Dare to Be Dazzling!

by Anna Campbell

It's my great pleasure to introduce new author Tessa Dare, the overall winner of Avon's FanLit contest in 2006. I was a FanLit groupie which is how Tessa and I met. Her debut book, which sounds like a complete delight, is called GODDESS OF THE HUNT and it comes out from Ballantine in August 2009 as part of a back to back release of a trilogy.

Tessa, congratulations on your amazing success. Could you tell us something about your writing journey to this point?

Thank you, Anna! And thanks to all the Banditas for welcoming me to your lovely lair. I’m so honored to be invited, especially because my writing journey is still in its early stages. My books won’t be on the shelf for more than a year yet. As I told you a few months ago, it feels like I’ve got a long road to publication ahead of me, and my odometer’s reading 000003. Maybe by now it’s 000019. Several months ago, I was looking at a website of a children’s book author (I hesitate to give his name, lest his tender-aged readers google it and find my own completely inappropriate books instead) but his advice to young writers went something like this: if you want to be a published writer, you should, of course, write—every day, if possible. But you should also try very hard—every day, if possible—to be lucky. And that is how I would describe my writing journey thus far. I’ve worked very hard (and continue to work hard) to write good books, but I also tried very hard to be lucky. I quit a paying job to write, forced my shy, introverted self out of my comfort zone, and followed up every contact, lead, and nibble of interest. In the end, it paid off—I got very, very lucky. I had the help of some brilliant people in making my book the best it could be, I found a wonderful agent, and she got me an amazing three-book deal that surpassed my wildest dreams.

Tessa, that was amazingly brave to give up your day job! Kudos to you! Now, we in the Bandita lair love call stories. Could you please share yours with us?

Gee. I’m never quite sure how to answer that question, because for me “the call” was stretched out over a couple weeks. Last summer, I signed with my wonderful agent, Helen Breitwieser, and in early fall she sent GODDESS OF THE HUNT out on submission. After several very quiet, very tense (on my end!) weeks, during which my primary activities were checking my cellphone charge and refreshing my inbox, one day she called me to let me know about two different offers she’d received, and to say that a third editor was interested, and we’d be going to auction the following Monday. So that was an extremely exciting call! I remember, I was still reeling when I emailed my CPs, and the subject line was something like this: “OMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!” And then shortly thereafter, there was another call: oops! Monday’s a holiday, so we’re pushing back the auction to Tuesday. Then there was the call that another editor was interested and conferring with colleagues, so the auction would be on Wednesday. Then there were some other calls and delays on Wednesday and Thursday, and the upshot was that the auction did not wrap up until Friday.

And in between these calls were about 83 emails, and lots of long, aimless walks with my children in the stroller and my cellphone at the ready, and absolutely no sleep. I was running on coffee fumes. Then on Friday, my agent called me to tell me Ballantine had won the auction, and after an hour or so of rapturous squeeing and phoning and emailing, I hurried off to complete some of the many errands I’d been putting off all week. And that’s when I actually missed "The Call” from my new editor. *shakes head* But I still have her voicemail saved! And all those 83 emails.

It was an extremely surreal week, and I’m still pinching myself months later. I happened to hit the market at just the perfect time, when interest in new historicals was spiking. Like I said, I got very, very lucky. But my most memorable moment was not actually a call. It was the day I took my signed Random House contract to the post office—the same post office where I’d taken so many contest entries and submissions to be mailed over the past year. That’s when it became real, when I finally felt safe to tell myself, “I did it. I’m a professional novelist.” I was shaking and almost in tears.

Great call story, Tessa! GODDESS OF THE HUNT, your first book, comes out in 2009. Please give us a thumbnail sketch of the story.

It starts something like this. Lucy Waltham has spent eight autumns as “one of the boys”, fishing, shooting, and admiring her brother’s rakishly charming friend. When the object of her adoration plans to marry another woman, Lucy vows to snag him first. She enlists the assistance of Jeremy Trescott, the Earl of Kendall--a jaded man with a troubled past and very little patience for his friend’s troublesome sister. He’s always kept Lucy at arm’s length--until the night she throws herself straight into his arms, and suddenly the girl he’s always ignored is the woman he can’t forget. And that’s just the first chapter. I haven’t even gotten to the near-drownings, riots, or hot interludes in wardrobes. You can read a longer blurb and excerpt on my website.
What else do you have in store for readers?

Well, GOTH is the first in a back-to-back trilogy of Regency-set historicals, meaning the three books will be released in consecutive months (currently set for Aug/Sep/Oct 09). So if you like GODDESS OF THE HUNT, you won’t have to wait long to read books two and three: SURRENDER OF A SIREN, and the book I’m tentatively calling A LADY OF PERSUASION. All three are sexy, funny, romantic, and fun.

Can you describe your writing routine for us?

Hmm, Anna, I’m imagining you mean “routine” as in “orderly pattern of behavior”. But in the Dare household, the only “routine” we have resembles a circus act. Picture me walking the highwire all day, while my two young children (the darelings) alternately take the parts of clowns, acrobats, and snarling lions. Inevitably, there is popcorn strewn on the floor. Then when the strong man, Mr. Dare, comes within shouting distance, I sort of stuff the darelings into the cannon and shoot them off to him. If executed perfectly, this “routine” allows me to escape with my laptop to a café for a few hours of writing. And yes, we do it all without a net.

The Banditas met through a contest (the 2006 Golden Heart) and I met you through a contest (Avon FanLit). Clearly contests have a lot going for them. Do you have any words of wisdom on writing contests that you’d like to share with us?

Well, I certainly cannot claim the sort of contest success the Banditas have enjoyed! I did enter a handful of contests with GOTH. I won a few and bombed in a few, but absolutely the best prizes I’ve taken away from any contest experience are friends and mentors. I met my fabulous critique partners and made dozens of friends through FanLit, and other contests (even ones I didn’t final in) put me in contact with published authors who’ve been wonderful sources of inspiration and advice. I know I don’t have to tell the Banditas what great networking opportunities can come out of writing contests. However, when people ask me about contests, I try to caution against using contests as a substitute for querying and submitting manuscripts. I received two requests for my full manuscript from final judges in contests I’d entered in the spring of 2007: both came after the book sold in October. So if you wait around for contest results, you could be letting other opportunities slip by.

Have any other writers influenced you? What are your favorite romance novels?

I would not be writing historical romance novels today if it were not for my love of Jane Austen. Her novels are so abundant in brilliance and so heartbreakingly few in number! I eventually turned to Regency-set historicals as a way to keep satisfying my yen for delicious wit and period romance, and then I started writing my own. My first attempts to write historical romance were actually PRIDE AND PREJUDICE fanfiction, which I’ve blogged about recently and written about in the April issue of Romance Writers Report. In the historical romance subgenre, some of my favorite authors are Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, Loretta Chase, Julie Anne Long, Elizabeth Hoyt, Laura Lee Guhrke, and on and on from there… As you can probably gather, my preferences tend toward light, witty comedies, although I like to mix it up every once in a while with a dark, atmospheric historical or a snappy contemporary.

Tell us five quirky facts about Tessa Dare.

1. I’m phobic about being trapped underwater. I love the surface of it – sailing, snorkelling, swimming—but scuba diving, no way. 2. Ironically enough, it’s water that gets me going again when I feel “trapped” in my writing. If I’m stuck on a scene, I go wash dishes. Usually, by the time I’m done, I’ve figured my scene out. 3. I live in a 1922 bungalow – plenty of cute built-in bookshelves, but no dishwasher. 4. We had a dishwasher hookup installed a few years ago, but still haven’t bought one. Because that would involve shopping, and I hate shopping. And then how would I get unstuck when a scene’s giving me fits? 5. My grandmother (who does have a dishwasher) still has my first “book” in her filing cabinet– a sort of epic Cinderella tale written over a holiday visit, entitled “Martha the Cranberry”.

Tessa has some important questions to ask visitors to the lair:

Do you own a dishwasher? Are you happy with it? Care to recommend any particular makes or models? Obviously, contests are one way for aspiring authors to go about “trying very hard to be lucky”. I’m curious to know what other methods the Banditas have found successful. Oh, and if anyone has advice for me on how to spend the coming year as I wait for my books to hit the shelves—please fire away! She has very generously offered a $20 Amazon voucher to one lucky commenter!

Wasting Time

by Jo Robertson


Readers, I apologize for re-publishing this post, but since I had to pull it early a few weeks ago, I decided to use it again.

When I was a wife and mother, being a strong Type-A kind of woman, I used to become annoyed every time I saw my young husband resting or lazing around.

Reading a newspaper, professional journal, or watching sports on TV. What a waste of time!

My life was filled with deadlines. Morning dishes done before lunch rolled around. Diapers washed and dried before the stack of clean ones dwindled to nothing. Toys strewn around the house picked up before Daddy walked in the door from school.

Who had time to waste engaging in such frivolous activities as reading a book?

Or watching television.

Exercising.

Or, heaven forbid, relaxing in a hot tub scented with lavender bubbles.

One day I came home from the grocery store to find a note clipped to the refrigerator.

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

What??!!

Wasted time is wasted time, right? How dare my husband imply that some wasted time was okay and some not.

Several decades later I understood the truth of that little slogan.

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

Listening to music with no distractions.

Writing in your journal.

Reading your favorite author.

Painting something other than the walls of your house.

Pruning the roses, not because they're as scraggly as Rip Van Winkle's beard, but because you enjoy their gentle fragrance.

Sitting in the glider on the back patio watching the birds chatter by the fence.

Gazing into the fire, feeling the heat on your face.

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

Don’t get me wrong. A Type-A person doesn’t easily evolve into a laid-back, easy-going Type-B one. I still move at warp speed to complete even the most menial tasks. I still eat so fast you’d think I was ending a week-long hunger strike. I still rush, not stroll, around the mall when shopping.

But occasionally, I waste time.

It’s a grand feeling.

What do you do to “waste time,” renew your spirits, rejuvenate your energies. What’s your particular unique "wasted time"?

Guilty Pleasures

by Susan Seyfarth

So something really extraordinary happened to me yesterday. I got fan mail. Sort of.

I'm what we call an AYU in this business: an As Yet Unpublished. This makes it tough to get fan mail. (It also makes it tough to get hate mail, so there's the silver lining, I guess.) Anyway, one of the women who judged my manuscript Money, Honey for this year's Golden Heart contest emailed to say she'd been pulling for it to final because she'd loved reading the partial so much. This just blew me away. First because, wow, what a nice thing to say. But second because nobody was ever supposed to love Money, Honey but me.

Without going into a lot of excruciating detail, let's just say that I wrote MH during a particularly difficult phase of my life & as a result, the book is a little...um...dark. It's not full of serial killers or child molesters or dog kickers or anything like that. Heaven forfend. It's just got a really broody, pessimistic, emotionally closed off hero with a well-deserved criminal record. He's hot as hell, yes, but good boyfriend material? Warm & fuzzy? Fully reformed & legitimately employed? Not so much. He's difficult. Prickly. Dangerous. And maybe not in a good way.

And the heroine? Well. I gave her a backstory so viciously complicated & emotionally scarring that even my amazingly supportive critique partner said, "She can't have lived through that & turned out even remotely normal."

Did I listen? Did I fix things? I did not. I wrote the damn book my own damn way & sent it off to the contest circuit where it got duly slaughtered. I shoved it under the bed where it belonged & figured I'd written the fabled Book of My Heart. You know the one that nobody will ever love but you, but you're somehow compelled to write anyway? The story you're longing to tell that has absolutely no commercial viability?

When Money, Honey hit the finals, I was stunned. It was like the universe had suddenly decided to reward me for indulging my quirks instead of sending the Rejection Express steaming through my mailbox every day. This was unprecedented. I ought to go nuts while the window of opportunity was open, right? So I started thinking about things I secretly enjoy that I don't widely publicize. I polled my friends about their guilty pleasures. I quizzed my family. Here (in no particular order & without attribution to protect the innocent) is what I discovered we love but won't necessarily admit to:

1) Smokin' hot anti-heros with a razor-sharp edge. Doesn't hurt if they're really, really rich & just the tiniest bit cruel. Remember James Spader from Pretty in Pink? Yummers. (Okay, I'll admit it. That one's mine.)

2) Wine Coolers. Hello, high school. And yet, on a really hot summer's evening? Admit it--a Bartles & Jaymes can go down pretty smooth.

3) Cheap Trick/Journey. This was a two way tie . I mean, come on. We all love these bands but nobody will own up to it. Sure, we all crank up the volume when we stumble across their songs on the radio, but who'll admit to having the CD in the car? (Okay, I will. I love me some Cheap Trick.)

4) Trash TV. A show called "Plastic Surgery: Before & After" seemed to come up in conversation a lot. Wife Swap came up pretty often, too. I haven't seen these ones, but I have a well publicized addiction to People magazine & Perez Hilton's celebrity gossip site, so I have no room to act superior. People also admitted to loving Las Vegas, various soap operas, 90210 & Dawson's Creek. (That last one was mine. I'm not ashamed. I loved Pacey.)

5) Insulting good food with cheap condiments. Tartar sauce on a $50 fish filet at a fancy restaurant. Mayo on fries. Ketchup on steak. I'll admit to a predilection for cheap ice cream. You can keep your Ben & Jerry's. Hang on to your Haagen Daaz. Scoop me up a big fat bowl of plain ol' vanilla from a $3 family sized tub. Squirt on the Hershey's & I'm there.

So how about you? If the universe really IS rewarding us this week for indulging our private quirks, now isn't the time to hold back! What do you love that you hide? And reading romance doesn't count. Not in the Lair. :-)

Same But Different

by Suzanne Welsh
As a mother I've said to my kids I love you the same, but different. (How many of us have said that?) Well it's true. Take my girls for example. Both my daughters are singers, artists and readers. I take great pride in all this, but swear I had little do with their development other than pass on some genes. While they're similar in their talents, a fact that still amazes their father and me, they are unique in their styles.

Music: Both girls have been soloists in school and church groups since elementary school. Alison is the soprano who loves blues and rock-a-billy these days. I think the mournful guitar riffs of the blues speak to that deep part of her soul, while the other is just plain fun. Lyndsey loves Christian Rock and punk. The girl can sing soprano and alto and has an ear for harmonies like you wouldn't believe. As their mother, I could listen to both of them sing forever. And given the chance they still perform for audiences in blues bars or churches.

Art: Since they drew their first crayon compositions on their bedroom walls, they've always been drawing. As they've grown their art has evolved into their own styles.

Alison's is very realistic. As you can see by these examples, she likes to draw people in their quieter, more introspective selves. She works with inkings and pastels on large sheets of drawing papers. I love the intensity, the raw emotions they touch inside. Alison is all self taught, well except for that one semester in college. And recently has been showing her work in galleries in the Deep Ellum Art district.

Lyndsey is a lover of the manga style of art. A very vibrant and fun style, full of surprises. She's had more classes to develop her understanding of art, but her style is strictly her own. She sketches on paper, scans it into the computer, then does the coloring by computer. Which given the details and special effects, you can see aren't easy. Each and every picture she develops amazes me and makes me smile. The one above of the girl with the glowing shield uses special light effects. The one below with the hands was a painting she did for a charity. And currently she's working with a Christmas Card company doing fun cards.

Books: Here is where I had a little influence in their tastes. Well, okay maybe a lot. From the moment they were born, I read to them, and they always saw me reading. I encouraged them to read, took them to the bookstore on a regular basis. And when I started writing, they learned how much I love the romance genre. Alison is all over the spectrum with her reading choices, Ann Rand, Sylvia Plath, Sherrylin Kenyon, Elizabeth Lowell, and anything with fantasy, Tolkein and J K Rowling. Lyndsey loves sweeter romances, such as Debbie Macomber; Kinley MacGregor, especially the old Pirate books; and fantasy books such as Gena Showalter and Cathy Spangler.

So what does all this have to do with a romance writing blog? Simple, just as I love my daughters the same but different, so do I love the many subgenres of romance. I love to be whisked off to a new dimension with space heroes and vampires. Give me a good psychic contemporary suspense to read late at night when the house is creepy silent. Give me a historical that makes me yearn for years gone by. Make me laugh, make me cry, make me go YUMMO at the heroes.

And sadly, I write the same way. I love to step back in time and create my version of history. I love creating the American contemporary small town and all the zany characters. I love to have the good guys defeat the bad guys and get the girl. Perhaps someday I'll find my one niche, but for now, I love them all...the same, but different.

So how about you? Is there anything you're so passionate about you can't see any other style? Or are you like me, a bit of a smorgasbord reader/writer?

NANCY HADDOCK AND LA VIDA VAMPIRE

by Suzanne Welsh
My friend and brand new paranormal author, Nancy Haddock, and I are sitting at the Crescent Beach Café in St.
Augustine, Florida. It’s early evening and we’re watching the waves from the Atlantic slap against the beach while we sip our coladas. Mine is the standard piña colada with all the pineapple and coconut, Nancy prefers a Kahlua colada. I’m here to chat with Nancy about her first book, LA VIDA VAMPIRE.

Nancy, it’s a thrill for me to be here with you to talk about LA VIDA VAMPIRE. And mega-congrats on the "4&1/2 star" review from Romantic Times magazine!! I know you've been writing a long time before you got "the call". How long was it? And how did you keep your motivation going?

How long was it? If that's not a straight line, I don't know what is!
Okay, seriously, I was a member of RWA for 23 years and some odd days before I got The Call. However, I'd been working on novels for several years when I learned about RWA and joined. Now, before I switched to novels, I wrote two children's picture books with a wonderful partner, and wrote teleplays. Nothing sold, but the hope was alive. I think that sums it up for motivation, too. No matter what the set backs, the hope remained alive.

I remember how excited all of your friends were to hear you’d gotten “the call”. (Lots of screaming occurred in various states!) The Bandits love "Call" stories. Can you tell us yours?

Sure! It shows what a dork I can be!

I had pitched LA VIDA VAMPIRE to Cindy Hwang at the Dreamin' in Dallas conference in 2006, and decided to follow up on the submission in late January 2007. I phoned (because what's the worse that can happen, right?), and spoke with Cindy's assistant, Leis Pederson. Leis confirmed the submission was there, but also invited me to resubmit. I did, and after the fact, a friend told me Leis was beginning to take a few authors of her own and that she was from Texas.

So, I put the submission issue aside, and was working along on another project when the phone rang on February 21st at about 11:30 a.m. I answered without checking the caller ID and heard, "Hi, Nancy. This is Leis Pederson of Berkley."

DORK ALERT 1: I replied with something like,"Well, hi, Leis. I hear you're a Texas girl. Where abouts are you from?" We did about five minutes on Texas, and maybe the worse dork part is that I didn't yet suspect why she was calling.

The lovely Leis then switched the subject to ask if I had an agent. I told her I didn't yet, why?

DORK ALERT 2: WHY? Did I think she was taking a poll?

Leis then said, "We want to make you an offer."

Houston, we have brain ignition. Amazement, excitement, the joy of "at last," and even a touch of disbelief zipped through me in a matter of triple-time heartbeats. But, baby, I hadn't been a member of RWA forever 20 years for nothin'. My business voice kicked right in, told me to sit down and take the information, and celebrate later. When Leis came to the end of the offer, I thanked her, and told her I'd like to contact an agent before I gave her a final answer. I then asked, "Since you've made The Call, does that mean you'll be my editor?" The answer: Yes.

Well, then I screamed a little -- though I tried to hold the cordless unit far enough away from my mouth so as not to deafen ... my new editor. There were so very many times I thought I'd never hear that phrase come out of my mouth, and now, it had happened.

After I disconnected with Leis, I stood trembling in my office, wanting to share the news with my newly retired hubby, yet almost fearful of finding I'd just had an extremely vivid vision. I finally ran up the stairs to his office and broke the news. His expression was priceless, and the man who had encouraged me all this time hugged me until I thought my ribs would crack. He began calling family while I wavered between shock and getting down to the business of finding an agent. Oh, yeah, and I pinched myself for days.

(Grinning at Nancy), One of the perks we get doing these interviews is we get to read the books before everyone else. LA VIDA VAMPIRE was a great story. It's set in St. Augustine, Florida. What made you want to use this setting?

Everything! St. Augustine was simply the natural and logical place to set LA VIDA, because I knew right away that the main the character was a native of the city. Plus, the city in all its facets inspires me, and has since I first visited here in 1989. That's not to say I won't write stories in another setting, but here I'm surrounded by over 400 years of history, a wide variety of architecture, the arts, and the beaches – not to mention surfers! St. Augustine is my corner of paradise.

LA VIDA is a witty, sassy story in first person, (not my usual cup of tea, however you so sold me on it, but I already told you that). Tell us about it!

First, thank you for the high compliment! I'm tickled you enjoyed the first person point of view!

LA VIDA VAMPIRE is the story of Francesca Marinelli (Cesca), a vampire who was born and raised in St. Augustine, then buried for more than 200 years. By the time she's unearthed, everything has changed -- and vampires are a protected species. Cesca she vows to make her new afterlife as normal as possible and is succeeding, until a vampire-hating stalker, a shape-shifter, and a killer bring chaos and death. Suddenly Cesca is a murder suspect, and is forced to team up with vampire slayer Deke Saber to solve the case. Along the way, Cesca must embrace her vamp powers. If she doesn't, she could be the next victim.

(Taking another long drink of my colada), Cesca isn't your typical vampire. What quirks did you give her, and why?

You know, Cesca pretty much gave herself the quirks, then I figured out how to use them. For instance, she'd always been a part day-walker and loved the beach and ocean. It was a natural that she'd learn to surf. Her reluctance to use her vamp powers stems from her not wanting to be woo-woo vampiric, so she learns to drive rather than using vamp speed. Now her quirk about blood? That came out of the blue, but was a perfect thread in the story.

OMG then there's the hero, Deke. (fanning myself here). What makes him tick, and any particular movie star you had in mind when you wrote about him?

Deke Saber slays the monsters who prey on the innocent. It's that simple, and it's not. He's ready to believe the worst of any vampire, and yet Cesca scrambles his radar. She so unvampish, so innocent and trusting, it makes Saber nuts. There are things I haven't revealed about Saber yet, but he is delicious! (grins) As for having a star in mind when I wrote him, I didn't. I had a catalog picture, and Saber grew while I stared at the cutout and played "What if."

Besides being a vampire book, there's another paranormal element in this book? (We exchange a conspiratorial wink.) Care to fill us in?

Grins, Suz! Yes, there is an element of magick with an old wizard, and with two magical shape-shifters (as opposed to lycanthropes). Both were born when a spell the wizard cast long-ago went haywire. One of the shifters is Cesca's long-lost friend, Triton, and the other becomes her protector.

Not to give anything away, do you think there will be more books with Cesca and Saber or just more books with the vampire/magick theme in it?

The second book in the series follows Cesca and Saber as they unravel a new mystery and battle a new -- or not so new -- evil. It will probably be released in Spring 2009, and I hope there will be more to follow, of course. The magick element also continues, and I see it building in successive books in the series. I hope there are more books, anyway. I have a blast with these characters!

(Nancy and I finish off our drinks and as we signal the waiter to bring us another she leans back and eyes me with a sly smile.)

Let me ask your readers something. What attracts you to books with continuing characters, and what turns you off about them?

Nancy has a fun website at http://nancyhaddock.com/, where you can play, “Where’s Cesca” for a prize package. She also has a signed copy of LA VIDA VAMPIRE for one lucky commentor on today’s blog.

Makers of Imaginary Realms

by Nancy Northcott

"Get your head out of the clouds."
"Where were you--Mars?"
"Act like you have some sense."

Have you ever heard the above applied to you or someone in your vicinity? Usually a dreamer? A reader or writer? Readers tend to be thinkers and, at times, dreamers. Writers tend to be both. Sometimes the people around us don't get it, which can make for difficult moments. Yet the realms of our choice remain attractive havens.

During the last month, three people died who shaped very different imaginary realms. All left lasting imprints in the worlds they shaped. Most familiar to romance readers, of course, will be the wonderful Phyllis A. Whitney. Most of us probably met her through her young adult novels, but she also wrote adult and juvenile mysteries. Whitney was honored with a special nod to her body of work at last year's Romance Writers of America national conference in Dallas. She was a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America for lifetime achievement. Her website, http://www.phyllisawhitney.com/, notes that her books were published in more than thirty countries. Last year, her 1956 novel about the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, The Trembling Hills, was reprinted as a classic in the Hodder Great Reads line in the United Kingdom. Two of her other novels, Daughter of the Stars and The Singing Stones, were recently reissued, and Amazon.com lists several of her books as available.

According to the obituary in the New York Times, Whitney's last novel,Amethyst Dreams, was published in 1997, when she was 94. A quick check of the paper's archive reveals that she had numerous titles on the paperback bestseller lists. Whitney lived to the grand age of 104.

Way back in 1974, two friends found a way to turn the perceived weaknesses of dreaming and imagination into strengths and to create a community of the imagination. They made these traits not only acceptable but the currency of the realm in a kingdom called Dungeons and Dragons. Their names were Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Gygax died last month. I'm not a gamer, so we won't be exploring that in much detail, but I am a dreamer, a reader, and a writer. So I'd like to take a minute and tip my hat to Mr. Gygax's memory.

All of us have particular kinds of imaginary realms we prefer. I like knights and dragons and swords and spaceships and women who take the driver's seat. Any combination or version of the above is acceptable. Maybe that's because I grew up in a culture that put women on television mainly to assist or to be rescued by the hero. Even poor Wonder Woman often needed saving by Steve Trevor. At the same time, I consumed a steady diet of Superman and Batman and Doom Patrol and King Arthur and Greek mythology (I wanted to be an archaeologist until I found out they dug up bones--I know, Suz and Joan, I'm a wimp--but that's for another day).

In Gary Gygax's realm, from what I understand, the dwarf or the thief or the poverty-stricken wanderer stands as good a chance of being the hero as the knight or the king does. It's an open realm, embracing all comers. How could geeks and nerds not love it? In Sharyn McCrumb's wonderful novel about fandom, Bimbos of the Death Sun, her protagonist uses a D and D game to force a murderer to reveal himself.

The New York Times obituary of Gygax, on March 5, called Dungeons and Dragons "a bridge between the noninteractive world of books and films and the exploding interactive video game industry." The article goes on to quote Gygax as saying the value of the game lay not in victory or defeat but in the imaginative experience. In a column in the New York Times on March 9, Adam Rogers credits Gygax with laying the foundation for all modern gaming. Online games apparently (as I said, I'm no expert) use the principles created for D and D. The popularity of gaming, along with fantasy, science fiction, and adventure stories, is a tribue, I think, to the power of imagination. Gary Gygax left behind thousands of people who may not know his name but know his work and its offshoots in depth. Many loving them fanatically. That isn't a bad legacy.

Finally, I sadly noted the passing last week of Sir Arthur C. Clarke. While he's best known as the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, his achievements ranged far wider. According to the Clarke Foundation website, http://www.clarkefoundation.org/, his first short story, "Rescue Party," appeared in Astounding Science in 1946. He wrote numerous other short stories, novels, and nonfiction articles and books. He is credited with the idea for communication satellites. According to the obituary in The New York Times, geosynchronous positioning of satellites has been designated a "Clarke Orbit" by the International Astrononical Union.

I heard Clarke speak my senior year in high school, at a convocation sponsored by a local television station. All of us trooped into the auditorium expecting to hear about 2001. Instead, he talked about the role of science in the world and the development of the communications satellite. I was hooked. I went out and bought all of his fiction I could find. I still remember a poignant story called "The Star," about a Jesuit priest on an exploratory mission that finds the remains of a civilization destroyed by a supernova. His calculations reveal that the exploding star was visible on Earth as the Star of Bethlehem.

Clarke's interests weren't confined to space and its technology. He also explored the oceans. Dolphins figure prominently in a couple of his novels. In his autobiography, The View From Serendip, he discusses moving to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), where he spent the remainder of his life, for the diving. According to the Times obituary, diving was the closest he could come to the weightlessness of space. My favorite saying of his, one quoted in that obituary, was "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Magic experiences were what he gave his legion of readers. In 1998, he received a knighthood in recognition of his many accomplishments.

In their different ways, Phyllis A. Whitney, Gary Gygax, and Sir Arthur C. Clarke created imaginary worlds that gave dreamers a haven. Perhaps even more important is the fact that playing in those havens stimulated the imaginations of so many people who went on to create imaginary realms of their own, realms where dreaming is a noble vocation that keeps the world in motion.

What's your favorite imaginary haven? Has one ever spurred your creativity?

Has there ever been anyone in your life who didn't "get" it? How did you deal with that?


We're still celebrating Golden Heart and RITA finalists in the lair today. Bandita GH finalists are Susan Seyfarth with TWO manuscripts in Contemporary Single Title, The Princess Project and Money, Honey, and KJ Howe in Romantic Suspense with One Shot, Two Kills. Our buddy Doglady also finaled in the GH with Lost in Love in Regency Historical. In the RITA, our Anna Campbell took TWO of the slots in Regency Historical with Claiming the Courtesan and Untouched. Yesterday's blogger, Maureen Child, finaled in the RITA novella category with Christmas Cravings. Yay, all! Your manuscripts wowed five judges, and that's no mean feat.

If I've missed anyone, please sing out. We want to celebrate everyone's achievements in this banner week.

Author Maureen Child is in The Lair!!

By Kate

We all know that writing contests can change your life – and not just by getting your work seen by editors and agents. Lasting friendships often develop among contest participants, probably because of all that shared pain and suffering we experience. As 2006 Golden Heart finalists, we Banditas were fortunate to develop a special bond that led to the creation of this blog. And a few years ago, through another contest, I was lucky enough to meet a judge who introduced me to Maureen Child, and an amazing and beautiful friendship was born.

I can honestly say that no one has taught me more about the business of publishing and no one has been more valuable in terms of improving my own writing style and process than my friend Maureen.

But enough about me! Let's meet this amazing writer!

With over 100 books and counting, Maureen Child is as prolific as she is versatile and talented, and she’s got five prestigious RITA nominations to prove it. She’s written Western historical paranormals under the name Kathleen Kane, and one of those, A POCKETFUL OF PARADISE, was made into the TV movie, THE SOUL COLLECTOR. Maureen has written warm and witty contemporary romances for St. Martin’s Press and she writes short, sexy romances for Silhouette Desire. Silhouette Senior Editor Melissa Jeglinski says, “Maureen Child is one of Desire’s most prolific and best-selling authors” and suggests that if you want to write for Desire, you should read Maureen Child.

This month, the second book in Maureen’s outrageously funny and very sexy Demon Duster series, A FIEND IN NEED, hits the bookstores and she’s here to talk about it. Welcome to the Lair, Maureen!

Maureen: Hi Kate! Hi, Banditas! Thanks for the warm welcome. It’s great to be here—and Kate, I’m just as glad you entered the OCC contest that year! Don’t know what I’d do without you!

Kate: Thanks, Maureen. Okay, to bring everyone up to date, in your first Demon Duster book, MORE THAN FIENDS, Cassidy Burke learns that she’s a hereditary Demon Duster. Soon she’s in training to kill demons but somehow gets intimately involved with one very hot, incredibly sexy Demon, then ultimately goes head-to-head with an all-powerful evil Demon Judge who’s made the mistake of kidnapping Cassidy’s daughter. Whew! Can you give us a sneak peek into book two, A FIEND IN NEED?

Maureen: Ah, life in La Sombra ... It’s been a month since Cassidy’s world got turned upside down, poor woman. And it’s not getting any easier. Her daughter’s father, Logan buys the house across the street from her—having him popping in and out all the time is not something Cass is looking forward to—her daughter Thea’s decided to give up being a math genius and become of all things ... a dreaded cheerleader. And finally, a gorgeous Faery arrives on her doorstep and tells her she’s the only one who can save him! Busy week.

Kate: Busy is the word for it. And by the way, Brady might just be the sexiest Faery ever. And he can cook! What’s not to love? So how in the world did you dream up these fabulous characters, especially Cassidy? Since you write such wild and funny paranormals, I guess my real question is [don’t groan] where do you get your out-of-this-world ideas?

Maureen: I’m groaning ... Actually, the best ideas are in the housewares department at Target—right behind the plastic tub aisle, bottom shelf. Okay, okay. Truth is, ideas aren’t a problem. I was the kid who was always in trouble for staring out a window during class time. Now, being paid to stare out windows ... oh, and type, is a great revenge.

Coming up with Cassidy was the easiest thing ever. She’s so much like me, it’s scary. She talks like me, eats like me ... she’s tidier than I am though and as far as I know, there aren’t any demons in my family. Although ... there is that one uncle ...

Kate: Snork! One thing I love about Cassidy—and your writing in general—is the humor you instill in your characters, especially your heroines. Cassidy is hilarious. There were too many laugh-out-loud scenes to mention them all, but I’ve got to say that your Cassidy eats more than any heroine I’ve ever read of. I guess demon-dusting burns up the calories, but I’ve got to confess I was starving by the time I finished the first book. And I fell on the floor laughing after reading the scene with her and her out-of-control washing machine. Seriously, do you have any words of wisdom for us writers when it comes to writing humor?

Maureen: Thanks for that, Kate! I try to get a real laugh out of my readers and when it even makes ME laugh, I know I’m on the right track. Sarcasm is my go-to humor. It’s just part of my world and good thing I like it so much, since my whole family are artistes in this area!

As for the eating, Cassidy, much like me, is a nibbler. She grazes all day. Her favorites, and mine, are Hershey’s Caramel Kisses and Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Pop Tarts. I like seeing a heroine chow down in times of stress, relaxation, boredom, happiness ... you get the idea. And the washing machine?? Well, who hasn’t idly wondered if ...

Kate: Hey now, this is a family blog.

Maureen: Sorry! But sometimes a washing machine is just a washing machine. Anyway, to write funny, you’d better enjoy reading funny. Find some really good, funny books in the genre you want to write and read ‘em all straight through. Hey, it’s research! And it’ll put you in the right mood to find your own funny bone.

Kate: I mentioned your versatility earlier. How do you switch gears and move from writing a 90,000-word hilarious paranormal one day to writing a 50,000-word passionate, sexy Desire the next?

Maureen: The true mother of inspiration is eating. This is how I make my living. As great as writing is, it’s still my job. So there are pages that have to be done, deadlines that have to be met ... and hair that has to be yanked out and tossed into the wind!

I do try to take a day or two off between books. I read whoever’s latest is out, relax a little and get my head out of the finished book and ready to jump into the next one.

Kate: Can you tell us what you’re working on now?

Maureen: Just finishing up a single title funny paranormal for NAL. It’s called BEDEVILED, and according to the good buddy who’s reading it ... it’s pretty funny! (thanks, Kate!)

BEDEVILED is about a woman who accidentally gets doused with the essence of Faery powers when she tries to get a demon to stop devouring her ex-boyfriend. No good deed goes unpunished ... because that faery essence is taking over her body, her life, her world. Soon, she’s got a gorgeous, pirate-looking Fae Warrior telling her that she’s the chosen one, meant to deliver Otherworld from evil Queen Mab—and an ugly, crabby pixie sleeping in her tree when he’s not training her how to use the powers she doesn’t even want.

Oh, and her sister’s been kidnapped. By a Demon? A Faery? Who knows?

And, another exciting thing for me this month is the release of BARGAINING FOR KING’S BABY. It’s the first in a trilogy from Silhouette Desire and it’s out this month, with the other two slated for April and May.

Kate: And I happen to know that BARGAINING FOR KING'S BABY has been number one on the Waldenbooks List for two weeks straight now! Fantastic! Thanks so much for visiting today, Maureen!

Maureen: Thanks for having me. I’m here all the time, though I usually lurk. It’s much brighter when you’re not tucked away in the shadows!

Maureen didn’t mention that her heroine Cassidy owns and operates her own house cleaning business, and as part of her Demon Duster arsenal, Cassidy’s got a liquid spray that vaporizes demons—AND leaves glass shiny and streak-free! Is that the greatest product ever invented or what?

If you could invent your own household product, what would it be and how would it work? And if you have a question for Maureen about her books or writing in general, ask away! TWO lucky commenters will win an autographed copy of A FIEND IN NEED for their very own!

And don't think we've forgotten that today is "The Call" day! We've got our fingers crossed that all our Banditas and friends will receive that phone call telling them that they've finalled in the Golden Heart or RITA contest! If you find out you're a finalist, let us know!! We've got champagne on ice and we're ready to start the party right here, right now!!

CJ Lyons offers promotional LIFELINES!

The doctor is in the house! KJ Howe welcomes talented writer and physician CJ Lyons back to the lair. Remember her incredibly helpful tips on pitching at conferences? This time, she offers sage advice about promotion and branding, lessons she learned while promoting her debut novel, LIFELINES (a must read!).

Title: Practical Promoting in an Impractical World

KJ asked me to talk about practical promoting and what I've learned as a debut author. Hmmm…this might be a very short post!

For me, it's boiled down to knowing myself and my target audience. Or even more importantly, knowing my brand.

A brand is a subliminal promise to your readers—that any book written under this author's name will promise this type of emotional experience.

For example, even though I love to cross genres from women's fiction to suspense to thrillers to romance, every book I write has a theme central to my life: they're all about making a difference, trying to change the world.

Once I realized this fact, my tagline came easily: No One is Immune to Danger

Note that tagline is an emotional concept, not a promise of specifics. I did this on purpose because I knew up front that I didn't want to get locked into writing only medical thrillers. It works with medical thrillers, woman's fiction, romantic suspense, mainstream thrillers, etc. And it reminds the reader that I’m a physician—which is part of my platform or unique selling proposition.

A brand is more than a central theme, more than a tag line, it also includes visual images that evoke the same emotion.

For instance, part of my brand image is that I'm a doctor, so I use a lot of medical imagery on my website. I also use the color red a lot—again, creating an emotional response.

One thing that I wanted for my website was to evoke a response that it was fresh, dynamic, and different than other suspense writers' sites. Subconsciously, this tells a casual viewer that here is a writer who's different than others, willing to take chances, and whose books are also fresh and different.

I checked out as many websites as I could. Many I fell in love with—but they didn't fit my brand and the emotional response I was aiming for.

So instead of a dark background (which 99.9% of mystery, thriller, and suspense writers have) I went with a light background. And I asked my designer to make the images feel more fluid and expansive rather than boxed-in. As if there was a whole new world for visitors to explore.

Other promotional decisions I had to make:

--blog or not? To be successful you need to join a group, build a platform, or blog very often.
--contests? Offering free stuff is a great way to build interest and your mailing list, but it does cost money.
--appearances? Many conferences plan 9-12 months in advance, so if you want to get a speaking gig, you need to plan early.

Again, I based my decisions on my brand. As a doctor, teaching is a natural part of my life, and teachers are noted for making a difference, so volunteering to teach workshops, give keynotes, etc, was an easy fit for my brand.

And this is where I've had the greatest promotional success. I've been invited (ie. paid) to give online classes, live workshops, and keynote speeches all over the country. Fortuitously, many of these offers coincided with LIFELINE's spring release, so my "book tour" is partially paid for already, I have a built in audience, and the signings are arranged by the conference organizers, easing my workload.

If this didn't come naturally to me and fit my brand, I might have passed on some of these opportunities and spent my time and energy doing something else—like maybe blogging. But blogging doesn't come easy to me, so I use my blog as a news update and focus on guest blogging which feels more like teaching to me.

And I guess my final lesson in promoting was: it never hurts to ask. I knew my debut would be as a mass market mid-list general fiction novel. My publisher is very supportive, but was also candid with me up front that we had virtually no promotional budget and that it was pretty much all up to me. BTW, this is the "norm" for 80% of all books published.

But that didn't stop me from asking for things I thought were important. First, I asked for a "real" photo for the cover rather than stock art. After all, the whole idea behind LIFELINES was a "real" doctor writing about "real" events in a "real" ER—or as close as you could get and still be entertaining.

Wow!! Did Berkley ever come through for me there! The art director asked a lot of questions about my characters and then actually hired models for a real photo-shoot in NYC!!! And look at the results—stunning!!!

I also try to ask my audiences if they want to support myself or any of their favorite authors that they try to buy our books the first week they are available. That first week of sales is really the only thing that counts as far as deciding how long a book stays in print or even if there is a next book.

So go out, buy early, buy often! And to reward anyone who wants to buy more than one copy of LIFELINES (hey, it's only $7.99!), I'm hosting a contest: Treat a Friend and Win!

Simply send me copies of receipts showing two purchases of LIFELINES and you'll be entered to win prizes including an iPod Nano! Details on my website along with other contests, at http://www.cjlyons.net/

Thanks for reading!
CJ

KJ: The Banditas really appreciate you stopping by today to share those amazing promotional tips. We wish you all the best with LIFELINES!!! For more information about CJ, her bio is included below. As you can see, she is a very busy, multi-talented woman!

As a pediatric ER doc, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about. CJ loves sharing the secret life of an urban trauma center with readers. She also loves breaking the rules; her debut medical suspense novel, LIFELINES, is cross-genre to the extreme, combining women's fiction with medical suspense with thriller pacing with romantic elements and is told from the point of view of the women of Angels of Mercy's Medical Center. Publisher's Weekly proclaimed LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), "a spot-on debut….a breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller" and Romantic Times made it a Top Pick. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net/

Booty Ahoy!

Firstly, thank you to everyone who made Michelle Buonfiglio's visit such an incredible party. Everyone in the lair had hangovers the next morning! As suits such a fabulous party, I have not one prize but TWO to give away.

The first is courtesy of Michelle and it's an Amazon gift card. The winner of that is our first-time blogger:

Alli!

The second prize is from me and it's a copy of Sizzle, Seduce & Simmer, a collection of short stories and recipes from some of Australia's best romance writers. The winner of that is:

PJ!

Congratulations, girls. Alli, could you please contact Michelle on mbuonfiglio@rbthebook.com and she'll sort out your prize? PJ, could you please contact me on anna@anncampbell.info with your snail mail details? And thanks again to Michelle for a wonderful day in Bloglandia!

The Great Peep Easter Hunt

posted by Donna MacMeans



HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!



Hope the Easter Bunny found your house and left lots of jelly beans and chocolate.



But if he didn't, have no fear. The Romance Bandits are here to help you celebrate the holiday! To this end we've collected a number of those marshmallow delicacies known as "peeps" and have hidden them in a virtual easter hunt.



Before I tell you the rules, please note the Bandit News scroll to the right and the words "Click here to email us!" When you want to send us your answers, please email them via this link and include your contact information. Do NOT post them in the comment section or it will ruin it for the other players. Okay?




The Rules - The clues below represent either 1) a book authored by a bandita or bandita guest or 2) something that has been mentioned in one of our blogs. To make things a little easier, I've included a list - in alphabetical order - of the authors participating in the hunt & the prize they are offering.



The first person to properly match the clues with the appropriate author can choose the prize of their choice. After that, we'll award prizes as the correct answers roll in. When the prizes are gone - they're gone (sorry).


Peep Clues:



1. The peep hides with he
Who is obsessed with large bugs

He just might be 'Lost'


2. You'll find this peep on the dark side.



3. The Romance genre she forsook
When Mystery presented its hook.
Peep's now in the cave
Trying hard to behave
And write the great Bibliophile book

4. This peep shies away from those that would call her "horsewitch," though bewitching she may be.

5. My peep is blonde, female, and wearing combat fatigues for butt-kicking purposes.

6. My peep turned as pink as her corset
Her curves to bare for his lordship,
But the tables were turned
His lessons well learned
Now she's the object of courtship.

7. This little peep had a "hot" time

Hanging with the guys of fire station #1
My, they had big hoses!!






8. What happens when you finally find the peep...and it's two?

9. Why is my peep wearing jammies?

10. Oh, who wrote this peep mad and cranky
So handsome but mother so skanky?
He dashed off to Scotland
That home of kilt plot land
I speak verity - hanky and panky

11. If you look carefully among the antiques
In the Pumpkin Patch store in Boston,
You might find this peep wearing his plaid.

12. This peep rode to Rachel's house
Snug in the saddlebags of a Texas Ranger

13. This peep travels far
and explains it all to you
on another blog

14. There once was a two-year-old girl,
The luckiest in all of the world,
She has a mommy named May-May,
And a Maw-Maw for most days,
But Grammy just loves her blond curls.

15. Ultramarine blue
And Alizarin crimson
Winter sunset sky
Hides my yellow peep
amid Ochre echoes on
barren evening ground

16. This peep is strumming a banjo on her knee.

Wow! Those are some tough clues to crack!! Don't forget - EMAIL your answers with your contact information (otherwise we won't know where to send the prize!). To help you out - here's a list of the participating authors and the prizes they offer:

Jeanne Adams ($10 Starbucks gift card, a Godiva snack and a cover)

Sandy Blair (signed copy of A Highlander For Christmas and a small silver bracelet)

Anna Campbell (signed copy of Claiming the Courtesan)

Kate Carlisle (a $15 Amazon gift certificate)

Caren Crane (a $10 Amazon gift certificate)

Kathynn Dennis (signed copy of Dark Rider, a cover flat and a blue jumping horse keychain)

Tracy Garrett (signed copy of A Touch of Texas)

Joan Kayse (Godiva chocolates)

Donna MacMeans (signed copy of The Education of Mrs. Brimley)

Loucinda McGary (Ghirardelli chocolate)

Cassondra Murray ($5 Barnes & Noble gift card)

Nancy Northcott (a $10 Borders card)

Jo Robertson (a $15 Target card)

Kay Stockham (signed copy of Another Man's Baby)

Tawny Weber (signed copy of Does She Dare?)

Suzanne Welsh (a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card)

Good Luck! and remember EMAIL the answers (but feel free to comment on the blog if you like the game)

Lil' Orphant Annie Remembered

by Caren Crane

A few months back, I was doing research on the internet and some random bit of text reminded me of a poem my father used to read to us when my siblings and I were little. After trying to recall snippets and doing a number of Google searches, I tracked it down: "Lil' Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley. The poem existed long before the cartoon of a similar name (and the cartoon bore no relation to it whatsoever).

Riley was a farm boy and a Hoosier (that's someone from Indiana for those of you outside the USA). He has been called the "people's poet laureate." One thing that impressed me about this poem (and others by Riley) was the country dialect Riley used, which my father recited as if it were written for him. Another was that it was slightly dark and creepy. The refrain was:

"An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!"

When I found the text of the poem on the internet (which is all in the public domain, by the way), I noticed there was a dedication. I believe my father read this sometimes, but hadn't recalled it before I saw it:

"INSCRIBED
WITH ALL FAITH AND AFFECTION
To all the little children: - The happy ones; and sad ones;
The sober and the silent ones; the boisterous and glad ones;
The good ones - Yes, the good ones, too; and all the lovely
bad ones."

That last part made me laugh. We were a rowdy bunch of kids, my siblings and I. I think my father enjoyed us being "the lovely bad ones" at times. My father has been dead for 13 years now and was gone from our lives for many years before he died. My father was not a great man, but he had a wonderful, resonant voice and a marvelous talent for storytelling. I will always remember this poem and the other poems and stories he took time to bring alive for us.

My father gave us the gift of his animated storytelling. I tried to create a similar experience for my own children. My fond hope is that they will pass it along to their own children when they have them. I also hope to give my own stories to the world someday - but that depends on some extra smart editor. *g*

What about you? Is there a special poem, book or story that recalls your childhood? One you heard each night or on special occasions? One that brings memories back on a wave of rhyming couplets? Please share!

Inspiration Under the Golden Arches

posted by Aunty Cindy

Very often, readers and new writers ask those of us who have circled the block a few times and have the completed manuscripts to show for it: Where do you get your ideas?

My usual answer is EVERYWHERE! However, since that might not be terribly helpful to those who seriously do want to know, here's an example of how story ideas can indeed be found EVERYWHERE.

A few days ago while I was out running errands, I stopped in at the lovely Golden Arches for a quick lunch. As I prepared to dunk my first McNugget into my chosen sauce, the lady at the table across from me came over and asked, "Are you going to be here long?"

"As long as it takes me to finish my lunch," I replied. (Obviously I exceed the size limit for the plastic tubes and paraphernalia in the "play yard.")

"Can you please keep an eye on my granddaughter while I use the restroom?" the lady asked, indicating a little girl of about four, who was busily munching a french fry.

I said I would and consumed my own fries and McNuggets while the child swung her legs and kept eating for the entire five minutes her grandmother was gone. However, once I finished and left the place, I was struck by how many possible story ideas presented themselves in my little scenario.

1. The grandmother doesn't return.
2. The grandmother returns only to find me and her granddaughter are (as in the succinct title of the DVD I recently watched) Gone Baby Gone.
3. The grandmother returns and accuses me of abusing the child.
4. While the grandmother is gone, the child shows me her bruises and asks me to protect her from grandma.

I think you get my drift, and I didn't even mention the hunky EMT drinking coffee at a nearby table, nor the homeless man hitting up people for change in the parking lot.

Now you know what I mean when I say ideas are EVERYWHERE, even at your local fast food joint! Who knows, maybe even Dennis Lehane (who wrote the original novel Gone Baby Gone) got ideas under the Golden Arches! Okay, maybe not.

Have you ever found inspiration in an unusual way or place? What about a fast food experience you'd like to share? And be sure to check in on Sunday when we have a Peep Hunt in the Lair (Easter eggs can be so icky if you don't find them all!)

Be Careful What You Wish For

by Beth Andrews

Friday, after lugging in approximately 263 bags of groceries (Seriously. Those of you with teenagers in your home--or if you've ever had teenagers in your home--can feel my pain, can't you?) my daughter told me that while we were gone, Harlequin had called (the joys of caller ID *g*) I'd sent in two proposals just over two weeks ago so I wasn't really expecting my editor to call about them until the end of March or so. Plenty of time, I figured, to get a head start on the first story, just in case my editor wanted to buy it.

When my daughter played the message on the answering machine and we heard my lovely editor tell me she wanted to buy both proposals (she's so great - she was worried I wouldn't get the message in time to call her back and didn't want me to wonder all weekend what she'd wanted *g*) we both screamed and jumped up and down basically gave my husband a heart attack when he struggled through the door with the last of the groceries *g*
I sold two more books! I'm (almost) a multi-published author! My dream of having two stories under contract and writing to a deadline has come true!

What the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks am I supposed to do now??


Now, don't get me wrong. I'm absolutely thrilled to have sold again. And I'm already a good ways into this story and I love the premise and the characters, but every once in a while that annoying voice inside my head whispers, "You can't do it"

I hate that stupid voice.

Good thing I gave up doubt for Lent or else I might be tempted to listen to that voice instead of shoving it out of my head and into the path of a herd of stampeding elephants *g*

So while I'm a bit nervous about writing to an honest to goodness deadline for the first time, I'm also excited for the chance to prove my professionalism and my creativity. I don't want to just meet this deadline...I want to beat it (as the awesome Tawny always tells me *g*)

And I will meet/beat it by sitting at this keyboard each day and writing my best story--one page at a time :-)

Yep, I wanted this bunch of bananas, but unlike this poor little guy, I'm not going to let my wishes squash me ;-)

What about you? Have you ever wished and wished for something only to get it and suddenly decide you didn't want it? Or maybe it wasn't as great as you thought it'd be? What did you do?

And be sure to check back this Sunday to take part in our Easter Peep Hunt! There'll be plenty of fun and prizes for everyone so don't miss it!

ps - no monkeys (real or stuffed) were injured in the making of this blog.

The Life and Times of Sherry Thomas--An Author Interview

posted by Christine Wells

A good friend of mine, Joanne Lockyer, lent me the advance reading copy of Sherry Thomas's Private Arrangements, which Joanne picked up in Dallas last year. I read it, loved it and immediately asked Sherry to visit the lair. Now, Sherry is the best type of guest, because she's done all the work! Here is Sherry's interview...of herself. Let's give her a big bandita welcome!

Q: You don’t look like a Sherry Thomas.
A: Funny, isn’t it?

Q: So Sherry Thomas is your pen name?
A: And mostly my real name. I’ve been Sherry ever since the moment it was decided that I would come to live in the United States. My mom calls me Sherry. My husband calls me Sherry. Thomas is my married name. I’m Mrs. Thomas at my children’s school.
Q: So you weren’t born in the U.S.
A: No, I was born in the lovely coastal city of Qingdao, of Tsingtao beer fame, in China. And I lived there until I was thirteen. That year my grandmother, with whom I’d been living, passed away. My mother, who was a graduate student in the States at the time, brought my grandfather and me here to look after us. And I’ve lived in either Louisiana or Texas ever since, except for a year as an exchange student in France.

Q: I’ve had a look at your excerpt. I couldn’t tell at all that you weren’t a native speaker.
A: Thank you. Once I saw I had no choice but to learn English, I did.

Q: How did you come to write historical romances set in the Edwardian era?
A: You mean, having being born Chinese and all? How did a very prim and proper professor of English decide to write about hobbits and rings of power?

What an answer, eh, comparing myself to Professor Tolkien. Seriously, what happened was that I learned English reading historical romances. During summers, I used to loiter in the university bookstore and check out the—mostly historical—romance books one by one. I knew what dukes and marquesses were long before I knew what “modern” terms like “t&a” meant. So it is natural for me to write what I’m most familiar with and what I love to read.

As for the Edwardian era, I find it to be a fascinating time, and an interesting parallel to our current era. The British Empire was the most powerful force on earth, much as the U.S. is today. Technological advances were coming so fast you could scarcely keep pace. The world was changing rapidly. There was trouble in lots of places in the world, but England itself was at peace and prospering. It was the kind of time and place where it was possible for a significant portion of the population to lead secure, stable lives. That a generation later Europe would turn upside down gives La Belle Epoque, in retrospect, a certain poignancy.

Q: Now this might be a weird question. How come you don’t write the kind of books Amy Tan does?
A: Because I didn’t have a hard enough childhood? (Laughs) Amy Tan is a wonderful writer, and I’m glad she has written some marvelous book on the Chinese American experience. But I’ve never been a big consumer of experience-based novels, so I can’t write them either. I prefer imagination-based fiction.

Q: Is that what you consider romances?
A: Exactly. And the miraculous thing is, the most imagination-based fiction can turn out to be the most inspiring. When I think of poor Frodo struggling up Mount Doom, tears still well up in my eyes. And so it is with romances. Some of the most illuminating and profoundly moving moments I’ve lived through have come from reading romances. Because learning to love another person is one of the most deep-reaching, surprising, and sublime of human experiences. And because the genre boasts some of the best writers working today.

Q: Tell us a bit about your debut book, Private Arrangements, which has received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, a 4½-star review from RT, and a Desert Isle Keeper review from All About Romance.
A: (Cackles in secret delight; it certainly pays to write your own interview questions.) Do you have a couch I can jump on to tell you how much I love this book? No? Darn. Well, it is a rather unusual book, from the turn-of-the-century setting, to the storyline—girl loses boy big time thanks to her own devious machinations. As the story opens, they’ve led separate lives for ten years. She wants to divorce him to marry a lovely younger man, and he demands that she gives him a heir before he’ll grant her a divorce. Which leads to lots of mandatory sex. Woot!

Q: Mandatory sex is always good. And what about your sophomore book--Delicious, due out in August--does it contain mandatory sex too?
A: Alas, no. Which was why Delicious took forever to write and required 3.5 complete drafts before my editor would accept it. But it does contain buckets of voluntary sex, how’s that?

Q: Good enough for us. Tell us, what’s next for you, after two semi back-to-back releases in 2008?
A: Currently I’m taking a tiny sabbatical from historical romance to write a short, contemporary, angst-free romp. But once my next contract is finalized it’s back to historicals, though I do hope to break into science-fiction romances, too. And if I ever find time, I’ll fix my big historical fiction, a martial-arts action adventure with strong romantic elements, an homage to all the Chinese martial arts epics I devoured growing up. I call it Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon meets The Forsyte Saga.

Q: Sounds intriguing. Best of luck with all your future endeavors.
A: Thank you. And thank you for having me. It’s an honor to be breathing the same cyber-air as the Romance Bandits. Hope I didn’t stink up the joint too much. J

Aw, shucks, ma'am! We love having you here. Actually, Sherry, we do have a couch in the lair--made from the tanned hides of aged cabana boys *g* and we'd love you to grab yourself a cup of coffee or your beverage of choice, take a seat and chat with us about your books. Or there's a blue brocade chaise longue in the corner if you'd prefer...

And now I have a question for readers--in Private Arrangements, the heroine Gigi forms a scheme to win Cam and it backfires in a major way. Has that ever happened to you? What's the most outrageous thing you've done to win someone's heart?

Want to be a NYT Bestseller?

KJ Howe welcomes Maria V. Snyder, who just debuted on the NYT List at number 34 with her latest novel, FIRE STUDY.

I had the pleasure of meeting Maria when we were both completing our Master's in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania. Maria's career has really taken off. Her unique stories and powerful voice have created quite the fan base. Maria has kindly agreed to join us today to talk about the road to the NYT List dream.

Maria V. Snyder:

First off, I would like to thank the Banditas for letting me be their guest blogger today. Thank You!

Today I’d like to talk about reaching milestones. I’ve had some recent news – the kind that, for a writer is considered a major milestone. My latest book, Fire Study has reached the New York Times Paperback Best Sellers List! Yay! (My dh and kids brought me flowers and we celebrated by dancing around the living room. After that, I finished washing the dishes and started the laundry – such is the glamorous life ;>) And Fire Study has managed to stay on The List for another week, creeping up two places to be #32 for this week. Go Fire Study!

This is a big – no a huge deal in the publishing world. Publishers sell books – it is what they do and anything that helps them sell more is all good. For a writer – it’s a gigantic step forward in a writer’s career – or to stay on topic – a milestone.

How did I reach this milestone? I believe it was a combination of three factors. One part luck, one part editing and marketing savvy on my publisher’s end, and one part hard work on my end.

I have no control over luck – it’s a matter of the right readers picking up the books, buying them, and talking about them. I have no control over the publisher, either. J Harlequin decided to switch my Study books from their LUNA line to MIRA, change the cover art and format (from hardcover to trade size paperback), and re-release them, causing a 17 month gap between new books. When Fire Study finally was released as a trade paperback, many of my loyal readers were unhappy about not having a hardcover. But I had gained a bunch of new readers with the MIRA books, and with the cheaper paperback book, it eliminated the delay from some readers who would wait to purchase a copy until the book is in paperback. Obviously this worked well for sales – when you add in mailing out ARCs, and ads in a few choice spots, their efforts helped propel the book onto The List.

What I did have control over is the writing and promotion on my end. Writing a book that readers enjoy is fundamental to this whole enterprise, but there are plenty of books out there that are well written and enjoyable – so why aren’t they on The List, too?

Here’s where the hard work in promotion come in. I’m actively engaged with my readers. I answer every single email myself because I enjoy it. It’s a great way to connect with readers, and to market and promote my books. I usually add links to my other short stories and to my website and newsletter registration form. Sometimes the emails are from librarians and book store employees - then I offered to send bookmarks and signed labels to them - and discussion questions for the library's reading groups.

I’m on MySpace (I have a whole essay on how Myspace is a wonderful marketing and free resource for writers on December 4th 2007 on my Sfnovelists blog - http://www.sfnovelists.com/), and I have lots of “extras” on my website besides the typical “about me” and “about the book” sections. I have free writing tips, short stories, and run a number of contests to win signed books and other stuff.

I do as many book signings as possible. Even if only a few people show up for me, this is an excellent way to talk to the booksellers in person about my books. I tell them what the books are about, and who they can recommend the books to. I also will stop at bookstores and sign the books on the shelves (called signing stock) where ever I go, and talk to the employees about the books.

I have a monthly email newsletter that I send out every month. Basically, I include news about the books and my schedule, but I always include something fun. The fun stuff has been interviews with other authors, deleted scenes from my books, humorous pieces on the writing life, and short stories. Currently I’m sending out a short story in eight chapters/installments – one each month just for my newsletter subscribers. I think the short story and the newsletter have helped keep my readers interested in my Study world while they waited the 17 months between books.

I don’t say NO. Besides book signings, I’ve gone to conventions, spoken at book discussion groups, presented workshops for writers’ groups, done readings, had a phone chat with a high school book group over lunch, participated in live on-line chats, taught writing classes for the local college, presented talks at schools, done radio interviews, answered plenty of questions from readers who want to blog about me and my books, and answered students in school, doing book reports and writing articles in their school newspapers. Whew – I’m tired!

It is a ton of work and I’ve had to give up a few things (sleep, social life, and going to movies to name a few J) in order to dedicate more time to promotion. But it’s also fun – I truly enjoy talking to groups, and conventions are the only time I can catch up with my writing friends ;>
And I have an excuse not to clean the house – a true bonus!

Reaching a milestone has been very rewarding, but it doesn’t mean I can relax. Oh no – there is another milestone waiting in the distance. If I work hard enough, one of my books just might reach the #1 spot on The List – it might not – but it won’t be for lack of trying.

KJ: Maria, thanks for sharing your road to success. I know this is just the start of a long, very successful career! If anyone wants to connect with Maria, the links are below.

Links:

Maria’s website: http://www.mariavsnyder.com/
Maria’s MySpace page: www.myspace.com/mariavsnyderMaria’s MySpace Blog: http://blog.myspace.com/mariavsnyder

New York Times Best Sellers List for 3/16/08: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/books/bestseller/0316bestpapertradefiction.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
New York Times Best Sellers List for 3/23/08: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/books/bestseller/0323bestpapertradefiction.html

Booty-lishus!!

We have a winner!! This is from my blog a full week ago on Saturday. (Yes, I'm late, sorry. The mind is slipping.) Anyway ... I blogged all about books, and the winner chosen at random of a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate is ...

KIM!!!

Kim, write me at katecarlisle99@yahoo.com, leave me your email address and I'll send you the certificate. It's simple as that!

Congratulations, Kim!!!

And the WINNAH Is...

by Caren Crane

The random number generator has randomly chosen a winner from my blog about Dominic Monaghan and his CRAZY obsession with the plate-sized, bird-eating Hercules Baboon Spider.

Our winner, known for her obsession with books and chocolates, hails from West Virginia and works for a certain ginormous, globe-spanning retailer which shall remain nameless. Give it up for...DIANNA!!

Congratulations, Dianna! Drop me a line at carencrane AT gmail DOT com and give me the 411 on your e-mail addy. I will send your $15 Amazon gift card right to your e-mail box. Woo hoo! Thanks for commenting, everyone, and sharing your very HEALTHY obsessions!

Luck of the Irish

by Christie Kelley

I guess this is my lucky day. The Irish girl gets to write about St. Patrick’s Day. So as I sit here wearing my wool sweater hand-knitted in Ireland (and bought there too), I thought I’d give you a little history lesson.

St. Patrick’s Day is actually a Catholic feast day, celebrating Patrick’s death in the fifth century. Yeah, Catholics like to celebrate death and the Irish in particular. St. Patrick’s Day almost always falls during the Lenten Season, but the Catholics were given permission to eat meat on that day. So the people would go to mass in the morning and then celebrate with a traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.

Why a shamrock? The shamrock slowly became the symbol of Ireland as it originally stood for a symbol of spring. Then as the British started to ban the Catholic religion and Irish language, people started to wear a shamrock to show their pride in their homeland.

Snakes in Ireland? Well, no. The idea that St. Patrick banished the snakes from Ireland really is just a metaphor for him banishing the pagan religions. Within two centuries of his death, Ireland was Christianized. There never really were snakes in Ireland. Lucky them!

So how many of you knew that the first St. Paddy’s parade took place not in Ireland but in New York City?

And when?

March 17, 1762.

The question that plagued me during my quick internet research for this blog was simply: Why are the Irish considered to have such luck?

Whether you’re Irish or not, what’s the luckiest thing that ever happened to you? Anyone ever found a four leaf clover?

I leave you with an Irish blessing:

May you be blessed with

warmth in your home,

love in your heart,

peace in your soul

and joy in your life.

Giant Spiders and Other Obsessions

by Caren Crane

Fear not, dear Banditas and Bandmates, I am not obsessed with spiders. Nor are there any scary bug pictures in this post. Phew! BUT, I came across an article (while following a rabbit trail of research I no longer recall) stating that Dominic Monaghan is heading to Africa in search of the rare Hercules Baboon Spider. You may remember Dominic from the Lord Of the Rings movies and Lost.

Dominic, it turns out, is an avid insect and reptile collector. He is also, apparently, a young actor with way too much time and money on his hands. The Hercules Baboon Spider, which is approximately the size of a dinner plate, is quite rare and has not often been seen. One was found by a biologist in Nigeria in the early 1900s and is now on display at the Natural History Museum in London. That was the last verified sighting. If Dominic finds one, he will earn a place in the Guinness Book Of World Records. Hm.

This made me quite curious about obsessions. Why this spider? Why now? It may be somehow related to his recent break-up with his Lost co-star Evangeline Lilly. Perhaps heartbreak has driven him to search for giant arachnids! Maybe it's simply an obsession he can't escape. The giant spider taunts him and haunts his dreams or something.



I will admit I obsess about things. Lots of things. I obsess about songs and play whatever is my current favorite over and over until it drives my family insane. I can get an obsession on like nobody's business! I drove 10 hours each way to see an indie rock band that I had seen several times before. I have foregone food, exercise and the company of loved ones because I didn't want to mess up my hair. I have searched for the past five years for the perfect black leather jacket - even searching Manhattan - to no avail.

So, I have a great deal of compassion and empathy for poor Dominic. That said, I am fairly certain I would never, under any circumstances feel compelled to beat the bushes in Africa looking for a giant spider. This spider, by the way, is a bird eater. Does Dominic really think his collection of insects and reptiles would be safe with this beast around? And really, is the mention in Guinness worth it? I'm unconvinced. But I bet you anything Dominic will let his obsession be his guide, whether it's good for him or not.

What about you? Have you ever obsessed for something (or someone) you knew was bad for you? If so, did you pursue it (or her/him) anyway? A lucky commenter will win a $15 Amazon gift card, so do tell!

My not-so-secret love affair

by Trish Milburn

I'm a happily married woman, have been for fifteen years. But I have to admit I'm harboring a great passion for another. Who is this object of my affections?

YouTube. Yes, that fabulously wonderful waster of time. If only they'd had high-speed Internet and YouTube when I was in high school. I could have fed all of my various celebrity crushes to my heart's content. Why do I like YouTube so much? I'm so glad you asked.

1. Fan Videos

When I find a TV show or movie I like, I tend to obsess about it. That's just my personality. I can remember yearning for each week's episode of The Young Riders when I was younger. If I'd had YouTube then, I could have watched endless fan videos during those long days between episodes. There are actually a lot of talented fan vidders out there, who can edit video and set it to songs that help tell the story and evoke emotions. Here are a couple of examples.

From one of my new favorites, the BBC's North & South mini-series:



The last 50 seconds of the video are very inspiring to me as a romance writer. This example also illustrates Reason No. 2, below. I really like the song "Ache" by James Carrington. It's a beautiful song and so fits this story.

Other times, the vidders use music from the actual production they're celebrating, as in this case for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The video is about Will and Elizabeth, and the vidder uses "One Day," their love theme.



Oh, and I just have to put in a Buffy & Angel example, just because. :)



And here's a cute one for Stardust, a movie I watched recently and really enjoyed. I think I'll cast Charlie Cox as a hero in a future book. Plus, I really like Lifehouse, the band singing the song, "Hanging By a Moment." They're a great band to listen to when you're writing romance.



2. Discovering New Music

I've discovered new bands and songs that I like through watching fan videos. One such band, now one of my favorites, is HIM, from Finland. I found them when their song, "Vampire Heart," accompanied a fan vid for the show Blood Ties. But one of my favorite songs and music videos by them is "Pretending." Plus, I think Ville Valo, the singer, isn't too hard on the eyes either. :)



3. Creativity

Sometimes vidders like to mix things up with fun results, like in this example of a trailer for Pride & Prejudice done Harry Potter style.



And this ode to the Justice League on Smallville set to music from Pirates of the Caribbean.



So, any other YouTube junkies out there? Or am I alone in my obsession?

Superstitious?

by Tawny Weber

Today is Friday the Fourteenth. Ahhh, yes, we just escaped that dreaded Friday the Thirteenth by one day. Whew. The only thing worse could have been the thirteenth, filled with black cats, spilled salt and ladders to walk under. Ack - total bad luck! Are you superstitious? My first response would be to say, no I'm not. I love Friday the Thirteenth. Its always been lucky for me (got a fab kiss from my crush one memorable 13th), I have three black cats and spill things all the time. Then I realized I actually AM superstitious. Just not with traditional superstitions.

For instance, I used a very special pen to sign my first Harlequin contract. A gift from some amazing writers who I love to pieces, it's engraved with my sale date and title. It was a ritual of delight, as I filled the gorgeous purple fountain pen with ink, signed that page, then toasted with champagne. Now, my second Harlequin contract I couldn't find the pen. We'd built new cabinets and I knew it was in there somewhere, but had no clue where... so I went ahead and signed the contract with a plain ole pen. The results? Not nearly as positive as the first round. Insane line edits, an early release that affected numbers, promotion challenges... you name it. Let me tell ya, with my third contract due to arrive in the mail any day now, my purple pen is sitting right here on my desk, full of ink and waiting!

Another of my personal superstitions? Pajamas. Really!! The first year I finaled in the Golden Heart, back in 2004, I was still in my jammies on my way to get dressed having given up on getting a call, when the phone rang. 2005, I had just gotten up, still in my jammies when that GH call came in. 2006 the GH call woke me up! I was in my pajamas when I got THE CALL from my editor offering to buy Double Dare, and again when my agent offered me representation. I've always wondered if I'd have won at least once if I'd worn my pj's to the award ceremony.

Before I sold, I was a total contest diva. I always color coordinated my entry, so the rubber band matched the clip, which matched the colored paper between the entry and synopsis. Which color depended on which manuscript it was -each had their own "feel" and was coordinated accordingly. (Hmmm, maybe this post is simply letting everyone know I'm a little crazy, rather than an ode to superstitions).

In a week and a half, the Golden Heart and RITA calls will go out. How many of us will sit there, waiting by the phone with a rabbit's foot clenched in our fist, or a four leaf clover held between our fingers? Me, I'll be in my jammies, of course.

Do you have any superstitions that are yours alone? Any special steps or rituals you follow? How does that work for you? Have you ever skipped it and regretted it? If so, do you think the power of your superstition (mind over matter... you think something bad is going to happen and your belief creates the result) plays into the results, or are you like me and my special pen, and realize how vital that superstition is after the fact?

Turning on a Dime

by Joan Kayse

I had a crappy day at work.I know, I know. Most of you envision the life of a nurse as noble and self sacrificing. Well, I don't know about noble but I've done a fair bit of self-sacrificing for my patients over the years. Always willingly. Well, except for the time a lady insisted she needed me to squeeze between the wall and the chair she was in to scratch her....back and in raising up bonked my head on the thermostat and burst into tears. She spared me a "Are you ok?" and then pointed out the spot she needed scratched .But the reality and my years in the trenches (and I REALLY hope it's not the "years" part of it) have changed my perspective and my profession quite a bit. Nursing is getting harder. And today was no exception. I thought I'd scream if I listened to one more nurse whine, one more doctor complain, one more pass of the (*&^^ floor waxing machine!

Today was no exception. You know it's bad when everybody you pass in the hall says "Boy, YOU look tired." I had loads to do, complaints to listen to, a very ill man to transfer to the ICU and never got dinner.

Then I checked my voicemail. I had a message from the contest coordinator for The Suzannah, an outstanding writing contest sponsored by the NOLA chapter of RWA. My ms. THE PATRICIAN'S FORTUNE had won the competition. Just like that the fatigue, the stress everything just flew out the window! My Roman hero Damon had done it.

It's validation to have my Romans achieve such recognition. You see when I began writing in 2001....well, the very thought of a "different" time period was unimaginable to well...everyone I met. Your Romans do not have a place in publishing you foolish girl. No one would want to read them. Stay safe, write only to the market.

I listened and I learned and I shook my head politely. But I had three Roman heroes (eek..don't call Bran a Roman...he doesn't like it) who were demanding their stories be told. And so I could do nothing else. And now they are shining in wonderful contests like The Suzannah.

It's true Roman wasn't built in a day. Just one story at a time.

Can you think of a day when you thought nothing was going right and then something special happened to turn it around? If you had another chance what "different" job would you pick?

And the Winnah IS.....

Well, it's late but I DID pick winners for the nice little box of Godiva! YUM! Actually there are TWO winners....

(Drum Roll Please!)

CONGRATS to Brownone and Ellie! Please let me know your address so I can send you your well-deserved goodies! I'm at Jeanne AT JeanneAdams DOT com

Yeah!

Kay Stockham: Romance from the heart

interviewed by Donna MacMeans

Many years ago, I remember sharing Golden Heart anxieties with Kay as we both waited to hear if we made the finalist cut. Then Kay received the call from Harlequin and her writing career has taken off like a rocket. Known for her powerful emotion-packed Superromances, Kay delivers on her tag line "romance from my heart to yours" by tackling gritty topics like breast cancer and past sexual abuse. In the process she's been nominated for the Holt medallion, Book Buyer's Best, and last year - a RITA. Please welcome Kay Stockham to the Lair.

Kay, as a group that has either recently received "the call," or will in the near future, we always love a call story. Can you share yours?

Ah, memories. I got the call of February 11, 2005, about 1:34 - not that I remember or anything. I was curling my hair after a morning spent baking cupcakes for my daughter's Valentine's Day party at school. My husband gave me the phone and said, "It says Harlequin." My heart stopped. Seriously. I knew there was NO reason for anyone from Harlequin to be calling unless it was THE call. Johanna Raisanen, associate editor for Superromance, was on the other end, and sure enough those were the first words she said. She wanted to buy Saving Grace which would later be retitled MONTANA SECRETS. I was her first crier. LOL. After managing to explain that they were happy tears, she laughed, congratulated me again and said that she'd call back later after I'd had a chance to process things. LOL. She called back, we talked and the rest is history. Ten sales later, I'm on my third editor but Johanna will always hold a special place in my heart because she was the first one to really "get" my writing.

Ah, an insightful editor. I'm glad Johanna recognized your talent. MAN WITH A PAST was nominated for a RITA in 2007. What was that like?

It was thrilling! Thank goodness for Caller ID because the day the calls went out, I picked up the phone, looked at the screen and immediately sat down. I had to. No way was RWA calling me about the RITAs, right? LOL I received a lot of emails congratulating me, flowers from my agent, champagne from my publisher. Such a great, great time. Oh, and the dinner out with my editor and the other RITA noms from Superromance - it was fabulous! We had such a great time. Super had a wonderful showing last year, holding four of the eight spots. The downside for me was having my RITA flag stolen. I "still" get angry whenever I think about it. I want it back! Sigh. RWA told me they'd replace it at the SF conference and I'm going to guard that flag like it was 24 kt gold. If anyone even so much as looks at it twice, they're going to have one angry woman to deal with.

LOL - I doubt that will be your last RITA flag, Kay, but a warning for any banditas that might be nominated in 2008. Guard your flags! Of course, we have the heavily armed Cassondra watching our backs so maybe that won't be a concern.So what do you have on tap for this year?

My recent project has been The Tulanes of Tennessee series with Harlequin Superromance.

The first book in the five book series debuted yesterday with ANOTHER MAN'S BABY. (I laugh every time I type that - for two reasons. One: I'm still psyched that the series I pitched almost two years ago is going to be one on the shelves. Two: my father HATES the title. LOL Every time he sees it he shakes his head and scowls.)HANNAH'S CHOICE in the POWER OF LOVE will be released in June.

And after that is HIS SON'S TEACHER in July 2008. It features a recently divorced, overweight school teacher desperate to find her inner diva and take her dream vacation to Paradise Island, and Nick Tulane, the black sheep of the Tulane family introduced in book 1. We find out exactly what kinds of secrets Nick is hiding and, boy, they're doozies! Following them are Luke (March 2009, Ethan (July 2009) and Alexandra (November 2009).

Good Heavens, girl - When do you sleep! That's quite a line-up. Can you tell us more about the POWER OF LOVE?

Absolutely! The POWER OF LOVE anthology is the brainchild of NYT Bestselling author Lori Foster. Lori and Dianne Castell put on this great reader/author event every June and they pick a local charity to receive the proceeds of the event. The idea snowballed and Lori wanted to do something special for the Battered Women's Shelter. She chose twelve lucky authors to contribute novellas to THE POWER OF LOVE and the authors and their agents have ALL donated their earnings to the cause. Each of the novellas for THE POWER OF LOVE focus on women being empowered in their lives, and I am so thrilled to be asked to be a part of it. Hannah's Choice is my contribution, and begins with Hannah Pruitt jumping off a bridge to retrieve a large bag she's seen a man dump into the canal. Given her past, Hannah is suspicious of what might be inside. She's no longer a victim and jumping in just proves it. Hannah's come home to Orchard, Ohio to face her past and the man she was too afraid to love, but the question is whether or not she's strong enough now to make the right choice.

One of the absolute wonders of publishing a book is fan mail. With your emotional stories, I'm sure they've touched many hearts. Are you receiving lots of fan mail?

I'm not sure I'd say "a lot" but I get my fair share. I love the letters and notes, too. I keep every one of them and post some of them on my website under my Reader Comments section. I've only written a couple authors about their books, so I feel very special to be on the receiving end of those notes. Which makes me wonder... We all know blogs are supposed to end with a thought-provoking question so here's mine:
How many of you have written an author to tell them how much you've enjoyed their book? And if you haven't, why not? I'd love to hear the different views on this. To help entice comments, I'll choose a name from those who post and they'll receive an autographed copy of ANOTHER MAN'S BABY.
Enjoy your day! Here in Ohio we're still digging out of the snow. I'll be popping in to chat and hope you'll keep me company.

Glam-tastic

by Christine Wells

When I was eight, my best friend was Tabitha. She told wonderful--and extremely imaginative--stories about the things she did when she wasn't at school. Now, for all I know, she really did live as magical and eventful a life as her namesake from Bewitched. But for the most part, I devoured Tabitha's stories with a hefty pinch of salt. I was never sure whether she really expected to be believed.

Another friend used to say, Why do you hang around with that girl? She tells lies.

Not about things that mattered. Tabitha never lied to get anyone into trouble or get herself out of punishment. So she embroidered, embellished and sometimes downright fabricated stories about talking to animals or the enchanted pottery fairies her mother sculpted and glazed. Tabitha made life more interesting. She was a good friend, and her stories seemed to give her that extra, sparkly shine.

But then I've always been a sucker for glamour.

I write historical romance. I love research. I love delving into the English Regency period, a time of social upheaval, war, extravagance, poverty, marvelous architecture...

...And great hats.

And psst, I hate to admit this, given I'm *serious* about research--getting details, atmosphere, attitudes and expressions as accurate as I can, given reader expectations--but the thing I love most about the Regency era is the glamour. I love reading about aristocrats and balls and house parties.

The wit, the intrigue, the social mores and rituals, the sense of honour and tradition, the wealth of art and architecture, gardens and landscapes those old families collected, built and preserved.

The glamour of the Regency era wasn't limited to aristocrats, though. Highwaymen (or women), smugglers, spies, war heroes--for me, all of these glitter with a special kind of story magic.

Ordinary, middle class people finding love in a cottage? Not so much.

But glamour isn't just about wealth and beauty. It's about story, too, making it bigger, deeper, more. It's about high stakes and wrenching emotion, thrilling adventure and momentous, life-altering events. I think there's a place for the mundane, the ordinary, the obscure--but it's not in Regency historicals. I want the excitement, the thrill. I want the glamour.

And great hats.

So now you know my guilty secret. And that, as we say in the lair, is in the vault.

If you're a reader, what attracts you to a particular setting or subgenre? And if you're a writer, pretend you're my friend Tabitha. How would you 'glam up' your story?

And if you care to win a signed copy of Scandal's Daughter, plus some good old Aussie TIM TAMS, pitch me your most glamorous Regency historical in twenty words or less. It can be as fantastic or as silly as you like.

Just don't--please don't--make it mundane.

All Hail to the Queen!

By Anna Campbell

I'm delighted to welcome Michelle Buonfiglio, Queen of Bloglandia, to the lair. Michelle writes about romance fiction at myLifetime.com in Romance: B(u)y the Book. Within that is a blog called “Let’s Talk Romance.” She writes weekly columns about new romances, AuthorView interviews, Video AuthorViews and special features like this tribute to cover models.

Michelle has very generously offered one lucky commenter a prize pack of champagne bubble bath, chocolates and romance novels. Because I'm just so dang excited she's here at last, I'm offering another lucky commenter a copy of Sizzle, Seduce and Simmer, which features recipes and short stories from some of Australia's best romance writers.

So the long and short of it is, GET COMMENTING, PEOPLE!

Michelle, your blog began as Romance by the Blog and has since moved to myLifetime.com as Romance: B(u)y the Book. It has always been incredibly popular with readers and writers. The Banditas are a young blog and we’d love to know your secrets. To what do you attribute your blog’s long-lasting and unfailing success?

First, thanks so much, Anna, and my little Banditas for letting me join you in the Lair. What an honor, to be among such talent and wit! Can’t wait to chat today with everyone who hangs here.

Actually, Romance: B(u)y the Book came first! I wanted to write about romance fiction in a respectful way that appealed to the smart, savvy women who read and write it, as well as to introduce the genre to folks who don’t know anything about it. And I got a gig with WNBC.com and 80+ TV news websites to “webdicate” my opinion columns, AuthorView interviews, etc. It wasn’t so much about reviewing, as my trying to entertain and engage – hopefully! - while writing about books I love. The blog, Romance: By the Blog came about six months later, and I actually wasn’t too hepped to do it! I mean, I had a ton of work and deadlines as it was. But my husband, an Internet sales and marketing guy, kept saying, “If you blog it, they will come…” Plus, he thought of it as a way for me to meet women to talk with about romance, probably so I’d stop talking about it to him.

I think you Banditas probably are experiencing what I did, that you build slowly and welcome every single viewer who cares enough to make a connection by commenting at your blog. All the while, we write for the folks who are loyal, non-commenting readers. I don’t believe high page views equal success in “genre” blogging; it’s kind of a “who’s” reading your thing, who’s taking your info and sharing it with friends, either online or non-digitally. We used to call that word-of-mouth! It’s remarkably hard work, but the emotional payoff is enormous. I have no secrets, I simply did another thing my husband kept telling me when I’d get frustrated, wanting everything to happen yesterday. He said to just keep doing the work. Write as well as I can, interact with viewers, make friends, develop and be true to my ethics. That worked for me, because the right “who” saw my content, recommended it to someone at Lifetime, and it moved forward from there. I couldn’t be happier to have the platform to represent romance fiction to such a broad audience.

One of the things I love about RBTB is how you’ve established such a strong community. There’s a definite sense of girlfriends getting together to have a good goss and it makes guests feel immediately welcome and comfortable. How do you achieve this warm atmosphere?

I love the intimacy – and often outrageousness – of our blog, and was amazed from the beginning at how much women craved a “safe” somewhere to share how they felt about reading romance. The Bellas also are welcoming of new viewers, go out of their way to say hi, etc. The right mix of women seems to like dropping in, and I think the only really good thing I’ve done is let them help me set the tone, and afford them as much ownership as possible. And I’ve tried to make viewers feel not afraid to comment, though it’s always a challenge when there’s a core group of regulars. Empathy probably drives what I do - does that make sense? I’m just hardwired to worry about how I make people feel, to tap into their emotions. Recently, I think I lost a viewer because I communicated poorly, possibly ignorantly, and I’m feeling pretty awful over it.

Do you have any advice for people setting out to conquer the blog universe?

First, write what you know, as well as you know how, and as honestly as possible. You’ll gain viewership and reputation among people who want to read what you want to communicate. Next, decide your goal/s. Are you cyber-journaling? Do you want to make money with the blog? Do you want to build a community of like-minded folks, but not monetize the project? Second, work like a fiend to “virally” market. Connect with other similar bloggers, help each other promote, search out places like blogher.com to list your blog. blogher is the premier aggregating site for women bloggers, and is amazing. Finally, accept that the Internet is not anonymous. Make sure that you’re comfortable with something you’ve written coming back to haunt you. You can get in trouble for slander, copyright infringement etc. While there’s some leeway for non-commercial bloggers, look up laws on posting rights-limited images and content.

Have you noticed any differences in your blog since you’ve moved to Lifetime?

Since Lifetime’s a large cable network in 90 million U.S. households, they obviously have style and content standards, legal eagles, branding issues – checks and balances you don’t have to deal with when you blog on your own. But they also have a built in female viewership who love romance, sex, hot guys and the stuff we love to talk about at RBTB. Add to that the ability to produce multi-layered promotion packages for authors and books, and I’ve got the platform I dreamed of the very day I envisioned RBTB. Only better: I get to shoot video interviews and upcoming romance features shot and produced by the Lifetime Television crew in our LA studios! I’m considered the editor of my blog, but even so, I really erred toward the side of caution at first, staying kinda mainstream in the content. But now, looks like anything’s fair game. Which is good, cause as my Bellas would tell you, I can pretty much turn any blog discussion into a naughty celebration of the merits of length vs. girth. Technically, we had lots of glitches at first. But myLifetime.com’s in the process of rebuilding their blog tool, and in the second quarter, we’re actually consolidating all RBTB content into the blog, which I’m totally psyched about.

Could you describe your ideal guest?

You, Anna! Now, I’m not just doing the pretty here. But when you came, you did the things that make GuestBlogs successful. First, you made it about connecting, not about book promotion. Book promotion always should happen as secondary to making friends with readers, and giving your friends a new experience. To that end, you brought along the Banditas and your readers. This infuses new life, gets a different vibe jazzing, and often encourages lurkers to be brave enough to comment. Most important, you take time to swap comments with individual viewers. That’s the connection that RBTB is all about. Guest blogs – any promotion – should be symbiotic. The buzz phrase of Internet 2.0, or the “new age” of encouraging “users” to direct/generate content (UGC) and thus make it more vibrant is: Be Generous. That means link, share and reciprocate. It all comes back to you.

Wow, thanks, Michelle, she said, blushing. Now I’d love to talk about you, seeing you spend all your time on the net offering authors a wonderful opportunity to promote themselves! Could you tell us about your background? I notice you didn’t read romance when you were younger. What books influenced you when you were growing up? Were you always a reader?

Oh, yeah. Like so many romance lovers, I was a total nerd about books; they were my best friends, etc. I used to fantasize I lived in “olden” times, because I was chubby, and figured they dug chubby chicks then. Once I got to college, I was lucky to be introduced to sophisticated stuff, and learned how to study it. Some of the books that still affect me were by Kozinski, Nabakov, Percy; at least I think of them often in a series of images and emotions. I love A.S. Byatt’s Possession. That and The Witch of Blackbird Pond are two of my fave books ever. But my writing style, I think, is most influenced by sports writer Rick Riley, and Fr. Bede Hines. Riley, of course, wrote for Sports Illustrated and writes succinctly, always tying in real life and his readers’ realities to the issue he takes on. Bede Hines taught me a valuable creativity technique. We pulled random photos from the paper, and created a tight short story from each. Now, I can pretty much link any vignette or riff to a book I’m featuring, and work a smooth transition in the process. It’s also a great blogging technique. I’ve also worked in PR, marketing, sales, fund raising and I spent many years as a stage performer and public speaker, wrote and voiced, produced radio and TV ads. All this stuff comes into play when I create a package to promote an author and, in doing that, the romance genre.

What was the first romance you read and what was it about that story or subsequent stories that converted you into the tireless advocate for the genre that you’ve become?

Vicki Lewis Thompson’s The Nerd Who Loved Me was the first contemporary romance. Although when I look back, I’d always fantasized about love, loved the opera – which is romance set to score, no? (Anna: YES!) – and so it makes sense I’ve been drawn to the genre. Anyway, I’d read only lit that was “good for me,” and Oprah books and stuff. And this book was so sexy and joyful and kinda funny, it hooked me. Then when I found historical romance, the deal was sealed; I could read an historical romance every day for the rest of my life and never get tired. I hope they have them in the afterlife. My drive to promote the genre comes somewhat from being a zealot, partially from being an “advocate” from way back. I always seem to need a cause. But writing about romance, spending time with fellow readers, moving within the industry and having fellow writers as colleagues – it’s about as perfect a place as I’ve been in my life. It’s very empowering to feel that I’m helping women embrace their fantasies. Those fantasies can be readers wanting to be part of a large community of women whose tastes matter, or writers who wish to further their careers by meeting a broader audience.

Have you ambitions to be a romance writer yourself?

Ugh, no. But RBTB did start from my thinking I’d like to write a romance. Then I decided quickly I wasn’t any good at it and didn’t enjoy it. Having had that experience, as well as being a writer, these things make me better at what I do. I look at books I consider for promotion with an eye toward the sweat and blood and heart that goes into writing a manuscript, let alone getting it published. It keeps me humble when I’m doing my job, and reminds me that I feel really good about the way I choose to write about authors and books.

Michelle gets paid to read romance novels. How cool would it be to have her job? Would you rather have long-range deadlines of novel writing, or daily deadlines of feature writing and blogging? Michelle will drop in to answer questions - I know I've got lots I want to ask her (and I got to do the interview!). And don't forget the Bandita Booty for two lucky commenters.

Of Golden Hearts, Golden Ladies, and Grungy Guys

by Nancy Northcott

This is a big month for some people in RWA. The calls go out in late March to the finalists in the Golden Heart ("GH") and RITA contests. The people who're most relaxed on the designated calling day are the ones who don't have a horse in either race. Those who do cope with it in various ways--sitting by the phone, avoiding the phone, watching hungrily for posts online, checking occasionally, or avoiding RWA email loops altogether. Or eating chocolate. When all is said and done, though, some people are going to be very, very happy while others are going to be very, very disappointed, with a bunch in between.

Having a little perspective helps us deal with any exciting success or stinging disappointment. When it comes to contests, I like to remember the wise and gifted writer, J. R. R. Tolkien (which may clue you in to which grungy guy we're going to be discussing). In The Fellowship of the Ring, the hobbits meet Strider at the Sign of the Prancing Pony in Bree. He then takes them into the wild, protecting them from the black riders. Tolkien includes, later, a poem about Strider that starts, "All that is gold does not glitter." And so it is with manuscripts and books.

Finaling in the GH will not, contrary to what some entrants think, sell a book. It gives the author exposure, which she (or he) needs to be ready to use to advantage. Finaling in the RITA will not catapult an author up the publishing house ladder. As Joan comments, finaling in the GH is an honor that helps "validate and nourish the frustrated writer's soul." The same would go for the RITA. Neither is, however, the secret elixir. Ask any bandita. Anyone who judges these contests can tell you that fabulous books, every year, don't make that final few. It doesn't take much to keep one out, and a lot depends on how the book strikes its randomly allotted judges. So a book that finals really wowed its judges. We should all celebrate that.

The RITA, of course, is a golden statue of a woman seated and writing. It's gorgeous. I think it's safe to say we all want one someday. Several banditas have the Golden Heart pendant (not shown at right, but this resembles the pins RWA gives finalists for their name badges). They're also gorgeous. And the nice thing about the GH is that while only one person can win, more than one can have a manuscript requested by an editor or agent judge. And everybody has the option to dress up for the ceremony.

Which brings me, at last, to the grungy guy. Tolkien's Strider appears to be a woodsman. He doesn't look much like what he is, Aragorn, Dunedin and rightful King of the West. The poem speaks, in beautiful word images, about strength not withering and about the fact that wandering doesn't mean you're lost. So it is with the quest for success in any creative endeavor. Success requires the strength to persevere. Wandering, which is often signposted with rejection, is an opportunity to develop the skills that make grasping success possible.

Good luck to everyone with a horse in the March RWA races!

How do you deal with waiting for contest results? In what endeavor have you had to persevere? Have you ever felt that you're wandering in the wilderness while others find the success you seek? How do you keep going?

Soon-to-be-published bandita and bibliophile mystery author Kate Carlisle shares this photo from the night Gemma Halliday presented her with the Golden Heart for the Novel With Strong Romantic Elements category. Congratulations and thanks for sharing, Kate!

Booty from the Lair: Twist

And the winner of a copy of Twist by Colby Hodge is (drumroll, please) . . . Gillian Layne. Congratulations, Gillian!

If you'll email your contact information to nancy AT nancynorthcott DOT com, I'll pass it on to Colby. Congratulations again, and thanks for stopping by the lair!

So Many Books ...

By Kate Carlisle

Whenever readers and writers get together, the conversation eventually winds its way around to books. It’s our common bond.

Here in the Lair, we’re always talking about our favorite books and authors.

We’ve had posts that reminisced about the first romance we ever read.

We’ve interviewed wonderful guest authors whose latest books have hit the shelves.

We’ve had fabulous parties to celebrate our own Banditas’ book releases.

We love books!

So today I’m wondering … what are you reading right now? Are you loving it? And what’s coming up next on your TBR pile? Do you read more than one book at a time? Are you always buying more despite the very real threat of an avalanche pouring down from your bookshelves and burying you alive?

Me, too. And despite that, I just finished another book-buying frenzy. I'm not sure where I'm going to put them all. I might need a bigger house ...

But never mind that little detail. Let's talk books! I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. Books, I mean! I’ll go first.

I just finished Deanna Raybourn’s Silent in the Sanctuary, the second book in her fabulous Lady Julia Grey Victorian mystery series. I’m sort of hooked on Victorian mysteries lately.

Another favorite is Tasha Alexander, who writes the Emily Ashton Victorian mysteries. Her latest, A Poisoned Season, is next in line for me. After that, I’ve got the new J.D. Robb, Strangers in Death. I just love Eve and Roarke, don't you?

And no list of my recently read books would be complete without mentioning two favorites. Namely, our very own Anna Campbell's Untouched and Christie Kelley's Every Night I'm Yours. I hate to gush so I'll simply say, honestly, they were both absolutely fantastic!!

My latest shipment from Amazon brought me Right Here, Right Now by Helenkay Dimon (I read an excerpt and couldn’t resist!), Much Ado About You, by Eloisa James (I’ve never read her, can you believe it?), Murder Melts in Your Mouth, by Nancy Martin (the latest in her Blackbird Sisters mystery series—I’m so excited!), The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne (a recent guest in the Lair), Maverick Wild by Stacey Kayne (finally!), A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock (yet another Victorian mystery by an author I haven’t read before) and A Fiend In Need by Maureen Child (who's visiting the Lair later this month and I can't wait to read this second book in her Demon Duster series).

And if that’s not enough, I’ve ordered more books that I’ll be picking up this afternoon at my local RWA chapter meeting. We’ve got bestselling suspense author Lisa Jackson and her sister, mystery author Nancy Bush, speaking at the meeting and I ordered each of their latest books, plus two new Silhouette Desires by fellow chapter members Maureen Child and Charlene Sands.

So … that should take care of my reading needs for the next few days anyway!

How about you? Read any good books lately? What new authors are you excited about? And how about your old favorites? Does someone have a book coming out that you’d like to recommend? I'm always looking for someone new to read. And I’m giving away a $20 amazon.com gift certificate to one lucky commenter for sharing the news!

CHAOS!

by Jeanne Adams

The dictionary defines chaos in several ways. It's rioting in the streets and general anarchy in governments. It's also the unformed stuff that creates new worlds and universes. It's a theory in mathematics which predicts (or fails to predict) the actions of objects in motion.

At my house, pure chaos can be defined as the first quarter of every year. You see, my darling husband is a corporate accountant. Doesn't that just give you a perfect picture right there? And he lost nearly a full week to a nasty virus. That's panic-inducing in an accountant. (Chime in here anytime, Donna. I can hear you groaning in sympathy as I write this)

Oh, and adding more fuel to the fire, this year in addition to generally being head-parent-in-charge (HPIC) because of the whole first quarter thing, I have a book coming out in June. I'm knee-deep in getting bookmarks and planning speaking engagements and plotting (ha, ha!) every possible way to promote my book.

In short, my life is a lot wilder and busier than it was this time last year. Did I mention that my youngest son just turned three, and my oldest is about to start Spring baseball, and basketball's not over yet? (Baseball is a HUGE thing in my house, BTW. The men, young and old, are waiting with bated breath for the start of Spring Training.) Yep. So here I am, HPIC/Race Car Driver/Taxi driver....Both the boys have extracurricular activities beyond the ones I just mentioned. Don't even get me started on how much homework they now give to Second Graders. (I'm gritting my teeth over that one...I hate homework. And no, I've discovered I'm NOT as smart as a fifth grader, heck, I'm struggling with second grade math. Since when do you have to learn about rhomboids in second grade? And yes, I know the picture does NOT contain a rhomoid...)

Sorry. Back to chaos theory...So with all of this, I've been trying - and failing - to predict...well anything. Bouts of unexpected flu bugs have beset us, providential fun has changed our schedules, and then there's the weather. Oh, don't ya' just DESPISE those snow days, when you're a writer/parent? It would be okay if there were actually SNOW, but nooooooooo, just ice. Bleech. Heck, I'd go out and play if it were snow. Nobody has any fun on an ice/slush day.

I've also been working with some of that unformed stuff which creates worlds - also known as creativity - to finish my second book and polish a third and begin a fourth. I'm really, really, REALLY looking forward to some time with some writer friends to do some book-plotting. (As opposed to murder and mayhem) I have to do something with the maelstrom of new ideas buzzing in my head.

Ahhh, more chaos to add to the chaos! Just what I needed. Snork!

In spite of all this gritching, part of me thrives on the unpredictable, the spontaneous, and the twists and turns of life. I love it in books too. I love the author who can keep me guessing all the way to the end. I love the storyteller - from Homer to Austen to Christie Kelly - who keeps me turning the pages because I haven't quite figured out...(turns pages)...what....(reads more quickly)...is going to...(OH!)...happen.

Actually, that's the very thing that holds my sanity together. What you might ask, baffled by my strange turn of phrase? Books, of course. A good story can give me a breath of relief from the chaos of MY life, even if I have to read it in the car pool line. (Especially if I GET to read it in the car pool line! Ha!)

I know the Banditas' books - and the blog! - are fast becoming my refuge from the chaos. :> Add to that wonderful list authors like Lisa Gardner, Roxanne St. Clair, J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts, Mercedes Lackey, and one of my all time fav re-reads, Eva Ibbotson. You know life's got me by the throat if I'm re-reading Eva's Countess Below Stairs. Eva writes YA now, but if you can get a hold of this one, it's a great escape! (Anna C., I can see that grin all the way from Oz. Anna is fond of Eva as well) There are countless others. Thank goodness for that, because they don't make fashionable straight jackets for stress-strained writers in the car pool lane. (So hard to drive in those, you know.)

So who takes you away? Who gives you a momentary escape from the chaos? Are you looking forward to Spring Training? (for my dh's sake, I'll say GO CUBS! even tho' I'm a Braves fan) :> Do you thrive on spontaneity, or are you a There MUST BE ORDER kind of person? What's your recipe for keeping the madness managed? (Chocolate? Milkshakes? Wine? Port? More chocolate?)

Lest it go straight to MY hips, (thus adding to the chaos of my who-has-time-to-work-out day) I have a box of Godiva for one commenter!

A Rose By Another Name?

posted by Aunty Cindy

No, this is NOT going to be a post about Shakespeare, so keep reading!

In case you haven't noticed, we LURVE unusual names here in the Lair, whether it's for each other or our characters. Some of our sobriquets are pretty easy to figure out- -Foanna, Vrai Anna (or VA), Jo-Mama, and even Aunty Cindy. But exactly how did we come up with some of our more colorful monikers like Posh, Le Duchese, Madame D-W or Smoov? Okay, some of those explanations would take more time than Aunty has column space. And of course, for others if we told ya, then we might have to... (ya know, call in our weapons expert or something equally drastic)

"But Aunty!" I hear those of you without delightful designations and not so vivid imaginations complaining. "I want a peachy-keen Bandita nickname for my very own."

Yes, Aunty has a solution for you! And being the very picture of restraint, I'm even going to resist the urge to snap my riding crop and ask if you want CHEESE with that WHINE. So here are nine ways to generate your very own super-cool name (and credit where credit is due, I found this on author Kate Johnson/Cat Marsters' blog)

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current street name);
2. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three
letters of your middle name)
3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2
letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom's maiden)
6. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, favorite drink)
7. NASCAR NAME: (the first name of your grandfathers)
8. FUTURISTIC NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne and
the name of your favorite kind of shoes)
9. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother & father's middle names )

Here are some examples from yours truly and Bandita Suz Welsh:

Rock Star: Frisky Luna
Fly Girl: C Ire
Detective: Turquoise Penguin
Star Wars: Munci Hi
Nascar: Edward Paul or maybe Paul Edward
Futuristic: Windsong New Balance

Rock Star: Rocky Brennan

Fly Girl: S. Wil

Star Wars: welsuma

Witness Protection: Katherine Ferrel

Now here's your chance to win some Bandit Booty! The commenter who correctly identifies the most Banditas in the following examples will win a Romance Bandits button and liquor filled chocolates.

Number 1

Rock star name: Grindel Hague 
Fly girl name: C Eli
Detective: Orange Cat 
Soap opera name: Elizabeth Nashville
Star Wars name: Helca Du 
Superhero name: The Orange Mai Tai 
Nascar name: Dayton Frederick
Futuristic name: Shi Birkenstock
Witness protection name: Jeanette Holland

Number 2

Rock Star Name: Soccer Harriet
Fly Girl Name: S Rob
Detective Name: Blue Dog

Soap Opera Name: Roberta Detroit
Star Wars Name: Seysucr
Super Hero Name: The Blue Vernors (it’s a Michigan soda—really strong ginger ale)
Nascar Name: Francis Earl
Futuristic Name: White Musk Rocket Dog
My Witness Protection Name: Earl (my mom doesn’t have a middle name. So it’s just Earl.)

Number 3

Rock Star: Rusty Hickory

Fly Girl: D-Rey

Dective: Blue Dog

Soap Opera: Rey Towson

Star Wars: MacDorey

Superhero: The Blue Margarita

Nascar: Earl Howard

Futuristic: KL Rockport

Witness Protection: Dorothy Eugene (but you may not want to publicize it - I might need it one day )

Number 4

YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: Dubh Smoketree

YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: JPick

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: Scarlet Gryphon
YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: Pickering Boomer

YOUR STAR WARS NAME: Adajefe
SUPERHERO NAME: The Scarlet Russian (worked better than Decaf Mocha!)
NASCAR NAME: Elisha James
FUTURISTIC NAME: Victoria Bandalino
WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: Lou Herman

Number 5

YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: Ratbag Broadway
YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: Abha
YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: Red Cat
YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: Bharier Exeter
YOUR STAR WARS NAME: Suganhe
SUPERHERO NAME: The Red Mojito
NASCAR NAME: Julian Fred
FUTURISTIC NAME: Chanel Stiletto
WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: May Gil

Number 6

Rock Star: Kimby Falcon
Fly Girl: KCar
Detective: Sage Cat
Soap Opera: Carlisle Los Angeles
Star Wars:. Bea Kat Ca
Superhero: The Sage Gimlet
Nascar: James William
Futuristic: Oscar Payless
Witness Protection: Patsy Carlisle

Number 7

YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: Duchess Binowee
YOUR "FLY Girl" NAME: CJen
YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: Red Dog
YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: Jennifer Brisbane
YOUR STAR WARS NAME: Welchpar
SUPERHERO NAME: The Red Red Wine
NASCAR NAME: Robert Reginald
FUTURISTIC NAME: Allure Slides
WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: Fay Christopher

Number 8

Rock Star: Daisy Winter
Fly Girl: B Ann
Detective: Red Dog
Soap Opera: Ann Erie
Star Wars: Burbeli
Super Hero: The Red Mountain Dew (Yes, I know I'm too old to love Mountain Dew)
Nascar: John Arthur
Futuristic: I have terrible allergies so call me Sneezy
Witness Protection: Elizabeth Arthur

Number 9

Rockstar: Pebbles Landcross
Fly Girl:J Mar
Detective: Blue Cat
Soap Opera: Marie Louisville
Super Hero: The Blue Sangria
Nascar: William William
Futuristic: Angel Sandals
Witness Protection: Thelma Lawrence

So let's hear your answers, and share some of your names too!

The Case of the Missing Measuring Stick

by Cassondra Murray


I’m going to out myself here.

If I can’t run with the big dogs, I tend to stay on the porch. I don't expect this of anyone else. Only of myself.

It’s a character flaw.

I don’t know where I got this trait. I don’t mind a learning curve, even a sharp one. I don’t even mind a painful one at times. But I don’t like being bad at stuff.


Several years ago I went to Nashville to pursue the music business. I was already too old for a record deal and I knew that. So I went to study songwriting.

I was not content to write songs and play around my small town. I wanted to compete with the best in the business, or not at all.

There’s an out-of-print book about Trisha Yearwood’s climb through the music industry to stardom. It’s required reading for folks who want to know how the recording industry works. I took the title as my mantra—Get Hot or Go Home.

I devoured songwriting text books. I took workshops, attended classes. I networked. I spent every night until 1 a.m. in Nashville’s songwriter clubs and in living room pickin parties listening to the best in the business work their magic.

If you’ve never heard a professional songwriter in a small club playing his/her own songs, you’ve missed something deep and poignant. It’s one of the most magical, powerful encounters with pure creative energy you’ll experience in your lifetime.
The first week I went to Nashville I was at the Bluebird café for a writer’s night. A room full of Nashville’s best commercial songwriters listening to others like them perform their latest work. Steve Winwood was there I think. So was Michael McDonald.

Do you know who Alex Harvey is? Probably not, unless you’re a student of commercial songwriting.

A long time ago he wrote a song titled Delta Dawn—and that song launched the mega-career of a young woman named Tanya Tucker. He’s been cranking out hits ever since, though he probably could have retired on the money from that song alone because it was such a huge success. I was in the back corner of the Bluebird waiting in line for the bathroom my third day in Nashville and Alex Harvey was in line too. He was the special songwriter guest that night, and he would go on stage later to perform his songs. That's an old picture of Alex down there on the left.

He looked at me, pushed his lips out a little and said, “You new in town?”

“Yeah,” I said.“Just got here this week.”

“So, you writin’ any good songs?”

I shrugged. “I think so,” I said. “But how do you tell?”

He nodded.

“That’s the hardest part when you first get to town,” he said. “You don’t know if the last song you wrote is any good or not.”

More profound words have never been spoken. He was saying, in a way specific to songwriting, that I didn’t have any kind of stick with which to measure my work.

And he was right. It’s true not just of songwriting, but of almost everything in the world of art isn’t it? It’s true of the books we write when we're new fiction writers, and even not-so-new fiction writers.

How do you know?

How do you know if the last painting you did, or the last book you wrote, or the last poem or song you wrote is any good? How do you know if your guitar riffs breathe, if your unique musical or vocal style has merit, if your latest musical composition is worth listening to? How do you learn to please yourself with your work?

Now, some people seem to have an inner sense—some mechanism that lets them know that this—THIS—is it. THIS IS GOOD.

Not me.

I realized as I considered his words, that I had never had a measuring stick of my own. I might have been born with one, but something had happened to it a long time ago. Maybe it was a bad teacher. Or a hyper critical sibling. Whatever it was, it happened so long ago that I’d forgotten about it.

For my entire life, the stick by which I measured my work had been other people’s opinions.

Alex Harvey told me that I should keep writing, that I would get there. And I did that. I got pretty good at it actually. Not amazing, but I could sit down to co-write with any pro in the business and hold my own. I had an inherent talent for it. And I’d learned a lot. I’d built skill and I understood what it took to run with those big dogs.

But you want to know the truth? Even after all of that, the elusive measuring stick was not there. I had the raw materials, but the actual stick did not exist as yet.

You want to do something hard? Get up in a songwriter town and play your stuff in a little bitty room for a bunch of other songwriters, some who just stepped off the bus and others who have a string of hits under their belts.

And that’s the trouble. In my mind, they held the stick. They were the ones who would say whether my work had merit. There’s some truth to that I guess. Who among us does not wish to be respected by peers?

As fiction writers and RWA members, we get the benefit of writing contests, critique, and the learning that goes with that. Some of it good, some of it not so good at times. Even with those opportunities, without the inner measuring stick, how do you know which advice to believe and which to take with the proverbial grain of salt?

I took a lot of art classes when I was a girl and recently, after many years of not lifting a paintbrush, I started taking watercolor classes. Even in high school I could paint hyper-realism. Photo-style portraits in oil and acrylic.

But watercolor is a different animal.

You have to plan ahead, then you have to let it flow—you have to be loose and free and allow the painting to help you decide what it’s going to be. It’s the most difficult media I’ve worked with, ever. My perfectionism and my need to get good FAST meet their match in watercolor.

Last year my instructor asked me to hang something in a teacher-student show at a local gallery.

No way.

“You’ve got some great stuff” she said.

But to my mind it wasn’t great. Everything I’d done had been a copy of another painting, or a study in class based on something the teacher had done. Guided exercise. Nothing I felt was worthy of even framing, let alone hanging for people to look at.

I told Jeanne about it and said, “What is wrong with me? Am I so afraid of critique that I can’t hang a painting in a student show?”

Jeanne said, “Who criticizes student art?”

She was right.

I know now, what it was. It was the measuring stick. I was afraid because I was still unsure of the measuring stick for visual arts. I still don't have a solid measuring stick for painting. As it’s a hobby for me I don’t have a huge problem with that. And that's how you get good at anything. You copy those you respect and admire. You learn their techniques. You follow the recipe and the rules until one day, it becomes ingrained in you and POW, you can make up your own dishes. YOU are the chef. You are the artist and your unique voice comes through.

Or at least, that's how I imagine it to be. I imagine that you then begin to rise to the top with the cream.

And something has happened recently as I’ve been working on a new manuscript—one that’s a dramatic departure from the stuff I usually write. I’ve found myself wanting to write for ME. Not for anybody else.

This past week, I worked on a painting in class that was not something the teacher assigned. It was from a photo I took. A subject I liked. Watercolors of old buildings may be an overdone subject--maybe even cliched.

But you know what? I don’t care. Because I like it.

It’s still student art. I see all kinds of things wrong with it, and it isn’t quite done. I still have to put some shadows here, some weeds there, finish some trees. But I have it sitting in my kitchen, and I look at it, and I like it.

In fact I like it enough that I’m going to show it to you.

I call it The House on Mennonite Church Road.

Something has happened and my measuring stick for where I belong in the visual arts is materializing. This painting is not nearly as loose and impressionistic as I'd like to be, but neither is it the fussy hyper-realistic painter that I was.

I had to be away from Nashville for nearly three years before my songwriting measuring stick appeared.

At about that three year mark I got out my guitar and was playing through some of my songs—ones I was working on when life took me another direction and I stepped away from the music biz for a time. All of a sudden I listened to my own work and I sat there and stared for a minute.

Well, dang. I knew.

I KNEW. That one is mediocre. But this one…this one is actually damn good.

And I really don’t care whether anybody else likes it or not. It just doesn't matter because it's an expression of me and who I am. Like all art should be. But you know what? When I play it for people, they cry. That tells me that maybe, just maybe, my inner measuring stick is not too far off.

It's been the same with fiction manuscripts. Because I’m a writer by training I’m not shy about saying that good writing should move people. I believe that. Nevertheless, the measuring stick in my soul has been...well...ephemeral at best.

But something has changed there too. After years of writing to please teachers, copy and news editors, and publishers, I’ve begun to write for me. Yes, I want to sell. I want the recognition from outside that I’ve accomplished a goal. I want to get paid for it and I'll do what it takes to hone the craft to that point.

But even if I never sell, I will like what I’m writing. And I will write the stories because they want to be written. I'll work my rear off for an editor who wants me to make changes, since they know a lot more about marketable books than I do. But I won't be writing because I want someone else’s approval. I’ve built the skill and I will continue to build it for the rest of my life I hope. But I’m writing for me now.

The measuring stick is inside me.

So what about you, Sisters and friends?

Do you have your own inner measuring stick? How do you think we get those “measuring sticks” and how do we lose them?

Have you ever lost yours? Ever lost your sense of who you "are" as a writer, an engineer, an artist, a mom, a wife, a person?

Most of us know self doubt--how do you find your inner measuring stick once you've lost it?

How do you know good work when you see it?

Is there a painting, or a song, or a play or a piece of music that moves you to tears or laughter or angst or joy, and to which you compare everything else?

What is it about the books on your shelves—the “auto-buy” writers whose books you know you’re going to love—that measures up to what you want as a reader?

Two Guys and a Girl...

by Christine Wells

Buffy has two of them. So does Stephanie Plum. I believe our own Kirsten Scott is writing two potential love interests for her heroine in The Delcroix Academy series. They're the ultimate accessory--not one but two hawt love interests for our heroines. Erotic romance takes the love triangle even further, and I'm told the menage a trois sells like hotcakes. But we're seeing a lot more of this phenomenon in traditional romance, too.

Do these love triangles simply explore another female fantasy, or is something deeper happening here?

The romance thread in stories featuring women has changed dramatically over the years. In the past, the heroine often had two love interests, it's true, but one of those dishy men usually turned out to be a blackguard, or at least unworthy of our heroine's love, while the other revealed himself her true knight in shining armour. Wickham or Darcy? There was never any real doubt who Elizabeth would choose.

Now, things have become a lot more ambiguous, particularly in series like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books. Stephanie's life is complicated--there's good cop/bad boy Morelli and scary lethal dude Ranger and she can't seem to decide which she wants more.

Poor Buffy the Vampire Slayer has a lot on her plate. There's the saving the world thing to cope with on top of the normal trials of being a young woman in modern society. And then there's the slight problem that the only time her true love releases his inner demon is when he has a moment of perfect happiness with her. Angel (most of the time) is the demon turned good. Spike is the vampire who might love Buffy or kill her. Each of them seemed right for her at a certain point in the series. Isn't it magic the way great writing can make you cheer for one man (or demon) to win, then change your opinion in the next episode?

There's something luxurious and thrilling about wanting (or more accurately, being wanted by*g*) two different men. But my theory is that writers are doing more than simply turning up the heat for their readers or providing a smorgasbord of yummy men to choose from. Secondary characters often reflect aspects of the protagonist's character. So, what does it say about Stephanie Plum that she has a solid relationship with solid cop, Morelli, yet hankers after the risk of Ranger?

I think most traditional romance fans still like the happily ever after, and they like one hero to get the girl. But what do you think? Is it possible to love two men at the same time? Do you think there's a place for two heroes in a romance?

A Study in Self-Doubt: Anne Bradstreet's "Author to Her Book"

by Jo Robertson

Colonial American poet Anne Bradstreet wrote a poem titled “Author to Her Book,” in which she uses a lovely metaphor. She compares her book of poetry to a child being sent out into the world unprepared by its parent -- dirty-faced, tattered-dressed -- not ready for the world to see it, judge it, or evaluate it.

Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,
Who after birth did'st by my side remain,
Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true,
Who thee abroad, exposed to public view

I identify with Bradsteet’s sentiments. Most writers never feel their works are complete or polished enough for the world to view and judge. Every time I read through one of my older manuscripts, I think of dozens of ways to alter it, make it better, or just fiddle around with the damned thing!

Extending her metaphor, Bradstreet insists that the book’s “visage was . . . irksome in [her] sight,” but because it was hers, she believed that affection would amend its blemishes. However, the more she scrubbed its “face,” the “more defects [she] saw” till at last, her poverty “caused her to thus send [it] out of door.”

Sound familiar? Your book is your child, birthed in sweat and pain. But there's a point when you have to send it "out the door."

It’s a given that we writers have a lot of angst. If we’re unpublished, we doubt our worth as writers; if published, we believe someone made a monumental mistake in acquiring the first book and surely it'll be a fluke if we sell another.

Self-doubt is one of the most debilitating of traits, and yet, most of us constantly denigrate our best efforts in spite of the evidence around us.

What do you think? Are you one of those who doubts yourself?

Do you always second guess your decisions?

Put yourself down when someone compliments you?

If you’re a writer are you too hard on yourself? Do we writers fail to admire our strengths and dwell instead on our weaknesses? Why do you think we do this?

March Preview

posted by Aunty Cindy

March is roaring in like a lion here in the lair! (Hey, Foanna is on holiday and somebody has to step up to the plate with the puns.) In case any of you readers are interested in a wee bit of trivia, it was one year ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play...

No wait! Seriously, on March 2, 2007 the Banditas first started to experiment with this group blog. True, we didn't "officially" launch the Romance Bandits into cyberspace until May 4, 2007 but we were laying the groundwork for the Lair for more than two months. So here we are some 400+ blog posts later and we are having even more fun than we ever imagined!

As usual, we have an action-packed time planned for the upcoming month with more contests, maybe some Golden Heart and Rita finalists to announce (certainly our illustrious Banditas DESERVE the honors!) and lots of wonderful guest bloggers including:

• March 6th USA Today bestselling author of over 100 books, Maureen Child will talk about the latest in her hilarious Demon Duster series, A FIEND IN NEED.
• March 10th we are excited to welcome the queen of romance blogs, Michelle Buonfiglio!
• March 12th best-selling Harlequin Superromance author Kay Stockham will join us.
• March 18th author of the recently released FIRE STUDY, Maria V. Snyder will swing by the Lair.
  
• March 19th Sherry Thomas, whose book PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS is getting lots of buzz, will drop in.
• March 24th CJ Lyons (who gave us great advice on pitching at National) returns to the Lair! Her debut medical thriller LIFELINES just received a 4 1/2 star Top Pick from Romantic Times.
  
• March 27th we will welcome Nancy Haddock whose debut novel LA VIDA VAMPIRE just received 4 1/2 stars from Romantic Times!
• March 31st historical writer Tessa Dare will swing into the Lair.

Yes, it promises to be RIP ROARING FUN here this month so check back in with us OFTEN!

Meanwhile, now that you know what the Banditas were doing one year ago, care to share what YOU were up to in March, 2007? Or any other year you might have had a memorable March!

P.S. And it's not too late to VOTE FOR TRISH! We want to see our Fabulous Bandita take the tiara in American Title IV. Just use the button on the sidebar!

The Latest Winner!!

The winner of Victoria Dahl's autographed copy of TO TEMPT A SCOTSMAN goes to -- ta da, drum roll -- bridgetcoady! Congratulations!

Please send your snail address to jo.lewisrobertson@yahoo.com as soon as possible!

Ahhhhhh--chooooo!!!

By Kirsten Scott

I don't know about the rest of you, but in my little corner of the world, this has been one of the worst cold seasons in memory. Everyone I know is either sick, or getting over being sick, or worried about getting sick. I am personally thanking the steroid-god who delivered me from the land of the endless cough, and my kids are grateful for their friend Zithromax, who, along with best buddy Cough-Syrup-with-Codeine, helped them sleep through the night and get over their own little germ fests.

The land of the living cold has me thinking about how we writers are always looking for new ways to crawl into the skin of our characters and understand them better. We talk about tormenting our characters alot, and what better way to do that than to give them a cold? The way a person reacts to physical stress--be it an illness or an injury--tells us a lot about them, and the way a writer handles illness tells you a lot about how deep they are digging to get their characters right.

For example, you'll often see the stereotypical alpha male refusing help when he's sick, or being stoic when injured. But more interesting to me is the guy who falls apart when he's sick and has to accept being vulnerable and needing help. Or what about the powerful leader who can apply his own tourniquet but panics when the heroine has a fever? Now that's a real human being, one with flaws and weaknesses along with his strength.

Along those lines, forget the perfect heroine who martyrs her way through her flu, cold, and discomfort. I'd much rather read about a real person who gets whiney, or feels sorry for herself, and has to be teased out of her funk. Isn't there a great scene in You've Got Mail where Tom Hanks visits Meg Ryan when she's sick? Anyone remember that one? Or what about all those Catherine Coulter historicals where it seems like someone always gets a fever and has to be nursed back to health. I love those. There's something wonderfully real and timeless about a fever, or a cold. I don't care if you're in the Regency or the good-old-US-of-A--having a cold sucks, and we all know exactly what it feels like.

But back to me.

A little part of me likes the idea of having a cold. Unlike migraines, which I get a lot, a cold is something tangible. Snot pours out of you. Your nose gets red. Your voice gets scratchy. Then there's the cough. Add it together and what do you get?

Sympathy. Lots of yummy sympathy.

That's cool for about...oh...24 to 48 hours. Then I get pissed. I hate being sick. I hate not sleeping. I hate coughing. I hate all the healthy people around me who have the audacity NOT to be sick when I'm suffering so miserably. I get bitter. I huddle at my desk with a cup full of theraflu and try not to yell at everyone who is unfortunate enough to enter my office.

Things get ugly fast.

Of course, eventually I just become pitiful. I drink cup after cup of tea (which exacerbates my problem with finding time to go to the bathroom) and stand in the shower so long the room fills with steam and the walls drip. And then, after a few weeks, I finally break down and go to the doctor. Eventually, though it seems like I'll never be healthy again, I start to sleep through the night. Life returns to normal.

So what about you? Been sick lately? Do you hate being sick, or secretly enjoy the sympathy? What's your being sick ritual? Hot tea, warm bath, netti pot? My cough could return at any moment, and I want to be prepared!