I Have A Cover!

By Kate

And it’s a beauty! (If I do say so myself!) It’s the cover for THE LIES THAT BIND, my November 2010 Bibliophile Mystery. It comes out barely two months from now!

Much of this book takes place at a fictional books arts center in San Francisco that I call Bay Area Book Arts, or BABA, and my cover depicts one cozy corner of BABA.

And pardon me while I gush, but I’m so in love with this room with its wall of beautiful books and its gorgeous view of the Golden Gate Bridge. There's Baba Ram Dass, the cat who lives at BABA, as well as a few clues scattered about. And it’s all as imagined by the brilliant artists at Penguin Books. I’m so lucky to have such a wonderful team working on my book covers.

Here’s the back cover copy …

One bookbinder. One bully. One beau.
Looks like someone has got to go…

When it comes to rare books and antiquities, Brooklyn Wainwright is a master. That's why she has returned home to San Francisco to teach a bookbinding class at Bay Area Book Arts. Unfortunately, BABA director Layla Fontaine is a horrendous host who pitches fits and lords it over her subordinates. With the help of her beau, Derek Stone, Brooklyn manages to put on a brave face and endure.

Unfortunately, someone else is not so forgiving. Layla is found dead from a gunshot wound, and Brooklyn is bound and determined to investigate. But when Layla's past ends up intertwined with Derek's, Brooklyn realizes that the case is much more personal than she thought--and the killer might want to close the book on her for good.

Dare I say it? I love this book! It’s got all my favorite characters: Brooklyn and Derek and Gabriel and Minka and Guru Bob and Mom and Dad, plus a few new ones you haven't met yet, but I think you'll enjoy getting to know them. Plus there’s a lot of San Francisco in this book, which is just about my favorite city in the whole world. There's mystery and romance ... and the occasional dead body, of course. What's a mystery without them?

So … do you ever buy a book based solely on the cover? When was the last time you did so, and what book was it? Who are your favorite ongoing characters in a series, romance or mystery? What city would you most like to read about? And how do you feel about cats in mysteries? :-)

Oh, did I mention that THE LIES THAT BIND is available for pre-order here? :-)

And today I’m giving away an ARC of THE LIES THAT BIND to one random commenter. So comment away!!

No Rest for the Weary...or is it the Wicked?

Conference is so much fun. It's hard too. The thing is, it takes days to get over that east coast to west coast, west coast to east coast thing. What gets me too is that when you're at conference, there's all this energy to keep you going, even when you SHOULD be asleep so you can be sharp the next day! Ha! Then, you come home.

The house is a mess, the dog hasn't been walked since you left, and the laundry...shudder...don't even get me started on the laundry. (Actually, DO get me started so it doesn't take over the world!)

What I need to be doing, however is capitalizing on the meet-n-greets, the agent appointments and the editor meetings I had in San Francisco. I'm a business woman. Follow up is key to success. Why is it then that its Thursday and I haven't sent an email or letter out? Because I'm still recovering from plane and jet lag induced head cold. Bleeeech. I didn't want to write something or send something when I wasn't on top of my game. I think I've slept more in weird times - napping, ugh! - this week than I have since I was pregnant with my youngest.

So, if you went to SF, were you weary or wickedly energized when you got home? What about when you go to a professional conference in your "other life"?

Were you Johnny-on-the-spot with the requests or did you wait, plan, or procrastinate?

Do you have a request pending, perhaps from another conference? What can we do to help you get it out the door?

GONE FISHING...

by Suzanne Welsh
The Bandits are going on vacation. Yep we're taking time off from the blog this week.




Wednesday is the official start to the Romance Writers of America's national conference in San Francisco. Yippee!! As you know 19 of the 20 Romance Bandits will be in attendance at the conference. Yippee!! 6 of our published Bandits will be signing their books at the mega-author book signing Wednesday night. Yippee!!


While this is exciting for us and whichever of our readers make the trek to San Francisco, it leaves a bit of a hole in the blog schedule. Some of us flew to SF early to do some sight seeing before the conference starts. In fact, when y'all read this I'll be touring Sonoma Valley wineries with some friends from Texas. (Hopefully the limo driver will know the way back to the hotel!) So be patient with us. We Bandits love all our readers and will be missing our time with you here in the lair.


While we're out connecting with our Bandita sisters, researching ideas for our books, attending inspiring seminars, and partying like crazy, please know that we've left Christie Kelley in charge of the Lair. She will be making the cabana boys do their exercise routine like a drill sergeant. Sven will be practicing his massages, (on her, I'm sure). And the gladiators, (except Demetrius who is traveling as Joanie's personal body guard), will be polishing their gear in preparation for our return to the Lair! (Must remember to buy body oil for the boys while in SF!)


We have a few planned blogs ready to post. And if we get time with a computer, we'll try to pop on to flash y'all some pics of our adventures. (San Francisco may never be the same after a Bandit raid!)


So while we've got the "Gone Fishing" sign up on the lair door, be sure to check out the blog. You never know what or WHO might pop up!

I Love My Job

By Kate

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been immersing myself in research for my new Bibliophile Mystery series. Last week, I spent two days at the annual Antiquarian Book Fair in Los Angeles, where booksellers from all over the world meet to buy, sell and trade their treasures.

I attended two workshops on book collecting and restoration, then wandered through the hundreds of stalls and kiosks perusing exquisitely bound editions of William Shakespeare and Walt Whitman and Jane Austen. There were books on display that were so ancient, they looked like petrified forest mushrooms, as well as a collection of clever, three-dimensional, accordion-style books designed by a contemporary Parisian artist. First editions of mysteries by Raymond Chandler and Earl Stanley Garner sat alongside a nicely preserved, full set of Agatha Christie’s mysteries.

Then this weekend, my research brought me to San Francisco where I spent the last two days wandering around my heroine’s neighborhood, getting the lay of the land, soaking up the local color, searching out the perfect location for a murder—or two, and driving up to Sonoma County where my heroine was raised.

Oh, and the wine tasting I attended was a necessary part of my character development. ;-)

I’m also taking a two-day class on bookbinding at the San Francisco Center for the Book. That’s right, I’m not just writing a book, I’m making a book!

Shortly after I return home, I’ll be descending into the deadline cave where I’ll stay for the next month in order to finish my book. But for now, I’m writing this post while sitting at the restaurant bar, sipping a lovely cabernet and nibbling on bread dipped in olive oil as I wait for my steak and potato. Sigh. The things we do for our craft!

If you could choose the perfect spot to do research, where would you go? Are there books you choose simply because you love the setting? Do you find yourself drawn to a particular occupation of the main character? And how do you like your steak prepared? Or would you prefer the vegetarian selections? :-)

P.S. Vote for Trish!!!