Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

Gina Conkle’s blog last week, about the Cinderella twist in The Lady Meets Her Match , reminded me that fairy tales are the gift that keeps on giving. First, in their original form—whether written by Perrault, Andersen, or the Brothers Grimm, then, for all the countless variations and adaptations they inspire. Cinderella alone has more than 300 variants, which English folklorist Marian Roalfe Cox (1860-1916) compiled in a single volume in 1893. The research geek in me would love to get my hands on that book, someday. Most of us were probably introduced to the girl with the missing shoe through Charles Perrault’s version from 17 th century France, but she has also appeared throughout the ages in China, Italy, Scotland, and Germany (the version referenced in Stephen Sondheim’s fairy-tale musical, Into the Woods ). Modern authors and filmmakers have likewise introduced their own takes on fairy-tales, sometimes by changing no more than an element or two. But alter the outcome...

by Libby Malin www.LibbysBooks.com I can't get it out of my head: Oh, oh, oh/Woke up today/Feeling the way I always do. . . Yup, the first lines to "Good Morning, Baltimore!" from Hairspray . Tonight, hubby and I head to Lancaster's American Music Theater to see a touring production of this musical, the tickets a Christmas gift from our son. Going to see this show means we'll miss watching the Baltimore Ravens face off against the Baltimore, er, no, the Indianapolis Colts. As a Baltimore native, it hurts to write "Indianapolis" in front of that sports team's name (sorry, all you Hoosiers!). I remember the heartache the city's residents experienced when, in the middle of the night, March 29, 1984, Mayflower vans moved the Colts from Charm City to the Midwest. That pain cuts deep. At my father's funeral two years ago, a cousin reminisced about that day, the bitterness still in his voice. It was a fitting tribute. My father had been a big Colts ...

Wow! That was quick! Last time I blogged here I mentioned that HEALING LUKE ARCs had been sent out to reviewers. Well, last week I received my first review back from Armchair Interviews. Here's part of what the reviewer said: Reviewed by Heather Durow It happened in a flash. One small spark changed Luke Morgan’s life forever…almost took it in fact. He had always thought that he was infallible and now here he was, burned and scarred from a boat explosion. Abby Stanford has scars too. Only hers are on her heart. She is in Florida, on her honeymoon–alone. The tickets were non-refundable and, after finding her fiancé in bed with a buxom blonde, she figured she deserved time away from Texas. Abby’s path crosses Luke’s at his family’s business and she is the first person to get any response from him that wasn’t completely jaded. Aaron and Bart convince Abby to stay for a few months as Luke’s unofficial therapist, to help get him back on track and back to himself. With her occupational th...

posted by Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy For years and years, the place that occupied the Number One spot on my "Bucket List" was Venice. Every picture I saw, every guidebook, every travel program that had even a mention of the city nicknamed La Serenissima (the Serene One) made me salivate. Lucky me! My DH took me there! (maybe he was truly sick and tired of hearing me carry on about wanting to go) And La Serenissima did not disappoint, it truly is one of the most unique places on earth! The city left quite a lasting impression on me. No wonder I chose it for the setting of one of my romantic suspense novels. And because I wanted readers to feel as if they were really in Venice, I decided to include some of the most famous landmarks in the story. The Bridge of Sighs --This lovely Venetian landmark gets a lot of attention in guide books and virtually every person who travels there or every program that features Venice as a destination mentions this bridge. No surprise then ...

posted by Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy Back in November, just before I left on my vacation to Turkey, I posted a picture of the hot springs at Pamukkale and promised to give an update when I returned. Well, the picture I found on the web didn't begin to give an impression of how vast and beautiful this site is! Here's one of the many picture's I took. Over thousands of years, the mineral content in the hot springs (large amounts of calcium) have left the entire mountainside covered in a sparkling white crust many feet thick. From a distance it looks like snow, or salt, or cotton. Pamukkale means "cotton castle" in Turkish. The hot springs have been used for thousands of years. The foundations of the ruined city now on the site were built by the Greeks in the time of Alexander the Great. The last city was Roman and constructed around 135 AD. The extensive baths those Romans built are still there and still in use today! Here's a piccie of Aunty standing by ...

I feel that setting is very important in a book. It gives it that extra bit of life when the right setting surrounds the characters.Many of my books have been set in real places, others I created a town just because it’s more fun that way and I can do whatever I want with it. Or I’ll use a general area for my own purposes. I love small town settings with eccentric characters, a place with history and an old feel to it. I wrote one Harlequin American Romance, Mommy Heiress, set it in a small Kansas town and created a town that had a little of everything. Here we have a wealthy Southern California debutante who’s been stripped of her credit cards and stuck in a small town. Total fish out of water and turned into a lot of fun to write. I also wrote a book set in Salem, MA where magic is hinted at and the heroine had an accused witch in her family history. It's also fun to make the setting out of a character's element and I've done that many times. I like to think the settings ...