Heartla Author Luncheon celebrates local talent

            On Nov. 15, I was honored to be a part of the Heart of Louisiana Romance Writers annual author luncheon at Juban’s in Baton Rouge, with best-selling author Diana Crosby as the keynote speaker offering us great advice and inspiration.

             Participating authors — you’ll be amazed at how much talent there is in Louisiana — included:

             Christa Allen is the author of love stories “Love Finds You in New Orleans,” “Threads of Hope” (one of the books in Abingdon’s Quilt Series) and “Test of Faith” as well as “Walking on Broken Glass” and “The Edge of Grace.”

            In addition to dressing up and interviewing authors on her blog ‘The Romancechik Speaks,” Nancy Brandt has published “Fabric of Faith” and  “Sword and Illusion” with her husband, Steve Brandt.

            Donna Caubarreaux writes as Pepper Phillips, offering “Southern sass with a touch of heart” with books such as “This Devil Has Dimples,” “The Vow” and “The Christmas Gift,” which is hot on Amazon right now. 

            James Buddy Estes is the author of “Alabama’s Youngest Admirals” and other titles and reported that his books are being read in Alabama schools. 

            Shana Galen of Houston is the bestselling author of Regency historicals, including the RT Reviewers’ Choice, “The Making of a Gentleman.”

            Lori Leger of Kinder has published through her own publishing house, Cajun Flair Publishing. She has several books out right now, including holiday anthologies, “Hearts, Hearths and Holidays” and “Christmas by Candlelight.” You can even learn Cajun cooking on her web site!

            Trish F. Leger of Jennings focuses on Druids in her Wiccan romance series and she’s also one of the authors in Lori Leger’s anthologies.

            Anne Clarye Mason of Baton Rouge writes romances under this name and mysteries under A.C. Mason. I just picked up her “Mardi Gras Gris Gris” in anticipation of Carnival beginning Jan. 6, 2015. She is also the author of the newly released “Deadly Bayou.” 

            Shirlee McCoy of Baton Rouge, inspirational author at Silhouette and Kengsington, has a new book in time for the holidays, “Her Christmas Guardian,” where former army ranger Boone Anderson must help Scout Cramer retrieve her child from kidnappers “before the kidnappers cancel Christmas for all of them permanently.” 

            Judy McDonough just released “Deadline,” book one in The Bayou Secrets saga, along with "Lifeline," book two.

            Rhonda McKey aka Rhonda Leah writes erotic and contemporary romances, her latest being “Risking Delaney” from Lyrical Press. 

            Farrah Rochon of Gramercy is a USA Today best-selling author of contemporary romances. Her latest is “I Dare You!,” book four in the “Moments in Maplesville” series, but you’ll also find holiday books such as the “Hot Christmas Nights" anthology and “A Perfect Holiday Fling.” 

            Wendy Russo writes YA science fiction and her latest, “January Black,” will be released Christmas Day. The book features 17-year-old Matty Ducayn who gets treacherous adventure after being expelled from the orderly “Hill.” She lives in Baton Rouge, working as an IT analyst for LSU. 

            Lynn Shurr of New Iberia is a retired librarian who has been knocking out romances left and right, many involving the New Orleans Sinners football team. She has also begun a new Mardi Gras series, the single title enviromental romance, “A Trashy Affair,” and the spicy Cajun romances, “A Taste of Bayou Water” and “Blessings and Curses.”  

            T.S. Tate/Eden Butler is currently Editor-in-Chief at LitStack.com and co-founder with Heather McCorkle of #WritersRoad chat on Twitter. Her flash fiction, "Street Noises," was included in the Pill Hill Press anthology "Daily Frights 2012: 366 Days of Dark Flash Fiction (Leap Year Edition)" and her short "Til Hunt Be Done," was included in the Winter Wonders anthology from Compass Press. 

            Jo Templeton writes historical romance (“A Pirate’s Kiss”) and paranormal fiction, featuring a fallen angel hoping to get back to heaven, “Scorned,” in addition to many other books. 

            I feel like I'm missing someone, which tells you how much talented this chapter has!

            Here’s a few more romances to heat up your holiday season, books I learned about from my goodie bag.            

            Jennifer Comeaux of Covington incorporates her love of figure skating in her novels and her latest is “Crossing the Ice,” where pair skaters Courtney and Mark have one shot left at their Olympic dream and vow not to let anything get in their way, especially not Josh and Stephanie, the wealthy and talented brother and sister team. The heart doesn’t always listen to reason, though.

            Marian Merritt as a holiday novella titled “Southern Fried Christmas” in which Colorado native Kelly Shepherd takes an assignment to write articles on Cajun Christmas culture after spending eight days in Cajun country. She meets widow Denny Labouve, owner of an oilfield company and dad to a 10-year-old daughter and proves that “love is deeper than a Louisiana bayou.” Her other books include “A Cajun Christmas Miracle” and “Deep Freeze Christmas.”

            The Heart of Louisiana RWA chapter meets at 10 a.m. the fourth Saturday of every month in Baton Rouge. For more information, visit www.HeartLa.com.

          Here’s a few more romances to heat up your holiday season.            

That's me in the maroon sweater next to Joan Whalen,
right, and Anne Clayre Mason, left.

 Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “ExploringCajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Entries now being accepted for annual Ernest J. Gaines Award; new releases of Louisiana titles

            Entries are being accepted through April 30 for the seventh annual Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, an honor that comes with a $10,000 cash prize. Sponsored by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, The Ernest J. Gaines award is meant to inspire and recognize excellence among rising African-American writers and to honor Gaines as one of the world’s most celebrated authors. The New Orleans Times-Picayune called the award the “nation’s biggest prize for African-American writers.” A Louisiana native, Gaines’ critically acclaimed novel, “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” was adapted into a 1974 made-for-TV movie that received nine Emmy awards. His 1993 book, “A Lesson Before Dying,” won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. For information, visit www.ernestjgainesaward.org.

New releases

            Arthur Mitchell, born in 1915 a descendent of slaves on the Jons Plantation in Ironwood, Louisiana, was told a story about the descendents of a beautiful young slave girl from East Central Africa sold in 1810 to a French farmer in the New Orleans area. Mitchell later wrote these stories down and his original 150-page, hand-written memoir was lost in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina, when the levee broke near his house in the lower ninth ward of New Orleans. One copy was preserved by Gayle Nolan, who has edited and prepared the manuscript for publication, and that book is now “What Love Can Do: Recollected Stories of Slavery and Freedom in New Orleans and the Surrounding Area” by Arthur Mitchell, published by Balboa Press. 

            Daniel Brook of New Orleans has published “A History of Future Cities,” looking at St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Mumbai and Dubai. He focuses on the cultural and historical threads that connect these cities and their conflicted embrace of modernity.           

            Christa Allen has released a new love story titled “Love Finds You in New Orleans, Louisiana,” where young Adelaide LeClerc is about to wed a man she dreads. Orphaned at a young age, Adelaide’s future hangs in the balance as her grandparents consider whether to stop keeping secrets and reveal the truth that they’ve known since before Adelaide’s birth — a truth that will make the difference between a life of obligation and a life of choice for Adelaide.

            Monique O’Connor of Denham Springs writes about a spoiled college student trying to find her way in the real world in “Becoming Jolie,” set in the fictional town of Follette, Louisiana. The small town has been plagued by ghost sightings and a rash of missing children and Jolie is convinced everyone in town is crazy — except Hutch Landry and his brother Tucker. Published by Bayou Brew Publishing, the book is available from Amazon.

             Markeitha Bergeron White has self-published a children’s picture book that’s a Cajun twist on the little piggy went to market nursery rhyme titled “A Cajun Pig Tale,” illustrated by Erin Taylor. The book is available at The Coffee Depot and the Begnaud House in Scott and The Louisiana Art and Science Museum in Baton Rouge.   

            This week from LSU Press, Ron Smith’s “Its Ghosty Workshop,” a collection of poems from the Mediterranean to the American West, drawn from the lives of notable and diverse figures such Edward Teller, Edgar Allan Poe, Mickey Mantle, Ezra Pound, Robert Penn Warren, Jesse Owens, Leni Riefenstahl and many others. Smith is the author of the poetry collections “Running Again in Hollywood Cemetery” and “Moon Road,” and is the poetry editor for “Aethlon: The Journal of Sports Literature.”

            The University of North Carolina Press is publishing a collection of small cookbooks that spotlight specific foods, many of which are indigenous to the South. For instance, the “Savor the South” series includes “Pecans” by Kathleen Pruvis, full of pecan recipes, pecan history, tips on cooking with pecans and their nutritional value, and “Buttermilk” by Debbie Moose, which examines the great cooking ingredient and offers 50 recipes, most of which are uniquely Southern. And there are more to come.

Book events

            Ronlyn Domingue will sign copies of her latest novel, “The Mapmaker’s War,” at a “Meet & Greet the Author” from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at The Cottage Shoppe of Acadiana, 800 E. Broussard Road, Lafayette.

            Craig B. Smith will visit the World War II Museum in New Orleans at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 21, to discuss his book, “Counting the Days,” which tells the story of six prisoners of war imprisoned by both sides during the Pacific Theatre.

        

Cheré Coen is the author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at chere@louisianabooknews.com.

Shreveport Conference is Written in the Stars

            The Written In The Stars Conference, sponsored by the North Louisiana Storytellers & Authors of Romance, will be March 1 and 2 in Shreveport. More than a dozen speakers will present topics in three tracks of workshops. 

             Industry professionals attending include: Barbara Vey, contributing editor, Publishers Weekly; Elizabeth Mazer, editor, Harlequin; Karen Reid, editor, Harlequin-Canada; Kerri-Leigh Grady, editor, Entangled Publishing; Tessa Woodward, editor, Avon Books; Jill Marsal, literary agent, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency and Mary Sue Seymour, literary agent, The Seymour Agency. 

            Authors include Christa Allen, Beth Cornelison, Elizabeth Mazer, Lenora Worth, Liz Talley, Sarah Harner, Tessa Woodward and much more.

            Registration is $135 until Feb 23.

            For more details visit http://nolastars.com/conference/ or contact the conference chair at conf-chair@nolastars.com.