Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

We have two dogs. Oliver, our toy poodle, was neutered at around eight months old. The other, our beautiful whippet girl named Eden (Edie for short), wasn't spayed for a long time. We toyed with the idea of showing her (we've never done this before) but eventually we decided against the idea. She's now three and a half years old. Dealing with her heat cycles was a bit of a pain, of course. But I was worried about surgery, so we'd put it off. Finally, though, we decided to bite the bullet and took her in to get spayed last Friday. I was quite happy "broke", thanks guys. Whippets are sighthounds, closely related to the larger greyhound breed. They're the second fastest breed of dog, clocking in at top speeds of around thirty-five miles per hour. They're lean, leggy and muscled, and have very little body fat in most cases. They can also be very sensitive to anesthesia, so I was really nervous going into last Friday. Fortunately, we've got a g

Two weeks ago I had the ecstatic pleasure of meeting several of my fellow Casa authors in person at the RT Booklover's convention. So this post will be all about my fan-girl bragging about that. I'd never before seen a streetcar or palm trees so this was a novelty. Right when I arrived at the hotel, and was having a cigarette outside and taking a picture of the streetcar and my very first palm tree (I know), a nice looking lady smiled at me and said, "Brooklyn Ann?" At my nod, she introduced herself as Victoria Roberts and I giddily gave her a hug. We didn't get to chat too much because she was on her way to check out a voodoo shop and I was waiting to meet up with my hotel roommate, Urban Fantasy author,Jess Haines, but I was still stoked. Then at the Mardis Gras, Sarah Humphreys grabbed me out of the crowd so we could take a selfie and I also saw Jade Lee handing out her infamous squidges. Apparently Shana Galen was there too, but I didn'

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.

So how much do you love the cover for my new Highland Spies series? I know, right? Oh, yes. I drooled over the artwork for many ungodly hours, especially since the beautiful cover was created for me by my favorite cover artist, Jon Paul Ferrara. I've admired Jon Paul's work for years. My critique partner and I have a standing joke that I know I made it when I have a Jon Paul cover. To show you just how talented this man is... This was the original artwork Jon Paul created for My Highland Spy. Imagine my surprise when I found out the man agreed to create ALL the covers for my new series. Did you hear me squee in elation? Most of the country did. I was also blessed with a cover quote from none other than Hannah Howell. This was really ironic for me because Hannah's Murray brothers were the first romance books that I'd EVER read. No kidding. You could say Hannah is responsible for all the kilted madness within me. I knew Scottish historical romance was the

When Lord of the Hunt finished Annwyn was in a terrible way. The Prince needed to find wife, his mother was imprisoned for treason and his father was dying…to find out what happens to Felan you’ll have to wait for To Love a King in October…I know that’s ages away! The good news is you can get some more fairy mischief on June 3 with The Changeling Soldier ! So what hotter than a regular soldier…why one’s half fairy and psychic of course :) Here’s the blurb: Her time in the mortal world is running out… After fleeing Annwyn three centuries ago, Ella built a life in the mortal world making gowns for European royalty and playing in mortal intrigues. Now those Courts are long gone, and she dresses Hollywood starlets. Mortals come and go, but Ella always ends up alone. She longs for the home she left behind. He’s been dreaming of the coming battle all his life… Isaac Norton is a returned soldier. Now home, he’s restless and his recurring dream is becoming more frequent: h

Here in the USA it's memorial Day, the day when we honor the soldiers who gave their lives to protect our country and freedom. I hope you have a chance to give the brave men and women who serve a few moments of thought today, whatever country you live in.

I'm sure you've all heard plenty of post-RT convention hoopla. You've probably seen dozens of tweets, facebook posts, photos, and blogs about everything from the pub-crawl to the giant book signing. Some of you are probably reliving your favorite moments and some of you, who couldn't attend, are green with envy. Many of you are probably sick of it by now. LOL Well, I won't bore you with more of the same. I'm going to write about some personal epiphanies. This is something I learned shortly before I left--and I took it to heart. Creative people are prone to times of frenetic activity and must answer the need for quiet, alone time to stay balanced. I'm happy to say I  didn't even try to get to everything...and didn't feel guilty for missing some events, as I have in the past. As it turns out, smaller gatherings are more personal and may do more good than being among the throng. My roommate (fellow Sourcebooks author Terry Spear) and I hosted an i

My blog post is late because I'm still recuperating from #RT14 in New Orleans. It was so much fun but I swear I need a vacation. How much food, fun, romance, readers, and socializing can one gal take?  A lot. Seriously.  I thought I'd share some pics from this wild and wacky week in New Orleans.  First and foremost...the RT Convention is all about the READERS!!!!! I found readers everywhere in NOLA. From the lobby, to fun events like the Sock Hop, to Bourbon Street. Romance readers were all over the place and I wouldn't have it any other way. Before I was ever a published author, I was a reader and I still am. So in addition to meeting my readers, I got to do some Fan-Girling of my own!!! Charlaine Harris!!!! OMG! I totally tried to keep my cool but inside I was squeeing my brains out.  Damon Suede is one of my all time favorite people! Funny and sexy.   Susanna Kearsley and I had a blast at the Ma

RT seems to get better every year, and this year was off the charts. New Orleans has the BEST FOOD (Oysters Rockefeller anyone?) and then I got to work it off every morning at Sara Humphreys’ 7 am (yes, you read that right) fitness extravaganza. There was a core group of us working our core. Sara promises to do it again next year, don’t miss it—25 minutes of the T25 workout, easily adaptable. I bought the DVDs as soon as I got home because after only 3 days I felt thinner (is that a figment of a fevered imagination? Or are my jeans really more comfortable?). Huge shout-out to Julie Ann Walker, who hit the NYT and USA Today lists right smack in the middle of RT for the 6 th time, with her 6 th book in the Black Knights, Inc. series HELL FOR LEATHER. You’re a rock star, Julie Ann! So here’s what I love most about RT, RWA, and all the local conferences—it’s the place where we who love romance fiction can go public about our enthusiasm. Back at home, things ha

I used to hate summer. As much as I also hated school as a kid, and loved unstructured time, summer was when my parents would uproot the entire family and drag us 2700 miles each way out to San Diego so my dad could do science with his buddies at UCSD. What good is summer for a kid who has no one to play with, no woods to play in, no trees to climb, no local library to raid, no piano to practice, and nothing but the beach (every chubby little girl loves the beach, right) for diversion? Southern California can be as much fun as any other place, I suppose, but as a kid, summer loomed for me as  the great ramble, the endless picnic, the reading orgy, the imaginative flight that lasted for weeks. Those summers away from home (yes, we went for the ENTIRE summer), were an abomination against summer.  Except for the year my brother Tom took up surfing, I'm pretty sure my siblings would agree with me. Fortunately, I'm grown up now (most days). Summer is as productive as wint

The obvious answer is of course, yes. Men have different triggers that spark their interest. So I thought it would be fun to hand EVERLASTING ENCHANTMENT over to a young man and have him choose random sentences from each chapter that sparked his interest. These are definitely not sentences I would have chosen, so I found them fascinating...and am sharing them with you here today: Quotes from EVERLASTING ENCHANTMENT Ch. 1 Page 13: Surely her companion knew that baronets had the strength to rip

By Cheryl Brooks Since my last post here on Casablanca, I've done a bit of traveling. And no, I didn't make it to New Orleans for RT this year. However, I will be attending Lori Foster's RAGT in Cincinnati June 5-8. Registration is full, but the signing on Saturday from 3 to 5pm is open to the public, so if you're in the Cincinnati area, be sure to drop by! I'll be signing print copies of my Unlikely Lovers series as well as books 1-9 of the Cat Star Chronicles . I'm also putting together a raffle basket that includes all of those books, plus an ARC of Rebel, so if you're registered, be sure to drop a raffle ticket in the bag! I will also be participating in a panel discussion on erotic romance on Friday at 12:30 in the Blogger Lounge. After that, it's July and RWA nationals in San Antonio! I've never been to Texas, so I'm really looking forward to it. Maybe not as wild as RT in New Orleans, but I'm sure we'll have a fabulous time!