Stephanie Cage - Writer

It's all happening this month!  Once again I get to wish a friend happy publication day, and this time it's Katey Lovell's turn, with the fourth of her meet-cute stories with Harper Impulse.  The meet-cutes are an adorable series of short stories detailing those all important first encounters, and this time it's the turn of The Boy under the Mistletoe - perfectly timed for Christmas!  You can order the Boy Under the Mistletoe here  and if you missed the earlier meet cute stories, they are The Boy at the Bakery , The Boy in the Bookshop and The Boy at the Beach .  It's not just 'The Boy at the Bakery' that's sweet as sugar - they're all delicious and a steal at 49p each!

Congratulations to writer friend Angela Wren, whose debut novel, Messandrierre , is published today by Crooked Cat Press.  It's a mystery, set in the fictional village of Messandrierre, in France, a country Angela knows well and has also written about on her blog James et Moi .  Angela's writing is always fabulously atmospheric and she's a meticulous plotter too, so I'm looking forward to all the twists and turns in this first Jacques Foret mystery.  You can find out more about Angela and her stories on her website  http://www.angelawren.co.uk/  

Modern Magic hit the stores today and I couldn't be prouder to be part of this collection alongside three other amazing romance authors.  In case you need a reminder to help you decide whether it's for you, here's the blurb: What if Cinderella ditched the prince's ball and sent her fairy godmother to find love in her place? Suppose a streetwise hero hired to steal an all-powerful Genie (stuck in a flash drive rather than a brass lamp) for a tech company ended up running for his life with the CEO's gorgeous, intelligent daughter? Or what if the bed that a certain golden-tressed girl accidentally napped in belonged to the hot and famous middle brother of a notorious boy band? Can you envision the sparks that might fly if a bitter and downright beastly wheelchair-bound woman propositioned a handsome bookseller to stay with her in exchange for her rare book collection? This spellbinding anthology features modern and sexy spins on four classic fairy tales ...

The other day Steve and I were talking about how authors and actors choose pen and stage names, and I was very interested in what he had to say, so I invited him over to my blog to tell you more about the subject.  Steve blogs about musical theatre at  http://www.wheresthatmusical.co.uk/blog/ .  Welcome!    What Would Your Stage Name Be? by Steven Bisby, of  http://www.wheresthatmusical.co.uk/blog/ Tonight Matthew I'm Going To Be xxxxxxxxx! Did you ever watch that TV programme ‘Stars in their eyes’ where members of the public impersonated their favourite pop star and got made up to look like the star? Which celebrity names did you dream of being if you ever got to utter those famous words ‘Tonight Matthew I’m Going To Be!’? Quick Quiz Have you ever watched a TV sitcom with Jennifer Anastassaki in the lead role? Have you ever watched a film directed by Allan Konigsberg? Have you watched a film starring Julie Roberts? Have you been ...

Just in case you missed it, here's a quick post to let you know that the Perfect Game 'box set' - six sporty stories in ebook form - is now out.  Alongside my dancing romance, Perfect Partners , there's the first of Rachel Cross and Ashlinn Craven's exciting formula one stories, High Octane: Ignited .  I loved it so much, I immediately had to go and download the rest of the series! Plus four other stories of sports stars getting their happy-ever-afters.  All for less than the price of a coffee!  Here's the official blurb:  Playing the field comes easy to these six successful athletes who are at the top of their games, but lasting love is harder to find. Watch them meet their perfect matches in these adrenaline-fueled sports romances. Are you game? Full Strength : When an injury derails goalie Shane Reese, he takes it badly, and the new team shrink, Allie Kallen, has to help him get his head back on straight. Allie sees through his bravado to the real fe...

Halloween is a great excuse to dig out Nightmare Before Christmas and all my favourite spooky stories, so my contribution to the Halloween blog hop is, in no particular order, my seven favourite magical books (or series - a sneaky way of not quite having to narrow down to seven books) of all time. How many have you read? Follow the hop for more fun, great books, and awesome prizes.  And make sure to read to the end for a chance to win a sneak preview of a magical collection, as well as a hop-wide prize draw for $50 or $100 in Amazon gift cards.   Tamora Pierce: Alanna (Song of the Lioness series) Along with 'Little Women', this is one of my most read books ever.  The story of a girl in a magical land which, sadly, reflects our own in having certain expectations of how boys and girls will behave.  Alanna doesn't want to be a lady and learn to dress prettily and walk nicely.  She wants to fight the bad guys, and both she and her twin Thom are gi...

For the launch of Modern Magic, my fellow Crimson Romance authors and I are trying something new to us: a Thunderclap campaign .  I've supported a few of these recently, including a very successful one for Jane Holland's fantastic thriller, Girl Number One . (You can read about her Thunderclap campaign on her blog here ). All it means is you agree to allow the app to post a one-off message on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram on a specified date about the book, and as the campaign only runs if at least 100 people support it, the internet becomes a 'perfect storm' of book news for a few minutes - hence the term 'Thunderclap'.  Although the initial posts only last for a few minutes, it can have a lasting effect on how many people are aware of the book. Our Thunderclap for Modern Magic is here and we would love you to click through and support it! If you want to know more about how you could use Thunderclap to promote your book or cause, their FAQs are here ....