Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

For those of you who follow me on twitter (@JadeLeeAuthor) or Facebook (Jade Lee Author), you know that I’ve started something kinda weird with @CindyDees. Guess what it is: A. Mystical Yoga – we stretch, pose, and pray to the God of Flexibility that we don’t break something. B. Disposing of 27 items a day for 9 days in a row. C. Using burning sage to smudge out all the evil spirits in my whole house room by room. Yes, I did accidentally set fire to my hair. D. Tossing out shoes. You read it right–shoes. Every ugly, worn, pinching, or otherwise annoying pair. Answer: B – I’m sure there’s all sorts of numerological reasons for the 27 items for 9 days in a row. The idea is that clutter holds space in your life. If you want new experiences to come in, you have to get rid of the old crap. So after 9 days (if you miss one, you have to start over) something magical is supposed to enter your life. I’m on day 8 right now. So far what’s entered is dust and a sense of accomplishme...

June 29th? Im. Possible. Ok, not impossible, but the summer has flown by so quickly that I can hardly believe July is almost here. I've been keeping busy with my upcoming releases from Sourcebooks: the Romance of the Turf series, focusing on  a talented but troubled family at the heart of Newmarket's Thoroughbred-racing scene.  I've just finished copyedits on the introductory novella, "The Sport of Baronets," which will be out in January. In February comes the first full-length novel, A Gentleman's Game --which I finished revising at the beginning of June. (My editor likes it! Yay!) The second novel is due in September, so I'm working on that now. Not that I've spent the whole summer at a computer so far. Last weekend, Little Miss R and I took a trip out of state for a family reunion. While she played on a water slide, I caught up with my relatives--including one of my aunts, who gave me a manila envelope full of childhood "treasures" I...

The randomly chosen winner of the books by Grace Burrowes, Julie Ann Walker, and Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs is Missy Terry! Thanks to all who commented.

My baby girl needs a friend. Here she is giving me the evil eye after a wash... We inherited her after a family marriage breakup meant that person had to shift to smaller digs. Kobe was only supposed to be a guest for a few months, but she and my boyfriend fell in love with each other, and it was decided that she had to stay.  It's been a couple of years now, and she's getting a little greyer, and a little bit slower. So now we're on the lookout for a puppy friend for her to play with. Kobe likes: Walks, car drives, camping, swimming and chasing tennis balls. Also partial to long snoozes. Does not like: small white fluffy dogs. The problem? We want to do a little research to make sure we try and match her up with a friend who suits her. Kobe is very much the boss of the yard, but gets along well with less-dominant dogs (like Hazel below).  My boyfriend wants an Irish Wolfhound, or a poodle. I want something medium sized, friendly, and good with people ...

Hi guys! Gina Lamm here. Going to a conference, show, or fair with my mother is always fun. The woman adores anything free. It doesn't matter what it is, if she could use it or not, or if it's the least bit practical. Whenever we leave, we're burdened down with bags full o'stuff. Eventually (sooner if my father gets hold of it) most of the flyers, fans, and useless stuff gets tossed, but let there be a lip balm or a notepad in there and mom will hold onto it forever. If you feel a kinship with my mother, then today's your lucky day! I've got some incredibly talented friends, and one of them has put together a super-awesome romance sampler just in time for some beach reading. And best of all, it's free! TEASERS AND TASTES features some incredible authors, with books separated by genre, and page samples of each to give you a great idea of whether you might enjoy that author's work. I'm thrilled to have KISS THE EARL included in the time travel sect...

For the first time ever on this blog, I’m going to review a book! I recently read H is for Hawk , a memoir about a woman who, while grieving her father’s death, decided to train a baby goshawk. (BABY GOSHAWK!!!!!!!) This is MABEL, the goshawk. Isn’t she beautiful? I adore hawks, let me just say—I see turkey hawks on my way to and from the office every day, and there they are up there, sitting on the lampposts, or cruising the air currents, with their sharp eyes, their magnificent wingspans, and their grace and deadliness. Shivers. Helen MacDonald had experience with falconry, so she knew what she was getting into. DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME! I am completely satisfied with the vicarious experience of training a goshawk; I have no desire to try it myself. Helen’s writing is magnificent—brilliant, beautiful, poignant and deep. I wished at times that she had  not taken the book into sadness at every opportunity—there were many instances when I felt th...

Cloak billowing in the wind, tricorne hat perched proudly on his head, he galloped across my television screen and changed my life forever. Hyperbole? Not by much. Robin Ellis as Ross Poldark One summer, our local PBS station broadcast the 1970s miniseries Poldark-- about the changing fortunes of an ancient Cornish mining family--and its sequel back-to-back. Almost 30 weeks of high drama, smoldering romance, and swashbuckling adventure, unfolding against the wild, beautiful landscape of 18 th century Cornwall. The lavish production was lovingly written—despite some dramatic liberties taken early in the series—and wonderfully cast, with a brooding Robin Ellis as the title character (a soldier who returns to a ruined estate and a sweetheart now engaged to his cousin instead), and a fiery Angharad Rees as Demelza, one of the main women in Poldark’s life. Other standouts included Ralph Bates, as Poldark’s smarmy parvenu nemesis, George Warleggan, and Richard Morant a...

My friends and fellow Sourcebooks' authors Tera Lynn Childs and Tracy Deebs had a signing Friday evening in Houston. I headed over there after gymnastics with my five-year old in tow. The signing was held at a children's bookstore, so I figured Princess Galen could look at children's books while I listened to the authors chat. This sort of worked, and at the end of the evening, I got in line to get a copy of Powerless signed. Princess Galen got in line with me, and a reader in front of me recognized me and Princess Galen. Reader to PG: How does it feel to have a famous author as a mom? Me: Oh, I'm not fam-- PG (interrupting): It's horrible! She works all the time and never plays with me. Me: Gasp! That is not true! PG: Yes, it is. You never, ever play with me! Reader: Oh, I think it's my turn. Bye. Me (hissing): How could you say that? PG (smiling): I'm just kidding. This is how books like Mommy Dearest start. I anticipate Princess Galen i...

The Singer of Death (Court of Annwyn 5) is out now, and still at the first week special price of 99c :) If you haven't read any of the series yet that's okay because each book stands alone, however if you want a little primer on all things Annwyn keep reading. The Outcast Prince saw Caspian, a changeling and Prince Felan's secret son, get caught up in the hunt for the secret doorway to Annwyn while trying to keep Lydia safe from fairies. She wasn't impressed by the chaos but ultimately decided that Caspian couldn't really pick his family. In Lord of the Hunt the Queen's mischief making continued. Verden, lord of the hunt, found himself in hot water and was saved by the lovely Taryn who was only in Annwyn to try and save her father's life. Prince Felan discovered how hard it was going to be for Jacquie To Love a King as he had to fight to claim the throne of Annwyn from his mother's schemes. the secret enemy was revealed. During the battles ...

Chick flicks are like romance novels: they give you a dose of feel good when you need it most.  Do you have a "go to" movie that never lets you down? For me it's Leap Year . In fact, Leap Year is my #3 all-time favorite movie. I know...You're thinking, "She numbers her favorite movies?" I do. Don't judge me too harshly. Maybe that's why I love 'Anna' in  Leap Year ? The Amy Adams character is a control-freak American redhead who falls for a dark, brooding Irishman struggling to hold onto his small town pub. He's all wrong for this upwardly mobile Boston woman set on marrying a cardiologist. Declan, the movie's hero, is brusque to the point of rudeness and cynical about love. Yet, he knows just the right the moment to pull out the chivalry card. He saves the day and wins hearts with an unassuming smile. And here's the other interesting Leap Year fact: My go to person for chick flick recommendations is my husband...

Becoming a published author has so many delightful benefits you don't anticipate as you're slogging toward your first publication day. Romance writers in particular are among the most supportive, creative, delightful people you'd ever want to meet. Romance readers, I'm convinced, are the best readers on the planet. They are loyal, helpful, constructive, friendly... cannot say enough good things about my readers. One more upside publication has brought me is the ability to travel to the UK, to research everything from settings, to language, to history, to--my dedication is limitless, you see--food and drink. I'm writing this post from a hotel on the sea loch in Plockton, Scotland, and earlier this week I was in the Orkney Islands.   If you have a chance to go to the Orkneys, do it. You might think islands as far north as Moscow would be cold and bleak, but turns out, these islands are fertile, temperate (a hard frost is rare), and beautiful. Wind and tides m...