Old-Fashioned Love

by Caren Crane

First, a confession: I love antique furniture, high-necked blouses, floor-length skirts and men in waistcoats and fedoras. The kind of date my husband and I love is dinner and a movie - not necessarily outside our home, either. My perfect lazy day includes curling up in the padded window seat of a picture window, reading a book, sipping tea and daydreaming. I love my house and, once home in the evening, I am loathe to leave it. I love mom, apple pie and white picket fences. I am old-fashioned to my cornball core.

I guess it should come as no surprise, then, that I adore old-fashioned love stories. The kind that are far more than 400 pages, rife with multiple points of view, myriad secondary plots and a countless secondary characters. I am, perhaps, the last, lone reader who enjoys a slow introduction to a thick, well-crafted novel. I enjoy meandering through a solidly-developed plot with characters so three-dimensional you feel you know them inside and out. My ultimate is the kind of story where the romance is just one aspect of a fantastic and sweeping tale.

In other words, I love the sort of story that is rarely published anymore.

I know how scarce these books are, since I look for them periodically. I try to find new favorites, but few authors tell the kind of story I am after when I want a slow meander. I have found a few authors who manage it, notably Deanna Raybourn in her Lady Julia Grey series, which began with Silent in the Grave. Because I savored every word of the series, it was doomed to end too soon, of course. The publisher was impatient for soaring sales, which apparently it did not have - at least, not high enough for them. Too bad for us. Lady Julia's family, the Marches, are an entity unto themselves. Each one more interesting and eccentric than the last, they should have an endless stream of books in which to live their lives. Alas, HQN killed that one!

I also recently found - thanks to my lovely sister, Holli - A Private Hotel For Gentle Ladies by Ellen Cooney. Curious about what others thought of this lovely, rather old-fashioned tale, I found many reviewers did not understand the story. Without the obvious signposts in most of today's fiction (Hero! Villain! Black moment!) and an immediate statement of the heroine's ultimate goal (which, according to the reviews, should be unchanging), some readers were lost. It was, at heart, a story about a woman coming into her own and learning who she is and what she wants outside her Victorian marriage. Yes, friends, it was about that least popular theme - a death knell in fiction today - personal growth. It was a book that begged for sequels, yet none have been published. Another one bites the dust.

I like books where people are flawed, cranky, imperfect and trying really hard to do the best they can, like I am most days. I don't always need or want action, murder, mayhem, shape-shifters, magic or smoking hot sexy time in my reading. Sometimes, I just want to observe the beauty of a summer day in Cornwall with Judith Dunbar, the heroine of Rosamunde Pilcher's exceptional book, Coming Home. I want to witness her loves and losses, trials and joys and heartbreak over the 15 or so years covered in the story.


Or I want to witness the struggle of a young, uneducated mother trying her best to keep her family together in LaVyrle Spencer's Morning Glory. To see Ellie learn that love can be something different and more than she never knew existed (and certainly didn't have in her first marriage). I want to linger, at times, over the possibility of a first kiss, to agonize over an unbidden and inadvisable attraction, to dally with the notion of a forever kind of love.

I want books where I smile and sigh at the end, because things are beautiful, satisfying and full of promise, just as love should be and would be if I could design it. I want old-fashioned tales of love enjoyed in intricate, elaborate, gorgeous detail (along with observations from the cook, the gardener and Great Aunt Lavinia, if I can get them). My love of these stories has garnered much disdain from relatives and friends who prefer serious fiction. What, I ask, is more serious than establishing a love that will last a lifetime? I will happily remain a cockeyed, old-fashioned optimist.

Do you have some old-fashioned love story recommendations? Any long, detailed and fulfilling stories that have filled your heart and brought tears of sorrow and joy to your eyes? I am always looking for new favorites, so please share!

Here Be Dragons

by Nancy

"Here be dragons," read the margins of old maps, warning of dangers in the seas beyond the known (flat) world. Today, however, we know what's in those spaces, or think we do, and dragons are consigned to the realms of myth and magic.

A book I've been using for research on the current wip says dragons are part of almost every culture on the planet, that they're associated with the Great Goddess and are symbols of power and royalty. Pretty cool.

The book also mentions an herb called dragon blood that's used for a variety of magical purposes, such as those involving love, purification and protection. Some sources say it can add power to particular spells.

Helping carry a long paper dragon is part of Chinese New Year celebrations. King Arthur's surname has come down to us in legend as Pendragon, and Wales historically used a red dragon on its flag. Beowulf fought his last battle against a firedrake, a winged serpent that breathed fire.

The Vikings, as I imagine we all know, carved dragon heads onto the prows of their ships. In Norse mythology, the dragon Fafnir guarded a treasure hoard until Sigurd, or Siegfried, slew him. Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent, coiled around the world with his tail in his mouth and created the oceans.

One of my favorite children's songs is "Puff the Magic Dragon" by Peter, Paul and Mary. If you're too young to know who they are, click on the link. I think "Puff" is probably available from iTunes or from their website. It's a sad song about what happens to our childhood's imaginary friends when we move on, but it has an upbeat ending. And no, I never made the counter-culture associations with it until someone pointed them out to me.

The boy has led us to many fictional and fabulous dragons. Playmobil makes wonderful, if pricey, knights and dragons. One of the boy's favorite Pokemon was the orange dragon, Charizard, who had a very obstinate and independent personality. From Pokemon, our son moved to Yu-Gi-Oh, which featured the Blue Eyes White dragon and several others.

If you like dragons, you should check out the beautiful, detailed children's book Dragonology, which I would never have seen if the boy hadn't been the right age to care when it came out.

Much as Sherlock Holmes's adventures are presented as John Watson's chronicles, the material here is supposedly the result of extensive research by a Victorian dragonologist into types of dragons, preferred foods, ability to fly, ability to speak, and pretty much anything else a person might ponder about dragons.


The boy also had a gorgeous picture book about why dragons left the world, but I can't remember the title. One of his favorite picture books was Saint George and the Dragon (original cover pictured at left), with text by Margaret Hodges and illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman, who won the Caldecott Award for it.

The tale of St. George and the dragon, of course, is an old one. This version comes from Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queen, but it's beautifully retold. When the boy weeded his childhood books, we refused to let him discard this one or Dragonology.


Our search for adventure books to share with our young son, who had no bias against stories starring girls, led us to Patricia C. Wrede's wonderful series about Cimorene, a princess who hates court life so much that she runs away to cook for a dragon. When knights come to her aid, she finds creative ways to discourage them because she has no desire to be rescued, thank you very much.

The first book, Dealing with Dragons, is pictured at right. The books are rich in story and humor, and the princess has major but endearing attitude and quick wits. She eventually finds true love. The last book in the series, actually the first published, features her son.


Now the boy is into Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, an alternate history of the Napoleonic Wars in which the armies have air forces mounted on dragons. In the first book, His Majesty's Dragon, a Royal Navy captain captures a rare dragon egg, only to have it hatch on his ship. The dragon, Temeraire, chooses the captain as his rider, changing his life forever.

Novik won SFWA's John W. Campbell Award for the most promising newcomer with this book. The series is now up to six and still going strong. They're on the "must read" list for me, but I'm putting them off until the first of the year, when I'm not teaching, lest I be swept up and unable to stop until I reach the end. The Aerial Corps, as England's dragonriders are known, seems like the Napoleonic equivalent of World War II's RAF, and I'm a real sucker for Battle of Britain stories. And dragons.

As an adult reading Tolkien for the first time, I met Smaug, the greedy creature who has a riddle match with Bilbo Baggins in his cave outside the town of Dale. Given my weakness for archers and Smaug's sly malevolence, it's no wonder I loved the scene where Bard the Bowman's expert shot brought down the dragon. I didn't love the Bakshi version, so I'll be interested to see how this comes across in the forthcoming movie.


The first dragons I remember finding really cool were in Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight (pictured at right with the beautiful Michael Whelan cover that graces my copy), the book that launched her epic Dragonriders of Pern series. The planet Pern suffers from periodic invasions by something called thread--long filament spores that fall from the sky, starting fires and eating through anything they touch. To combat them, the Pernese bond with dragons when they hatch. As pairs, they take to the sky to fight thread before it reaches the ground. The riders feed the dragons stones that help generate fire breath, and the dragons destroy thread before it reaches the ground.

F'lar, the dragonriders' leader, knows a queen egg is about to hatch. Because dragons choose their riders, not the other way around, he needs a selection of girls available to greet the hatchling. When he rescues Lessa, an abused servant, and takes her back to the weyr for the hatching, he doesn't realize she and the golden queen, Ramoth, will win not only the planet's future but his heart.

I also loved Melanie Rawn's Dragon series, which starts with Dragon Prince. In a land threatened constantly by war, a new ruler and his wife struggle to protect the dragons tradition demands he slay. Doing so may be their best hope of avoiding war. There are six of these, shelved in fantasy but including a lot of romance. Another wonderful book is Barbara Hambly's Dragonsbane, which kicks off her Winterlands series.

There are plenty of other dragons out there. Allyson James's Stormwalker features a shapeshifter dragon as a hero, and Deborah Cooke has a series about shapeshifter dragons, just to name two. One of my favorite guilty pleasures movies is Reign of Fire, starring Christian Bale and Matthew McConnaughey, an alternate future tale about humans trying to destroy the dragons that have decimated them. Dragonheart, with Dennis Quaid and Sean Connery, has lots of fans, and How to Train Your Dragon has done well in theaters this summer.

So what are your favorite stories about dragons or other mythical creatures? A package of books I picked up from RWA National, including a signed copy of Jessica Andersen's wonderful Demonkeeper, will go to one commenter today.

Isn't It Romantic

by Tawny

I'm about halfway through my current WIP (work in progress, currently titled Breaking the Rules) and it's taking a much more romantic turn than most of my previous stories. Oh, sure, I'd like to think all my romances are romantic *g* But I'm feeling a much sweeter edge to this one.

Sweeter, and more romantic.

Which, since it pertains to writing, makes me instantly want to delve deeper. So in my usual fashion, I started making lists. Romantic lists, that is. Here's what I came up with, and as you can see, the lists aren't complete.

Soooooo.... Help? Can you add to my lists?

Best makeout songs:

1. Always and Forever - Heatwave
2. All My Love - Led Zeppelin
3. Truly Madly Deeply - Savage Garden
4. Wicked Game - Chris Isaac
5. Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
6. 
   

Most romantic movies:

1. Casablanca
2. The Notebook
3. Princess Bride
4. Beauty and the Beast
5. While You Were Sleeping
6. 
   

Most romantic places to make whoopie (to harken back to the Newlywed Game)

1. Under a waterfall
2. In a magical forest
3. On a Harley (okay, maybe not romantic, but it's hot, right?)
4. Against the wall, just inside the front door. It has that, now, as soon as we have privacy desperation to it
5. In a Sheik's tent on a satiny mountain of soft pillows
6. 
   

And, of course, top romance novels?

1. Easy peasy, anything by the Bandits :-D
   
2. 
   

I'd like to build each list up to at least ten - what would you add?

Common Scents

David Beckham has 11 fragrances.

Well, actually the 11 are colognes that he lends his name to but I have no doubt he smells reeeeeallllly nice.

I’d already begun to think about discussing scents for this blog when I heard that tidbit. I’ve always been aware of the power of smells and their associated meanings but hadn’t “scientifically” given it any thought. So I did a wee bit of Googling and found a succinct explanation that while visual cues might invoke memories, scents invoke EMOTIONS linked to events in our lives.

Makes sense (er, scents?). When I smell chicken baking and especially the broth for making dressing I’m immediately sent back to my childhood when I was carefree, safe, loved. Or the memory of happiness I feel when I smell wax melded with spring breezes through the window. This one happened every year and I STILL can remember coming home from school after my Mom had done her spring cleaning and lying on the couch sighing in contentment. When my Daddy passed the only thing I wanted was his sweater…which smelled of him.

Not all aromas bring such positive memories. Some of you may know this from experience but every nurse knows that cancer has a smell. When I was a fledgling nurse, I had a patient who used a certain body powder along with this smell. To this day, if I catch a whiff of that powder every sad moment in that lady’s last days comes back to me.

Aromatherapy is big and I buy into a lot of it. Lavender DOES make you feel more relaxed and helps you sleep. A spa I go to for massages has a whole aromatherapy program. You close your eyes and decide which scent you want your massage lotion to contain. Supposedly, your body knows which one it needs. I never know what is in most of them but one time I stopped her after the second one. I said “That one, because it smells like Ireland.” (And no…it wasn’t the scent of Guinness).

Then there are the odors associated with such lovely things as garbage or the teenager with gym shorts that haven’t seen a washing machine since freshman year. And don’t forget the summer time wafting of SKUNK so many of us are blessed with.

But every person reacts differently to different scents and that’s what fascinates me! I mean my “Gosh that reminds me of my best friend’s wedding” might be your “Gak! Reminds me of that guy Stinky Toes I used to date”.

Genetics or perception?

Take the scent patchouli. I’ve seen this referenced in some books lately and in MY mind associated it with a paint or thinner smell. (I don’t think I’ve ever smelled it before). Yet it was brought up in a discussion on a talk show the other day and the host said “It’s a smell you either like or think it smells like sweat socks.”

This predilection toward invoking memories explains why we use them to describe physical and emotional reactions of our heroes and heroines to each other. Spice, musk, citrus, sandalwood, jasmine and…for some authors…patchouli….ups the desire, the need and helps the reader connect. Hmmmm…..David….beneath the sweaty shirt I smell musk and spice and man!

And a hint of soccer ball.

So I favor lighter floral scents, citrus and for the fellas in my life musk. What about you? What do you like? What do you favor on your guy?

The Road To Romance

posted by Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy

Next Tuesday I'm excited to be a guest speaker at the Solano County Library in Fairfield, California as part of their Summer Reading Program for Adults. The librarians asked me to talk about my experiences as a romance reader and writer and I thought I'd give you all a sneak peek at part of what I plan to say.

My mother is the one chiefly responsible for setting me on the winding path that eventually became my road to romance. She loved to read the great old gothic romances by Victoria Holt, Phyllis A. Whitney, and Mary Stewart.

Back in the day (all right, I'll admit it, I'm a child of the 60s) you could very definitely tell a book by its cover. If the cover had a house with only a single lighted window, it was a gothic! My mom always had a paperback or two lying around the house. She often traded them with her friends.

As a bored young teen, I started picking them up and reading them and--WONDER OF WONDERS!--I liked them! (In fact I liked them so much, that I wound up naming my son after a character in Mary Stewart's The Moonspinners!)

I say 'wonder of wonders' because in those days I was an avid science fiction/fantasy reader and an all-out LOTR fanatic! I read everything from Piers Anthony to Roger Zelazny and anything in between. In fact it was a fantasy novel first published in the late 1970s that convinced me I should try my hand at writing my own novel. That book was The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks and it was a complete homage to Tolkien.


I LOVED IT! I also decided that if some lawyer from Chicago could do it, I could too (ah, the blissful ignorance of youth). So I made my very first attempt at writing a novel. I wrote the first draft in long hand and typed the revised copy on a portable manual typewriter.

Yes indeed, it was a terrible trial and so was the story! After a few rejections (can't believe I actually had the nerve to send it out) it went into a very large box under the bed and somehow through various moves and a divorce became lost forever. Thank goodness and may it Rest In Peace!

Meanwhile, my rocky road to romance continued. In the 80s I discovered and devoured most of the 'bodice rippers' of the day -- Rosemary Rogers, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Patricia Matthews (remember her?). But contemporary romances pretty much left me cold and fantasy continued to be my genre of choice...

Until one day in 1992 when I was browsing the SciFi/Fantasy section of my local bookstore and I pulled out a book that had somehow been misshelved. I mean, one look at the cover (front and back) and I knew that in spite of its very odd title, Outlander, that this was a romance. My BFF's birthday was fast approaching and I knew she liked to read romances so I bought the book to give to her. Of course, I just couldn't resist reading the first chapter...

...And the rest, as they say, IS HISTORY! I couldn't stop, and finished Outlander in a 3 day reading binge. By the time I gave it to my BFF wrapped in pretty flowered paper with a bright shiny bow (to distract from the slightly cracked spine), I'd already stopped at the library and checked out the sequel, Dragonfly In Amber. And when I finished it, I ran to the bookstore and bought every time-travel romance in sight. Finally, when I grew impatient waiting for Diana Gabaldon to finish the third Jamie and Claire book, Voyager, I decided to write my very own time-travel romance.

This second effort wasn't nearly as bad as my previous sword & sorcery attempt. In fact, an editor at Leisure books actually requested the full manuscript, but didn't buy it. But I also knew I had a lot to learn and started reading a lot of 'how-to' books and taking online classes. I also kept reading romance! By now, I'm happy to say I was firmly on that road.

Eventually, I joined RWA and attended some regional conferences. I also kept reading and writing, and decided to go back to my 'roots' and give romantic suspense a try. My first completed romantic suspense manuscript finaled in the 2006 Golden Heart (sound familiar?). And in 75 more days, that book will be released as The Treasures of Venice! Just goes to prove that happy endings happen in real life too!

Now you all know a little of my story of my road to romance, so it is your turn to share yours! Who helped set you on your own road to romance? What are some of the books you remember most along the way?

Please share and at the end of the day, Aunty will pick one commenter to receive either an autographed copy of The Wild Sight (which just WON Best First Book in the More Than Magic Contest!) , or an IOU for an autographed copy of The Treasures of Venice when it is released on September 1st.

Joanna D'Angelo asks Who's Afraid of Happy Endings??

posted by Christine Wells
We are excited to have with us in the lair today the wonderful Joanna D'Angelo. Joanna is a writer/fillmmaker who co-produced and directed “Who’s Afraid of Happy Endings?” - a witty and revealing documentary about romance writers and the world of romance fiction. The documentary premiered on Bravo! Canada in 2007 and will be seen on Australia’s Ovation network in 2009. (We Aussies can't wait!)

Joanna also manages “A Love of Romance Novels” - the largest group for romance fiction lovers on facebook. She has worked in broadcast radio, TV and film and is currently writing and developing several TV projects. How cool is that? Over to you, Joanna!

Over 60 million women in North America do it at least once a week – read romance novels, that is!

That's the tag line from the promotional material for my documentary “Who’s Afraid of Happy Endings?”.

“Who’s Afraid of Happy Endings?” chronicles three Canadian romance writers: Kelly Boyce, an aspiring writer hungry to sell her first book at a major industry conference; Kayla Perrin, a contemporary romance author eager to break out of the smaller African-American market and into the mainstream with her first erotica novel; and Kathryn Smith, an historical romance author, embraces her fascination with vampires and makes the leap to paranormal romance as a way to stand out in a competitive market.
Featuring interviews with some of the brightest stars of the romance world, including Jo Beverley, Jennifer Crusie, Eloisa James, Debbie Macomber and Nora Roberts, as well as Susan Pezzack, editor at Harlequin, Toronto, “Who’s Afraid of Happy Endings?” explores the history of romance novels, its many sub-genres and what it takes to make it in the business.

I co-directed “Who’s Afraid of Happy Endings” with my friend Christine Alexiou (a writer based in Toronto, Canada). We began our journey in 2004/05 - spent about a year researching and raising the money for the film and then another year shooting and editing. No nefarious criminals were uncovered. No deadly secrets were revealed. No civil wrongs were righted. No scandals were created (well at least beyond the edit suite ;) But I think this film accomplished something good.
When we began our research - neither Christine nor I could find any other documentaries that that had anything positive to say about romance novels. Well, we had something positive to say and we wanted to share it with the world. Yes - romance fiction is fantasy. It can be fun, entertaining, sexy, even (dare I say) tawdry. But it's also feminist. Yikes! How can I make that claim? Well, let's see. It's written BY WOMEN, ABOUT WOMEN, and mostly FOR WOMEN. The woman - the heroine - always overcomes. She always wins. In the words of Jennifer Crusie (whom we interviewed for the film - lucky us!) "It's a female fantasy quest". So – yes, it is a fantasy. But it’s also a quest. Which means that the hero-ine undergoes a transformation in each and every story. Okay, she falls in love with the hero. But it also means she falls in love with herself as she overcomes both internal and external conflicts. She changes. She grows. She conquers. She loves. Certainly, there's a lot more to romance fiction than that but it's one of the reasons why I love it…why I have always loved romance fiction and what prompted me to make this documentary in the first place.

From the time I started reading romance (way back when I was about 14-15 years old and I discovered “The Flame and the Flower” and “The Wolf and the Dove” by the late, great Kathleen Woodiwiss – in my high school library no less!) I knew inside that romance was empowering. Even when I studied journalism and film theory and kinda hid the fact that I read romance from my friends (silly me) - I always loved it. And I figured out (like all romance fans do) that Jane Austen wrote romance! Ah yes, redemption! After I got older – and wiser I no longer cared who knew that I loved romance fiction. After I finished my documentary in 2007 I launched a romance fiction group on facebook called “A Love of Romance Novels”. The group has grown to more than 1,800 members including both authors and readers alike. From teenagers to senior citizens - both male and female – romance fans love a good story…as long as it’s got a happy ending of course!

“Who’s Afraid of Happy Endings?” has been broadcast in Canada on Bravo! many times since it premiered in 2007. Our executive producer is GAPC Entertainment – a respected Canadian production company. Our international distributor is APT World Wide - known for distributing many fine PBS documentaries. APT recently made a sale to the Ovation Channel in Australia. I am not sure about future broadcast dates so if you live in Australia and get the Ovation Channel check your local listings.

Joanna has just launched a new blog called popculturedivas. It features 25 dynamic women contributors who dish about TV, movies, music and books--and yours truly blogs there once a month:) Come and visit! We want to know what you think of the cool new design.

Are you a proud reader of romance like Joanna, or still firmly in the closet when it comes to your own circle of acquaintances? What do you say when someone asks you why you read romance?

Merry Christmas To All!!

By Kate

It's Christmas Day, at last. I can finally relax ... I think ...

Has this year’s holiday season been a particularly crazy time for everyone? It's not just me, right? Some say it’s because Thanksgiving was late so that gave us one less week to prepare for the next big holiday. But I think it’s just been a difficult year in general and the holiday rush tends to add to the anxiety.

Oh, but let’s not talk about anxiety and craziness today! It’s Christmas, and that means quality family time, wonderful traditions, special gifts, and peace on earth and good will to all.

Yesterday, when all the shopping was done, all the cards had been mailed and the last packages had been delivered, I looked around and realized I actually had an evening with nothing to do! I poured myself a glass of champagne--hey, I was celebrating!--then picked up one of my favorite old Christmas romances, curled up on the couch and read for a few hours. I haven’t done that in months!

Some of my favorite Christmas romances are short stories, like Linda Howard’s Bluebird Winter and Nora Roberts’ All I Want For Christmas. Last night I re-read Susan Mallery’s The Sheik and the Christmas Bride. Talk about a guilty pleasure, I love Susan’s sheik books! Two more favorites of mine are JD Robb’s Holiday in Death (I love that in between all the murder and mayhem, Eve is so flummoxed by the gift giving!) and Maureen Child’s Some Kind of Wonderful (she finds a real baby in the manger! It’s such a sweet, funny story, so classically Maureen Child).

What are some of your favorite Christmas romances?

And because it’s Christmas Day and because we Banditas love to give away goodies, one lucky random commenter will win our fabulous Bandita Christmas Basket!! It’s filled with wonderful goodies, such as:

* Dark and Dangerous and a bookmark from Jeanne
* Not Without Her Family and a bookmark and magnet from Beth
* The Wild Sight from Aunty Cindy, along with a flower notepad, bath salts, a lovely Turkish woven bookmark and a Romance Bandits pin
* Every Night I'm Yours and a bookmark from Christie
* A cuddly Romance Bandits teddy bear from Anna Sugden
* Risque Business, post-its, a magnet and more goodies from Tawny
* Claiming the Courtesan and a bookmark and postcard from Anna Campbell

* A Romance Bandits spiral notebook from Caren
* A Firefighter in the Family and a bookmark and picture frame from Trish
* A $10 gift card from Barnes & Noble from KJ
* The Trouble with Moonlight, pens and a bookmark from Donna
* The Dangerous Duke and a bookmark and postcard from Christine
* A $10 Borders gift card from Jo
* A Romance Bandits mouse pad from Joanie
* Homicide in Hardcover ARC, a bookmark and postcard from Kate, along with Sees Candy suckers and a $10 Starbucks gift certificate
* A notebook from Nancy
* And more!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our Bandita friends!!

Kristan Higgins in the Lair!

by Joan

The Bandits are pleased to welcome award winning author Kristan Higgins to the Lair. Kristan’s HQN title “Catch of the Day” won the 2008 RITA for Single Title Contemporary at the RWA conference in San Francisco. Kristan’s wit and heart are expertly woven into the most entertaining, wonderful stories of life and love that I’ve read in a good long while.

Welcome to the Lair, Kristan!

Thanks for inviting me, Joan! Ahoy, Bandits!

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I'm the product of good old American middle class normalcy. Nice nuclear family, wholesome upbringing, dogs, horse, tree fort, stuff like that. Small liberal arts college, English degree, low-paying but interesting jobs. I'm married to a great guy, live in my hometown, am mommy to a lovely daughter and adorable son. Not too exciting to read about, but definitely wonderful to have!

I think my defining trait is that I'm a hard worker. Goes with being a Connecticut Yankee. We tilled the rocky soil and got stuff to grow. We're not whimsical people...you say you're going to do something, you get to work! That's something that's served me well as a writer...I'm not sentimental about my own work. It's just my job to make it as good as I possibly can. I love my books, of course, but I'm also my own sternest critic. It sounds harsh, but it actually saves me a lot of time.

Many authors say they’ve been writers all their lives. How about you? When did you start writing?

I didn't start writing fiction until about eight years ago, but I'd always worked as a writer, which definitely helped when I did sit down to write a novel. I didn't have to learn about things like "show, don't tell," having come from advertising world. As a copywriter, I wrote every day. I had to write bright, vivid copy that got your attention, and I had to do it on a deadline. I was lucky, because when I started writing fiction, that muscle was already pretty developed.

But despite the lack of any real fiction writing until not too long ago, I feel like I've been a writer since I was a teenager. See, I read Gone With the Wind when I was 13. My copy was 1042 pages long, and I spent 1041 pages believing that Scarlett and Rhett would get back together. When the ending came, I was, no exaggeration, devastated! Being 13, I had no appreciation for subtlety, so I spent much of my teen years imagining that famous couple back together...all those missed opportunities taken, Scarlett's stubbornness abating for just a minute, Rhett's pride dropping enough to say those three difficult words. I read Gone With the Wind 14 times. In a row. This should give you an idea of my teenage years. Picture me, glasses, bad perm, a bowl of ice cream by my side, sitting in the cellar on a hot summer day, reading. (Now that I think of it, the only difference between then and now is that my hair is better...)

You do a masterful job of crafting a heroine you want to cheer for as well as a hero you long for. Which do you find easier to write?

Thanks for the 'masterful,' Joan! So far, I've written in first person, so I'd say the heroines are easier, since I'm right there in their heads. I do love the heroes, of course. First person is fun, because everything that the narrator states is true may not be. That's why I love writing that way...if, for example, I'd given Malone in CATCH OF THE DAY his own point of view, he wouldn't have been nearly so interesting. In my opinion, anyway.

One of my favorite parts of writing is when I outline the hero's character. I always swore I'd never write a brooding alpha male...I've found that if I've sworn not to do something, it probably means I should do it. So I figured, what the heck? Let's do a brooding alpha male. But I wanted him to have reasons to be a loner, to be brooding, to be reluctant to talk about...well, in Malone's case, to talk about just about anything. I figured his actions would tell the readers everything. Making up his history, family background, personality...that was fun. My heroines tend to come to me fully formed, but the heroes take a little more time. It's amazing, too, how true it is...your characters take on a life of their own. Sometimes it feels like I'm not really writing...I'm channeling.

How did puppies get to be the focus of your covers?

The marketing department at HQN loved Digger, the dog in my first book (FOOLS RUSH IN). And who doesn't like a dog? That cover was so charming that the publisher ran with the theme. I hadn't deliberately decided to have a dog in every book, but I do love dogs (Digger is actually based on my own sweet dog of the same name). I don't think I'm going to have a dog in a book just for the sake of it, but I write about women who are looking for commitment. Having a pet shows commitment, so it feels natural that my heroines are also pet owners. In the book I'm writing now, I think I'm going to have a cat. This is a blatant suck-up move for my own two cats, who adore and snuggle with my children but ignore me unless they need to go out. And in. And back out. And in again. I'm just the doorman in their eyes.

The You Tube video of the trash talking ST finalists was hilarious. Did you find it hard to embrace your inner Soprano?

My inner Soprano is alive and well! Actually, I've always loved doing different accents (you should hear me reading Harry Potter to my kids). But doing it for public viewing...much, much harder! I had to send my family out of the house for the filming. It took me about 10 tries. Originally, I'd wanted to have my own dog in the clip, but he kept licking my face or jumping off the couch, so I had to go with a prop. I actually had someone approach me at the National conference, not because she'd read my books, but because she recognized me from the video.
:-)
(Joan: Gulp, {sheepish look})

What did it feel like to win the coveted RITA award?

Well, I won't lie. It was one of the happiest nights of my life. Definitely in the top three. First of all, I got to wear a GOWN! I haven't worn a gown since my wedding day! That was prize enough. I really didn't expect to win...Rachel Gibson, anyone? The great Susan Andersen? Jennifer Greene? In fact, I'd say CATCH OF THE DAY was definitely a dark horse candidate. So when the presenter read my title, I was stunned, and just so, so happy. Floated around for days. Still can't quite believe it.

Your latest release “Just One of the Guys” features a beagle with a fireman’s helmet and your DH is a firefighter. Was he your inspiration?

Absolutely! I'd been waiting to write a firefighter hero, and I can't tell you how much fun it was to both honor and gently mock the firefighters I know, including my DH. My husband is definitely a hero. He's done amazing, extraordinary things...my son and I once watched him drag an unconscious man from a burning building. He's picked up severed limbs at accidents, calmed strung out teenagers, made hearts beat again, and he does those things with a grace and calm that are astonishing. That being said, he can't make our bed to save his life, and he refuses to follow directions when driving.

One of the best things about writing JUST ONE OF THE GUYS was having my husband read it. He doesn't read my stuff until it comes out, so it was awfully touching to see him get all teary-eyed when he read the dedication. It's to him, of course.

You share on your website that you like to bake. We have quite a few bakers in the Lair ::cough:: state fair winners ::cough:: What is your favorite thing to bake?

Ooh! I love to bake. I have a few blue ribbons myself! I love to bake apple pie, because it makes the house smell so good. Chocolate chip cookies are a specialty...let's see...banana bread, rice pudding, sponge cake. All my recipes are from my grandmother, who was an amazing baker. At Christmas, I make Hungarian cookies, which are so complicated and difficult that I always say if I don't cry, I'm doing something wrong. But the pay-off is wonderful, and I'm the only one in my very large extended family who bakes them, so I'm quite adored come December. In the book I'm working on now, the heroine is a baker. I feel it's my job as a good writer to eat as many pastries as I can...all in the name of research, of course.

Now I have a question for the Bandita’s and their BB’s. One of the things I hear a lot is that my books are “standard” romantic comedy…..my characters aren’t famous people, ex-military or extraordinarily gifted, and I tend to close the door on love scenes. What books have you read that veer off the beaten path but deliver the goods anyway? I have to confess that Loretta Chase’s “Lord of Scoundrels” did that for me. An ugly hero who had really, really good reason to shy away from love . From page one of that book there was a tension and electricity in that book that didn’t stop till the end. So how about you guys?

It Started as A Quick Trip

by Joan Kayse

It was just going to be a quick trip across town to the Borders Book Store. I had the day off, a gift card from Christmas and a burning need to buy the entire backlist of a new author (for me anyway) JR Ward.

It turned into an obsessive quest.

I know, I know. How could I not have read the Black Dagger Brotherhood series already? Naturally backward, I guess. You're talking to the woman who had never read Nora Roberts until 2002 when on at her first RWA conference in New Orleans she was pointed out to her with reverent awe. "That's Nora Roberts," my friend said and I swear she bowed like an acolyte in her direction.

"That's nice," I remember thinking and noting she was wearing a T-shirt that said "Walking in a Wiccan Wonderland." Hmm. Must write about witches?

Then I read "Tears of the Moon" and bam....I was hooked. It took me all of maybe six months to catch up on her backlist. Haven't missed a new release since. And I discreetly bow in her direction at the conferences.

But back to my trip today. My critique partner gave me a copy of "Lover Eternal." It's got great characterization, she assured me. I knew it had to be impressive because my CP is typically not into vampires or paranormal books. So I began to read about Rhage and his brothers.

Characterization? In spades. Add in plot and suspense and soul deep description and no small amount of sensusal tension and you've got a brand new fan.

You know an author is brilliant when you can't stop reading even though it is 1 am and your eyeballs are falling out of your head. When you do force yourself to go to bed but keep wondering what happens in chapter twenty seven.

When you go to 3 different bookstores to get the backlist and actually growl at the manager of one who had NO COPIES OF HER BACKLIST.

I was tired. I had things to do. But I was not leaving the end of town that has all the bookstores until I got what I came for! Heck, JR even lives here in my hometown and I briefly wondered if she had any in her basement :-)

This type of author is the kind I learn from. This is the type of story/series that I want to write. Now if you'll excuse me there is, ahem, a "Dark Lover" waiting for me!

So are there any authors you've discovered by accident that caused you to go wild until you read her backlist?

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR CAN MAKE!

by Suzanne Welsh
About this time last year a group of us were chatting on the 2006 Golden Heart Loop about our careers and lives since becoming finalists in the Golden Heart contest. We celebrated in the sales of a few of our numbers--Anna Campbell, Donna McMeans, Tawny Weber, and Christine Wells. A few of us had ventured into the cyberspace realm of Public Relations with websites, myspace pages and personal blogs.

I can't remember who exactly first posted about blogs on the loop, but suddenly many of us were asking how to start a blog. Then the conversation turned to suggestions that maybe we should start a blog for writers and readers. Then on March 2nd, Aunty Cindy took the big step and formed a blog for the '06 Packers to practice blogging on. Those who wanted to participate started a separate loop to discuss the process and play with this blog. We knew there were 18 of us who acitvely wanted to form this blog and were willing to put ourselves out there and test the water.


About this time, Anna's Claiming the Courtesan, hit the book shelves. We officially had a book to promote with our blog!

Next the discussion turned to what sort of image we wanted. The name Romance Bandits popped up, after a few really bad ones! With the group being in agreement, we talked about the way we wanted the site to look. Classy, but unique. Since my daughter Lyndsey is a concept artist, (she takes people's ideas for pictures and transforms them into actual images), I volunteered her to make us a banner for the site. It would need to meet the approval of 18 people. Quite a feat! When I gave Lyndsey the idea so she could make up a mock banner, she excitedly let me know she'd found "Pirate Font" to write the word BANDIT. The mask and rose were added, and with a bit of tweaking, the top of our blog was created and approved! We were off to a grand start.

We decided to take the colors from the banner and find someone to finish the look. Trish contacted Dawn with Austin DesignWorks, who created the rest of our page design. It's had a few tweaks along the way, like adding new pictures and the "Bandit News" wanted posts, but hey we're a work in progress.

By now we were getting used to taking turns posting to the blog and posting comments. We also had some private discussion regarding finances. One of our banditas volunteered to be treasurer. On May 4th, we officially went public with Caren's post featuring a large picture of Anthonio Banderas...er...Zorro! (We think of ourselves in a cross between pirates and masked avengers like Zorro.)

This was followed by our second Bandita book to hit the shelves, Tawny's Double Dare.

As we morphed into this group of bloggers, we made a few tentative requests of our published friends that they come and be "Guest bloggers". Amazingly, they said, "Heck yes!" We gave away prizes, another popular feature. We started to have regular commenters, many of whom have become great friends.

Then we geared up for Nationals. We came up with the idea of business cards and buttons, using a variation of our banner, to hand out to promote the Bandits. At the National RWA convention, Bandit buttons were a hit! One of the buzz items making the rounds at National was, Romance Bandit blog. Everywhere we turned there was someone asking us about the Bandit blog. And to top the conference off: both Beth and Trish won their categories in the Golden Heart!

After Nationals we rounded out our numbers to include two new members, Susan and Nancy for a final total of 20 Banditas. We figured that was just the perfect number.

Since then, we've had more books hit the shelves: Christine's Scandal's Daughter, Donna's The Education of Mrs. Brimley and Anna's second book Untouched.

We've had new sales among our Bandits: Christie, Beth, Jeanne, Cindy, Trish, Kate, and Kirsten.

And somewhere along the way we gained a mascot, The Golden Rooster, thanks to our loyal friend and poster, Doglady! The prize for the first commenter of each day. It became a challenge for those of us in the States or Canada to beat the Aussie contingent for the coveted gilded fowl!

We finished the year off with Trish being a contestant in the American Title IV contest, Joan a finalist in the Suzannah, and today I bought my copy of Tawny's second book, Does She Dare?

So, now we look forward to 2008. Wonder what great changes it will bring for the Banditas? We're wishing for more sales to our published members and new sales for those As Yet Unpublished ones. Some contest wins? Maybe a spot on a "Best Sellers" list or two?

What would you like to see on our blog? Any ideas? Any requests?