Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

It was bound to happen sooner or later. I'm not stupid enough to believe that my sweet daughter, my first born, would stay a wee lassie forever. But the now fifteen-year-old has discovered the joys of being a teenager. And one of those new found discoveries is concerts. See the problem? No? Let me explain. She's too young to drive and needs chauffeured.  There's no way her parents are going to drop her off and let her attend these events alone. Don't get me wrong. I trust my daughter 100%. It's the other idiots that are a factor. Even though some of her friends like the music she listens to, they are not going to see the artists.  Well, gosh darn it. Who does that leave? You guessed it. Mom and Dad. Dad is everything country, and mom is everything rock 'n' roll. So guess who won that battle? Fortunately, the wee apple doesn't fall far from the tree. She loves music that I listen to and truth be told, I love the music she listens to. This i...

Are you a Downton Abbey fan? With the show in its sixth and final season, we at Sourcebooks are celebrating all the romance and drama with live tweets (and giveaways) every Sunday, 9:00 PM ET. We'd love to tweet with you --- look for #TeamSource . To prepare you, here's a little snark and history a la Downton Abbey style. I first heard about  Downton Abbey  when I was out to dinner with a friend. She asked me, "What's the deal with an entail ?" She knew I wrote historical romance, and her question unleashed my inner history nerd. The tables soon turned. My friend regaled me with lush set descriptions and character sketches. I was hooked. My car somehow found its way to Barnes & Noble where I bought the season one DVD set. I binge-watched it and got all caught up as season two winded down. When season two's DVDs released, my car took me to Barnes & Noble again where I promptly bought the next DVD set. (Like Lay's potato chips, you can...

My imagination is full of characters, but finding the story that best fits a given lord, laird, lady or lover is usually a challenge for me. I say usually, because Will's True Wish , which hits the shelves on Tuesday, is an exception. I met Will Dorning in a previous book, Worth: Lord of Reckoning , where Will was a minor character. He's one of the heroine's many brothers (all seven named for plants, hence, Willow Dorning, Grey Birch Dorning, Sycamore, Ash, etc), second oldest after the earl, Grey. In the only scene where Will has much dialogue, he's playing fetch-the-stick with an enormous mastiff named Georgette. Will is ferociously protective of his pup, and prefers her company to that of most people. That's what I knew about him, when--bam!--like my golden retriever's tail smacking one of my cats (I've seen this happen), an idea for a story popped into my head: Will is the Regency dog whisperer, and he's investigating a "101 Dalmatians"...

By Cheryl Brooks We didn't get the big blizzard in our neck of the woods this past weekend, but it was still a good time for doing all the things one does when snowed in--provided, of course, that you have power. The weather was plenty cold here, and we still had a fair amount of snow left over from the last weather event, so I did what I usually do when I'm snowed in. I don't go out and buy bread. I make it. This time, I tried out a different recipe from my trusty copy of "The New Book of Favorite Breads from Rose Lane Farm," which I was surprised to find still available from Amazon, despite the fact that I probably bought my copy back in the early 1980s. There are some things, homemade bread among them, that stand the test of time. Not long ago I'd used the Italian bread recipe from that same cookbook to make bread sticks. Sadly, even cutting that recipe in half resulted in too much dough, and what I'd hoped would be similar to Pizza Hut's che...

I've been so excited all week. I'm always thrilled when I receive a good review, but when I receive a Top Pick! 4 1/2 star review from my favorite reviewer, Kathe Robin, at RT Book Reviews, it's especially thrilling. It's always a little scary when books I've written go out for review. I wonder if readers will like the book and if I've fixed all the problems I saw and if there were others I didn't see. I know a Top Pick doesn't mean a book is perfect or that every reader will love it, but to me it means I've passed the first test. The next test comes when the book goes on sale. Will readers buy it? Will they like it? I'll find out in a few weeks. In the meantime, I'll share a little about Brook and Lila's story. Once she spurned the man... When the Duke of Lennox hires Sir Brook Derring, Bow Street's best investigator, to find his daughter, Brook intends only to rescue the lady and return to his solitary life. He deals with...

A friend of mine has 4 sons and when they shovel the driveway or clean up the yard, I'm reminded, 'That's why we have them.' LOL Well, I only have 1 daughter and was a single mom when she was growing up. So, ugh. I shoveled my own snow and raked and mowed my own lawn. Now she's grown, and she's a fabulous graphic artist. How lucky for a mom who constantly needs cute new promo materials. (wink.) Well, My latest series Love Spells Gone Wrong will be complete soon. I had been planning to self publish them...until I discovered that I hated self-publishing. Meanwhile, I had asked her to make the covers and they were so cute I had to find a publisher that would allow me to use them. Enter my Canadian Publisher, Lachesis Publishing, Inc. Okay, so they're a small press, but to be able to show off my daughter's hard work is a big thing to me. Book 1 came out last spring (2015) Book 2 came out in Sept. 2015       And now...Drumroll...the last in the ser...

I was finally well enough, though still had a horrible coughing spell while I was walking, but managed nearly 3 miles with the puppies. Here they are on our walk: Uhm, yeah, someone has already marked that tree, guys. Pine tree and clouds reflected in the pond. Fountain in the background. Hey, what did you find, Max? Max and Tanner in the little dog enclosure. The larger dog park wraps around the smaller one. Hmm, does it look like a safe trail to take? I tried to take the picture of the remnants of a maple tree that had shed most of its leaves, and the grasses and pine trees behind it. Between the wind, and the puppies pulling, this was all I managed to get. I tried to take a picture of a yellow bird in a bare tree, but it was impossible with the puppies pulling at me. I should have just stepped on their leashes. I've done that before and left my hands free so they couldn't jerk the camera around. It was a good thing I too...

Since my Viking Warriors series is contemporary paranormal, I spend more time reading about Norse mythology than history. Although when you study Vikings, the two are very much linked. And it was because of the enthusiasm of one of my history teachers that I first became so interested in my Norse forefather explorers and their gods and goddesses.   Skåne Coat of Arms I grew up in the very southern part of Sweden and history lessons were a little problematic for my school teachers. If they went by the standard curriculum, we’d be studying all the kings of Sweden and the various wars they fought. However, the southernmost tip of Sweden was actually Danish until 1658 when it changed hands according to the Treaty of Roskilde. The people where a bit reluctant to change nationality and organized an uprising against the Swedish militia. It wasn’t until 1720 that things settled down and Skåne province (Scania) finally flew the blue and yellow flag. The one thing my history tea...

I am one of those people who makes friends and keeps them.  We may not see each other for years and years and years, but when we do, it's like no time has gone by. I was the first of my friends to move away.  Born and raised on Long Island, we moved to North Carolina when I was 27 and we're still here.  Due to finances and just...life...we rarely were able to go back and visit anyone, but in the last few years, I've been blessed with being able to reconnect with some of my girls and we are planning a weekend together in March. So here's the funny thing - once plans got put into motion, I realized that we are the same people we were in elementary, middle and high school.  We've all gone on to lead very different lives with different experiences and yet as soon as we started group texting and chatting, it was so familiar and wonderful that it filled my heart with joy!  At our core we are snarky, sweet, loud, hysterical, compassionate and strong.  We've al...

There's just something about a man with facial hair. Oh man! I confess I really love neatly trimmed mustaches and beards. They add a certain air to a man -- maybe of a little danger, or daring or a hint of mystery. Whatever it is, it's downright sexy. And I can't get enough.  Here are a few of my favorites. No words are necessary. Just drool away. Here's a couple of older men who never lose their sexiness no matter their age. AND since I write historical western romance, I HAVE to have some cowboys because they're...well really kinda hot! So....are you a 'stach kinda person? I'd love to know who your favorites are. If I didn't include them, you can add to the list. I don't mind at all. All three of my Bachelors of Battle Creek series are available. You can contact me: WEBSITE |   FACEBOOK |   TWITTER | GOODREADS  | PINTEREST ******************************...

First a bit of background. I'm a bench scientist (molecular biologist) of over thirty years. A year before I retired from research, a friend challenged me to write a novel. In doing so, I discovered the FUN part of writing outweighs the hair pulling, heart-wrenching, screaming under a blanket parts of being an author. So now I’m hooked. In the short time I’ve spent in this profession, I can’t tell you how much I admire authors. Their perseverance in their craft, the belief in themselves and their talent, and the dedication to find writing time, is just awe-inspiring. However, I’m a left-brain sort of person, so there are many aspects in the craft of writing that befuddle me. One of them is the expression “Kill your darlings.” Kill what? Not a darling! What is a darling? Here’s a wonderful definition from the Urban Dictionary: " “In writing, you must kill your darlings.” --William Faulkner This literary advice refers to the dangers of an aut...