Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

By: Marie Force Good morning! As you read this I'll be on my way to Washington, D.C. for RWA's national conference. I'm roadtripping this year with two of my New England writer buddies. One of them, Kristan Higgins, won the RITA last year for contemporary for her fabulous book "Catch of the Day." If you haven't read it, be sure to check it out! Over the last year she and I have become informal critique partners, a first for both of us. So I worry for Mike, our third passenger, because Kristan and I can talk our faces off, and he might wonder what he's gotten himself into! Mike can more than hold his own with us, however. He's the one who went up to Nora Roberts at RWA last year and said these famous words: "I've never read a word you've written, but I hear you're quite good. My friend here would like to meet you." Nora got such a kick out of him, she bought him a drink. Now THAT is networking! I'm sure my sides will be aching ...

By: Marie Force Welcome to the party! Come on in, have a drink, hit the buffet table, and settle in for a good time! That's what I'll be saying tomorrow night at my book signing party at which I expect about 90 people. I've been very blessed to have a huge circle of supporters cheering me on from the sidelines. Love at First Flight is dedicated to them because they kept me going long enough to write and sell Line of Scrimmage, which in turn led to this one—a ten-year labor of love from idea to publication. The book is set in Baltimore, one of my favorite cities. I lived just south of B'more, as the locals call it, for three years in the 1990s. I have vivid memories of pushing my now 14-year-old daughter around the Inner Harbor and Fells Point in a stroller. When the Southwest planes used to go over our house on their way to the BWI Airport, she'd say, "Welcome to Baltimore. Enjoy your stay." My son, who is almost 11, was born in Bethesda, MD, right before ...

By: Marie Force It always seems so far off in the future, and then suddenly it's HERE! Tomorrow is the official launch date for Love at First Flight, even though it's been in stores for a week or so already. I'm already hearing from readers, who are enjoying Michael and Juliana's story! One of them wrote to me over the weekend: "I started reading it at the book store for over 2 hours and finally decided to buy your book. I loved the story you created between Michael and Juliana. I couldn't stop reading because I wanted to know what happened. I loved how you wrote the character of Michael ... I've been looking for another new author to read and I'm happy I found you. I'm glad I went home when I did because you wrote all the emotional parts so beautifully that I couldn't help crying." There'll be lots of opportunities to win copies of Love at First Flight and Line of Scrimmage this week! Come by the launch party tomorrow here on th...

By: Marie Force Yesterday a box landed with a thud on my front porch. Since I work from home and get deliveries all the time (which usually require me to DO something), I finished lunch, read the paper, and then finally wandered out to see what the UPS man had left. I let out a squeal when I realized it was my box of Love at First Flight author copies! Ten years after an eavesdropped conversation in an airport inspired the story and just over three years after I finished writing it, I held the printed copy in my hands. The cover is even more gorgeous than I expected it to be with its raised, embossed type and rich colors. On the thrill-o-meter, this moment ranked pretty darn high! Amazon is now listing it as "in stock," so those of you who pre-ordered it should be getting your copies soon! Seconds after I opened the box and returned to earth, I got an email from our lovely publicist, Danielle, with the latest review, which said, in part, I read this book in less than a twent...

By: Marie Force I've always been oddly, strangely, and some would say bizarrely, fascinated with crime, cops, the law, lawyers, and TV shows about all of the above. LA Law and NYPD Blue were two of my favorites. I've never been much of a fan of the Law & Order shows because I need me some romance with my blood and gore! I also cruise the Internet and big-city newspaper websites for news about chilling crimes. I read the police reports, the indictments, and all the court motions. Sometimes I follow a crime story for years—from perpetration to prosecution. It'll probably be no surprise to hear that I've written three romantic suspense novels—the most challenging and satisfying projects of my entire life (other than the two kids I'm in the midst of raising). The idea for one of my RS novels came from cruising the newspaper crime sections. In light of the true confessions above, is it any wonder that Love at First Flight (on sale July 1) includes . . . wait for it...

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: Marie Force I love music. I love the power of music. I love the way a certain song can set just the right mood whether it's in real life, a movie, or a book. Music plays a role in every book I've ever written. In "Line of Scrimmage," Ryan played the guitar and used music to woo his wife, to remind her of what they'd once had and to show her what they could have again. In "Love at First Flight," Michael plays the song "When You Say Nothing At All" to show Juliana what he's feeling at a critical point in the book. In another of my as-yet unpublished books, the hero lip-sings to "The Way You Look Tonight" after he first makes love to the heroine, letting her know in his own way that he'll never forget her or that moment. "Tupelo Honey" by Van Morrison inspired an entire book, which took shape from start to finish in my mind over the course of a single playing of the song. Because of copyright laws, we can't incl...

By: Marie Force Writing is a lonely, solitary pursuit. For months, even years, we spend large chunks of time with imaginary characters who, for the time they're with us, are as important to us as any of the "real" people in our lives. When I'm neck-deep in a book and it's going well, I wake up thinking about what I'm going to write that day and go to sleep thinking about what comes next. Often, I even dream about it. I force myself out of the bubble to work the day job and to take care of my family. But when I'm making beds or driving or drying my hair, I'm plotting. Despite this immersion, for all the time that I'm taken over by a story, only my family and a close friend or two even know it's happening. Once the book is finished, you expect the world to pause to acknowledge this enormous accomplishment. But in my experience it goes something like this: "That's awesome, Mom. Congratulations! What's for dinner?" It can take mon...

By: Marie Force So you've got the brilliant story idea. Congratulations! You're on your way to writing a novel! You're starting to understand your characters and the journey you want to take them on. However, even knowing as much as you do about the book you want to write, the decisions are just beginning. On top of all the quirky things that make your characters who they are, you need to know, for instance, what time of year it is. Depending on where your story is set, time of year is critical to what your characters wear, their outdoor activities, etc. In Line of Scrimmage, when Ryan interrupts Susannah's dinner party, it's early February. He comes into the house wearing a beat up sheepskin coat that she despises. In that instance, the season provided me with a tiny slice of conflict I could use to ramp up the tension between them. All these small things add up to a big picture over the course of a novel. Outside of characterization, I think the most critical deci...

By: Marie Force One of the things I wanted to do with Love at First Flight was to give the expected romance formula a gentle shake. In the early chapters, you will see my hero and heroine with *gasp* other people. When I say with, I mean with . Are you with me? Good. ;-) When Michael and Juliana meet in the airport on their way to a weekend in Florida, he's engaged to Paige, and Juliana has been living with Jeremy for four of the ten years they've been together. Michael and Juliana are in committed relationships that they expect will go the distance. Neither can imagine on that Friday night how dramatically their lives are about to change. Over the course of the weekend, both relationships hit major speed bumps. So when Michael and Juliana meet up again on the flight back to Baltimore on Sunday evening, both are reeling and trying to process what's happened. As I was writing the book, I thought it was important that the two existing relationships end not because Michael and...

By: Marie Force Hello, Casa friends! It's been a while since I visited with you all, and I've missed you! Since we last chatted, I've gotten great news on my second book. First, it has a new title, which I love, and a cover that I adore! This was the third book I ever wrote, and I finished it just about three years ago. I'm very excited to see it as a real, live book in July! While of course I loved my debut novel Line of Scrimmage, I'll let you in on a little secret. I love this second one even more. My characters, Michael Maguire and Juliana Gregorio, meet at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport on a Friday evening when they are on their way to visit their significant others in Florida. He's engaged to Paige, a high-maintenance yet lovable woman he's dated for four years. Juliana is looking forward to seeing Jeremy, her boyfriend of ten years who has seemed distant lately on the phone. During the flight, Michael and Juliana commiserate on the pit...