Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

by Amanda Forester The biggest romance conference of the year, the annual Romance Writers of America Annual Conference, begins in just a few days and I am already on the road on the way to New York City.  So exciting! Some people are expert travelers. They can stuff everything they need for a month’s vacation into a carry on. I am not one of those people. I pack for an overnight looking like I’m going on an expedition to the North Pole. A trip to New York requires more luggage than I own, or certainly care to lug around.   So, I have had to get creative with my packing to make the most of the limited space I have.   Most people will tell you to take less stuff. That is excellent advice…but for those who need (or feel compelled) to bring more than they have space for, here are some tips for cramming more stuff into a small space. 1.        Roll Clothes – rolled clothes fit into the corners of small spaces better and actually ...

Here in the Texas Panhandle it's usually always pretty dry. We have no trees to lock in the moisture and the wind blows a lot. This year though, we've seen an abundance of rain and it's even more beautiful. A friend of mine owns a large ranch about 20 miles away that was first founded in the 1880s. The Santa Fe Trail runs across part of it and there is a grave of someone who died on that wagon train. No one knows the name of who'd buried there. I love going out there to watch the cowboys work. It's fascinating to me. Last month was the roundup and branding. Most of these pictures are from that. A field of pretty sunflowers Texas Yucca - It grows everywhere. Here are some shots of the cowboys. They were all ages, some as young as ten years old. It surprised me. During a roundup and branding, people from all the neighboring ranches come to lend a hand. Above is one of the cowboy's horses. He had the softest eyes. Just beautiful...

Mourning Jewelry and The Rake ’ s Handbook: Including Field Guide Mourning rituals in 19 th century England were a complex set of social rules and behaviors, including wearing mourning jewelry. On my first trip to London in 1981, I found an exhibit of early mourning jewelry. Frankly, I was blown away by how each little piece communicated a story and deep emotion. For example, hair jewelry made out of the actual hair of the deceased. It seems creepy to some people now, but I can understand how hair jewelry might become a prized possession. Mourning jewelry was constructed in such large numbers in England that there is quite a bit of it available for sale today. For example, a search on eBay for “ mourning ” under jewelry will provide many of the more common pieces: beautifully carved Whitby jet (a coal-like substance); lace pins made from paste stones, gold, and hair; and brooches that have beautiful stones or micomosaics on the front, and then on the reverse, a section for h...