Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

by Terry Spear Woohoo, it's my birthday!! So have a piece of chocolate (only chocolate will do) cyber birthday cake on me!!! Now a word about sexy shapeshifters~~ Years ago, I wrote a futuristic where the heroine shapeshifts into a panther and her brother, a dragon. So that was my first shapeshifter story. But I finally decided on werewolves. In part, because I loved reading mythology and legends when I was growing up, and partly because I loved Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London. The images he created for me about wolves stuck with me all those years, and I didn’t even realize it until I was asked so many times, why werewolves? Because wolves can see better, hear better, sense smells better, run better…yet in some ways are like our steadfast companion dogs. Okay, so Little Red Riding Hood comes to mind too. “All the better to see you with, my dear…” Or something to that effect. :) But when I was creating my werewolf world, I wanted something that was as believable as...

There’s always talk about file sharing sites where readers find downloads of authors’ books. What they don’t realize, and sadly, some don’t care, is that these sites are illegal since it’s copyright infringement and in the end hurts the author. I always wondered what Fluff and Puff would do if they wanted to make sure romance writer witch Thea’s books didn’t have that problem. This is why I like having the guys on my side. Linda “Very cool,” Fluff crooned, using his ears to tap the computer keys. “Think it will work?” “Krebs did the basics. We’re just making it better.” Puff read off computer code that had more than a smidge of magick to it while Fluff typed away. “Okay, type all and then hit enter.” “Yes!” The slippers grinned as they slapped high fives with their ears and sat back to enjoy the show. ### “Perfect! I love file sharing sites,” the woman crooned as she clicked on the download button. She looked up at her friend. “This is Thea James’ latest hardcover book, no less. I’ll m...

What a time of year! Not only did Fire Me come out this month, but two of my kids "came out" of college. That's right, two kids graduated at the same time. They're not twins. One entered college a year early and the other took five years to finish a challenging major (electrical engineering coupled with Air Force ROTC training). It's been a big month of changes in this household as these two chicks of mine launch themselves into the world (or try to -- my daughter is looking for a job in this bleak economy!). So it's only natural that my thoughts focus on changes and transitions, and the curves in the road that make it difficult to see what's up ahead. All writers have to grapple with unpredictability, though. This business is filled with tales of authors whose multiple-book careers trickle to a stop when the market shifts or publishers shutter their doors. I know several authors who are in the process of rethinking their writing direction because change...

Wow! That was quick! Last time I blogged here I mentioned that HEALING LUKE ARCs had been sent out to reviewers. Well, last week I received my first review back from Armchair Interviews. Here's part of what the reviewer said: Reviewed by Heather Durow It happened in a flash. One small spark changed Luke Morgan’s life forever…almost took it in fact. He had always thought that he was infallible and now here he was, burned and scarred from a boat explosion. Abby Stanford has scars too. Only hers are on her heart. She is in Florida, on her honeymoon–alone. The tickets were non-refundable and, after finding her fiancé in bed with a buxom blonde, she figured she deserved time away from Texas. Abby’s path crosses Luke’s at his family’s business and she is the first person to get any response from him that wasn’t completely jaded. Aaron and Bart convince Abby to stay for a few months as Luke’s unofficial therapist, to help get him back on track and back to himself. With her occupational th...

In Over Her Head's official release date is June 1, but IOHH sightings are popping up all over the place. Actually, all over the country: Philly, Atlanta, Washington state, California, Massachusetts - and those are the ones I've heard from. I hightailed it out to my local stores and stood there and didn't make a fool of myself, although I did sell at least one copy. Signed it, too. That was fun. I also found out In Over Her Head is up for Best Book of the Month for June on http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1613859/ . Voting runs 'til May 29. And then there was this review I recently received from http://www.passionforthepage.blogspot.com/ : If you’re looking for a great beach read have I got a book for you! In Over Her Head by Judi Fennell is a witty, funny, fabulous story about Erica Peck, a marina owner that is scared of the sea, and Reel Tritone, a Mer man who, obviously, lives in the sea. What follows is a rip-roaring adventure complete with stolen diamonds, dea...

Remember The Fallen In the long weekend, take some time to remember all of those who have given their lives to make our freedom possible, and all those who put their lives on the line every day guarding it. Hi, I’m Robin Kaye, the author of Too Hot to Handle. Today I was looking through the clip art for a Memorial Day picture to post and I saw this one. It's a photo of a Wild Quaker Parrot rising up above the markers of Civil War Graves in Brooklyn's Green Wood Cemetery. For those of you who have read my books, you'll know that I was brought up a block away from the Green Wood Cemetery. The Brooklyn Parrots and are a wonderful part of Brooklyn and Green Wood Cemetery. For more information about the Brooklyn Parrots, you can visit the Brooklyn Parrot Website . Annabelle Ronaldi is the one of the heroines of the Domestic Gods series and I thought it would be fun to talk with Rose, her nosy, slightly zany, and possibly psychic aunt. I made an appointment to meet Aunt Rose at h...

posted by Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy I LURVE my heroes! Can't help myself. Must be because they are all (at least thus far) Irish hunks. And like all true Celts, they are dark haired and blue-eyed, but there the similarities end. Donovan O'Shea, my hero of The Wild Sight is a man who tried to escape his painful past. But basically he has a dual nature, and near the climax of the story he actually recognizes this in himself. One side of him is a healer. Though he himself may be wounded (not nearly as much as the hero of my current Work In Progress, but that's a blog for another day) , he seeks to fix things that are broken, soothe hurts, and generally set things right. But the other side of him is a warrior. When threatened, he doesn't hesitate to fight back, especially in defense of someone he cares about. Cross him at your peril! The same can be said for my hero of The Treasures of Venice , Keirnan Fitzgerald. When necessary, this man can be dangerous. In fact...

by Danielle There’s something about Summer, not sure what it is exactly, that brings on an onslaught of reading. I’ve always found Summer Reading to be a funny concept—libraries and day camps (the artsy kind hahaha) will have reading programs, to which many of the kids in my neighborhood that I used to babysit were like “wait what? School’s OVER.” Then you have the designated “beach reads”—if you ever go on vacation with my family, you’ll find out that there’s rarely time to read pretty quick, with all the relative visiting and site seeing (and if we’re at the beach ? Forget it!)! Nevertheless, I find myself during the long days, especially when there’s a nice breeze, venturing out in my parents’ gazebo and plopping myself down for a leisurely day of reading (something I fully intend to make Z do with me many a time this season [ and yes funny ladies, that’s all you’re going to get about that ]). I have some old stand-bys and a few new books I plan on jumping into this year: The Lord o...

By: Marie Force I’m riding shotgun right now on a family road trip from Rhode Island to Indiana where my husband’s family lives. Since the last time we did this trip by car about five years ago, my children have discovered electronics and we’ve lost both of the dogs who used to ride along with us. So this is a quieter, less intense version of the road trips of yesteryear. The only disruption to the peace in the car is the hourly dust up over feet creeping over “the line.” Remember the sibling line of demarcation in the backseat? The ‘he’s touching me’, ‘she’s looking at me’ line? I’m here to tell you that “the line” is timeless. I’m also enjoying listening to my husband bicker with the Garman, who he has named Lola. She is NOT happy with him and how he continuously defies her by freelancing his way to Indiana. Being from New England, specifically the Biggest Little State in the Union—Rhode Island—I’m always struck by the vastness of our country when I take to the road. Earlier this yea...

by Mary Margret Daughtridge Today I'm at my beloved coast--this time at Atlantic Beach across the bridge from Morehead City, NC. Outside, a close to gale force wind thumps the cottage as if it's knocking to get in. The cottage creaks. For the last twenty-four hours my friend and I have exalted heroes and trashed villains, sought motivations, and ramped up conflict, in other words, we've done what writers do. With perfect seriousness we discuss the tribulations of people who exist only in our heads, and shyly hiding our eyes, admit how much we love them. She's writing her first book, I'm at work on my third, SEALed With A Ring--and feeling the hot breath of my June deadline on my neck. My intent focus on the work in progress has almost squeezed from my consciousnes my second book, SEALed With A Promise. To tell the truth, the response to SEALed With A Kiss so far exceeded my expectations, I wondered more than once if it was a fluke. I approached the release of SEALed...

Hello, this is Marla Elkhorn reporting from Terra Minor, a recently colonized world on the far side of the Terran Quadrant. Today we have an interview with two of the supporting characters from The Cat Star Chronicles: Outcast, Zuannis and Hatul. Marla: Zuannis, Nice to meet you—I don't believe I've ever met a Twilanan before. Hatul: Ugly, aren't they? Tall, bald-headed, and a nose like a rhino—horn and all. *snort* If it wasn't for the earrings, you'd never know she was female. Now, Bonnie, on the other hand makes me want to— Zuannis: Look who's talking about being ugly! You Norludians are the strangest creatures in the galaxy! (shifting away from him slightly) Don't know why I agreed to do this with you around. Hatul (waving his sucker-tipped fingers at her suggestively) What's the matter? Afraid I'll taste your essence and not like it? Zuannis: You just keep your sticky fingers to yourself, you skinny little pop-eyed freak! Hatul: (turning ...

By Sharon Lathan I'm a planner. Drives my husband insane, as he is the spontaneous type. You know, one of those get up one day, throw stuff in the car, and go type of guys. That is well and fine, as long as I know we are planning to do it several days in advance! This character trait is one reason why I am already rifling through the information for the RWA National conference in Washington DC that is 2 months from now. Frankly it is driving me insane that it is still a whole two months away. That is AGES from now! I suppose that means that the other reason I am already studying the scheduled workshops and speakers is because I am impatient. But I can’t help it! I am giddy with excitement. You see, this is my first conference - ever. I always wanted to go to one of the numerous nursing conferences that are held all over the place. I have thought of it for years, but for some reason I never took the plunge. Part of that may be that no matter how much I adore my chosen field, attendi...

Today is Victoria Day. When I was a kid, Victoria Day (officially the Monday before May 25th) was the start of summer and signalled that school would soon be out. (And that my birthday was coming!) It meant fireworks and hot dogs, a long weekend, nice weather, tulips and freshly mowed lawns. But we all knew what it meant, too. It was a celebration in honour (using the Canadian spelling today!) of Queen Victoria's birthday. Today, though we still call it Victoria Day, it is as often called May Two Four, as if it is a case of beer. (It is supposed to be officially held on May 24th, but that never happens!) Canadians are very fond of beer, so a long weekend to celebrate it... it's a natural fit. But there has always been some agitation to change the idea of the day to something more reflective of our growing multi-culturalism. Many Canadians feel that we should not be celebrating something so very English as the birthday of a long-dead English monarch, given that we are a coun...

Have you ever thought of how your birth order affected you as a child? Teen? Adult? Were you a middle child? The first born? The baby of the family? An only child? Not sure??? Is the idea of birth order overrated? I was the eldest of two children and yep, I have the classic symptoms of being the eldest child syndrome--super responsible, often passed down parental instruction to my sister, helped her with a myriad of situations. One of my former friends was a middle child, the lost child syndrome--so he had to get attention by getting into drugs. My mother was an only child, again super responsible, really a friend to her mother when her parents divorced, so more like a miniature grown-up. Another friend of mine was the baby of the family, and on top of that a late in life baby. The combination made for a much doted on "baby," by both parents and older siblings. One friend told me he was the middle child, but only son, so doted on by his parents and sisters, making him the bab...

A friend of mine in Michigan was in her Borders last weekend and let me know that an endcap had "if you enjoy Charlaine Harris" with books below and ta da! Wicked by Any Other Name was on the top shelf! She took this picture. And look below me and you'll see fellow Casababe Terry Spear's book. When my friend went in the other day they had added Hex Appeal to it. Very nice indeed! I think we all love author recommendations. I had a book signing Friday night and one reader and I talked about that. Who do we enjoy reading. And the best thing is, she loves Wicked, she'd bought it a few days ago, and plans to track down the first two books. I know I'm that way. If I find an author I want to find all their books. What about you? Do you do that? Need to read all they've put out? Linda

What are you working on now--what author hasn't heard that question? When I first started writing fiction, one of my challenges was forcing myself to focus on finishing one story before beginning another in earnest. It's so easy, when you hit the Dreaded Middle of writing a novel, to want to move on to something different. And, to tell the truth, sometimes it does help to take a break and spend an afternoon playing with a different set of characters and their lives. I'm currently working on another romantic comedy, hoping to build on Fire Me 's following. Another rom com sits with our wonderful editor, Deb, waiting for her insights. Its title right now is (drumroll, please) My Own Personal Soap Opera: Looking for Reality in All the Wrong Places. I love the fact that the title is "personal," the way Fire Me 's title is. And I love that it has a subtitle that parallels Fire Me 's (Scheming and Dreaming and Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places). Like...

Happy Thursday everyone! Well, the anticipation mounts! (For me at least!) In the past couple of weeks I've taken t he next steps in my journey to the publication of HEALING LUKE (coming in September!) I received and read through my page proofs, that last chance to catch little problems before the book goes to print. I have to say, seeing the pages of my story looking so much like...well, a book was no less a thrill this time than the first time I saw a book go into print. The process never gets old for me. Each part of the journey, though I grumble at times when I get busy, is still apart of a dream come true. My book is going to be published! (Pinching myself!) Soon after I got the page proofs, I had an email from our wonderful Danielle filling me in on the behind the scenes work she was doing to prepare for the release of HEALING LUKE and getting me up to speed on what was being planned for later in the summer. Already, the most nerve-wracking part of the promotion, the submissi...

If you had the chance to read my Wickedly Romantic post on Monday, you know that I had a wonderfully delightful surprise on Mother's Day when I opened an email from a bookseller: Dear Judi, I've just finished an ARC of In Over Her Head and had to write to let you know how much I enjoyed the book. It was hilarious and total fun throughout. I'm been telling my cutomers and fellow booksellers how much I loved the book What a great sense of humor you have!!!!!!!! All I have to tell them is that it's a Little mermaid type story but instead of a little mermaid you have a big hunk of Mer man. Please note that I didn't refer to Reel as a merman. Wouldn't want to get him ticked of with me.........LOL. I can see why Sue Grimshaw encouraged you. This is a great story. I'll be sending Sue an email letting her know how mcuh I enjoyed you story and to be sure she sends me enough copies. There's nothing worse than wanting to recommend a book and not having it in stock!...

By Robin Kaye Last weekend I spoke at my local library about writing, my path to publication, my books, and the general state of publishing. I’m told I had a great crowd, which amazed me because there were only about 10 people in attendance, all of whom I knew. Still, it was a lot of fun to have the opportunity to speak to crowd who was actually interested in what I had to say. The best part was when my favorite librarian got off from work early to join the group. She regaled everyone with the story of how I would come into the library a few days a week, check out a gazillion books and tell her about the book I was writing. I remembered how much fun I had writing my first book. I had three small children at home and had moved across the country to a place where I had no friends or family. I came to writing through a back door, or so I like to think. I felt as if I needed to write. I needed the creative outlet that writing gave me. It never occurred to me that anyone else would be inter...

posted by Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy For years and years, the place that occupied the Number One spot on my "Bucket List" was Venice. Every picture I saw, every guidebook, every travel program that had even a mention of the city nicknamed La Serenissima (the Serene One) made me salivate. Lucky me! My DH took me there! (maybe he was truly sick and tired of hearing me carry on about wanting to go) And La Serenissima did not disappoint, it truly is one of the most unique places on earth! The city left quite a lasting impression on me. No wonder I chose it for the setting of one of my romantic suspense novels. And because I wanted readers to feel as if they were really in Venice, I decided to include some of the most famous landmarks in the story. The Bridge of Sighs --This lovely Venetian landmark gets a lot of attention in guide books and virtually every person who travels there or every program that features Venice as a destination mentions this bridge. No surprise then ...

Go and and enjoy the day--I know many of you are mothers (children and pets alike!) and also, that many of you often look at your books as your children too! I found this excerpt from one of my favorite books of all time, Little Women , which reminds me of my own Mama J, who gave me very similar advice when I was young: from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 'Mother, do you have "plans," as Mrs. Moffat said?' asked Meg, bashfully. 'Yes, my dear, I have a great many; all mothers do, but mine differ somewhat from Mrs. Moffat's, I suspect. ... 'I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and good; to be admired, loved, and respected; to have a happy youth, to be well and wisely married, and to lead useful, pleasant lives, with as little care and sorrow to try them as God sees fit to send. To be loved and chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing which can happen to a woman; and I sincerely hope my girls may know this beautiful experience. It...

by Sharon Lathan Frequently I have said that one of the BEST by-products to this whole writing thing has been the marvelous people I have become acquainted with. Most of you know by now that I came into my writing and publishing ventures in a roundabout way. I began by freely posting my short-stories and chapters on my website for anyone to read. I suppose there are pros and cons to that approach, but for me the pros so outweigh any cons that I am very happy this was the path fate chose for me. Along the way, as readers from all over the globe found me and read the chapters and commented in the forum, I grew to “know” a few of the regulars. For a long time I was leery of this. I mean, we all hear of the internet dangers and see the exposes on Primetime! But it was a gradually building relationship and in the end there are a dozen or so gals who have stuck with me to this day. All of them are dear to me and precious friends even though I have met few of them face-to-face! We are primari...