Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

Right now my to do list is an ever mutating but never shrinking creature. Now that I’m a full time author I thought I’d be able to get on top of it and keep it nice and neat, maybe to just three things. Instead I’m finding that I’m working on more things and they generate more points that need to be actioned. At the moment I have three lots of edits, a blog post to write, a novel to plot, a novella to plot and a continuity to tie up (I’d love to say more about this project but the two other authors I’m working with and I agreed we wouldn’t say anything until the contracts were signed…just thrashing out the details). My life isn’t less busy without the day job, in fact I sometimes wonder how I squeezed it in. Then I remember I used to write at night or whenever I could. Not writing at night is nice plus I am rediscovering hobbies which had sat in a corner for to many years. Not having a day job means I’ve finally had the time to branch out and try new projects (like the cont...

We here in the mid-Atlantic region were not living the traditional "April showers bring May flowers" thing. It's been kinda dry. Well, it's no longer dry and my grass seems to have sprung up overnight (as grass and children are wont to do). It started raining Saturday night (when Stephanie Julian and I were driving home (NY to PA) from a Book Obsessed Chicks gathering/signing) and it hasn't stopped since. Bad stuff has been raining down, too, unfortunately, but I won't talk about that. Though some prayers for 2 of my extended family members wouldn't be remiss. But good writing stuff has been raining down, too. I finally got the cover for my August release, Magic Gone Wild. Isn't it pretty? This is my blurb for the book. marketing is still working on the official one: Zane Harrison opens an old trunk in the attic of his family’s ancestral home to find Vana. The genie. A famously inept genie as it turns out—which explains so much about why ...

I know, I know. 13 is supposed to be un lucky. But I've never exactly been a traditional sort of person. That could have something to do with the fact that I was born on the 13th. I consider that very lucky--that I was born, that is. You know, when you think about the odds, it's like 8 billion to one that you would turn out to be you. One quicker little wiggle by the sperm swimming beside the one that made you, and you'd be someone else. You could even be the opposite gender. Tall instead of "average." A genius instead of... well, not. Or maybe not instead of a genius. (I, personally, think all of my readers are geniuses, but that could just be me...) I always tell my kids to be thankful for what they have because, you know, one little mishap, one misplaced gene, and it could all be so different. I also remind them that they're the sperm that won. (TM) [Yes, I am trademarking that. I came up with it; it's mine. But feel free to use it with proper attributi...

I have several silk trees in my house. I think they make the place look nice, especially with little white lights in them (which make great night lights), and, as opposed to real trees, these actually look good all the time for me. (I do NOT have a green thumb, unfortunately.) And the lights makes it feel like Christmas all year. I even have one in my office and, as you can see from the picture, it's a favorite hangout for my animals. Vixen insisted on being in this picture. Yes, she takes after me. :) What's nice about the tree in my office is that I have ornaments on it all year--that I've received from readers and friends to celebrate my stories. I've posted 5photos below. Let's see how many you all can find. A copy of Genie Knows Best to the person who gets the most! Bonus points for knowing which story they represent. Happy Holidays from under the sea and sands! 1. (3 in this picture) 2. (1 in here) 3. (2 in this picture) 4. (2 in this one) 5. (3 in this one...

My "Call" story starts long before the book was even finished. Deb and I met at the 2007 National Conference when she had been a Golden Heart judge and LOVED Robin Kaye’s finalling (winning) manuscript, Romeo, Romeo . She offered Robin a contract AT National. Robin and I, not knowing a whole heck of a lot about Sourcebooks, went to their Spotlight and were blown away by Dominique and Deb’s enthusiasm and publishing history. Robin was thrilled to accept the contract and I was thrilled for her! What does Robin’s sale have to do with mine? Well, Deb hung out with us a lot during National. I got to know her; she got to know me. I had already submitted a time travel to her so that was sitting in her queue. She got to it a few weeks after National, sadly, rejecting it. But that was okay. Flash forward to October 2007 at the New Jersey Conference . Deb was there. We chatted. She sat at my table for lunch and I proceeded to drag pitches from everyone at our table b/c I kne...

Does this really need an explanation? I got the cover and permission to share it. I am so excited and I absolutely love it! The incomparable Anne Cain, who did my Mer books (and Cheryl's Cat Star Chronicles), is again on the ball/job with this one. She's really captured the "flow" of the world and the colors are just beautiful. And the butterfly... ah. It plays a very auspicious part in the story so it was really great to see it on the cover. We Casablanca Authors are pretty luck in not only having wonderful covers, but also because we get to provide some input into our covers. Not all authors do. This cover doesn't look anything like I'd dreamed, but that's why I'm the writer and not the artist. I know my strengths and I'll stick to writing, thankyouverymuch. And thank YOU very much, Anne Cain, and the art/marketing departments at Sourcebooks for, once again, capturing my world. It's beautiful and I love it. Anne said that she and the "m...

If you've read my bio, you know that I'm a big fan of fairy tales. Heck, if you even glanced at my website, you'll see my tagline, fairy tales with a twist , in the header. But I don't just mean the traditional Cinderella , or Sleeping Beauty . I also love the classics, of which Wizard of Oz is one of them. In elementary school, we had the whole L. Frank Baum series in our library. And I read 'em. Boy, did I read them! And when the show would come on, once a year, it was a huge event in our house. Popcorn and pjs, sleeping bags on the floor in front of the tv, and staying up late. I was terrified of Elmira Gulch (who, sad to say, had more than a striking resemblance to my late music teacher who came to my house every Wednesday night for organ lessons), loved Glinda the Good Witch's dress, wished I was one of the ballerinas, and wanted a Toto all of my own. (Later got him, by way of a miniature poodle that Mom insisted we name Jamie. But he was THE best dog!) And...

They say a picture is worth a thousand words; I figure this one is worth at least half a million, by the time edits were done :) A couple of ARCs for Catch of a Lifetime arrived last week for the conference I'm headed to at the end of the month and I had to get this picture of all three of my books. Sincere, grateful thanks once more to Anne Cain for the beautiful covers. Anne introduced herself to Cheryl and I at National. She does both of our covers and, wow, does she do a good job. I can't wait to see what she comes up with for the genies! The bottle is, obviously, for my genie series. Hubs and I found it on eBay and now I'm the proud owner of an I Dream of Jeannie purple replica. The little gal is a Wombat named Wicca, in honor of my online friends, the Writing Wombats (whom you will see mentioned in the Acknowledgments of all 3 books). I also have a small statue of Bastet (or Bast), the Egyptian cat goddess, and an amethyst-colored crystal ball not in the picture ...

As I was mulling over ideas for this blog post (and watching Deathtrap with the family), I came across a story online that gave me my idea. Guiding Light has been cancelled. Now for those of you who have watched the soap, this (obviously) comes as no surprise, since today was the last episode. But I've been in my writing cave for a while and missed this announcement. I haven't watched GL in a few years but became hooked way back in college. The East Halls dorms at Penn State only got CBS in the rooms (this would be in the days when rabbit ears were all the rage,and Luke & Laura's wedding was broadcast in the common room in all its standing-room only glory). Anyhow, my roommate and her twin (who lived upstairs with another friend of mine) were hooked on Guiding Light and since it was the only channel, I got hooked along with them. From 1988 until somewhere in the mid 90s I watched Guiding Light and saw Reva through too many husbands/lovers to count. Josh too. Billy &...

I'm gearing up for the blog tour for Wild Blue Under which releases November 1, but I'm already working months ahead. That's how it works in this business; something you wrote months ago hits the shelves while you're writing to your next deadline. I'm thrilled to say that I have a next deadline! :) My big news of the week was that I accepted an offer to write another series, this one about genies. Still the same tongue-in-cheek, light-hearted paranormal tone, but think I Dream of Jeannie meets Indiana Jones . I have half of the first story done and I have to say I'm having as much fun with this story as I did with the Mer ones, though it was hard to leave Mariana (Reel, Rod, and Angel's sister) treading water in the South Pacific. She's got her story to tell and I'm working on that one around the contracted stories, so here's hoping there are more underwater tales to come. People ask me where I get my ideas and what happens if I run out. Hopef...