I was elected…

To the Board of the Northwest Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America!  As a cross-genre writer who bounces between mystery and romance, I’m subject to imposter syndrome in every genre I touch.  Is this enough of a mystery?  Is this romance-y enough?  Someone give me a kiss-o-meter!  So when a friend reached out and suggested I run for the Board I thought… eeee, I don’t know.  What if someone finds out that all my mysteries have kissing in them?  Then I realized that was probably the silliest thing I’d thought lately and I said we could maybe think about it.

And now I’m Treasurer.

Where’s that facepalm emoji when I need it?  Although, to be honest, this is also how I ended up as the Treasurer of my local business district a few years ago. And that turned out fine. (We held a wine walk and a farmer’s market!) So I suppose we shall see if I can figure out how to make the MWA hold a wine walk.  What’s the author equivalent of a wine walk?  Now I need the heavy thinking emoji.

Crime’s of the Heart

But as I ponder if I’m mystery enough for the mystery crowd, or romance enough for the romance crew, I realize that I couldn’t have written my most recent book without my mystery and crime fiction background. The idea was simple enough—I hate The Shining.  (Confession: I’ve never read the book.)  The movie bugs me.  It’s stylish, terrifying, and (for me) the characters behave in completely unbelievable ways.  Every time I’ve seen it, I think… why would the caretaker leave?  Why would she not leave her husband prior to going to a snowed-in hotel?  Why has no one ever noticed the creepy ass shit before this? What kind of hotel owner would let a hotel be empty for six months of the year? And then I had the action movie thought, that this could be solved a lot of ways that weren’t… any of this.  It’s like how most action movies could really be avoided if someone just shot the bad guy the moment he started pontificating.  Which led me to think that this kind of nonsense wouldn’t fly in Vegas. Cursed hotel?  Oh, hell no.  The mob is not standing for that—they would be getting in a priest the first time some evil twin ghosts interfered with a slot machine.  Crime families cannot be having blood dripping from the walls.  That would cut down on the profits.  And then I said, “Ooooooh. I might need to do something with that.”  And since I’m an adult and I can give in to all of my intrusive thoughts if I want… I did just that.

Heart’s Curse

Writing under the pen name Sirena Corebeau for Varus Publishing, Heart’s Curse is about Lucas Kane, a hotel boss who’s on his way up the ladder and his first shot at the big time in Vegas is The Lucky Heart Hotel & Casino.  There’s just one tiny problem… it’s cursed.  Charlotte “Charlie” Auvray has always been told she’s nothing special—just the magicless daughter of a powerful witch family. But when a disastrous spring break lands her in Las Vegas, she stumbles into the path of Lucas Kane, a dangerously magnetic casino boss with secrets of his own. Lucas is juggling mob ties, a cursed hotel, and powers he can never reveal. What he doesn’t need is a heartbroken college girl counting cards at his tables… or kissing him in front of her cheating ex. But when blood rains from the showers and guests descend into madness, Charlie proves she sees what no one else can—the curse that haunts the Lucky Heart’s Casino. To break it, she’ll have to embrace her hidden magic and trust Lucas with her heart. Because in Vegas, the stakes aren’t just money—they’re life, love, and destiny.

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LEARN MORE: Sirena Corbeau

Heart’s Curse releases March 3, 2026!  Whether or not my reign of terror at the MWA treasury position goes as well as the romance for Lucas and Charlie remains to be seen.