Thursday, January 17, 2008

Kathy Love is in the Lair

by Christie Kelley

It is my pleasure to introduce USA Today Best Selling Author, Kathy Love to the lair. Kathy is a dear friend of mine and one of my critique partners. She published her first contemporary romance in 2004, Getting What You Want. She has since moved into paranormal romance. This month, her fifth paranormal romance Any Way You Want It hits the shelves. So welcome, Kathy!


CITY OF MUSES

I had never been to New Orleans until a year ago. Oh, it was a place I'd always wanted to go, but the opportunity just never arose. Not until I was asked to attend Heather Graham's Writers for New Orleans conference in September of 2006. The timing of the conference still wasn't great. I had just bought a new house, which I'd only been in for less than two weeks (picture boxes everywhere). My daughter was starting preschool. And I was on deadline. But even with all those stress, I couldn't let this chance pass me by.


And thank goodness I didn't.

I went to New Orleans for only a long weekend, but that was more than enough time to fall in love with the city. But not only did I fall in love with the Big Easy, I was inspired. Truly inspired. From that one trip, I got the idea for a new series. The first book of that series, Any Way You Want It, was just released this month from Kensington Brava. And I got at least five more ideas for stories from my brief time spent there.

But another wonderful thing developed from that trip. Erin McCarthy, who attended the conference with me, and I came up with the idea for The Impalers (http://www.vampireband.com/). The Impalers are our fictional vampire band, who is made up of real musicians from Bourbon Street. We befriend several of the musicians there and then approached them about participating in this fun, if somewhat crazy, idea. Surprisingly, they agreed. So now Erin and I have our very own "undead" band.

We have created a vampire world that you can actually see and hear and meet in real life. What reader can't enjoy that? The Impalers made their first official appearance at Heather Graham's conference this past September. And they will be playing two of the balls at The Romantic Times conference this April. As well as having an encore performance at Heather's this fall.


So to celebrate finding a city that fed my muse, both in my writing and in my promotion, I'm posting an excerpt of Any Way You Want It. And please head over to The Impalers website to meet, Ren, the hero of this particular book and the other undead boys.

"Where are we going?" Maggie asked, doubling her steps to catch them.

"Bourbon Street," both her friends said in unison, then they dissolved into tipsy laughter.

Maggie smiled too, but then she shook her head. "Why don't you two go on? I'm kind of tired."

Which wasn't untrue. Their flight had left Dulles Airport at 6 am, and they had only dropped off their luggage at the hotel and went right into tourist mode. Not to mention, they were staying right off Bourbon Street. She'd be fine to walk back to their room alone. But she suspected Erika and Jo weren't going to let that happen.

But she really did need to rest. Even now, this newly-sensed energy was swirling around her, making the air thick and her head a little woozy. The wine wasn't helping, but she didn't really believe it was the alcohol--not solely.

"No way," Jo said, catching Maggie's elbow, pulling her along. "You are not sneaking off to read or listen to classical music or whatever boring thing you normally do."

"Right," Erika agreed.

Maggie laughed, but she did try to get her arm out of Jo's grasp. Jo wasn't letting go--not without a fight, it appeared.

"Those things aren't boring," Maggie argued. After all, Jo read twice as much as Maggie did. And she had a healthy knowledge of classical music. They'd attended many symphonies together.

"Okay, they aren't," Jo agreed. "But they aren't what you do on vacation. Especially a vacation in New Orleans. Hotel rooms are for sleeping only."

"Well," Erika said, slowly, "and other things."

Jo thought about that, then nodded. "Right, but that usually ends in sleeping."

Maggie frowned for a moment, losing track of what they were talking about--briefly, then she understood.

She shook her head. "I don't remember you two being quite so sex obsessed."

"And you aren't sex obsessed enough," Jo informed her. "Now come on, you can't come to New Orleans and miss Bourbon Street."

"I'm here for ten days," Maggie pointed out. "We could wait a night. I am honestly tired."

"No," Erika and Jo said--speaking again at the same time. A habit that was actually getting a little irritating, Maggie decided as Erika caught her other elbow, and both of her friends pulled her down the sidewalk. Although she did give in, allowing them to lead the way.

"Erika and I are only here for five nights. And we need them all," Jo said.

Maggie sighed. That was true. Her friends were leaving her early. A fact she was not happy about. What would she do in a city like this alone? She'd already noted this was a place filled with couples and groups.

She supposed she'd better take advantage of having both her pals here. Her pace picked up.

Even unfamiliar with the layout of the city and muzzy from the wine, Maggie didn't need to be told when they reached Bourbon Street. She blinked around her. The flashing lights, the loud slightly distorted bass of bands singing party favorites, the distinct smell of trash, beer and...

Was that vomit?

Add to that neon signs with words like "live sex acts" and "full nudity." Holy cow.

"This is...something," she managed, peering around, not sure where to look at next.

Even Jo and Erika, who were definitely worldlier when it came to bars and partying, gawked around themselves in awe.

"This is pretty amazing," Erika finally said, after they'd all stood mesmerized by a pair of female mannequin legs in black stilettos, kicking in and out of a club's windows.

"You definitely don't see that every day, do you?" Jo said.

Maggie almost added that she'd never seen that before, period, when her attention was seized by a distinct strain of music, somehow reaching out to her over the warring chords of Jessie's Girl, Living On A Prayer and Summer of '69.

Without thinking, she took a step toward the sound. Then another--until she'd zigzagged through the crowds of revelers to a bar on the corner of Bourbon and some cross street. She stopped on the sidewalk, staring at the building. The place was shabby, paint peeling from the wood, the sidewalk around it crumbling and layered in filthy. But from her spot on the street, she could see the stage through huge opened windows where a band was setting up. And she could clearly hear that distinct melody. Piano notes swirling through the air, a sound as out of place in this world as she felt.

Again, her feet moved until she found herself in the bar, standing in front of the stage, peering up at the person playing the music. Music that no one else should know.

Well, no one but her and possibly a few other authenticators. And the person who wrote it, of course. But that person was long since dead.

"Wow," Jo said from beside her, dragging Maggie's attention away from the music. "Good eye. That guy's pretty darn hot."

Maggie blinked back at the stage, for the first time noticing the man actually playing the music. He was tall with long hair in a shade somewhere between chestnut brown and dark mahogany, cascading over his broad shoulders.

He was looking down at the keyboards, his hair falling forward, shrouding most of his features, so that Maggie wondered how Jo could tell whether he was hot or not.

Then the thought quickly vanished as she watched his long fingers travel over the keys, playing a particularly difficult combination of chords. That combination exactly what she'd been studying so closely before she'd left. A fusion of notes that seemed to be a signature of sorts.
If Maggie's belief was correct, a signature of a composer that she was will to bet this man playing, a guy in a cover band on Bourbon street no less, had never even heard of. Much less could play.

Yet, here he was, playing it. Playing a piece that no one knew. An undiscovered composition probably by a lesser known composer.

Then two things happened at once, the beautiful, haunting tune abruptly switched into the intro to the classic 80's rock ballad, Sister Christian, and Maggie realized that the musician was staring directly at her. And she was staring back.

"Ah, man, he has a lazy eye," Erika said with a disappointed sigh.

Maggie heard her friend's words and regret, but somehow they didn't seem to quite reach her as if they echoed from a distance or through a somnolent haze. She just kept staring at the man, unable to look away, even though everything in her told her to do just that.

"There is something up with his eye, but I don't think it's lazy." Maggie heard Jo say.

Maggie wanted to speak, to say there wasn't anything wrong with his eyes, but the words in her head couldn't fumble their way her lips.

All she could manage was to focus on him. On the eyes in question. Eyes that seemed to match the music he'd been playing, complicated, intense, haunted. And just as the music held her entranced, so did his gaze.



And to also celebrate my newest book, I will pick one of the people who comment today to receive a copy of Any Way You Want It and an Impalers CD.

Finally, what are some of the best promotional ideas you've seen authors use? And what city have you fallen in love with?

64 comments:

Fedora said...

Hello?

Fedora said...

Welcome, Kathy! Congrats on your fifth book!! Wow! And thanks for the excerpt--I haven't had the pleasure of visiting New Orleans yet--how neat to do so in your book :)

The band sounds fun! That was a stroke of genius ;) And a very clever promo idea! I don't have any especially neat ones that are coming to mind right now.

As for cities I've fallen in love with, I know it's corny, but Paris was really lovely, and I'd love the chance to go back. Also, we had a chance to visit parts of Japan and China briefly, and there are so many truly beautiful places there I would love to explore! (So, no one place or city, I guess!)

Ellory said...

Hi Kathy,

I love that you and Erin have your own 'undead' band. I just finished Erin's lastes book and loved that the band was in the book.

Donna MacMeans said...

Hi Kathy -

Welcome to the lair! Loved the photo of the band. I've heard Erin speak of them but hadn't seen a photo.

Inspiring cities? Well New Orleans did it for me as well. I have a time travel based in the Big Easy that I'll finish someday. I love San Francisco as well. That city inspired my first book. You knew the one under the bed that will never see the light of day *g*.

Loved the excerpt. Thanks for joining us today.

Anna Campbell said...

Fedora, the rooster is yours! What sort of state is he in? Is he coherent?

Kathy, congratulations on your success! Welcome to the lair! I'd love to hear a bit about your journey to publication. It's something I'm always fascinated by.

Cities I'm in love with? Clearly I'm a completely faithless chit! I adore Venice and Cordoba and Copenhagen and London and Rome and York. Have had brief flings with many others!

danetteb said...

Hi Kathy,
Yay,Ren's book is here! Congrats on the new release!
My favorite city is Monterey,CA, I love the sea air and the old town feel and the Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of my favorite places to visit whenever I'm in CA.

Hugs, Danette

Helen said...

Congrats flchen1 on the GR

Great excerpt Kathy love the idea with the Band way to go.

I love the fact that the authors spend time on blogs and talking to their readers I have had so much fun coming here to the Bandits and have learned about so many new books that my TBR pile is really tettering and my wish list just grows. I also have a wonderful collection of coverflats and bookmarks most of them signed and they are really special to me.
Congrats Kathy on the new book.
Have Fun
Helen

Christine Wells said...

Wow, great excerpt! Welcome to the lair, Kathy and thanks for bringing Kathy to us, Christie.

How cool to have your own band, with a CD and everything! Now that's way ahead of my poor efforts with a few bookmarks. *g* I think people love worldbuilding and when you can make the world real, that's fantastic. A bit more difficult to do with Regency England, unfortunately.

flchen1, congrats on winning the GR! Be kind to poor little rooster. He's suffered trauma at p226's hands, no doubt.

Christie Kelley said...

Welcome again, Kathy.

The city I fell in love with was Charleston, SC. I went there twelve years ago and unfortunately, haven't been back since. I don't think I could live there with the heat, though.

I'd love to hear if you think the band idea is a good marketing tool for you and Erin. Do you think it has/will bring in new readers?

Gillian Layne said...

This might be the single coolest thing I've ever heard of. As if vamps aren't sexy enough, you have a real band?

That's just fabulous! Can't wait to read your book!

doglady said...

Congrats, Fichen on a successful rescue mission for our dear GR!

Wow, Kathy, your own undead band, now THAT is beyond brilliant. And you can never go wrong with musicians from New Orleans. They have an excellent selection. (Excellent selection of hot men too!)

Your books sound fascinating and I LOVE that the Big Easy inspired you. New Orleans remains to this day one of my favorite places of all time. I did my graduate work at USM in Hattiesburg so New Orleans was close and convenient. My late DH and I called it our home away from home. It is so enigmatic. No matter how many times we visited we always discovered something new and wonderful.

Do tell us your call story. Those of us who are yet to be published live for those stories. They keep us trying.

Like my buddy, Anna C. I am a bit of a light skirt when it comes to favorite cities. I too love Charleston, Christie! Savannah is also a favorite. It is one of the most haunted cities in America and it lives up to the hype. And it has a great history of pirate activity!

I have already said Salzburg is one of my favorites. To walk the streets where Mozart grew up, to visit the house where he was born, which I did repeatedly when I was studying at the Mozarteum. Was there one rainy afternoon, just me and the exhibit guard, and he recognized me, knew I was a singer and asked if I wanted to touch Mozart's harpsichord which was roped off. He didn't have to ask me twice. It was one of those once in a lifetime moments and I will never ever forget it.

I have to admit that your own undead band has to be the greatest promo for a book or series I have ever seen! Dianna Love Snell has these gorgeous embroidered tote bags that readers' event attendees fight over. I have one! Stephanie Bond had the cutest coffin boxes filled with great candy for the debut of her book Body Movers.

Anonymous said...

Kathy, welcome to the Lair! What a great idea, tying the band to the books! Wow. I would love to visit New Orleans. It has inspired so many people. I hope the city truly does recover from Katrina, though it will never, of course, be the same.

As for me, I've never been inspired to write fiction about places I've been, but back in my youth when I wrote poetry, I found lots of inspiration in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.

Anonymous said...

flchen, give that poor little guy a hug for me. I'm sure he's just barely recovered from the terror he experienced!

doglady, that sounds like an incredible experience. Sort of like touching Jane Austen's pen.

Beth Andrews said...

Welcome to the lair, Kathy! Wonderful excerpt and it is so cool that you and Erin came up with The Impalers! What a terrific and unique marketing tool :-)

jo robertson said...

Hi, Kathy, welcome to the Lair. I loved your excerpt, very mysterious and otherworldly. And what a clever promotional idea!

Hmmm, cities to fall in love with? If you live on the west coast, it's gotta be The City, San Francisco!

Christie Kelley said...

Yes, Kathy, tell us your call story. heehee

If Kathy doesn't find her way here soon to tell you here story, I will. It's one of my favorites.

p226 said...

flchen1,

Could you pass the following message to the GR verbatim?


hQIOA2gZiSIXUpInEAgAipDoO
Wqs0AsUpBzJSzdcjfaJKhGxC6
h8OJq9+SGJZ8nCzjcGtvnHw9S
GY97u/aLXNor7TKkQ30JI8S5A
wPLMFq3otxPHv9LBS4jfEUy2e
V4aWvLpsaGb9iVPfhqlJUsAfG
nOS27fJptq7wS0MlxgbqENkoi
WiVIeZGqn56CYQDA


Thanks :)

Erin McCarthy said...

Hi everyone! Kathy told me she was chatting here today so I thought I would drop by. :)

I am in love with New Orleans... when Kathy called and invited me to Heather Graham's conference in 2006, I never hesitated because it was a fabulous excuse to go back to New Orleans. Walking the streets of the Quarter with Kathy and brainstorming a series of books for both of us was truly amazing. I made it a 7 book series so there will plenty of reasons for research trips. ;)

Kathy and I are hoping to go to Savannah soon because it is a city that intrigues us both. I do love New York City as well because it has such a fabulous energy, and Charleston, SC was a beautiful city.

I hope to see some of you at RT, where The Impalers will be playing live. :)

Kathy Love said...

Thank you for the welcome everyone! And thanks to Christie for asking me to join you all.

I'm glad you have enjoyed the excerpt and the band. Please do go over and check the guys out. Ren even posted a blog specifically for the bandits.
:)

Kathy Love said...

Fichen1-

I've never been to Paris, but I've heard it's absolutely wonderful. I'd love to go.

I also have a dear friend in Hong Kong and would love to go to Asia.
I'd love to explore more too.

Kathy Love said...

Ann M.-

Erin and I love having our own vampire band too! :) The guys have been so great about the whole idea. They are really excited to be playing at Romatic Times.

Erin and I are having a ball with the whole concept.

Kathy Love said...

Donna-
I'm glad you enjoyed the excerpt. I lived in Santa Barbara for two years, and I got up to San Francisco only once, but I loved it. Being from the East Coast, the terrain and climate appealed to me more than So Cal.

But New Orleans just spoke to me. Fell head over heels in love with it. Humidity, funky smells, and all. LOL!

Anna Campbell-
I'm so jealous! I'd love to go to all the places you listed. One day!

Kathy Love said...

Hi Danette!

Good to *see* you here! :)

Yep, Ren is finally out! I loved writing his character. So much fun. Maggie, his heroine, was fun too!

I loved Monterey as well. I went to this really cool restaurant there. Or maybe that was in Carmel. But I loved both places.

Helen-
It is really cool to have this way to connect with readers and writers. I love getting to just chat about the books and genre I love.

And I hear you about those TBR piles, mine is huge. I actually have Anna Campbell's new one on the top! Can't wait to start it, Anna.

Kathy Love said...

Christine Wells-

The worldbuilding is exactly what Erin and I hoped would make this promo stand out. It is so much fun to create bios and stories for these guys.

We think it's working as a promotional idea. They seem to be a bit hit.

Kathy Love said...

Hey there, Christie!

I think I just answered one of your questions. :) And from all the mentions of Charleston, I'm clearly going to have to check it out.

Did you find your cell phone? ;-)

Wendy said...

Hi, Kathy!

I've never visited New Orleans but I would love to. I love Drake's story on The Impalers' site and can't wait to read more.

I'm really looking forward to reading Any Way You Want It! :)

Kathy Love said...

Gillian-

Thank you for your compliments about The Impalers. They are so much fun--and they are very talented musicians. You can actually see them performing on The Impaler site.

Doglady-

It must have been wonderful to live so close to NO. I hope to one day buy a place there. That's the dream. And you are right, there is just this feeling in the air there. Enigmatic is the perfect word.

I love the idea of walking where Mozart walked. Doesn't that just get your story ideas flowing? There really are so many places I'd love to see.

Kathy Love said...

Kirsten-
Thanks for chatting today. I, too, am in awe of how resilient the people are. The devastation of Katrina is still everywhere, yet they are picking up and moving on. It's amazing.

Beth--
Thanks for the welcome!

Jo-
Thank you for your kind words
about the excerpt! :)

Wendy-
Drake is getting updated this week. And things are getting down right steamy. LOL!

Glad you are enjoying it!

Kathy Love said...

Anna and Doglady and Christie,

Okay, I will share my "the call" story.

I had always written stories while growing up, but I never really considered pursuing writing as a career until 2000. That was when I finally realized that the voice in my head weren't ever going to go away. At least until I wrote them down.

So I joined RWA and my local chapter, Maryland Romance Writers (and met your very own Christie Kelley). And I started writing my first book. Okay, I'd written lots of stories, but I never actually finished any of them.
So I set about completing a book, and also learning the industry.

Except I clearly didn't understand the industry, because I was writing humorous vampires, which at that time every editor was saying they absolutely did not want to see. As you know, that changed quickly. But at the time, it was a big no-no.

I kept writing my story anyway. While at the Washington Romance Writers retreat, one of my critique partners asked Kate Duffy if she'd be interested in funny vampires. She told Kate a bit about the premise of my story. (I wasn't even there, because I was hugely pregnant.)

Kate told my critique partner that she'd like to see my whole manuscript. I was stunned, but did get the book in the mail to her right away.

About a week later, Kate Duffy actually called me. Talk about being tongue-tied! She told me that she loved my "voice", but she wasn't crazy about the vampires. And did I have anything else?

Now, as I said, I wrote a lot, but this vampire book was the only thing I'd ever finished. I considered lying, but opted for the truth. I told her, no.

To my utter shock, she said, "Then propose me something." She said think about it, and then send her an email with my ideas.

I hung up the phone, completely stunning and overwhelmed. After I calmed down (this took about a week), I sat down and typed up a three book proposal for the Ugly Stepp sisters.

I emailed the ideas to her and within an hour, Kate called me and offered to buy all three books.

And that was how my first sale went. But I have to add to this story, because it is so crazy, that I was very, very lucky. I happened to find the editor who understood my voice on the very first try. It was mostly dumb luck.

And later, and after a major rewrite, Kate did also buy that first vampire book, which was Fangs For The Memories.

So I have been very, very lucky in this industry.

CrystalGB said...

Hi Kathy! Great blog. Congratulations on the release of Any Way You Want It.

Fedora said...

Kathy, what a fabulous call story!! What a wonderful thing, to get that response immediately from an editor :)

I hope you'll get to explore more, too, but it's great that you've found a city to love, and that we readers can love it through your work! Can't wait to read some of it!

The GR is resting comfortably after a warm shower--p226, he did scrawl some unintelligible stuff on the shower walls with the bath crayons, but I couldn't make heads or tails of it. I'll leave him to some reading and Kit Kats for now.

sabrina said...

Welcome Kathly!
Congratulations on your book and your great success.
The band sounds unique and wonderful.
On my first and only trip to Italy I fell in love with Lake Como. Utterly beautiful and romantic.

Laura J. said...

Hi Kathy!!! You and Erin definately need to go to Savannah! It is my most favorite city in the world. I'm trying to convince my husband to move there. I even have the perfect house on Tybee Island picked out if he can't swing buying me the Mercer House in Savannah.

Charleston was my favorite city until we visited Savannah. Both have that southern charm to it, but you will find it more so in Savannah. There is so much history in both cities.

If you go Charleston I highly recommend eating at Hyman's (and make sure they know your famous so you can sign a plate and hang on the wall with all the other celebreties). In Savannah, you have to go to Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House (open only for lunch). Southern cooking at it's best. There is also Paula Deena's resturaunt but be prepared for long waits. There is also a resturuant on Tybee Island that is a come as your place. It's called the Crab House. The Pirate House resturaunt is nice but expensive for what you get, but my 6 y/o daughter loved trying to find the ghosts that supposedly haunt the place and there is an underground tunnel that the pirates used to take their "volunteers" to their ships. If you like shopping you have to spend the evening at the Riverwalk.

Both places if you stay downtown, you can pretty much walk everywhere.

Can you tell I really like Savannah and Charleston?!?!

petite said...

Hi Kathy! Very inventive of you to create this band promo. Congrats on your new release. I am crazy about Vancouver. The gorgeous setting, the lifestyle, the beauty and uniqueness of this place always is so appealing.

Christie Kelley said...

Laura J. you're making me want to go to Savannah now. I've always wanted to get there and as much as I loved Charleston, I know I'd love Savannah more.

Anna Sugden said...

Kathy!!! Hugs and smooches, babe!! Great to see you here in the lair. Trust you to get up to something so cool.

Am I allowed to say that your Stepp sisters series is one of my favourites ever?! Folks - go out and find them - they are so worth the search.

Christie - thanks for kidnapping ... umm ... inviting her *grin*

Flchen1 - congrats on the GR.

Favourite cities? London, New York, Cambridge, York and Charleston SC (our kitten is called CC after Charleston in Carolina!), but there are loads of small towns that I adore too. Often it's particular buildings or streets or scenes that inspire me rather than one place overall.

Jane said...

I'm also a lover of San Francisco. I've only been there once. The city is just so beautiful. I've heard so much about New Orleans that I want to go now. Mardi Gras must be wild.

Anna Sugden said...

Oh and I popped across to the Impalers site - come on folks, let's all go across and say hi!

The Impalers said...

Hey There, Bandits!

Looks like you are having a great chat with Kathy. And I'm glad you like the excerpt. That's me up on stage--just so you know.

Thanks, Anna S., for the comment. Our blog is as quiet as a tomb today, and while we are dead, we don't like that!

As far as my favorite places, being 222 years old I've been around a lot, but I am rather fond of New Orleans. And I do love my estate outside of London too. I love Venice too. And I like Boston. And Transylvania. I am a vampire, after all.

Cheers,
Ren

Hellie Sinclair said...

Now THAT is getting into your writing project--creating the BAND that comprises your characters for the series. I love that these real musicians played along for this! That's awesome! Okay, I must dash and look at the Impalers website...that's just too ingenious!

Hellie Sinclair said...

Okay, I'm back. Great site...and I had to check out the Impaler blog too! Too awesome.

City I've Fallen In Love With: Pretty much any town not located in Missouri. Oh, I mean...I really loved Boston. Just busy and academic enough; and the buildings are gorgeous. And I loved whatever town we landed at when we cruised through Grand Cayman. (Is it Georgetown???) Hell, Grand Cayman was right up my alley. :) I also thought LA/Hollywood was a lot of fun.

The only place I haven't felt an affinity with was NYC. (Never got lost; got around and people were really friendly and helpful--but never "loved" it like I did Boston.)

I would love to go to New Orleans. Pirate Jean Lafitte!

Christie Kelley said...

I think this calls for a full-fledged Bandit invasion of the impalers. After all, Drake's a pirate and we loooove pirates.

The Impalers said...

I hear the Banditas like pirates. Well, yo-ho-ho, come check out my story at The Impalers.

I'm quite a saucy pirate. With some bad luck.
~Drake

Hellie Sinclair said...

The Banditas aren't the only ones who like pirates. *LOL*

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Hi Kathy! (Waving from the DC end of MD) Great to see you in the Lair! I know our guest a bit because Kathy and her CPs were kind enough to give me a ride to the hotel from the airport in Atlanta. Then I saw her at an MRW meeting and heard about all her successes - but I didn't hear that call story! WOW! Go, Kate Duffy! SO smart of her to have snagged your particular skills. :>

Love the promo idea with the band. That is too smart. Other ideas I've seen that rank up there in "smart" are Stephaine Bond's coffins, which someomne already mentioned, Heather Graham's con,
and of course our own blog! Ha! I think the Cherries have done a great job too, promo wise. Hate to say it, but there aren't a lot of really catchy things out there that haven't "been done" Yours? That's unique!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Oooh, forgot cities - Charleston and Savannah are delish, but I fell in love with St. Augustine, FL. Oh, and Anjou, France; and Mt. St. Michelle in France. Yum.

p226 said...

Heheh, Impalers.

I'll have to go check it out. Ole Vlad was an interesting guy. So was his dad (Dracul). Having occasional interaction with Romulans, er... I mean Romanians, I've absorbed a tiny bit of the history there. It's some interesting stuff.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Hey P226. Cool code earlier. Grins.

p226 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
p226 said...

Fun with ciphertext.

The GR knows what to do with it. ;)

Wendy said...

Woo! Can't wait to read the new installment! :)

Cherie J said...

Welcome Kathy! I love New Orleans. It is such a fun city. Enjoyed the excerpt. As for cool promotional items, I remember once an author giving out little plastic coffins filled with candy. I thought that was a cool idea. Of course, something like that you could probably only find around Halloween time.

Kathy Love said...

crystalgb-
Thanks for stopping by to read my excerpt and meeting The Impalers.
:)

flchen1-
I was so lucky to connect right away with that editor who got me. I truly believe that's what sells you as an author, finding the editor who gets your writing.

sabrina-
Thanks for your kind words! My sister is taking her daughter to Italy for her graduation present. I'm hoping to tag along. After seeing Under the Tuscan Sun, I was sold.

lauraj-
Erin and I are definitely going to have to check out Savannah. I've heard a lot about all the ghost stories and gorgeous houses. Right up my alley. And now I must add Charleston too. :)

Kathy Love said...

petite-
Thanks for the compliments about The Impalers! They are so much fun, in fiction and in real life. :)

Christie-
Savannah does sound great, doesn't it?

Anna-
How are you, girl?? Since I missed RWA this past year, I didn't get my annual catch up.

Thank you so much for your lovely words and support of my Stepp sisters. I proposed revisiting Millbrook for Brava, but Kate wasn't interested. I'd love to go back to straight contemporaries again. Although I love my vamps too.

Jane-
I haven't experienced Madi Gras. I think that would be too wild for me. And I'm pretty wild. ;)

Kathy Love said...

mshellion-
I'm so pleased that you think The Impalers idea is a cool one.

And as far as pirates, I've heard that Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop is a very cool bar to hang out at. I have to admit I haven't made it there yet. But one day.

Jeanne (Duchess!)-
It's so good to chat with you! I'm glad things went well with Kate.

Thanks for the praise of The Impalers. We hope they get a following. They are very talented, and very charming. Sure to win over readers--we hope.

p226-
Vampire research is so fascinating. I love reading about vampire lore in all different countries. Very interesting.

I'm researching voodoo and hoodoo that the moment. That's very, very interesting.

cheriej-
The coffins sound great. Erin and I gave the vampire guys flasks shaped like coffins for performing at Heather Graham's con. We had The Impalers engraved on them. They were a huge hit. Although flasks might be inappropriate for the general population.

And Erin-
I didn't say anything on here to you, because I've already been on the phone with you, like, three times today. LOL!

Gillian Layne said...

Kathy, I just read your call story, and you know, luck may have had something to do with it, but wow, I'd say some serious talent played a big part as well. And kuddos to you for just telling her the truth and having it work out for you!

catslady said...

Great call story and I think that's quite an original promotional idea! As to cities, there are so many - New Orleans, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Paris, Amsterdam, and my hometown Pittsburgh - really lol. It's got a lot to offer and still has that friendly hometown atmosphere (although it has gotten some bad raps).

doglady said...

I have to agree with Gillian! Luck may have been with you, Kathy, but then so was some really terrific talent and a voice that grabbed Kate Duffy and wouldn't let go. Okay, I have GOT to check out the Impalers!

Stacy S said...

Congrats on the new release! It sounds like a great book.

Anna Campbell said...

Kathy, what a fab call story. I LURV call stories! Wow, selling your first book on a partial was such a vote of confidence in you! Congratulations!

Hope you enjoy the green monster. I was very lucky that in my mid-20s, I had time and opportunity to spend two years in Europe, and six months of that was just travelling around. It's funny, at the time I imagined I'd get back to a lot of places but real life tends to get in the way. Oh, well, one day! I look back now and think what a luxury that was.

Cassondra said...

Hi Kathy!

Sorry I'm late to the party, but welcome to the lair!

My city would by New York. Fell in love with it and I have to admit I was completely surprised. Never expected to like it. Never wanted to go there in fact.

I went for some volunteer work and was hooked by the city and its people. Go back now every chance I get. I think it's the energy of the place.

I haven't been to N'awlins yet, but I want to go.

Unknown said...

I love your books!!!!!


st augustine fla
i fell in love with , when i was 18
only got to go back a year later, but thats my dream

hrdwrkdmom aka Dianna said...

OMG, ANOTHER book on my must have list, little did I know when I first strolled into the lair I was beginning a journey into romance wonderland.

Wendy said...

Love the except, I've read it twice now. Kathy, I want more! LOL.