Bandita Booty

It was so awesome to have Pamela Palmer hang out with us - and even better, she offered THREE copies of DESIRE UNTAMED to three lucky winners. And the names drawn are:

Blodeuedd, Bkwrm 26 and Gigi.

Ladies, congratulations. If you'll drop Pam an email with Bandits Prize in the subject line and your shipping info, she'll get those books right out to you :-)

And thanks to everyone for hanging out!!!

Writing on the wild side or... Where do you come up with this stuff?

by Tawny

I'm so jazzed to welcome one of our favorite authors, Pamela Palmer, back to the Lair. Today's she's hanging out with us and talking about that ever-exciting topic that keeps all writer's going hmmm... Imaginations. I know, you can't wait to hear what she has to say (okay, read what she has to say) so without further ado... Here's Pam!!!

All fiction writers have imaginations, big imaginations, or we’d never come up with the stories we do. We’re the ones walking around with the voices in our heads. But these big imaginations can take different forms. I think all novelists love the quesiton ‘what if?’ But not every writer looks at a plane in the sky and wonders, “What if it exploded?” or “What if it just disappeared? Or morphed into an alien spacecraft?”

I think those of us who write speculative fiction (paranormal/sci-fi/fantasy) tend to have brains that serve up the strangest what-if questions. What if that dude in front of me in the check-out line were to suddenly shift into a jaguar? What if I could suck the life out of someone with the touch of my hand? What if I were immortal? All three of these questions came to me at one point or another in the creation of my latest Feral Warriors shape-shifter novel, RAPTURE UNTAMED, which hits stores Tuesday (June 29th). It’s the story of a pair of immortals -- a jaguar shifter with a ripping bad attitude, and a non-shifter who has a secret -- a forbidden ability that could make her a danger even to the Feral Warriors. The shifter, Jag, is the last male on earth she could ever trust. And, ultimately, the only one who can save her soul.

So, where does this stuff come from? Honestly, I wish I could give you the secret. I think we’re born with brains that serve up the surreal. When my son was four, he woke up one morning filled with the memory of a dream -- a dream about a magic ring with incredible power. His detailed explanation of the workings of this ring took a solid ten minutes and made eerily logical sense. Yes, he enjoyed books and he watched t.v., but I read the books to him, and was almost always nearby when the t.v. was on. I’d have known if he’d heard about this ring somewhere. He hadn’t. It was the creation of a four-year-old’s imagination. How does a brain that young come up with something that intricate, something that doesn’t exist? It amazed me at the time, and it still does.

Do non-writers dream like this? I don’t know. You tell me. My son has no desire to be a writer, but I’m convinced he has the imagination for it if he ever changes his mind. And I absolutely dream crazy, exciting, high-action dreams along with the more mundane and frustrating I’m-late-but-I-can’t-remember-how-to-get-there dreams.

What if I could shove my hand through that table...without breaking it? What if the Dupont Circle fountain in D.C. was a gate into the fairy world? What if I could see the future? The questions come almost fast as I can type them. There’s a fine line between weirdly creative and crazy, trust me. So where do these ideas come from? The best I can figure, they’re all a function of some weird quirk of the brain. If there’s a cure, I don’t want it! If it weren’t for the strange paths my mind wanders, I wouldn’t be able to tell the stories I love.

Do you dream? Do you remember your dreams? And if you do, are they strange or pretty normal (for dreams)?

In celebration of the release of RAPTURE UNTAMED (in three days!), I’m giving away three signed copies of the first book in the Feral Warriors series, DESIRE UNTAMED, one each to three random commenters.

Sweet dreams!

Untamed Booty!

Thanks a bunch to everyone who came around and made Pamela Palmer's visit such a hoot. I tell you - there's more big cats roaming the lair today than I can poke a stick at! Not that I'd poke a stick at these guys. They're all scary dudes!

I'm delighted to announce that the two winners of signed copies of the first Feral Warriors book, DESIRE UNTAMED, are:

Drew!

Kylie S!

Congratulations, girls! You've got some gorgeous shapeshifting reading ahead of you.

Please email Pam on pamela@pamelapalmer.net with your snail mail details and she'll get your prizes off to you.

Passionate about Passion Untamed

by Anna Campbell

It's with enormous pleasure that I bring fellow 2006 Golden Heart finalist Pamela Palmer to the lair. That 2006 Golden Heart year was full of really cool people - that's where I met all the Banditas!

Pam is currently on her way to world domination with a string of recent publications to her name and more to come. Whoo-hoo! She's a wonderful writer who manages to combine breathtaking emotion with heart-stopping action. Not an easy mixture! And all with a sizzling touch of magic! How can you resist?

For more information on Pamela Palmer and her books, please visit her website: http://www.pamelapalmer.net/

Welcome back, Pamela! You're one of the most popular guests we’ve ever had so I’m excited to have you returning to the lair to chase cabana boys and drink margaritas…um, no, I really mean talk SERIOUS writing stuff!

So much has happened since you last visited. Firstly, congratulations on the release of the first three instalments in the FERAL WARRIORS series which were a back-to-back release, July, August, September this year. Can you tell us about these books?


Thanks for having me again, Anna and the Banditas! (Doesn’t that sound like a rock band? Or maybe it should be Anna and the Cabana Boys.) Oh, right. SERIOUS writing stuff. Where are the margaritas…? Thanks for the congrats on the launch of my new FERAL WARRIORS series! I’m so excited about writing this series for Avon. These guys are a blast to write – dark, sexy, seriously untamed, and incredibly male. And the covers the Avon art department is doing for them are amazing.

The premise behind the series is that millennia ago the Therian race of shape-shifters and their traditional enemies, the Mage, were forced to mortgage most of their power in order to imprison the High Daemon, Satanan and his horde, and save the Earth. Only one shape-shifter of each of the ancient Therian lines was able to retain the power of his animal. Today, only nine true shape-shifters remain, each one a different animal. These are the Feral Warriors. But ancient evil is once more on the rise and they’re all that stands between the world and destruction.


The most recent FERAL WARRIOR instalment is PASSION UNTAMED, Paenther’s story. Can you tell us about this book? It sounds fabulous!

Thanks, Anna! PASSION UNTAMED is the third book in the series. In it, Paenther, the darkly intense black panther shifter, is captured by a Mage witch for the second time in his life. He barely survived the first time and his hatred for the Mage is terrible. But the witch who’s captured him has done so against her will. Skye is a pure spirit who’s been enslaved by the evil Mage as surely as Paenther has. But true hatred is a difficult thing to overcome.

What’s coming up next for those gorgeous FWs?

The next Feral story comes out in January as part of the BITTEN BY CUPID anthology I’m doing with Lynsay Sands and Jaime Rush. Though the story is the romance of two intriguing, star-crossed immortals, several of the Ferals show up in the tale, and things are revealed that will have a major impact on future books.

Then in July 2010, RAPTURE UNTAMED comes out. This one is Jag’s book. Jag is the Bad Boy of the bunch, the jaguar-shifter who delights in causing trouble and antagonizing the others. Everyone deserves a happily-ever-after, but Jag’s got a long way to go to earn his. He finally finds his match in Olivia, a woman who not only can hold her own against him, but who can see past the mask he shows the world to the good man even he doesn’t know exists deep inside him.

You’ve recently had a Scottish time travel published under the pen name Pamela Montgomerie. Please tell us about SAPPHIRE DREAM, which by the way I read in a single sitting and just loved!

SAPPHIRE DREAM and I go back a long, long way. I wrote it over the course of many years, putting it aside and taking it back out again as I figured out how I wanted to tell the tale – and acquired the skills to do it. It was my third completed manuscript and the first to really come together the way I’d envisioned. I love all my books equally (I can’t play favorites among my book children), but this one holds a very special place in my heart.

SAPPHIRE DREAM is the story of a modern woman, Brenna Cameron, who travels to Scotland looking for answers about her past, only to awaken aboard a seventeenth century pirate ship. Eventually, she learns that she was long ago named in a prophecy and that Hegarty, a wee little Rumplestiltskin-like magical man, has called her through time with the help of a magical sapphire, in order for her to fulfil her destiny. The captain of the ship, Rourke Douglas, knows all too well about that cursed prophecy and wants nothing to do with it, or Brenna. But fate has other plans.
Are there further time travels planned? It’s a genre I always enjoy and it seems to be having a bit of a renaissance at the moment (no pun intended. Well, maybe a wee one).

AMETHYST DESTINY, the sequel to SAPPHIRE DREAM, is slated for release next summer. In this book, Hegarty is at it again, his magical stones causing more mischief and creating more havoc. Hegarty loaned one of the stones, the amethyst, to Talon MacClure when Talon was a lad, and the boy learned to manipulate its magic – as well as anyone can, for the stone has a mind of its own. Now a man, Talon’s become known as the Wizard – a mercenary who will find anything, or steal anything, for a price. He finds the name ironic, for none know he truly possesses magic. But when he requests help from the ring in locating his latest prize, the ring sends him a woman -- a none-too-pleased petite beauty from the future. And the true adventure begins.

Your Esri books for Silhouette Nocturne are still among the most memorable paranormals I’ve ever read. I remember when I was in Washington, I kept getting the creeps when I saw the fountain in Dupont Circle because that’s where the bad guys turn up! Are there further stories planned in that series?

I love that the Dupont Circle fountain made you think of the Esri, Anna! In all, the Esri series will be four books long, though only two have hit the shelves so far, THE DARK GATE and DARK DECEIVER. The third book, Charlie’s book, is written, and I’m working on the final book in the series now. Silhouette plans to schedule the release of the last two books fairly close together, though just when that will be, I don’t know. I’ll post it on my website as soon as I hear!

Your schedule over the last year or so has been spectacular (or terrifying – pick your adjective!). Can you tell us how you juggle all your commitments and manage your writing day?

My schedule has been crazy lately, at least for me. Books due every two to four months. There are certainly writers who write books in 2-4 months on a regular basis, and still have a life outside the writing, but they write faster than I do! I wrote three books last year and, once I finish what I’m working on now, will have written three books and a novella in the first 10 months of this year. But it’s pretty much all I do. It’s what comes of writing for three publishers at once. Fortunately, it’s also what I love to do, so other than feeling rushed a bit at times, it’s no hardship. And I’ve found (don’t tell my editors this) that it’s actually easier to write them faster because the characters and the situations stay crystal clear in my head.

Juggling my commitments is a matter of setting personal (false) deadlines. Case in point is my current situation. My last deadline was May 15th. My next two books are due October 1st and November 1st, respectively. All three to different publishers. If I wrote strictly to deadline, I’d have had four and a half months for the October book and one month for the November. Not good. So I set a deadline for myself to have the October book written and to my two critique partners by August 1st. Which I did. While they read and critiqued it, I dove into the November book. They’ve gotten back to me with some concerns (Jag is proving to be his usual, difficult self), so I’ll set aside the November book for a bit while I revise the October book, then dive back into the November.

Managing my writing day is pretty easy. I get up, exercise, then write on and off for 10-12 hours. I’m really not a fast writer. I just write constantly! Over the years, I’ve experimented with different productivity mindsets. I’ve tried setting daily time goals – I’ll write for x number of hours today. But that didn’t work well, since I could imagine stories in my head for hours without writing a word. I’ve tried setting daily page goals. But that also didn’t work well, at least not by itself. Because left with too much time, I like to explore options. Before I published, I would sometimes write a book three or four times, from scratch, experimenting with different scenarios, sometimes different heroines (I always knew my heroes). What I finally learned to do was set delivery goals. Critique partners are a great tool for this. “I’ll have the first three chapters to you by Friday.” Nothing like a deadline to keep you focused. Nowadays, the promise is more like, “I’ll have the book to you by Friday.”

Now I have a question for you guys. Actually, two questions so answer both or take your pick!

First, if you could shift into any animal you wanted, only when you wanted, what animal would you choose?

Second, if you could travel to any point or place in time, past or future, when and where would it be?

Pamela has very kindly offered two lucky commenters here signed copies of DESIRE UNTAMED, her first Feral Warrior book featuring the gorgeous Lyon. So get commenting, people, and good luck!

Pamela Palmer's Winners!

Thanks so much to everyone who made it such a bumper day in the lair when Pamela Palmer visited to talk about her fabulous books. Pam put together a short list of possible winners and I chose the final two. So congratulations to:

LISE!! SHARI C!!

You've both won signed copies of THE DARK GATE and DARK DECEIVER. Please email Pam on pamela@pamelapalmer.net with your snail mail details and she'll get your prizes off to you.

Things that Go Bump in the Night with Pamela Palmer

by Anna Campbell

Pam Palmer is one of life's good guys - even if she does write the most deliciously evil bad guys around. I'm delighted to welcome her to the lair today. I met Pam when we were both Golden Heart finalists in 2006 and I'm so excited about her recent incredible success, especially as she's going to be another Avon lady.

You can find out more about Pamela and her dark, sensual worlds of magic, mayhem and mystery at her website www.pamelapalmer.net.

Pamela, I KNOW life has been enormously exciting for you lately. Can you give us an update on the amazing things that have happened?

LOL, Anna. Absolutely. But first, thanks for inviting me to the lair. Big hugs to you and all the other Packer-turned-Banditas (my ‘06 GH sisters). I sold my first book in 2006 in a one book sale to Silhouette Nocturne eleven years after I made the commitment to try to get published. Last year, 2007, I sold eight more…to three different publishers! I know exactly how the ugly duckling felt when he first emerged as a swan and everyone called him beautiful. “You talking to ME?” In addition to selling the remaining three books in the Esri series to Silhouette Nocturne, I sold the first three books in a contemporary dark paranormal shape-shifter series to Avon, and the first two books in a Scottish historical time travel series to Berkley.

Wow. Congratulations! You must feel like you’ve been whisked away into another world. Speaking of another world, I absolutely adored your first Esri book THE DARK GATE. It was the perfect mixture of white-knuckle suspense and breathless sensual tension. Your next Esri book comes out from Silhouette Nocturne in June. Can you tell us about DARK DECEIVER?


Thanks for the fabulous plug! : ) At the end of THE DARK GATE, the humans feared the Esri would return. They were right. In DARK DECEIVER, dangerous immortal Kaderil the Dark arrives in D.C. on a deadly mission---infiltrate and destroy the band of humans fighting the Esri invasion. Hiding his true identity, he charms sweet but klutzy Autumn McGinn into helping him penetrate the enemy ranks, never suspecting she’s destined to become the greatest threat to his mission, his life... and his heart. (This is straight from my website, can you tell?)

We love call stories here in the lair, Pam. Can you share yours with us?

Sure! I love to hear call stories, as well. THE DARK GATE finaled in the Golden Heart in 2006 under the title MIDNIGHT FIRE. (A title I changed immediately after entering the GH in the fall of 2005.) On 31st May, 2006,Ann Leslie Tuttle called to tell me she wanted to buy MIDNIGHT FIRE for Silhouette Nocturne. Talk about confused! I’d never heard of Nocturne (the first Nocturnes weren’t released until five months later), I’d never submitted to them, nor to Ann Leslie. And I hadn’t called the manuscript MIDNIGHT FIRE for months. But I’d used the title for the Golden Heart, and suddenly everything snapped into place. A month before, I’d been notified by RWA National that one of my GH judges had requested the complete of my manuscript. It wasn’t hard to figure out Ann Leslie was that judge. I still didn’t know what Nocturne was and she had to explain it to me. As I’d been taught to do in numerous RWA workshops, I jotted down the information, thanked her profusely, told her I’d get back to her with an answer in a day or two, and then called and left messages with the three agents who were currently reviewing the manuscript. While I waited, stomach-churning, to hear back from them, I called my family and friends. It was a surreal moment. I didn’t feel any different than I had an hour before, yet everything had changed.

What draws you toward the paranormal? Why do think this genre is so enormously popular right now?

Two great questions! I’ve always been drawn to the paranormal in one way or another. When I was five, my favorite book was about dinosaurs. Yes, I know, that’s science rather than fiction, but you can’t get much ‘bigger-than-life’. It wasn’t much of a stretch from imagining dinosaurs roaming the earth to imagining aliens, vampires, elves, etc. I’m not sure why, but the paranormal fires my imagination like nothing else. I love seeing (and putting) ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances, then watching as they discover they’re not so ordinary after all. One of the reasons I think paranormal romance is so popular is that it takes one of the elements I’ve always loved about historicals (that delicious imbalance of physical power between the sexes) and brings it into our world. In modern society, power comes from job title, money, military rank, etc. In ancient times, power was much more about physical strength. There’s something incredibly sexy about a physically powerful, dangerous male who finds himself unable to be anything but tender with the woman he loves. A sexy doctor is fun, sure, but given the choice, I’ll take a powerful, bare-chested, shape-shifter any day.

What are you working on? Can you give us a sneak peek at what’s coming up next?

Speaking of powerful, bare-chested shape-shifters… I’m currently revising the first book in my Ferals Warriors series for Avon. The hero, Lion, abducts a woman who thinks she’s human, but is actually the only one who can save their immortal race. And, yes of course, Lion possesses the ability to shift into the king of beasts. While I’m revising Lion’s book, I’ve been plotting the next two in the series --- Tiger’s and Panther’s books. I’m enjoying the heck out of these bad boys.


Your schedule over the next few months makes my hair curl. Can you give us some insight into your working day? Also any tips on time management?

Schedule? What schedule? I work, sleep, work, sleep, work, with a few meals thrown in. Okay, it’s not that bad, but it’s close. I force myself to take a couple days off each week (usually Tuesdays and Saturdays) to spend some time with the family, run errands, update my website, and attack my to-do lists. I don’t know if I’ll want to keep up this pace indefinitely, but I’ve waited too long for a viable writing career not to put everything I have into it now that I have the chance. The good news is, there’s really nothing I’d rather be doing than writing. As hard as it is sometimes, I LOVE this job. Seriously, though, my writing day is pretty simple. I get everyone off to work/school, then exercise. I don’t start writing until about 10. I’ll take frequent short breaks throughout the day to check e-mail, fold laundry, fix dinner, etc., but I rarely leave the house, and I usually don’t quit until 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. As for time management tips, I’d have to say the first thing is to understand yourself. Know your priorities, figure out when you do your best work, etc. My brain doesn’t wake up until about 10:00 a.m., so exercising first works better for me. As does separating my writing days from my other-stuff days since I’m a lousy multi-tasker.

Pam, I know how hard you’ve worked for all your success. It took you over 11 years to sell (and then you did it with a vengeance – LOL!). Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Absolutely. My best two pieces of advice are 1) write, and 2) don’t give up. When I first started writing, I had no idea what a huge role luck plays in the publishing process. It’s not enough to write a great book. Then again, what IS a ‘great book’? Writing is an art and like any work of art, the beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. All you have to do to understand this is ask three friends to loan you their favorite books. I guarantee you won’t love them all. You may not like any of them. So finding that editor who loves your writing at the exact moment she’s looking for the kind of book you’ve written is tough. I liken it to getting all cherries with the pull of a slot machine lever. (I don’t think slot machines have levers any more, but you get the point). Getting all cherries is hard, but it’s not impossible. And the more times you pull that lever, the more likely you’ll succeed. Keep writing. Keep learning. Keep submitting. Perseverance is probably the single most important attribute of the successful, published author. Because without it, all the talent in the world might never get the chance to matter.

Do you have a question for our commenters, Pam?

I’m betting a lot of you disagreed with that comment I made above, about loving the imbalance of physical power between the sexes. So here’s my question: Are you more drawn to books where the hero is dangerous (potentially even to the heroine, though of course he’d never actually hurt her), or to other kinds of romances instead? And the follow-up question: Do you prefer to read historicals, contemporaries, or paranormals?

Pamela has very kindly offered not one but TWO prizes of both her Silhouette Nocturnes. Believe me, once you read THE DARK GATE, you'll go straight onto DARK DECEIVER. You'll be hooked. Good luck!