had written to let me know how much they were looking forward to Ethan’s story. I was terrified I would disappoint them. Pushing through my fear, I finally found my loyal, tenderhearted, courageous Ethan. Then I found Sydney Hunt for him. Sydney carries many of the same endearing traits as Ethan, plus she’s an intelligent businesswoman, who often ...