Bandita Booty Reminder

by Anna Sugden

Just a reminder that Caffey hasn't claimed her prize from Anna Louise Lucia.

Please send an email to Anna@annalouiselucia.com with your snail mail details, so Anna can get this wonderful prize package off to you!

Bandita Booty!!

by Anna Sugden
Time to announce the prize winner from our visit with the fabulous Anna Louise Lucia. This is for a copy of Dangerous Lies and some Moroccan Rose goodies from The Body Shop.

So, without further ado

Congratulations ...

Caffey!

Please send Anna your snail mail information at Anna@annalouiselucia.com

Are You Ready For "Dangerous Lies"?!

by Anna Sugden

I'm delighted to welcome back my very dear friend and supremely talented author, Anna Louise Lucia.

You may recall Anna celebrated the release of her debut novel Run Among Thorns with us here in the Lair. As well as enticing us with her special guest, the hero of Run Among Thorns, Kier McAllister, she ran a contest to name the beer in her next book, Dangerous Lies and our very own Christine Wells won - with Sweaty Socks. I can tell you that this beer does indeed appear in Dangerous Lies. And a special tribute is paid to a certain golden feathered rascal too!


You'll have to rush out and buy Dangerous Lies to check it out! In fact, I may offer a fun prize to the first person to email me with the page number this info appears on! (email me at anna@annasugden.com )

Anyway, Anna is back with us today to celebrate the release of Dangerous Lies, which is already receiving well-deserved rave reviews - including an 'A' from All About Romance! And she has brought another special guest with her; the delicious hero of Dangerous Lies, Alan Waring.

Welcome Anna and Alan.
Anna: Thank you Anna, we're delighted to be here.

Alan, you've kindly agreed to answer some questions for the Banditas and BB's, so shall we get started?
Alan: By all means.

How are you related to Jenny and Kier McAllister?
Alan: Jenny’s my uncrushable little sister. I love her, so I’ll forgive her the lapse of judgement that made Kier my brother in law. No, I’m kidding. I’ve a lot of respect for the monosyllabic Kier, and I’d trust him in a tight spot. Plus I’m educating him on the true qualities of British real ales – it’s a project!

What do you do, Alan?
Alan: I own and run a landscape gardening company, but I do a fair bit of travelling, too. Mostly the Nordic countries, Sweden, Norway. I owe Jenny another postcard, I think. The last one was from the Sognefjord.

But Dangerous Lies is set in Morocco ... what is a ‘garden’ man doing in Morocco?
Alan: Ah. No, you must be mistaken, I…
Look, Kier vouched for you. He said I could trust the Banditas, although I didn’t know then what he was talking about. So I’ll level with you. I’m an agent of the British Government. A spy, If you like. While I’m in North Africa I travel as a ICT salesman, specialising in emerging markets. I’ve been in Rabat in Morocco for a while this trip, waiting for HQ to give me the nod to come home with… with something I’m carrying.

You know, if it turns out I can’t trust you… No. If Kier says you’re okay, you’re okay.

I promise you can trust us. You know, what's said in the Lair, stays in the Lair.
Alan: All right, then.

So, Alan, who is Marianne and how did you get involved with her?
Alan: Marianne is… an enigma. She’s just a tourist, travelling alone. She tells me it’s her first holiday abroad, and really I’m guessing she’s led a sheltered life. She was caring for her father for years, and then he died, and she decided it was time to live a little. I think she wants … wanted … Me to help her with that.

I was out and about in the backstreets, after a meeting HQ arranged went bust, and I saw her alone in an abandoned house. It was a striking moment, that picture of the dark haired woman with the lonely eyes, unmoving in that tiled courtyard, like the ghost of old Morocco… I should have walked on. But there was some unrest in the city and I knew she’d be at risk. I couldn’t just leave her, so I gave her my escort. It got… interesting.

You seem to have landed in a spot of bother – tell us about it.

Alan: A spot of bother! God, if it were only that. I’ve been criminally, indefensibly stupid and reckless, and Mari’s… she’s missing. We had a fling. She wanted it to end, she said she did. But it threw me, she’s so brave and generous and she’s got under my skin. I was off balance, disorientated. I put her at risk. I never meant to, I swear. Surely… it’s got to have been an accident.

But whoever it is who’s hunting me has got her. I don’t even know if…

No.

No, I’ll find her. Whatever it takes. Bloody hellfire, if I have to crawl halfway across the Sahara desert on my hands and knees, I will find her.

Excerpt

There was grit in her shoes, sand in her eyes and the mob and her blood roaring in her ears. We can’t outrun them, she thought, we can’t—

“In here.” Alan flicked a latch on a narrow gate of planks, paint peeling red and green, and pushed her through it ahead of him. It was little more than a narrow space between two houses. Not even wide enough to earn the name alley, just a gap, with a wavering channel running down the centre, where water would run in the rains.

He crowded in after her, bending close to the gate to close it, one palm braced on the splintering wood, one easing the latch into place silently. The mob passed, a shadow at the gate, a shouting and thundering, shivering a skein of sand from the back ledge of the gate.

The noise outside went away, the noise inside was only their breathing, her feet shuffling on the ground as she tried to edge her way to some personal space, somewhere she could breathe.

She was immediately half-blinded in the shadows and half-stifled in the still, hot air. She braced one hand on the rough-rendered wall opposite. With her back against the other wall, she couldn’t even straighten her arm. She dragged in hot, dusty air, choking on the racing of her own heart, and tried not to panic.

Looking around, she saw that the other end of their hiding place was blocked by piles of something like boxes. Oh, God. “Where—”

Alan whirled on her, plucking her close, wedging her between his chest and the wall, one arm immobilising her, one hand hard across her mouth. Outside there were shouts, a distant cacophony, unreal and distorted.

Everything was unreal. The shafts of light piercing the rickety door were like golden blades.
The dust motes that danced on them were gods and angels, djinns and genies. She was blinded with light and dazzled with darkness in one breath.

In the stuttering dark he was a wall of heat, pressing her back, holding her in place. Adrenaline surged in her, heightening her senses, making her want to shout against his hand, making her want . . .

One of those golden blades sliced across his throat, where the collar of his pale shirt was undone. It gleamed on his damp, tanned skin, and glinted on the bead of sweat that was travelling––now fast, now slow––down the rough stubble underneath his jaw.

Her breathing had steadied, but her heart was still racing. There was no sun, now, on which to blame her light-headedness.

He was golden, gilded, bright.

His palm against her mouth smelled of him, and of spice and heat. She dragged the scent in, her eyes fluttering half-closed. His skin would taste of salt, she knew . . . It would taste salty and hot and intense.

It would taste . . .

She put out her tongue, half-dizzy, half-dreaming, and tasted him.

His body jerked against hers. His eyes were glowing in one of those brilliant beams from the broken door, all white and blue, like a clouded summer sky. They fixed on her, holding her more effectively in place than the hands that gripped her and the body that pinned her.

He ducked his head. The hair at her temple snagged on the roughness of his jaw, and his breath spilled down her neck. “Mari,” he whispered, a word of warning, but his grip on her changed, gentled. His thigh brushed hers, his chest pressed against her breasts. Outside, distantly, a crowd roared, but the sound of her blood drowned out their hate.

Anna: We have a question for all of you in the Lair. Alan and Mari have to weather a sandstorm in the Sahara, hunkering down behind some rocks with only some bits of a tent for shelter. What one comfort item would you take into the desert with you.... the one thing, apart from basic survival kit, you would HAVE to have with you?
One lucky commenter will win a copy of Dangerous Lies and some Moroccan Rose lotions from The Body Shop

Bandita Booty ... and the winner of the best beer name is ...

by Anna Sugden

Thank you all for the very warm welcome you gave Anna Lucia and Keir, the uber-sexy interrogator hero of her book Run Among Thorns. I know they both really enjoyed their time in the Lair (even if it was kind of hard to tell with Kier because he was keen to get going with Jenny!). Hopefully they will come back and visit us next year, when Anna's next book Dangerous Lies is out, and Kier can update us on how he and Jenny are doing.

Anyway, without further ado, on to the winners of Anna's name the beer contest. And the winner is ...

Christine Wells with Sweaty Socks!
There’s a scene in Dangerous Lies where Alan and Kier end up on a friend’s yacht after a tense chase across Algeria. Exhausted and thirsty, they check out the tiny fridge and find real ales... and now the beer they’ll pick and remark on will be Sweaty Socks...

And the runner up is ...

Joan’s Golden Rooster Ale! – Anna knows it’s a Bandita name, but she could really see an Ale with that name!

As I was so impressed with all the creativity - I'm giving away an extra prize ... to the teetotaller who came up with some storming beer names *grin*. A copy of Run Among Thorns goes to Louisa Cornell!

Please send your snail mail addresses to me at Anna at annasugden dot com and I'll pass them on to Anna Lucia.

Congrats to all our winners ... especially Christine. Can't wait to see your 'name' in print!

Welcome Anna Louise Lucia and her Secret Guest

by Anna Sugden

We’re sorry for the extra security in the Bandita’s Lair this morning, but when you meet our special, secret guest, we’re sure you’ll understand why. I hope the hockey hunks and the sexy Romans weren’t too enthusiastic in their searches (and for P226 and our other male visitors, the elite team of RB security gals)! Flag down a cabana boy for a drink and make yourselves comfortable.

I’m thrilled to welcome my dear friend, super-talented Medallion author Anna Louise Lucia, whose debut novel Run Among Thorns is out this month (don’t forget you can order from Amazon by clicking on the book cover). It’s a thrilling read, that grips you from page 1 and won’t let you put it down until you’ve reached the end. RT gave Run Among Thorns a well-deserved 4.5 stars.

Welcome Anna

Thank you, Anna, *g* I'm delighted to be here! Thank you for giving me, and Run Among Thorns, such a great welcome!

Please tell us about Run Among Thorns.

Ah, well, Run Among Thorns is my first book – the first I finished, the first I submitted, and my first to be published. But it's by no means the first draft! It's been through a lot of changes (I put it aside to write several others before coming back to it and trying again) but there's one true constant: Kier McAllister, the hero.

You see, Run Among Thorns is my, "what happens if you fall in love with your enemy?" book. There were times I was tempted to tone McAllister down, make him less uncompromising, less overwhelming, a bit... well, softer. I'm glad I didn't, because if I had the heroine, Jenny Waring, wouldn't have had a hero worthy of her own strength.

Jenny gets involved in a hostage situation and kills three armed men. It's Kier's job to break her, to find out how and why she did what she did, but Jenny finds herself drawn to her enemy, and Kier, for the first time, begins to question himself more than his subject...

The reason for all the extra security today, is that you’ve brought a very special guest with you. Would you like to introduce him?

He's not much of a man for introductions. Folks, this is Kier. He's taken a moment after accepting this mission, before he heads off with Jenny.

Kier, welcome to the Lair.

Thanks.

Can you tell us a bit about the mission you’re on?

No.

Ah. I should have explained we've been granted clearance–

Let me see. Okay. For the record, I don't think this is a bright idea.

We understand. This is in complete confidence, you can trust us.

I don't trust anyone. I just won't tell you anything you can do any harm with.

It's a straightforward job of the type I'm best at. We've caught CCTV footage of a woman taking out three armed men. The Agency want to know how she was able to do that, and more importantly how she caught them napping. They're supposed to know when highly trained agents are on their patch. She got through.

It's my job to question her. To break her cover and find out what makes her tick.

What makes you the perfect choice for this job?

I have... a knack. It's not a bamboo splinters under the fingernails job, I'm not a torturer, I'm an interrogator. Given enough time, I can find anyone's break point.

What makes me perfect? I'm the best there is. It's not a boast, it's just the way it is. Doubt, compassion, uncertainty – those are the weaknesses that can get you killed. I don't have 'em.

This is not a job for a man with a conscience.

Now that you’ve had a chance to meet Jenny, what are your impressions of her?

She's good. Great offensive moves, clean kills, and a great actress. The idiots here have been questioning her for thirty-six hours or so – I've seen tapes of the highlights. Her performance is consistent, designed to convince and provoke pity.

I've been studying her and she seems to radiate this fragile courage. If I wasn't certain it was an act, I'd worry... but I am certain.

Yeah. She's good.

I'm better.

So, is this a pretty straightforward case. Or is there something unusual about it?

Every case is different. You underestimate a subject and you put yourself at risk.

The only unusual thing about this case is the way Agency staff seem to be improving on their usual level of anxious incompetence. The sooner we're out of here the better.

I suppose you could say Jenny's unusual, too. English, no good reason for firearms or combat aptitudes, and that sense of...

No. Like I said, she's good. But I can break her.

After you leave us, I understand you’re heading off to Scotland. Do you have a place there and what’s so special about it?

The way I operate relies on isolating the subject. Denying them any privacy, any respite, any control over the most basic aspects of their lives. I find that easiest on my own ground.

The longhouse – that's a traditional, one-storey cottage - in Scotland is very basic. One room, stone floors, no road, no telephone. It puts things on my terms. And puts her under my control.

Many thanks for joining us today, Kier. I know you’re keen to get on with your job, but I hope you’ll be able to stick around a little bit longer to chat with all of us in the Lair. Good luck with your mission.

There's no luck involved. But sure, I can stick around, while they're sorting out the paperwork.

Anna, thank you for bringing Kier with you. He certainly is an exciting hero. I hope he and Jenny get through their adventure together safely.

Can you tell us more about Taking the Pith and Waggledance? And about the fabulous prizes you have for some of our lucky visitors today.

LOL! Well, one of the character's Kier meets in Run Among Thorns is Alan, Jenny's brother. Alan's a Brit, and a real-ale fan. Poor Kier's a bit confused by all the strange-named beers in Alan's house, but I promise you that every one is real – I haven't made up a single one! I'm not Taking the Pith!

But now it's your turn to do just that – make up a beer name. I might even be able to include it in Alan's story – Dangerous Lies – which is out next year. I haven't done edits yet, so I should have the opportunity to immortalise your made-up-beer in my next book!

Some of the beers I've used have come from a local brewery called Jennings. Their offerings include Sneck Lifter and Cross Buttock.... but can you do better?

Make up a beer name and post it in comments, I will pick the winner and:
1) Include it in my next book (subject to publisher's editing!)
2) Send the winner a signed copy
3) And include some bookmarks and Jennings beer mats in the package

I'll also choose a runner up, and send another signed copy, bookmarks and beer mats.

You can find out more about Anna at her website http://www.annalouiselucia.com/ .