ARC-itectural Treasures

by Anna Campbell

Yes, it's that time again!

My next Avon historical romance MY RECKLESS SURRENDER is out on 25th May! Less than two months away.

By the way, you can pre-order the book just by clicking on the cover. Same goes for the other books I've mentioned in this blog. We're all into user friendly here in the lair (especially when it comes to the cabana boys!).

Don't you just love that cover? I think it's absolutely luscious! And that come-hither look in my heroine's eyes is just right for the rather naughty Diana Carrick! Especially when she's come-hithering the rakish Earl of Ashcroft.

STOP PRESS!

THE NEWS TODAY IS THAT I HAVE AN ARC OF MY RECKLESS SURRENDER TO GIVE AWAY TO ONE OF OUR BANDITA BUDDIES!

I'm hoping someone here will surrender recklessly to the desire to comment and win it! Good luck!

Here's the gorgeous Aussie cover for MRS! Doesn't that just take your breath away?

I'm sure you've seen the American back cover blurb for MY RECKLESS SURRENDER. If not, you can read it here: http://www.annacampbell.info/recklesssurrender.html And please check out the excerpt while you're there!

The Aussies are doing things differently (that's just part of our independent, pioneering spirit, yanno?) and I really like their blurb tooI've never had a dual-continent simultaneous release before. It's pretty exciting.

June is gonna be a big month chez Campbell:

A passionate tale brimming with lust, tenderness and betrayal from Anna Campbell, the queen of Regency noir.

Diana Carrick has very good reasons to seduce Tarquin Vale, Earl of Ashcroft. None of which she intends to share with the notorious rake. But instead of the selfish, jaded debaucher she expects, Diana discovers a man unlike any other, and even the dangerous secret she must protect cannot shield her from his dark allure.

The scandalous earl wearies of easy conquests and empty pleasures. When the mysterious Diana suggests an affair to while away a few summer weeks, he’s intrigued and becomes increasingly and powerfully drawn to Diana’s mix of innocence and passion..

Unwittingly yet most willingly, they are playing with fire. Now the fuse has been lit and there’s no escape … except surrender.

I thought to get conversation going, we'd play a little game. It's one we've played before and it's a regular on the Australian Romance Readers Association loop. But it's always fun and we're all such readers, it's pretty easy!

OK, just tell me three things:

The book you finished most recently.

The book you are currently reading.

The book you'll pick up next.

To get the ball rolling, here are my answers:


LAST: WHAT REMAINS OF HEAVEN by C.S. Harris (fabulous, I am in love with Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin. He's a delicious mixture of the man of action and brain box, and he's so adorably tortured).

CURRENTLY: FORBIDDEN by Christina Phillips (OK, this is a bit of a gloat. It's an ARC of Aussie writer Christina's wonderful debut, an erotic historical set in Roman Britain. Those men in skirts sure could do the hula! Keep an eye out for FORBIDDEN from Berkley on 7th September! )

NEXT: KISMET by Monica Burns (I've been manfully keeping my hands off this one for a couple of weeks because I know when I start it, I won't stop. A courtesan and a sheikh? Sounds like my idea of heaven!)

So let's play! And one lucky person will get an advance reader copy of my next release MY RECKLESS SURRENDER! Best of Aussie luck to you all!

The Winning Season...

by Donna MacMeans

Everyone has been a little high strung in the lair this week.

You might recall that a contest, RWA's 2006 Golden Heart contest, brought us all together so many years ago.

Now, one usually doesn't enter the Golden Heart without having had som

e success at smaller regional contests. Consequently you could say that the banditas are a collection of successful contest sluts.

I'm afraid the sluttiness doesn't go away once one becomes published. There's a whole array of regional contests for published authors. While the prize in an unpublished contest is often an editor read - for the published author, it's just another credential to add to their biography (and sometimes a framable certificate or plaque). But the grand prize remains RWA's RITA contest which earns the author, besides bragging rights, a

golden statuette.

So why are we antsy in the lair? Thursday is the day the finalists in the Golden Heart/RITA contest are announced. First the finalists receive a phone call, then the names go up on the contest website and the congratulations begin flying. This year the winners of the Golden Heart and RITA contests will be announced in late July at the RWA convention in Nashville. Of cour

se, we'll announce any bandita finalists here and post their good news on the scroll. For more information on the RWA convention, follow this link: www.Rwanational.org

The nice thing about the Golden Heart/RITA contest is that much like the Academy awards, the contest is judged by peers. For the Golden Heart, scores are collected from five RWA member judges to determine the finalists. A panel of editors determine the winner. For the RITA, scores are collected from five other published author judges to determine the finalists. Then another panel of author judges chose the winner.

But while we wait for Thursday's announcement, I thought I'd explain some of the differences between the big published author contests.

Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Awards - Every year the reviewers at Romantic Times Book reviews magazine nominate various books/authors for a variety of awards. The reviewers choose the winner in each category and announce the winners at their convention (which this

year will be in Columbus, Ohio) in late April. The nice thing about this contest is that there is no entry fee or submission process. If you've published a book in the past year, you are

automatically entered. This year we have three banditas as finalists: Christine Wells/ Wicked Little Games, Anna Campbell/Tempt the Devil and Kate Carlisle/Homicide in Hard Cover. As I'll be at the RT Convention next month, I'll be cheering loudly for my fellow banditas to win. For more information on the RT convention, check out this link: http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS

RomCon - This is the first year for this contest, but the prizes are simply amazing. This is the only contest with a significant financial award for the winner, but it is an expensive contest to enter and, unlike the RT award, one must enter. Like many of the smaller regional contests, the judges are screened readers. The finalists will be announced next month on April 30th. The winners will be announced at the RomCon convention in early July in Denver. For more information, check out this link. http://www.romconinc.com/

So my question for you is - do contest wins or finals make a difference to you as a reader? Not everyone enters their books into contests due to cost factors. We banditas enjoy the validation that a contest win or final can bring. Are you a contest slut? How about in another venue? Before I started writing I used to enter my paintings in local art shows. I guess once a slut, always a slut (grins). So what do you think?

Coming in October

by Nancy

Wow, it's hard to believe we're already moving into October. We have a wonderful month coming up in the Lair! In addition to our usual bandita blogs, we have fabulous guests coming.

We kick off with a bang and a squee! as our very own Aunty Cindy, known to the reading public as Loucinda McGary, launches her debut romantic suspense novel, The Wild Sight, which earned a starred review in Publishers Weekly. We hope you'll all join the party on October 1.

Kensington author Delilah Marvelle, whose debut novel, Mistress of Pleasure, was just released, joins Kirsten Scott on October 2.

Dorchester author Gerri Russell guests with Nancy on October 6. Gerri will discuss her recent trip to Scotland and celebrate the release of her third Scottish historical romance, Warrior's Lady.

Sourcebooks Casablanca publicist Danielle Jackson guests with Aunty Cindy on October 7. She'll be glad to answer questions from commenters about promotion and pubicity.

Denise Rosetti, who writes hot romances for Berkley, Avon, and Ellora's Cave, chats with Christine Wells about one of our favorite subjects, heroes, on October 16.

Medical romance author Fiona Lowe joins Anna Campbell on October 19 to discuss her latest release, The Playboy Doctor's Marriage Proposal.

Western historical author Tracy Garrett chats about her latest release, Touched by Love, with Suzanne Welsh on October 27.

We may have one or two other guests. Stay tuned for further developments!

In addition to all the fun we plan to have here in the lair, we're also spotlighting contests offered on bandita websites. Highlights are:

**Win an advance review copy of Anna Campbell's January release, Tempt the Devil by visiting Anna's website at website and answer a simple question to be in the running.

**Nancy Northcott's first contest is open, with three of categories of prizes to be awarded in an end-of-year drawing. To enter, subscribe to Nancy's newsletter at her website and email Nancy with your category preference.

**Trish Milburn is running a contest, "Where in the World is a Firefighter in the Family," to celebreate her debut release. Information is on Trish's website

Rules are simple:
1. Buy a copy of A Firefighter in the Family.
2. Have someone take your photo digitally with your copy of the book.
3. E-mail it to Trish at triciamillsbooks AT yahoo DOT com.
4. Let her know where you bought it.

She'll be featuring some of the photos on her blog. On Oct. 9, she'll draw at random from the entrants to win the following: A signed advanced reading copy of her first young adult title, Heartbreak River; a box of Godiva chocolates; a $20 gift card to Barnes & Noble; and a day dedicated to you on her blog.