Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

I often get asked how I build (and keep untangled) the worlds I create. I have my Fendrake world which included the Bitten Backstage books (vampire rock stars) and Brightwater Blood , in a Bottle , the Shadowlands , Decadent Moon, ES Siren , Annwyn ...and there are a couple of other unpublished sci-fi and paranormal worlds and also a couple of contemporary worlds as well as a few standalones. I have no fancy method. Each book has it's own exercise book--which if it turns into a series becomes the series bible. There are no clever segment, just a whole lot of scribbles, sticky notes and tabs so I can find what I need relatively quickly. In my mind though the two sci-fi worlds of Decadent Moon and ES Siren would never interact, one is all alien and high tech and full of the weird and wonderful while the other is human drama on a spaceship. The paranormal worlds are also quite distinct as the magic is different, the rules are different and the creatures are different. My gobli...

...what's an infographic worth?  They're a fun, colorful way to share information. Statisticians and accountants love facts and figures, but the rest of us go bug-eyed. Numbers rarely scintillate.  The history nerd in me loves them! Tell me to "make a family budget" and I happily set that aside. Ask me when Shakespeare died or when and who started the Bow Street Runners and I'm your girl.  An employer once smiled and said, "You know more useless information..."  Some things stick with you. They even inspire stories...like my Midnight Meetings series and book two, The Lady Meets Her Match. The series is set in the mid-1700s. More than once, readers and bloggers have asked, "Why the mid-1700s? Why not Regency?"  I know "Regency" is officially part of the Georgian era, but it's as different from the clean-cut 1950s as 1990s grunge. There is a difference. And let me share a few reasons why...  ...

It’s Spring! This is the time of year that the 2015 nominees for the RITA ® and Golden Heart ® contests are announced. Having been a 2013 Golden Heart nominee, I know how exciting it is to get that early morning call. Congratulations to all of the 2015 nominees. Yay! This is the first year I have the privilege of judging the Rita contest. I was given seven books to judge. All of them were not in my genre, so it was a blast to read some books I never would’ve read otherwise. Six out of the seven were amazing books. One book, however, could have benefited from more feedback before it was published. Which leads me to RWA-sponsored writing contests. First off, let me say everyone’s experience is different. For me, these contests were invaluable as a method to learn the craft of writing. I decided to write a book late in life and had no previous experience writing fiction, so a large quantity of feedback seemed an efficient way to learn. There are many advantages of conte...

I spend the majority of my day with a 5-year-old whose favorite topics of conversation include mermaids, fairies, princesses, unicorns, and ponies. I know all the words to "Let It Go" and all the songs in Barbie: Princess and the Pop Star. I know Twilight Sparkle is an alicorn, while Applejack is an Earth Pony and Rainbow Dash is a pegasus. I spend just about as much time each day immersed in the Regency world of my books. I know Beau Brummel influenced fashion, the English summer of 1816 was unusually cold, and the names of the patronesses of Almack's in 1812. But sometimes life and art mix. Recently my daughter and I were watching Disney's Tangled, which is one of my favorite movies. I love Flynn Rider. The movie gave me an idea for a great book--a rich "princess" and a lower class "thief" with a common goal. And so I wrote the second in my Covent Garden Cubs series featuring Gideon as the thief and Susanna, earl's daughte...

Well, it's official. Boston had more snow this year than in their recorded history. I could get ultra dramatic and wail about the next ice age, (Hey, I might not be wrong) or I can just suck it up, like all of my New England ancestors had to do before me. My family has been in MA since 1635. This brings me to thinking of those ancestors and how they survived our harsh winters. They didn't have plows or snow blowers. Heck, they didn't even have shovels when they got here! If not for the Indians, we would have been toast...or more accurately frozen bread dough. They eventually learned to set stores aside, make lots of candles, and tell stories--but mostly to stay inside and stay warm while waiting it out. By this time each year, they must have been going stir-crazy. We still are! I took a picture of our thermometer yesterday at 9 a.m. in the bright sunshine, and it read 15 degrees. But we do what we have to. We look at the pretty pictures of green grass and budding...

Exciting News!!! Savage Hunger is already in audiobook. Jaguar Fever is being narrated now. And Sourcebooks Casablanca just sold the rights to Tantor for Jaguar Hunt! So they should be up next! :) Now, just need them to pick up Jaguar Pride! http://www.audible.com/pd/Romance/Savage-Hunger-Audiobook/B00NAGI2KQ http://www.audible.com/…/Romance/Savage-Hunger-A…/B00NAGI2KQ   Savage Hunger (Book 1) B&N Amazon Chapters Indigo Kobo IndieBound Jaguar Fever(Book 2) Amazon Barnes and Noble Books-a-Million Indigo/Chapters IndieBound Discover a New Love Sourcebooks Kobo Jaguar Hunt (Book 3) B&N Amazon iTunes Chapters Indigo Kobo IndieBound Jaguar Pride (Book 4) Goodreads ~ Shelfari ~ Amazon ~ Apple ~ BAM ~ B&N ~ Chapters ~ Indiebound ~ Kobo It's truly spring around here! Dandelions are popping up all over the place. We're having lots and lots and lots of rain. Even dandelions can be a thing of beauty. Escargot ...

by Amanda Forester Spring has sprung! I love the change of seasons. I enjoy winter, but by the time March rolls around I am very ready for a change. Here in the Northwest, we have enjoyed a mild winter, but I know in some parts of the U.S. folks are still digging themselves out of the snow. I'm sure the coming Spring is a welcome relief! When I think of Spring, showers of flower petals float through my mind. First the purple and white crocuses emerge through the frost, then the bright yellow daffodils, the fluffy, pink cherry blossoms, and finally the tulips. This year our tulips have been hindered by the two bunnies who have moved into our front yard. I occasionally see our new uninvited guests hopping across my lawn. My dogs go insane when they see them frolicking about freely where dogs are not allowed to roam. So wrong! I think bunnies are cute...until I find my tulip stalks nibbled to the ground. A few years ago I went out to the local tulip fields. It was a wond...

Unlike some, I always wanted to be writer from the time I could read and I'm so grateful for the chance to fulfill my dream. Telling stories and creating story people is the most rewarding thing I've ever done. My path started back in school. English (of course) was my favorite subject with history a close second. I loved when an assignment included writing a short story. I remember clearly one I wrote called The Sugar Bowl about a colony of ants who decided to play a game of football in a family's sugar bowl. Then there was one about a squirrel who teased a dog mercilessly until the dog finally had enough and taught the squirrel a lesson that he almost lived to regret. But, my favorite things to write are my western romances. These stories and the characters are so deeply embedded inside me. I feel I can reach out and touch them. With them living in my head, talking and laughing and keeping me awake, it's no wonder they become like family. I celebr...