Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

Cloak billowing in the wind, tricorne hat perched proudly on his head, he galloped across my television screen and changed my life forever. Hyperbole? Not by much. Robin Ellis as Ross Poldark One summer, our local PBS station broadcast the 1970s miniseries Poldark-- about the changing fortunes of an ancient Cornish mining family--and its sequel back-to-back. Almost 30 weeks of high drama, smoldering romance, and swashbuckling adventure, unfolding against the wild, beautiful landscape of 18 th century Cornwall. The lavish production was lovingly written—despite some dramatic liberties taken early in the series—and wonderfully cast, with a brooding Robin Ellis as the title character (a soldier who returns to a ruined estate and a sweetheart now engaged to his cousin instead), and a fiery Angharad Rees as Demelza, one of the main women in Poldark’s life. Other standouts included Ralph Bates, as Poldark’s smarmy parvenu nemesis, George Warleggan, and Richard Morant a...

A couple of months ago, I blogged about fictional sisters , and more recently, about fictional mothers . Today, fictional brothers get their day in the sun--and a complicated, conflicted lot they are too! One thing that fascinated me about brotherly relationships is the extent to which competition shapes their dynamic--and probably has since the dawn of time. Sisters can be competitive too, but when brothers go head to head over something they want, the threat of violence and even bloodshed tends to loom large. Just ask Cain and Abel! Some brotherly rivalries are a match for that Biblical pair in drama and intensity, like that of bellicose Thor and manipulative Loki, who both aspire to the throne of Asgard--and know that only one of them can have it. Or Adam and Charles Trask in East of Eden , who compete for everything from their father’s affection to the beautiful but soulless Cathy Ames--a rivalry that continues into the next generation with Adam’s sons, Caleb and Aron. ...

Lemon Tree...and Feline Guardian! Just as there are certain colors and smells that you automatically associate with specific seasons, so are there particular flavors. So if autumn tastes like pumpkin, ginger, and cranberries, winter like peppermint and chocolate, and summer like strawberries and peaches, spring--at least to me--tastes like lemons. And right now, with the warmer weather coming in, Southern California's lemon trees are putting out bumper crops of sunny yellow fruit! And enthusiastic cooks like me eye the laden branches with mingled speculation--and acquisitiveness! Because lemons are among the most versatile of ingredients, finding their way into all kinds of dishes: hot, cold, savory, sweet, liquid or solid. Whether it's avgolemono soup or lemon cream pasta or lemon meringue pie, lemon enlivens any springtime menu. Today I'm sharing a recipe for madeleines, those pretty scallop-shaped cakes that you can now find as overpriced three-packs at your loca...

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, we celebrate three birthdays: my grandmother's, one of my kids and my husband's. Lately, Hubs has been into classic movies, and specifically Irene Dunn and/or Cary Grant movies. So I bought him His Girl Friday, Penny Serenade, Arsenic & Old Lace, Theodora Ges Wild, Together Again, The Doctor Takes a Wife and A Night to Remember. North by Northwest is on the list for Christmas. So, he's been having a good time watching all these oldies but goodies, which means that I finally get the remote. :) (Thank God for DVD drives on laptops, and earphones.) So I went to the guide and found The Empire Strikes Back, followed by Return of The Jedi. Great movies. None will ever beat the original Star Wars, but those two were worth watching. Although, I do cringe now at the bad acting on all three leads' parts, but, hey the guys were good to look at, so who cared? While I was watching Empire, I was trying to remember whether this was the second or thir...

Recently, a novelist friend of mine shared one of her fan letters with me. It was from a woman who'd been blind and had recovered the sight of one eye. She raved about my friend's last book, specifically about its realism--the protagonist had an accident that severely diminished her eyesight--even going so far as to say she was sure my friend had had experience with visual impairment herself or knew someone who had, so well had she captured what that world was like. Wow--I can understand why my pal was so touched by that note. It affirmed her world-building skills, her meticulous research and ability to use real-life detail to create a sympathetic story. By "sympathetic," I mean a tale that the reader identifies with, nods her head to, thinking "yes, that's true, that's how things really are, and I didn't know how to articulate it." Before I started writing fiction seriously (that is, taking the time to learn the business and investing the time i...