Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

Michaelmas Daisies As a writer of historical romances—most set in Victorian England—I find I have to pay close attention to the calendar. Not just the modern American calendar with which I’ve grown up, but the British calendar too: all the rituals, traditions, and observances that are part of their culture and heritage.   So, in that spirit, Happy Michaelmas! One of the annual quarter days, Michaelmas is observed on September 29 and marks the end of the harvest and the start of the year’s accounting. It also marks the onset of autumn, the beginning of the fall terms at British schools and universities, and the opening of the law courts. Blackberry Pie (Devilishly Good?) According to custom, special foods are eaten at Michaelmas, like bannocks and “stubble goose.” And a Michaelmas pie is often made from the last blackberries of the season, which are not picked thereafter, owing to the legend of the devil cursing the fruit after St. Michael expelled him from heaven a...

Literary Escapism is doing an exclusive cover reveal of HER SECRET AGENT , an X-OPS Novella releasing Dec 2nd from Sourcebooks!  The story takes place in 2003 when the Department of Covert Operations (DCO) was still new. The hero is John Loughlin, the Director of the DCO, and the heroine is a beautiful shifter he's trying to recruit for the organization named Cree Forest  It’s a sexy action-packed story that gives readers inside info on the DCO, as well as gives them the skinny on some very important stuff that the other characters in the novels aren’t privy to...yet. So, yeah, there are lots of OMG moments ahead for the X-OPS crew. It's also my first interracial romance.  I'm very excited about it! You can check out the cover reveal and get a sneak peek here! http://www.literaryescapism.com/43664/exclusive-cover-reveal-her-secret-agent-by-paige-tyler *hugs* Paige "Hunky Heroes, Kickbutt Heroines, Unforgettable Romance!" http://www.paigetyler...

Heroes and Heartbreakers already did the cover reveal for HER LONE WOLF (X-OPS Book 2) , but I wanted to post it here in case you haven't seen it!  I so love it!  The models are so perfect for the hot (if volatile) wolf shifter hero and his sexy kickbutt FBI agent heroine!  Sourcebooks has a rockin' art department! Leaving him was Impossible… It took everything she had for FBI Special Agent Danica Beckett to walk away from the man she loved. But if she wants to save his life, she has to keep her distance. Now, with a killer on the loose and the stakes higher than ever before, the Department of Covert Ops is forcing  these former lovers into an uneasy alliance…whether they like it or not. Seeing her again is even worse... The last thing Clayne Buchanan wants is to be shackled to the woman who broke his heart. She gets under his skin in a way no one ever has and makes him want things he has no right to anymore. All he has to do is suffer through this case a...

By Macy Beckett Howdy, romance readers! I’m Macy Beckett, author of the Sultry Springs trilogy, and I’m here to share the new-and-improved cover for the third book in my series, SURRENDER TO SULTRY. This is Colton’s story—the wild-as-weeds deputy you met in book two, where he starred in the bawdy reality show Sex in the Sticks . Colt’s the county sheriff now, and he’s a changed man hoping for a second chance with his first love, Leah McMahon. Here’s the original cover: The design team had hoped vibrant fall colors would help the book stand out on the shelf. But between the battling hues of leaves, water, grass, and text, it’s overwhelming. And then there’s the couple. They look nothing like Colt (a long-haired Scots-Irish Cherokee) and Leah, (a petite blonde). It also doesn’t match the general look of the first two covers. So when the publisher asked the team to create something new, I was thrilled. Which leads us to the final cover… Isn’t that easier on the eyes, no...

THE TOP FIVE THINGS I LEARNED AT A COVER SHOOT Okay, so I have a confession to make.  I went to a Sourcebooks cover shoot a couple of weeks ago, and I drooled... just a little.  All right, so you got me.  It was a lot.  But I was in the same room with the man who posed for this... THRILL RIDE hits shelves April 2nd. ... so how could I NOT suffer from a lack of salivary control?  That wasn't a rhetorical question.  I'm really asking in the off chance I get to go to another cover shoot.  I'll wait while you think...  Yeah, you couldn't come up with any way to combat the ol' stare-and-slobber routine either, could you?  *sigh*  I guess I'll just have to remember to bring a very large hankie if and when I find myself surrounded by romance cover model beefcakes again.  And just in case you think there's a lot of photoshopping going into those pictures, I'm here to tell you that, unfortunately for us mere mortals, there'...

by Olivia Cunning I've been in my new home in Galveston for almost three weeks now. Here's what I've learned so far: 1. Driving down Seawall Boulevard on the weekend is life-threatening. Have you ever seen someone do a U-turn across three lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic, so they could parallel park on the opposite side of a four-lane road? I have. More than once. 2. Half of the state of Texas congregates in Galveston Walmart at ten a.m. on Saturday mornings. Not fun. I guess I didn't need ice cream that badly. Lesson learned. 3. It's hot outside, baby. For the entire month, it's been a consistent 90 degrees with 80 percent humidity. It doesn't even cool down at night. There is some relief when it rains, but within half an hour it's back to 90 and then all that rain evaporates and we end up with 90 percent humidity. I don't mind heat. Really, I don't. Humidity doesn't bother me much, either. Yes, my hair currently looks like it had a...

Who said goblins can't be hot! I will never forget the first time I had to fill out a cover art form. I was both excited and terrified—what if I got it wrong somehow? Like every author I had dreamed of that moment when I first saw my name on a cover, and I wanted that cover to be awesome, one that made the reader pick up the book. Because covers are the first thing the reader sees it has to be eye catching and convey a sense of the book. A cover has a lot of work to do. But I had (and still have) no idea what makes a good cover, all I know is, I know what I like when I see it. Even after seven novellas and a couple of novels I still struggle when it comes to cover art descriptions. I love this one :) So this is heartfelt thank you to all the cover artists who have seen my notes and have come up with something that captures the book and is beautiful/hot/intriguing/enticing and awesome!

For the last couple months, I’ve been working on some big projects at my day job, which has required me to adjust my schedule to meet deadlines. Rather than my normal Monday through Friday, I’ve been working Tuesday through Saturday. No big deal. I actually like coming into the office on Saturday when it’s quiet. It’s amazing how much work one can accomplish when not being interrupted every ten minutes. :) Well, this past Monday, I was working at home, having a really good writing day. Then at 12:16 pm, an email pops up from my editor. Up to this point, I had been diligently ignoring those handy, albeit annoying, email notifications. But this was my editor . No way could I ignore her message. So I clicked it open and read the subject line. And that’s when anticipation bumped into my heart. To be perfectly honest, the bump was more like a slam, but I had to fit the occasion to this month’s theme. :) Wanna know what sent anticipation slamming into my heart? My debut’s cover. Is...

All together now: AWESOME! Yep indeedy, the day has finally arrived. That date we authors circle on the calendar in bright red felt-ink months in advance. Then we watch it c-r-e-e-e-e-e-p Oh-so gradually until … BAM! … We are hit with guest blogs, interviews, reviews, more guest blogs, launch parties, book signings, and a dozen more guest blogs until our head explodes! Yet none of the craziness takes away from the joy of seeing your book on a shelf and hearing from fans when they get their pre-orders. My author’s copies arrived yesterday - *insert hysterical screaming and giddy dancing here* - and the emails started the day before: “I got my copy today from Barnes & Noble in Clifton, NJ. They had to go get it from the back because they hadn't unpa cked it yet! Will start reading it tonight!” “It is already on the shelves in 2 Barnes & Nobles in Cincinnati!” “My book arrived today. It looks fabulous!!” “My copy has arrived - and is gorgeous!!” “Saw it at B&N at Por...

Am I the only author who sits for weeks, or maybe months, wondering with trepidation what their publishing design crew is going to come up with for their book cover? It is a rhetorical question because I know for a fact that many of you have expressed the trauma of a cover that just wasn’t right for some reason. I didn’t fret over it too much the first time around – ignorance basically – but was eventually faced with the anguishing dilemma of what to do when the sample proudly unveiled by my editor was, shall we just say, a bit too “sweet” for my brand of manly Mr. Darcy! Eventually it all worked out and after about a dozen evolutions I ended up with a fabulous cover for Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy ~ Two Shall Become One . Don’t you agree? Yep, the design folks came through and exceeded my wildest imaginings! Fate, divine intervention, my persistence, or plain market savvy – whatever the driving force, my “final” cover is amazing. When it came to Loving Mr. Darcy ~ Journeys Beyond P...