Breaking news in the publishing world

Harlequin has been sold to News Corp., the company founded by Rupert Murdoch. Harlequin will now be a part of Harper Collins, according to reports.

Read the release from Romance Writers of America.

Click the links to read the reports from the Los Angeles Times and from the Toronto Star. Torstar Corp. is the parent company of Toronto-based Harlequin.

No word yet -- and probably not for a while -- on what this means for writers, contracts and the like.

However, there is an interesting path to note for the Arabesque line of multicultural romances. When Arabesque launched with the first books published in 1994, it was owned by Kensington Publishing Corp., a still privately owned company. Kensington sold Arabesque to BET (Black Entertainment Television) which was owned by Bob and Sheila Johnson. BET later sold the Arabesque line to Viacom. Harlequin bought the line from Viacom and renamed it Kimani Arabesque. Stay tuned for  what happens to Arabesque in the future!

The Calloway Family novellas I've been writing are Kimani Arabesque titles. "Orchids and Bliss" my novella in the ISLAND LOVE SONGS anthology which came out last year, featured Baden Calloway and Jesse Fremont. And coming in November 2014 -- just in time for Christmas gifts! -- is  the anthology THIS HOLIDAY MAGIC. My story features a single dad and a single mom who find romance in "A Family for Christmas."