The sea is often a lovely and very romantic place. I’ve had some wonderful experiences on the ocean, like a pod of dolphins just outside my ship’s cabin window swimming and jumping alongside the ship for an hour. One of the fantasy romance novels I have in the hopper (working title: The Ocean Between Us) has me thinking about the ocean and all the life within it. Seeing the dolphins
Book cover art can be evocative, intriguing, and delightful—or confusing, dull, and even off-putting. I’ve had covers on both ends of the spectrum. (Live and learn, fortunately.) Here was my very first book cover, from the fall of 2010. Looking at it now, nearly three years later, I still love the idea of it—the beautiful blues, the arched window, the exotic city outline, the streaks across
Yes, I’ve probably earned that nickname. It’s not that I hate the holidays—it’s more like I’ve been indifferent to them. I’m self-employed, which just means I have freedom to work all the time. (No, it’s not always a good thing.) Weekends are often much like weekdays to me, and coming as I did from a small and not-that-religious family, holidays weren’t a big deal to me.
Waaay back in February (heh), I released Swords and Scimitars, a historical fantasy short story about the origins of the realm of Kad. (When the immortal twin brothers Kismet and Taso fought over an enchanted sword, tragedy ensued for them both. The guilt of the fight drove Kismet into the realm of Kad, where he became its first sultan and redeemed himself through love. If you
Let me get something out of the way right up front: I love me some alphas. Or at least Writer Me loves me some alphas. Person Me has a few reservations. Lemme ‘splain. We’ll start with Writer Me. My first published novel (Kismet’s Kiss, a two-time RWA Golden Heart ® finalist) features an alpha among alphas. Kuramos is the sultan of the desert realm of Kad. The descendent of
…Yes, indeed I am, and it’s a particular crossroads I know all too well. Some background: I finished the first draft of the Sword and Lute novella—that’s Taso’s story, so it’s chronologically second in the entire Alaian timeline. (It comes just after—well, probably partly during—Kismet’s story.) Anyway, the manuscript needs to sit a few days to give my eyes and brain a break, and then I’ll continue
The Soul of Magic: “A loyal but bitter mage whose powers were snuffed out while protecting his sovereign must tutor a willful and seductive princess whose inborn gifts could save the world—or plunge it into chaos.” That’s my current logline for this novel, which I’m working on during Camp NaNoWriMo this month. The Soul of Magic has haunted me (in a good way) for years. This is Rokad and Qiara’s
First, the bad (I’ll save the good for a minute because I always think it helps to have something to look forward to): The Source of Magic won’t be ready by the end of this month. I know. I’m disappointed, too, and truly sorry I can’t fulfill my promise to you. (Get out your violin right now and let’s give it a workout.) I’ve been dealing
I’m about a week away from finishing up my second-to-last round of edits on The Source of Magic. Hooray! I’m like the hugely pregnant, somewhat cranky woman who cannot WAIT to get this baby born and out. Fortunately, I’m still on target for a publication in the second half of March. I’ve been playing with a super-short blurb that can fit on a business card. Thanks
I’ve been lucky that Kismet’s Kiss has been blessed by excellent reviews, so I found it interesting that today two bloggers weighed in with somewhat inter-conflicting verdicts. That, plus a friend’s apparently mixed Romantic Times review for her debut, has me mulling over the amount of angst writers invest in other people’s opinions. Many of us start by revising our novels to please our critique partners. (Fortunately, those
I don’t think I’m alone in that! The ladies of the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood are interviewing me today, so come join the chat about romance, fantasy, and the stories that influenced our young minds. 🙂 https://www.rubyslipperedsisterhood.com/index.php/spotlight-on-cate-rowan.
Woohoo, I’m nearly finished formatting the print version of Kismet’s Kiss! I hope to have it up in a couple of weeks, and it’s looking excellent that I’ll be able to sell it for an amazing $7.99. I’ve done the formatting in Microsoft Word, thanks in part to the guidance of Perfect Pages, but I’m also drooling over an Adobe InDesign CS5 offering at eBay. InDesign is
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Three sexy brothers, two warring goddesses, and a literal trip to Hell. What could possibly go wrong? Long ago in the bygone Middle East, a storm