Getting to the Bottom of Things!

by Anna Campbell

I went looking for a line of nice male rear ends to illustrate this post - and do you know what? I couldn't find one! Plenty of girls but no guys! Clearly we need to man (or woman!) the barricades of sexual equality, girls!

Anyway, I thought the elephants illustrated my point well enough although nowhere near as prettily!

Actually this isn't anything about nicely shaped rear ends! It's about taking your story to its most basic elements so when people ask you about it, you can answer them without stuttering or spending an hour recounting the whole plot. I've tried that - the glazed eyes have to be seen to be believed!

By the way, stop press, thanks to Avon, I've got another ARC to give away today! Yes, comment on this post and you can win an advance reader copy of MY RECKLESS SURRENDER! Get commenting, people!

Double stop press! I couldn't find a line but I did find a very nice single example of getting to the bottom of things! For your viewing pleasure, ladies!

Just recently a friend of mine emailed me in a panic because she needed an article for a newsletter and for various reasons that were nobody's fault, the person she'd lined up couldn't do it. Could I help? I was having the day from the proverbial but because she's a friend, I put something quick together about MY RECKLESS SURRENDER.

And I realized that sometimes it helps not to over-think stuff!

One of the wonderful things about promoting CAPTIVE OF SIN, my last book, was that just before it came out, I worked out that it was a classic marriage of convenience story in Regency noir guise. Nice little soundbite to deliver when people asked - and intriguing enough to get readers interested in the story which is just what you want.


MY RECKLESS SURRENDER is about a dangerous seduction in Regency London which is an OK description as far as it goes but I want something to draw a reader in. I stewed and stewed about what I could say about this book - we all know the popular themes in romance. Secret baby. Cinderella (actually there's elements of that in this story). Marriage of convenience. Revenge plot. Fish out of water. Friends into lovers. There's a stack of them - and I think we've covered most of them in Bandita blogs at some stage.

Anyway, writing this piece for my friend while juggling various tradesmen (none of whom looked like the guy in the photo, sadly!), I sat down to do a quick description of MY RECKLESS SURRENDER and I automatically described it as a 'ticking bomb romance'.

Diana Carrick makes a deal with the devil which will give her everything she’s ever wanted. To make her dreams come true, she agrees to commit what she believes is a victimless crime and seduce the notorious rake Tarquin Vale, the Earl of Ashcroft.

But of course, there's no such thing as a victimless crime...

Tarquin and Diana find themselves caught in a liaison that is nothing like either expected and which plumbs dangerously profound emotional depths. With every moment, Diana is trapped more inescapably between her deception and her growing love for this man who is nothing like the careless, heartless rake she expected. Her secrets threaten to destroy both of them, but she’s gone too far now to retreat.

I love ticking bomb plots! You know, the ones where the readers know more than either the hero or heroine and are just waiting on tenterhooks for that moment of revelation where everything blows sky high. Then of course, the characters need to gird their loins (nothing like that moment when the characters gird their loins!) and deal with the fall-out which takes all their courage and strength and love. Great high-stakes romance!

I’ve seen my first review for MY RECKLESS SURRENDER and it’s a beauty. Romantic Times Book Reviews chose the book as a June Top Pick and called the story ‘enthralling’, ‘complex’ and ‘passionate’ and finished the review by saying “Quite a book!”

Clearly they like ticking bomb romance plots too!

So thinking back over one of the books you've read recently, how would you describe the story at its most basic level? For example, Annie West's wonderful FORGOTTEN MISTRESS, SECRET LOVE-CHILD (which recently hit the USA Today list - huzzah!) is an amnesia/secret baby story with a dash of Cinderella thrown in. CLAIMING THE COURTESAN is Beauty and the Beast. Christine's debut SCANDAL'S DAUGHTER is friends into lovers. So how would you describe your recent reading?

Don't forget there's an ARC of MY RECKLESS SURRENDER, now christened a ticking bomb romance, up for grabs! Good luck!

Debut author Lisa Cooke in the lair

sponsored by Donna MacMeans

I've known Lisa for several years and knew that if her everyday humor and charm were captured in a book - she'd have a hit on her hands. I didn't have long to wait. Lisa's debut book, TEXAS HOLD HIM, hit the bookshelves this month. Romantic Times Bookreviews says "It's a luscious, fast-paced adventure with appealing characters and great scenery." Luscious. I like that. Please join me in welcoming Lisa Cooke to the lair.

Thanks for inviting me to Romance Bandits today! I’m so excited to be here and to talk about my new release, TEXAS HOLD HIM. I love historical romances, and my favorites are definitely the ones that add humor to the mix. When I write a book, I always think about what types of personalities will give the best potential for a passionate romance and a giggle or two (or three or four).

The hero in TEXAS HOLD HIM is a Texan (of course) named Dyer Straights and a Southern belle who needs a sizable amount of money to pay a blackmailer so she can save her sick father from prison. Dyer is the best gambler on the Mississippi and Lottie agrees to give him a night in his bed in exchange for poker lessons. The ensuing scenes were a blast to write. Lottie had never handled cards in her life and her questioning of the logic of the game exasperates the hero to no end. Of course, there’s much more to the book than poker games, but the banter between my hero and heroine entertained me enormously as I tapped away at my keyboard.

My next book is a story about an 1890’s Appalachian midwife who suddenly finds herself with three fiancés. A MIDWIFE CRISIS will be released in February of 2010 with Leisure historicals. And yes, it’s got a few giggles in it as well, or did you already figure that out by the title?

Luckily, I found an editor who loves humor as much as I do. When Leah Hultenschmidt of Dorchester Publishing called me this summer, I almost fainted. I remember looking at the caller ID and seeing “Dorchester” and thinking, they must have the wrong number. When she told me she wanted TEXAS HOLD HIM, I could have swallowed my tongue. I’ll never forget her telling me that I had impressed her and Alicia Condon (senior editor). Then she added, “Well, actually, you’ve impressed quite a few people here.” What a cool thing to hear on a hot summer day. She said she laughed out loud at the poker lesson scenes. When I heard that, I knew I’d found my editor
match from Heaven.

So, how about you? Do you enjoy a good chuckle when you read, or do you prefer serious stories? Is it something that changes according to your mood or do you pretty much stick to one type of book?

Leave a comment and you might win a copy of TEXAS HOLD HIM for yourself. Anyone up for a few lessons from a sexy riverboat gambler?
Thanks for stopping by and happy reading!

Hey - if any of you are headed for the Romantic Times Convention in Orlando, Florida this week, be sure to stop by and visit Lisa, Christie, and I. To read more about TEXAS HOLD HIM, visit Lisa's website at www.lisahistoricals.com

Ruthless Rhymes

by Christine Wells

I'm often asked why I chose to write historical romances and why I set them in England.

English history has fascinated me ever since I can remember. I suspect it's something to do with the glamour of royalty, the political power struggle between kings and subjects and the fun of discovering the origin of so many traditions and expressions that endure throughout the English-speaking world today.

It was my father who first introduced me to this wonderfully rich world of history. When I was very young, he would tell me enthralling tales about English kings and queens, great battles and epic struggles for the crown. He had a way of making history come alive that I can only strive to emulate in my novels.

I'll never forget the way he disillusioned me about some of the innocent-seeming nursery rhymes I grew up with!

Mary, Mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.

Sounds delightful, doesn't it? But there's quite a bloody history to that little verse. It referred to the reign of Queen Mary, Henry VIII's daughter, during which she put many Protestants to torture and death. Silver bells were thumbscrews, cockle shells were instruments attached to the genitals. (Ouch!) Pretty maids referred to the Maiden, a forerunner of the guillotine, used for more efficient beheading. It seems the plain old executioner's axe didn't do the job in one go a lot of the time. Yikes!

Baa Baa Black Sheep was a protest about wool taxes. Pop Goes the Weasel is thought to be about many a poor man's habit of pawning his Sunday coat to pay for his pleasures, then redeeming it in time for church on Sunday. "Weasel and stoat" was Cockney rhyming slang for coat, and to "pop" was to pawn.

Old Mother Hubbard is actually about Cardinal Wolsey's failure to secure Henry VIII a divorce from Katherine of Aragon. It's interesting that so many rhymes seem to come from Tudor times.

And for a more obscure reference, did you know that Little Miss Muffet actually existed? Her name was Patience and her stepfather was a famous entomologist who wrote the first catalogue of British insects. One of his spiders escaped while poor Patience was eating her breakfast, and so the nursery rhyme came about.

What was your favourite nursery rhyme as a child? Do you know any nursery rhymes with interesting backgrounds? If you're a reader of historicals, what attracts you to that era? One lucky reader will win a signed copy of THE DANGEROUS DUKE!

The Television Generation

by Joan Kayse

I am a child of television.

I confess, I do watch or at least listen to a fair amount of it. What can I say? I was raised in the era of programming expansion. My parents had just gotten used to grainy black and white pictures of Milton Berle when Panavision was invented. They never dreamed they’d be able to watch programs in color and to get reception from the moon? Unthinkable.

I still remember how my parents let my brother and I stay up to watch the broadcast of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon. History was being made and I saw it live.

Television brought world events to my living room in Kentucky..nightly broadcasts of the Vietnam War, the protests, the bra burning. The cultural revolution was unfolding on our small screen. I was a kid. I didn't understand what all that was about but it impacted me.

But I also remember curling up every Sunday night, after my bath, snug in my jammies to watch “Wild Kingdom” and “The Wonderful World of Disney”. I was safe and secure in my living room while Marlin Perkins wrestled giant anacondas to the ground….or rather sent his trusty sidekick Jim in to do it. (Wonder if ‘ole Jim got extra pay??)

Miniseries were big for a time. “Roots”, “The Winds of War”, “North and South” (minus Richard Armitage). Sagas told over the span of five days. Books brought to life, given faces, making an impact, leaving impressions.

Then Cable TV was invented. The first thing I watched when my parents got it was “The Blue Lagoon”. Pretty risqué business in the early eighties to see semi nude Brooke Shields flinging around that lagoon. Now you can access hundreds of stations and lots more skin if you have the money to pay for all that opulence. I could and have watched The Food Network for hours! Yes, I learned the art of cheesecake making from Good Eats.

Even with all the choices out there I still find myself gravitating toward the classics: I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke. Not a lot of meaning or deep psychological implications in these simple but entertaining shows (save for the AG episode with Opie and Winkin, Blinkin and Nod...sniff). Barney Fife was one of a kind. Watch the "Checkpoint Chickie" episode and not laugh. I dare you! Nobody has neighbors like Ethel and Fred and a boss as hilarious as Alan Brady? Thank goodness for TVLand!



What about you? What were some of your favorite shows? Which was the funniest? Golden Girls? Wings? The Cosby Show?

Birthdays

by Joan

I’m not here. No, really, this post is a hologram sent to the Romance Bandits by way of Doolin, Co. Clare, Ireland. Even as you read this I’ve just finished a full Irish breakfast and am tooling along the Burren looking for dolmens, castles and the stray black haired Irish lad..and trying not to run off the road. You see today is my birthday. Yup, it's April 13th and NO I was not born on a Friday. I don't mind birthdays as a general rule though with being out of the country this year I avoid my brother's incessant teasing. I like birthday cake and cards and presents.

I like that my birthday falls in the spring. The whole renewal thing has an increased appeal this year. You see it's not just any birthday, it’s a Landmark birthday. (Which one, you ask? If you guessed 21 you are my new best friend).

Frankly I can ONLY refer to it as a Landmark birthday because to say the actual number out loud makes my eyes roll back into my head. Suffice to say that I decided that I would spend this momentous occasion in the most beautiful place God ever created—Ireland. Visiting the land of my heritage will ease the sting, soften the blow, help with the mind altering “I’m HOW *&$%# old?” (faint).

What? Huh? Oh, sorry. (Whew...no broken hip).

You see here’s a secret. I do not feel like I should be at this landmark yet. 50 is the new 30, right? I took a Real Age test online and it says I’m physiologically 6 years younger. I buy lotions and creams and serums to stay ahead of any outward indications of age progression. I regret with every free radical in my body that I was late coming into the wonders of olive oil. I thank my lucky stars I never smoked and with my fair Irish skin was never a sun worshipper. I exercise and eat better. I’m not particularly vain, but I want to look like I feel. I want to be all that I can be. (I do not, however feel the urge to join the Army.)

And what can I be? Well, a strong, confident, passionate woman who still believes dreams come true. One who believes she will be published, who knows she will find Prince Charming. An independent lady who uses her wisdom, her wit and her Aleve to feed the vibrancy that is her life.

And yeah….I LOVE the idea of being a Cougar! I am woman, hear me roar!!!!!

So Happy Birthday to me!

Meow.

What special thing did you do to celebrate your last “landmark” birthday? Note: We’ll only go back to age 13 :-)

PS to my brother: If there are a certain number of BLACK CROWS in my yard when I get home....grrrrr.

Turning on a Dime

by Joan Kayse

I had a crappy day at work.I know, I know. Most of you envision the life of a nurse as noble and self sacrificing. Well, I don't know about noble but I've done a fair bit of self-sacrificing for my patients over the years. Always willingly. Well, except for the time a lady insisted she needed me to squeeze between the wall and the chair she was in to scratch her....back and in raising up bonked my head on the thermostat and burst into tears. She spared me a "Are you ok?" and then pointed out the spot she needed scratched .But the reality and my years in the trenches (and I REALLY hope it's not the "years" part of it) have changed my perspective and my profession quite a bit. Nursing is getting harder. And today was no exception. I thought I'd scream if I listened to one more nurse whine, one more doctor complain, one more pass of the (*&^^ floor waxing machine!

Today was no exception. You know it's bad when everybody you pass in the hall says "Boy, YOU look tired." I had loads to do, complaints to listen to, a very ill man to transfer to the ICU and never got dinner.

Then I checked my voicemail. I had a message from the contest coordinator for The Suzannah, an outstanding writing contest sponsored by the NOLA chapter of RWA. My ms. THE PATRICIAN'S FORTUNE had won the competition. Just like that the fatigue, the stress everything just flew out the window! My Roman hero Damon had done it.

It's validation to have my Romans achieve such recognition. You see when I began writing in 2001....well, the very thought of a "different" time period was unimaginable to well...everyone I met. Your Romans do not have a place in publishing you foolish girl. No one would want to read them. Stay safe, write only to the market.

I listened and I learned and I shook my head politely. But I had three Roman heroes (eek..don't call Bran a Roman...he doesn't like it) who were demanding their stories be told. And so I could do nothing else. And now they are shining in wonderful contests like The Suzannah.

It's true Roman wasn't built in a day. Just one story at a time.

Can you think of a day when you thought nothing was going right and then something special happened to turn it around? If you had another chance what "different" job would you pick?

Hope Floats or Love by the Lockers

by Joan Kayse

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. There will be flowers and candy and little stuffed animals with goofy expressions distributed to thousands of special someone’s. Some might even send a singing telegram or pay someone to print their exclamations of love in the paper. How much you want to bet that there will be a high percentage of proposals wrapped in the red and white tissue paper of Cupid himself. All in the name of love.

But I’m not going to talk about that.

Well, actually I am but from a different perspective. I’m talking about unrequited love. You know, the type that is one sided, that goes unrecognized, that leaves an ache wrapped in hope deep in your heart. The most hopeful love of all.

It is hopeful, it really is. Occasionally, in an unrealistic way if you were to sit back away from the longing and analyze it. But I think the hope imbued in this type of love is the purest type imaginable.

What got me to thinking about this was a memory of Valentine’s Day from my childhood. Ok, sure in elementary school everybody got a Valentine. But there was always that one special boy that you would save the BEST Valentine out of the box for and take extra care to print his name just right. And when you received his in your red heart decorated paper bag you just KNEW he had taken the same care with yours…even if he gave the exact one to all the other girls.

Then high school came and with it lockers; the perfect spot for a “secret admirer” to slip a Valentine. For six periods your heart would beat just a bit faster, you’d chew on your lower lip as you punched in the combination. Your eyes would search for a pink envelope or the sparkle of glitter. When it wasn’t there you’d assure yourself that there was always next period.

At the end of the day after you had admired your friends cards and stuffed animals you gained comfort with the hope that there would always be next year.

Fast forward to adulthood and the hope takes on a different flavor. You hope to find “the one”, the man who will build a family with you, take out the garbage and kill the spidersJ. You meet some promising fellows; fall for their easy smiles, their wit, and their blue penetrating eyes. You practice being demure and flirt in an entirely sophisticated manner, of course ( and bake tons of cookies. That adage abou the way to a man's heart is through his stomach? Not entirely convinced of that).You spend time with him and hope that he will look at you with the same conviction and promise that you are willing him to recognize in you.
Now as a grown up, you go to your mailbox on Valentine’s Day. You hold your breath when the flower delivery guy arrives at work with a dozen red roses. You hold your breath as he squints at the card and paste a smile on your face when he asks for Susan. You ooh and ahh at your friends engagement rings and their little stuffed animals. You clock out at the end of the day and you….hope.

Unrequited love is hard but the hope inherent in the “happily ever after” dulls the pain and helps you keep going, helps you believe that “the one” is still out there….just around the corner….waiting by the locker.

Have you ever suffered from unrequited love? What was it that attracted you to him (her)? What is the goofiest Valentine’s present you ever got?

The Hamster picture doesn't mean anything really, unless? Unless he's hoping the flowers will make an impression on his own true love :-)

Jennifer Donnelly Visits the Lair!

Interview by Kirsten Scott

Friends, I am just tickled to welcome the amazingly talented Jennifer Donnelly to the Lair! Jennifer’s first novel, The Tea Rose, an epic historical novel set in London and New York in the late 19th century, was called “exquisite” by Booklist, “so much fun” by the Washington Post, a “guilty pleasure” by People and was named a Top Pick by the Romantic Times. Her second novel, A Northern Light, won the Carnegie Medal, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Borders Original Voices Award, and was named a Printz Honor book. Jennifer is currently celebrating the release of The Winter Rose, a sequel to The Tea Rose, and a book we should all be watching for on the NYT bestseller list!

So, onto the interview!!

Jennifer, I inhaled...er, read The Tea Rose and can't wait to dive into The Winter Rose, which has just been released in hardcover by Hyperion Books. Can you tell us a little about these books?

I'd love to! Both books are big fat sweeping historicals, very much in the style of books I loved as a kid. Books like A Woman of Substance and The Thornbirds. Books that kept me up all night, reading under the covers with a flashlight. I first read A Woman of Substance when I was thirteen. I found it on my Aunt Grace’s bookshelf, along with about a hundred big fat 70’s blockbusters, and I was blown away. Emma was ladylike, elegant, determined, and tough as nails – a total Edwardian badass. She got knocked down, but she got right back up, put on her black dress and pearls, and proceeded to take over the world.

I loved those books too! They did a few things right in the 70s, didn't they? :-) You obviously take the setting of your novels very seriously, to the point that it becomes a key character in the story. What's your research process, and how in the world do you get all those details right? In particular, I loved all the vernacular you used in The Tea Rose, and the way the different characters truly had different voices. Where on earth did you find that sort of information?

I'm so glad you said that! I really do want things like history and setting to be characters in their own right in my books. My research process is more an art than a science. I read everything I can get my hands on -- big historical surveys of the period to start, then I try to get hold of any and all primary sources. Things like memoirs, oral histories, letters, newspaper articles, studies. Also diaries and photo albums. I prowl museums to view clothing from the time period in which I'm working, household items, and in the case of The Winter Rose -- obstetrical tools from the late 19th century. (Seeing them made me very happy I live in the 21st!) I also immerse myself as much as possible in the setting. Obviously I can't go back to 19th century London, but I could go back to the docklands, and I could spend a great deal of time in East London, at markets, at pubs, at caffs -- listening to the language of East Enders, absorbing the inflections, the vernacular. Taking in the faces, the gestures, the body language. Just generally being a big sponge -- soaking up sounds and sights and smells. The research goes on before I start writing, and during and even after -- during the fact checking and copyediting stages. It informs my work, and it inspires it. There's nothing more exciting than history to me. I totally groove to it.

I think you'll find a lot of people around here who feel the same way! Now, the Romance Bandits write in lots of different romance sub-genres -- historical, contemporary, paranormal, suspense, young adult -- but we're united in our love of romance and a happily ever after. The Tea Rose is a huge historical epic, but at its core it is very much a love story. Are you a romantic at heart? Do you imagine your hero and heroine find their HEA?

Fiona and Joe did in The Tea Rose, and I hope that Sid and India do in The Winter Rose. I myself am very much a romantic at heart. But a nitty-gritty, mean streets kind of romantic. I don't believe love is all hearts and flowers and gloopy rhymes. I believe the HEA takes work and sacrifice and selflessness. Anyone can send you a nice Valentine's Day card -- but will he be there for you when you get your tenth rejection letter from the publisher? When you've been in labour for twenty-odd hours? When the toilet blows up? Will you be there for him in difficult circumstances? That's love, to me. That's the HEA.

I grow a bit faint when I look at the sheer size of your books and imagine the research they require. You obviously had to dedicate a lot of time and energy to your writing without having any guarantee it would see the light of day. Can you tell us a little about your journey to publication? Did you ever consider quitting along the way?

That's funny…my publishers faint, too, when they see the sheer size of my books!

I fell in love with East London -- the inspiration behind my first novel, The Tea Rose, when I was in my twenties. And I started writing the book a few years later. I worked fulltime, so I wrote mornings from 4:30 to 7:00 am, and then I went to work. I wrote on weekends. Instead of taking vacations. I wrote pages upon pages upon pages. Draft upon draft. I worked hard, but it didn’t matter. The story didn’t work. It didn’t flow. It bogged down in description. It meandered. So I ripped up what I had and started again. And again. A year passed. Two. Five. Eight. I watched my friends got ahead in their chosen fields while I cobbled together a living from part time jobs, temp jobs, freelance jobs. I watched others get agents, get editors, get contracts, get published. Frustration set in. A sense of futility. Depression. Despair. But I kept on writing. I knew that nothing and no one could guarantee I’d ever get published, but I myself would guarantee that I didn’t if I stopped.

Eventually I had what I thought was a finished manuscript, so then all I needed was an agent. In my typical fashion, I got a guide to agents and wrote to every single one who sounded nice. Luckily, a good one wrote back -- Simon Lipskar from Writers House. He told me I could write, but said I still had a lot of work to do on things like narrative drive, point of view, and pacing. So I started revising. It took me another year to get the manuscript right. Another year of frustration. Of going back and forth with Simon, page by page. Of tears and doubt and worry. Finally, it was done. Again. It was polished and perfect and I thought we’d sell it immediately. I was so wrong. The manuscript was rejected from every publishing house in New York, and a few outside of it. Simon tried hard to sell it for over a year. And then I got a call. Not The Call, not by a long shot. It was Simon, and he was calling to tell me we he’d tried everything and everywhere and he couldn’t sell it. At least, not yet. We had to take a break. Put it on a shelf.

I was so down, I can’t even describe it. Ten years of my life. All that work. All that sacrifice. Such a labor of love. And no one wanted it. Weeks passed. And then one dreary, cold, gray afteroon, as I was sitting at my desk at Saks Fifth Avenue, writing ad copy, the phone rang. It was Simon. There was excitement in his voice, I could hear it. My heart started thumping. My hands went cold. And sure enough, he said the words I’d been waiting to hear for a decade: “I have an offer for The Tea Rose.” There was an editor a St. Martin’s – a new hire – and she liked it. The offer wasn't riches, not even close. But it didn’t need to be. To me, it was priceless.

That's an incredible story, and so inspiring for anyone striving to reach a seemingly impossible goal. Any last piece of advice you'd like to give to our readers who are aspiring writers themselves?

The most important piece of advice I can give to aspiring writers is this: Keep writing. Don't stop. Don't say the big fat awful NO to yourself. Trust me, the whole world is ready and willing to do that to you. Don't do it to yourself.

Thanks so much for the fabulous interview! Now, I know you're all going to run out and find Jennifer's books and add them to your TBR piles, but you're going to have to put them next in the queue, because they are a bit...ahem...weighty. ;-) So to get you started, we're sending one lucky commenter a copy of either The Tea Rose (if you're new to Jennifer) or The Winter Rose (if you're already a fan!). So, friends and fellow Banditas, say hello to Jennifer!

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?

Just the Facts, Ma'am

by Joan Kayse

Just the facts. Wouldn't that make for a short and incredibly boring story? Boy meets girl. Girl saves boy from crucifixion. Boy saves girl from mad villian. They lived HEA.

What? That isn't just the facts? What about a crucifixion, you ask? Well, you're right. I dropped a kernel of description in there and it might have gotten your attention.

Many times on these blogs or loops we writers talk about point of view (POV), conflict, plot, etc. But there is another aspect that is often maligned. And that is the use of description.

Now, I'm not talking about a ton of backstory that drags the plot down. Or distracting purple prose that jerks the reader out of the moment.

Description in its best form enhances the experience of the character, sharpens the impact of the POV and...in the case of historicals....weaves a sense of time and place into the very fabric of the story.

Here's an example from my manuscript THE PATRICIAN'S FORTUNE:

They reached the bottom of the affluent Palatine neighborhood and turned toward the center of the city. Damon set a quick pace, navigating the twisting thoroughfares with ease. He knew this city like a man knows a lover. A boiling cauldron of arrogance, greed, and excess, Rome was the focal point of the civilized world, though Damon was certain a majority of the Empire’s conquered regions would hotly argue the point.

The crowds began to thicken as they continued down the Via Sacra and approached the two enormous pillars marking the entrance to the city center. Damon eyed the carved statues of Rome’s legendary founders, Romulus and Remus, circling their circumference. There were dozens of similar statues scattered around Rome, adorning public buildings, heralding a general’s successful campaign, an emperor’s benevolence, but this one had always been his favorite.

The famous twins faced each other, swords tightly clutched, expressions reflecting the stoicism of a conquering race, prepared to defend the nation they’d founded. Romulus’ free hand rested on the head of the legendary she-wolf who had suckled the abandoned infants. An omen the ill fated Remus, murdered by the brother who named an Empire, should have heeded. Take care who you trust. A lesson Damon had learned good and well. With Kaj flanking him, Damon stepped through the stone arch into the Forum.

The market was well designed. A large open area provided ample room for pedestrians and shoppers to go about their business. Weavers, jewelers, bakers, oil merchants, and pottery makers vied with tavernas and wine shops for their share of the citizens’ coin.

Street philosophers chalked their thoughts on the sides of buildings, some accompanied by unflattering drawings. Candidates for political offices spouted grand promises from stone block perches while those who had already been elected bustled about the business of government. Temples dedicated to one god or another stood wall to wall with brothels where, Damon mused, you were more likely to get your prayers answered than kneeling at an altar.

The city pulsed with life and Damon reveled in it. This was where he’d first experienced life after Jared had granted him his freedom. He closed his eyes for a moment, savored the sounds of bartering and badgering, inhaled the scent of spices and perfumes and—he cocked one eye open and looked at the painting of a pork hind gracing the side of a building—the butcher’s shop.

In this passage, I tried to show the power of the Empire as reflected by daily life in the epicenter of Rome itself....and my hero's connection and response to it.

Can you remember a description someone gave you about something? A trip or a gift or an event? Something that made you wish you had been there?

Lorraine Heath, guest blogger

Interviewed by Suzanne Welsh

RITA Winner and NYT best-selling author, Lorraine Heath joins the Romance Bandits in the Banditas Lair today. Lorraine’s newest historical romance, Just Wicked Enough, recently received a 4-1/2 star review from Romantic Times Magazine and will be on the shelves at your local book stores tomorrow. Today, she’s here to give us a sneak peek at Just Wicked Enough and talk about writing both historicals and Young Adult (YA). Congratulations, Lorraine on the great review and welcome to our lair.

Your stories always bring your readers wonderful alpha males in need of the right heroine to love. Can you tell us about the hero and heroine in Just Wicked Enough?
Michael Tremayne, the Marquess of Falconridge, stole my heart the moment I met him. He’s extremely proud (what male isn’t, right?) and in dire financial straits. In A Duke of Her Own, he watched his best friend court a wealthy American heiress only to end up with the penniless chaperone. Michael hasn’t the time to waste courting a woman when the outcome is questionable, so he decides to hold a private auction with all the American fathers. He’ll marry the daughter of the man willing to arrange the best settlement.

Kate Rose has a secret in her past that makes her more than willing to agree to marry Falconridge if for no other reason it’ll get her out of her overbearing mother’s house. But Kate also believes strongly in love and courtship so before she’ll consummate the marriage, she insists that Falconridge earn her love. And since her father has given control over the money to her, my poor hero—who had hoped to avoid courtship—finds himself dancing to her tune.

Kate seems to be one of those headstrong Americans you love to incorporate in your books. How does she feel about her father essentially buying her a husband with a title?
When she finds out, she’s furious . . . but since it was a private auction and neither man wants to confess what he’s done, it’s a while before she learns that Falconridge didn’t approach her parents and ask for her hand in marriage.

You originally wrote Western historical romances, which garnered you your RITA award. Was it hard to change from Western settings to books set primarily in England?
It was difficult in that I had to do a lot of research because life was so very different in London than in Texas. Clothing, food, to a degree etiquette, all different. But I’d always wanted to write a story set in England, so part of the reason that I brought the second sons of English lords to Texas in my Rogues in Texas series was so that I could begin researching England and getting comfortable with the differences when a story wasn’t completely dependent upon a vast knowledge of English ways. So the Rogues in Texas became exactly what I’d hoped they would—a stepping stone to writing stories set in England.

If you had the chance is there another time or place you’d like to take your readers to with your historicals?
Actually, I wrote three medievals before I was ever published and I’ll admit that lately I’ve been considering dusting them off and seeing if they have any potential. Although I suspect in truth I’ll find that they’re simply awful.

You’ve ventured into contemporary romances with Hard Lovin’ Man and Smooth Talkin’ Stranger. Are there plans for more of those stories in your future?
I would like to write more contemporaries, have worked on a couple of stories actually, but I’m just not entirely comfortable with my contemporary voice and I’m not sure I’ve managed to figure out how to create that “big book” feel that you really need to be successful with contemporaries.

Our blog readers may not know this, but you also write YA stories under the name Rachel Hawthorne. Want to tell us about your latest YA release, The Boyfriend League?
The Boyfriend League was a lot of fun to write. DH and I had gone to watch the McKinney Marshals play. They’re a collegiate team—college players move to the city during the summer, stay with host families, and play baseball. It was family appreciation night and they recognized the families who had provided homes to the players—and I immediately envisioned a teenage girl desperate for a boyfriend who talks her parents into hosting a player so she can get up close and personal with the players. Came home from the game, sat down at my computer, wrote the synopsis, pitched—so to speak—the story to my editor, and she loved it. I had my fictitious Ragland Raiders play actual teams in the North Texas Collegiate League. Although I’ve heard that the league may disband after this year.

If you read the excerpt for this book posted at my website, you'll discover that Michael believes he has only to guess Kate's favorite color in order to prove that he knows her well enough to be invited into her bed. His misguided belief provides some of the lighter moments in the story. What one thing does a man need to know about you to prove that he truly knows the real you?

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