Resolutions That Should've Been

by Beth Andrews

I'm not much for making resolutions (although I do love to set goals - two different things to my brain *g*) but here we are, almost three weeks into the new year and although I'm checking things off my goal list left and right, I can't help but wonder if I should've added a few resolutions. Just to make sure all the bases are covered. So, here is my list of resolutions I would've made, had I made resolutions.

#1 - watch more basketball. Hey! I'm already doing this - I must be on the right track *g* With three kids playing in two different leagues, I go to at least 3 basketball games a week. Yes, I have a severe case of Bleacher Butt, but at least I've kept the first resolution.

#2 - Watch more movies. I just watched Pirates of the Carribean, At World's End (or as my son calls it, POC, AWE) Just watched it - and it came out in May of last year! I am soooo far behind I am on my movies. More trips to the video store!

#3 - Catch up on all the television programs I've missed. Like Heroes. Ugly Betty. Supernatural (although I've caught a few episodes of this season) Project Runway. Rome. Deadwood. Lost. Okay, this list could seriously go on and on and on and...well...you get the idea. Suffice it to say, if I kept this resolution, I'd never write again.

#4 - Stop pressing down on the imaginary brake when my son is driving. No matter how hard I press, the car never even slows down, let alone stops. So unless my foot goes through the floorboard ala Fred Flintstone to drag on the road, I'm probably wasting my time.

#5 - Get my husband to stop shouting, "We're going to die. We're going to DIE!!" when son is driving the car. This is the reason no one likes backseat drivers.

#6 - Stop being so mean and strict! Oh, sorry. That one is my older daughter's resolution for me. Can you tell she's a teenager?

#7 - Take more mental health days. Really, after reading the above, is this one a surprise?

#8 - Have fewer negative thoughts. This one is a bit more serious but I've read that we have 60,000 thoughts a day and that for most people, 80% of those thoughts are negative. Yikes! So I'm going to work on getting that percentage way down. After all, negative thoughts sure as heck never did me any good.

#9 - Stop eating celery. Eating celery has never done me any good either. I think I'll just skip it from now on.

#10 - Embrace new opportunities. Like the wonderful opportunity all the Bandits have to take over at Romance Novel TV! We kick off our invasion tomorrow with the witty and wonderful Anna Campbell and Caren Crane and The Haiku Challenge. *g*

What about you? Any resolutions you should've made? For those who made resolutions, how it's going? Are you sticking with them or have they fallen a bit by the wayside?

And don't forget to check out the Bandits at Romance Novel TV during the next two weeks :-)

Kim Castillo from RNTV is in the Lair!

Having survived her mystery author stint over at Romance Novel TV more or less intact, Christine Wells caught up with RNTV’s fabulous production manager, Kim Castillo for a chat.

Hi Kim, and welcome to the lair!

First, let me give a big hullo to all the Banditas! Its so wonderful to be here. The Lair is so lush and beautiful. I didn't know you kept Tim Tams back here! *squeals with delight and sneaks a few*

Haha, you have taken the Tim Tam truth syrum. You are in my power... We Aussies are taking over the world, one Tim Tam at a time bwahaha!

OK, down to business. Kim, can you explain for the uninitiated what Romance Novel TV is and how it all started?

Romance Novel TV is the brainchild of Maria and Marisa, twin sisters who love romance novels and wanted to bring them to the world in a new and innovative way. They both have a background in TV production so on-camera interviews were a natural choice for them. Their theory is not everything is revealed on the page and that's so true. There are so many great stories behind authors and the books they create. Its Maria and Marisa's vision to bring that to romance readers everywhere. I was lucky enough to be introduced to The M's through Eloisa James and was brought on board for the launch. Its such fun to work with this team. We have a great time together.

The Romance Novel TV site is quite extensive and ever changing. We have a thriving message board where we play Mystery Author, Banditas Donna and Christine being our most recent tricksters! We also host a Guest Author each week and since I love to give away books, there's always a contest or two going on. We've recently added a Review page where you'll find opinions on upcoming romances and old favorites. Bandita Anna C is going to be our resident reviewer and share her thoughts each month!

What is your role at RNTV? You seem to put in a LOT of hours moderating the boards along with all the other things you do. How do you stay fresh and on top of things?

Well, my title is production manager *g*. I do put in a lot of time and effort into the message board (thank you for noticing!) I do most of the author scheduling and contest fullfillment along with various other things. My role is ever changing and evolving. One fun and exciting thing I got to do was interview Kim Harrison on-camera at last year's RWA. I can't tell you what a thrill it was for me. For one day I got to be Katie Couric.

Keeping fresh? A constant supply of peanut M&M's and great romance novels, of course! Truly, what keeps me fresh is that I love what I do. After years and years of being miserable in my job now that I found something I'm good at everyday is like a blessing and that makes it easy. Also, I work with some of the best people in the world. The M's, the members of our community and all the great authors make my days fly by in a flurry of eutopia. Finding this happiness is something that I give thanks for everyday.

What do you hope readers find when they come to RNTV?

Entertainment and a place where they can come everyday to talk about romance. We strive to make each day something special on our site. I hope they find new authors and expand their reading choices. Most of all, I hope they find a place in our community.

What plans do you have for the future on the site?

Valentines Day will be our first anniversary! Our plans for our second year are so exciting. We plan on bringing new and innovative programming and exploring new ways to bring romance novels to readers. The three of us feel that the sky's the limit and we're ever changing and always open to new ideas. There is always a new author and a new story to talk about, we don't see that ever slowing down. Romance Novel TV changes and grows to bring this to our viewers in an entertaining and fun way. As long as there are authors writing romance novels RNTV will be there to cover it.

And finally, tell us 5 quirky things about you, that perhaps your readers don’t know about.

Only 5? LOL
1. I have very strict rules about The Care and Handling of Books. You must never ever write in a book, turn down the page or break the spine. Those are just the most urgent ones. I have about 378 rules.

2. Literally everyday I can eat sweet and sour chicken from Memories of China. I never get sick of it, sadly, my poor husband does.

3. My sense of humor is that of a teen-age boy. I love gutter humor. Adam Sandler, Kevin Smith and Dane Cook are my idols!

4. I'm a self-taught cook. Up until about 10 years ago I couldn't even boil water. Now there's nothing I can't make including New York Cheesecake, pies and all sorts of goodies.

5. To Dance With Kings by Rosalind Laker kicked off a lifelong obsession with Marie Antoinette and a burning desire to see Versailles. NO, she did not say it (Let them eat cake) and YES, one day I will dance with my very own love in the Hall of Mirrors to candlelight *G*

Wow, remind me never to borrow a book from you, my dear! Eek, you'd have me hung drawn and quartered!

Thank you for joining us in the lair, Kim. And now, have another Tim Tam, I have a few more interesting questions for you in private... *g*

Thanks so much to the Banditas for having me! I can't wait till they take over the RNTV blog next week. Its going to be an invasion to rival the Beatles.

And now I'd like to ask your readers a question--I found my dream job at RNTV. What job would you love to have? Addendum--Christine forgot to add that Kim has very generously offered to give one lucky commenter a box of chocolates from her favourite chocolatier, The Nut Shoppe! Thanks so much, Kim!

The Bandita Invasion of RNTV!

by Anna Campbell

Ahoy, my hearties! All right, all right, I'm channeling my inner pirate not my inner Bandita, but I hope the photos make up for the wooden leg and the parrot and the bad teeth. Bandits need good teeth so they can flash a sexy grin beneath the black mask!

The Bandits are going on tour for the next two weeks (and thanks to the wonders of modern technology, we'll be holding the fort here too so you get double Bandit blast for your money!).

The fine crew who steer the good ship Romance Novel TV have invited us to invade from Monday, 21st January, to Friday, 1st February. Avast, ye landlubbers! So from Mondays to Fridays over that fabulous fortnight, two Banditas will take charge of the blog over there and bring the mayhem that rules our blog to a new audience.

We're hoping our friends and honorary Banditas will take ship with us, rowing over in dinghies or, if really desperate, swimming. We'll save you from the sharks and crocodiles!

The party kicks off on Monday with the fabulous Caren Crane challenging me to a haiku duel. You don't have to comment in haikus. As you know, we love anybody who will talk back to us however they want to do it!

But if you do display your poetic skills, you may win fabulous Bandita Booty (some things don't change, even if we are playing away). Our favorite haiku wins a signed copy of Untouched and a $15 voucher from Amazon.

Worth stretching yourself to writing a poem of five syllables, seven syllables and five syllables, methinks!

After that there will be two Bandits a day on duty to keep the party going. Please come over and play. We promise cold cyber champagne, hot cyber men, prizes galore and lots of laughs. Hey, bet that's the best offer you've had post-New Year's Eve!

So as we're about to enter new fields and conquer new territory and beat any cliches we find into a pulp, I thought I'd ask a perennial question of all you experts on Internet interaction. What do you look for in a blog? What appeals to you? What doesn't? What brings you back to a blog day after day or even on a semi-regular basis?

And don't forget to come and say hello on Romance Novel TV from Monday!