Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

This year Halloween falls on a Monday. The calendar sort of messes with my usual holiday plans, which are to drink wine in a plastic cup while following my daughter from house to house. This year I'm looking for some alcohol-free beverages. The bonus is my daughter can enjoy them too! I found a few ideas on Pinterest. If you're looking for some last-minute Halloween fun, check these out. The first one is a Bloody Shirley Temple. Nothing says Halloween like Shirley Temple and blood. Click here for the recipe. These Ghost Milkshakes are really cute. They're sort of a dessert drink. Click here for the recipe. My daughter loves candy corn, so here's a drink she might enjoy. Click here for the recipe for Candy Corn Layered Halloween Sipper. What are your plans for Halloween?

I'll bet a few of you have had these wonderful/terrifying moments. Yes! I did it! Oh, no...I have to do it again. Whether it's a book that hit a list, or new contract for several books, or in my case...a reader/author conference--first in my part of the country, and it was a big hit! Regardless, success is awesome! Getting to the top of that goal mountain is part relief and part elation. The view from the top is fabulous. Until you realize you could get knocked off that peak, and probably will at some point. Life is not meant to be all rainbows and unicorns. I'm still riding that high as I plan for next year's Fall in Love with New England Romance Reader/Author Conference. It will begin Friday the 13th! LOL. Perfect since we celebrate early Halloween. Don't ask to register yet. We're still creating forms and a website. But it's great to know that authors are already enthusiastic about attending in 2017. Here's our facebook link.  Fall in Love...

I admit, I'm addicted. With the presidential election campaign in full swing, I have become obsessed with the news. I read the articles, ponder the editorials, and stare into the blue light of the TV as the talking heads comment non-stop on every twist and turn of this election. It's a train wreck…but I just can’t turn away! I can only look forward to the upcoming election as some relief, but I doubt it will be the end of the negativity that pervades the media. This bumper sticker I saw pretty much sums it up: Where are we going and why am I in this hand basket? So I've been rethinking my decision to tune in to the news. Of course, I do think it’s important to be aware of what’s happening around me. I don't want to be like an ostrich and hide my head in the sand. But how do you know when you’ve gone too far? I do love quizzes, so I here is my news watchers quiz: Watching/reading the news makes me feel: 1.      Happy 2.      ...

Fandom...it's something we all deal with in our lives at some point or another. Whether it's over a TV show, a particular author or book series, a band or musician you can't live without, or maybe a series of movies that you'll never tire of watching. Either way, there's something pretty darn amazing about being part of certain fandoms, and I'm about to admit to you all mine. Fandom #1: The Walking Dead  I'll be the first to admit I'm like a sixteen year old, fan-girling over a Beeb's concert every single time this show comes on. Like, I'm scary hardcore about it. So much so my husband thinks I'm insane, and my twelve year old daughter asked if we could travel to Atlanta JUST to see the set.  I've got a room filled with memorabilia, a drawer full of t-shirts, the key chain for my car keys is a bow and arrow with the words I heart Daryl Dixon on it, and the Pop figures I bought for my kids. (Well, all but ONE Abraham Pop figure...

by Adriana Anders As the autumn chill creeps into the air and each morning brings a new tug-of-war between the comfort of my bed and the inevitable pull of responsibility, I start fantasizing about my favorite cold weather romances. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE those stories where near-strangers are forced to spend time together… and, of course, they wind up falling in love! It got me thinking about what I love to read in a romance. Here are just a few of my favorite romance tropes: Forced Proximity : Yeah. This is pretty much my favorite. Give me a cozy cabin, two people and a blizzard and I’m a happy camper. Beauty and the Beast : I’m not sure there’s anything I love more than a beast being tamed by his lady love.  Enemies to lovers : Because there’s nothing better than hot-as-hell hate sex, right? Time travel : When it comes to paranormal, a certain kind of time travel romance gets me every time. I cry, usually, so you won’t see me reading these in public. What...

Since my debut, Beautiful Crazy , is out next week and I’m currently finishing up book 3 (Beautiful Wreck) in the Rock ’n’ Ink series, I thought it might be fun to share some thoughts on inspiration. Authors, and creative types in general, glean creative kindling from a myriad of different sources. Some authors have dreams that play out as full scenes, others journal, and many use art to light the fire of inspiration. Usually I draw my ideas from the Internet (Yay for Instagram , Pinterest and Tumblr ), but a lot of inspiration comes from facets of my own life. Music: If you know anything about me at all, you probably know I’m a huge music lover . I listen to everything from electroswing to Jack White to heavy metal to rockabilly. Music plays a big part in my new series, Rock 'n' Ink, as it centers around a heavy metal band on the rise. But my tastes are much broader and a lot more eclectic than just one genre. For a sample of some of my favorites, check out my playlists ...

  I am working on edits for Just the Thing , the second in my Donnigans series. I had planned to write about the Donnigans five years ago, when I first finished The Troublemaker Next Door , the first in my McCauley Brothers books. Of course, back then I’d titled it A Flair For Flynn . And the first Donnigans book would have starred Hope Donnigan. Fast forward several years and Hope is the very last Donnigan (not counting their younger brother Theo) to get her story.  But as all good things come to a close, they must also start with a strong beginning. And who stronger than Landon Donnigan to kick off the series? He's a former Marine major medically retired due to a bullet to the knee. Landon is strong, confident, and feels a vast sense of responsibility for his family. I just loved how he and Ava strike sparks off each other. If Ava sounds familiar to any of you, it’s because Dr. Ava Rosenthal helped Beth and James McCauley get through a rough patch in their marr...

One of the things I love about writing historical romance is learning tidbits about the past. I’m fascinated by the small things that don’t often make it into history class. Right now, I'm in the midst of Lord Randolph Gresham's story, the fifth book in my Duke's Sons series . Randolph is the clerical brother, stuck in a parish in the far north of England. But he’s come down to London for the season with the express purpose of finding a wife as lovely as those his brothers have snagged. They made it look easy (kind of), but he finds it isn't. He keeps being distracted by a pert young lady who insists she'd never marry a churchman. Well, who asked her? Randolph is a bit of an intellectual, and in London he discovers a fad for phrenology – a new “science” that was very popular from about 1810 to 1840. Phrenologists said that the human mind was made up of various faculties, each located in a different area of the brain. They theorized that individual skull...

It's nearly Halloween! Or so my grocery store told me back in June when they first set up the Halloween aisle. Because nothing says "I need a secret chocolate stash!" like having the kids home from school. Stock up! I've already eaten my weight in Kit Kats. Twice. My favorite Halloween costume as a kid? The ever-threatening Bunny Rabbit.  Clearly, I wasn't going to grow up and one day write a book about a demon hunting orphan's desperate bid to rid the world of vampyres and save her werewolf lover... Oh. Well, as long as it also packed a few laughs. Jane Slayre has a new low price for the ebook version. Check it out! Kindle  http://amzn.to/2ehBA2f Nook  http://bit.ly/2eC1S2u iBooks  http://apple.co/2dl4lxa And while you're there, maybe investigate some other fun Halloween reads, like Ashlyn Chase's Flirting with Fangs series ( http://amzn.to/2e5yxOB ) or Molly Harper's Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs. ( http://amzn.to/2ejfzDM ). ...

Curl up with a hunky firefighter for your next read!  ABLAZE (Dallas Fire & Rescue Series) is now available and I'm so excited to share Dane's story with you! :) If you read the first book in the series, REKINDLED, then you’ve already met firefighter Dane Chandler. He’d be the first one to tell you that he was a bit of a jerk back then, but he really is a great guy. Just ask Lexi Fletcher, the paramedic who falls for him! The heat is on... Paramedic Lexi Fletcher is thrilled to transfer to Station 58. For one thing, her commute time is half of what it used to be. For another, Station 58 has a much better facility and far more exciting calls. It doesn’t hurt that Dane Chandler, the firefighter she’s been crushing on since joining Dallas and Rescue, works there. Okay, to tell the truth, maybe Dane is the biggest reason she requested the move! But just when things with Dane start to heat up, Lexi’s dream job takes a turn in the freaky direction. Patients she’s been ...

It has been a long time in coming...after years of writing and editing, the third novel in my Broadswords and Ballrooms series is finally coming into the world this December. And the lovely artists at Sourcebooks have the cover. At long last, Mary Elizabeth meets her match in the handsome and reclusive Harry, Duke of Northumberland and faces her mother who banished her from her home. Mary Elizabeth rides a untamed stallion bared-backed, interferes with a fox hunt, and generally makes Harry chase her down at every turn. If he wants her, he has to catch her, but Harry Percy is up for the challenge. Read a preview below as well as a description of the last installment of my Highland adventures among the English ton . She’s the Hellion of Hyde Park… A foolproof plan to avoid marriage: 1. Always carry at least three blades. 2. Ride circles around any man. 3. Never get caught in a handsome duke’s arms. Wild Highlander Mary Elizabeth Waters is living on borrowed time. She’s mana...

The #HoldOntoTheLight campaign has asked authors to share openly about depression and since I’ve struggled with it all my life, I was asked to participate. The good news is that I’m so much better than I was before. In fact, every day is a joyous smile of yes, yes, yes!  And yes, I’m lying.  The truth is that every day is NOT a glorious wave of internal joy, but on the whole,  it’s way better than it was before. Depression is hard and thoughts of suicide are real. I know,  I’ve been there. Guess whatwas the most important thing I learned about my depressions. 1.          Johnny Depp did not cheer me up. Even his  21 Jump Street  reruns. 2.          Depression is a cycle. Sure I’ll get depressed again. Maybe even linger on (obsess about) suicide. But I climbed out the last dozen times, and I’ll climb out this time, too. That’s a certainty. I just have to hold on until ...

Celebrate the holidays with True-Blue Cowboy Christmas , the perfect blend of cowboys and Christmas and the third installment of the Big Sky Cowboys series from Nicole Helm. We asked Nicole what she was most excited about for the release of True-Blue Cowboy Christmas . About two and a half years ago, as I was struggling to decide what new idea to work on, a good friend of mine said why not cowboys? I’d been writing farmers and small town business owners and antique airplane pilots (it’s a thing), but that simple question opened up a world of ideas—including a long abandoned story set in Montana about a man named Thackery. Now, if you’ve read the Big Sky Cowboy series up to this point, you know there aren’t any Thackerys in the first two book. In fact Mel and Dan (REBEL COWBOY), and Caleb and Delia (OUTLAW COWBOY), were completely new ideas—their characters, their plot lines, their conflicts were slowly born out of that what about cowboys moment. Summer Shaw, the heroi...