Where do ideas come from?

by Donna MacMeans

Inevitably, at some point in a conversation with a wide-eyed reader, the question will arise "Where do you get your ideas?"

And I struggle for an answer because the process never seems to be the same. I just have to trust that the inspiration for a new story will be there when I need it. (I PRAY that the inspiration will be there when I need it).

Stephen King suggests that story are ideas are buried in the ground just waiting for the author to unearth them. Jennifer Crusie credits the "girls in the basement" for sending up ideas when you need them - you just have to listen. A workshop last week in Dallas told authors to look to music and movie titles for inspiration. So I'm wondering - where do you find inspiration for a novel?

The Education for Mrs. Brimley was inspired a few years ago by Lori Foster's contest. She encouraged entrants to submit a sexy scene in either a contemporary or historical setting. The weekly winner's entry would go to an editor. Several novellas were purchased through that contest. My idea for a strip tease was ripe with sexual tension, but the scenario was hardly unique in a contemporary venue. So I decided to place it in a Victorian setting as those ladies wore enough clothes to make a striptease a weeklong event. Now I needed motivation for my characters, both hero and heroine. As I thought about it, an idea started to form that begged to be written. I never entered Lori's contest because the desire to work on my Victorian striptease took over.

My next book, The Trouble with Moonlight, was inspired by the recent preponderance of TV shows and heroines with supernatural powers. That, coupled with the story of the headless horseman, led to my fun story of an invisible (Victorian) heroine.

My current work in process was inspired in part by the historical homes in Newport, Rhode Island. Discovering the charm gates in New Orleans brought about a partially written time-travel that still sits on my computer. A talk show featuring a cardiologist specializing in heart transplants inspired an earlier romantic suspense.

TV shows, vacation spots, movies, and contests...it sure would be nice if the process was consistent so I'd know where to turn when a story idea is needed. Especially as deadlines loom.

Share the source of your inspiration, or the process you use to discover your story and I'll reward the best suggestion with a bandit mask and a Jane Austen action figure.

Priceless!

by Anna Sugden

Cost of Nationals Conference … $325
Return plane ticket to Dallas … $300
Room and board … $700

Seeing your writing buddies and getting to hang out with them … priceless!

Earlier this year, I was in the doldrums. A big rejection. Stuck in my work. Writing going nowhere. My chances of finalling in the GH were, I thought, slim to none given my heroine wakes up in bed with the hero because she had too much to drink the night before (not exactly home and hearth category!). I said to my husband that I was debating not going to Dallas. What was the point? I could order the CD’s and save a heap of money.
He smiled patiently at me and said “But the main reason you go is to meet up with all your writing pals.”

He’s right. It is without a doubt the best part.

I’m glad I changed my mind and went. Writing can be such a solitary occupation. How authors managed it in the days before internet, I don’t know. I’d be lost and have given up long, long ago without my online pals.

The same friends who will critique a synopsis at the drop of a hat, will find a safety pin to hold you together when the top button of your skirt pops. They have band-aids for your blisters and ideas for your stalled plot. They cheer with you for the highs and hug you during the lows. They’ll stick voodoo pins in those who reject you and stick by you when you’re nervous before an appointment or workshop you’re giving. They understand the trials and tribulations of life and they get what being a writer involves. (Really, who else gets the voices, the way characters wrest control from you, the ideas that pop into your head at the strangest and often most inopportune moments?)

I’m so glad I followed my husband’s advice and went to Dallas. Not just because I had a great time and helped my writing career inch forward another step. But because that week in Dallas was filled with special moments with my friends.

The one who picked me up at the airport and gave me a bag of emergency goodies (water, cookies and crisps etc) for the week. The one who quietly mentioned me to her agent - I didn’t know until her agent told me! The gang who gave up workshops to sit with me and brainstorm how to strengthen my hero in time for my editor pitch. And the one who handed me a beer after I’d spent a couple of hours being 'line nazi' for the check-out line at the Literacy Signing.

These are just a few of the special moments, and there are more I can’t mention publicly, but for which I’m eternally grateful. All these moments prove that your writing friends are simply priceless.

So, tell us about some of the sweet and caring things your friends did for you in Dallas. Or any other conference.

Big Day for Imagination

by Nancy Northcott

I’m the newest bandita, and I’m excited to join the group! An ardent Anglophile, I love history, adventure, action, mystery and fantasy, so it’s pretty easy to find books I like. I live in the Piedmont (a fancy name for foothills) area of North Carolina, where the biggest city is Charlotte. When it comes to writing, I’m part pantser, with ideas coming as either the first scene or one of the last, and part plotter, spinning a synopsis out of that initial concept so I have a roadmap for the journey.

Today, of course, is Harry Potter day. We read the books aloud as a family, which is why I’m posting this in the wee hours. My husband will be going out to pick up a copy early in the morning, and we’ll embark on a family reading marathon. We just saw and enjoyed the fifth movie, so we’re well primed.

There are a lot of theories to explain the popularity of this series, which draws on many currents of literary tradition. At the bottom line, though, the explanations all seem to boil down to J. K. Rowling’s imagination. She took elements from literature, fantasy, and classicism and synthesized them with endearing and/or intriguing characters to hook the world. There’s power for you!

The weather here makes reading even more appealing than usual. This week hasn’t been so bad, but we’ve been promised a return to temperatures in the 90s and high humidity. Of course, we can escape the heat by visiting some fine area museums or walking in the shady woods at a raptor center, where injured birds of prey receive medical care and, if they can’t survive in the wild, a home. They’re all great places to visit, but I suspect a lot of people here will be curled up with a big, fat book for the next few days.

Thanks for reading along on my first bandita blog. I hope you all have a great weekend. By the time you read this, I’ll probably be off in the company of wizards.

Diary of a Conference

Well, after five days, I think I'm finally caught up *g* I'm soooo glad to be back with my fellow Banditas!! I missed you all!!

Thank you all so much for your congrats! I'm still in shock *g* Congratulations to Trish on her GH win and to KJ and Jo on their Daphne Wins!

Here's a quick rundown of my conference experience:

Roomed with three wonderful friends, Tammy Johnson (05 gh finalist) Janice Lynn (Harlequin Author) Lindsey Brookes (07 gh finalist, American Title III finalist, Winner of Harlequin's American contest) I've never laughed as much as I did last week!

Survived my trip on the Elevator of Doom which took me to the Tower of Terror (I prefer my restaurants DON'T rotate, thanks all the same)


















Got to witness my CP and best buddy Tawny and our lovely Anna C sign their books at the Lit signing! (I was so proud *g*)

Had breakfast with Rita Nominee Stephanie Rowe, a wonderful and sweet lady *g*

Had a book signed by one of my favorite authors, Virginia Kantra, who is always so kind and funny.

Attended some awesome workshops including the TGN retreat (hosted so fabulously by Jeanne) the PRO retreat (put on by Trish -- great job!) a YA workshop and a workshop on developing the romance in your romance novel by Virginia Kantra (I hope she didn't think I was stalking her *g*)

Moderated (for the first time ever) Tawny's Standing out from the Slushpile workshop (it was a huge success -- standing room only!)

Met with an editor from Silhouette to discuss which story to submit to them next

Had a terrific date to the RITA/GH ceremony (that's me and Tawny, all dolled up for the night *g*) Loved the awards ceremony this year and the chance to cheer for so many friends up for awards!














Spoke in front of over 1,900 people and lived to talk about it (even if it did take me an hour to stop shaking *g*)

Finally got the chance to wear the tiara Tawny sent to me (after I whined one too many times that I wanted to be Queen of the World -- or at least my little corner of it) I was the dork in the bar Saturday night in the flip flops, black sweat pants, AC/DC shirt and Tiara ;-)


Coming Home to the poster my kids made me and receiving beautiful roses from some dear friends!













The best part of conference? Seeing old friends, meeting new ones and getting to spend time with some of the most wonderful women I know!! Can't wait for next year :-)

What was your favorite part of conference? Anyone else have any 'Firsts' in Dallas? (Those you can publicly share, anyway? *ggg*)

Kate's Lucky Thirteen Conference Tips

I recently returned from the RWA conference in Dallas, Texas, and I decided to sit down and compile a list of Conference Tips, based on my own experiences, to help make my next conference an even more enjoyable and rewarding time. I really hope these tips will work for you, too!

1. Take lots of pictures so you can prove to your family back home that you know people. Important people. And they like you, really! (Here I am with this year’s American Title winner, the very important Jenny Gardiner!)

2. Just accept the fact that no matter how well you pack, no matter what special tips you employ, no matter how many plastic bags and tissues you stuff into each sleeve and fold, you are still going to end up ironing every single article of clothing in your suitcase. It's like a cosmic law or something.

3. Oh right, pack that bathing suit. Please. Like that’s ever going to happen.

4. Go ahead and drag your Alpha Smart across the country with you but don’t come whining to me when you realize you’re going home with nothing written. Nada. Zip. Zero. Seriously, who did you think you were kidding, packing that thing?

5. Make friends with a smoker. Smokers hear all the best gossip. Ashtrays are where it’s all happening. And breathing is highly overrated at conference, don’t you think?

6. Packing three different outfits for the Rita Awards ceremony is simply insane … or is it? What if you spill tomato sauce all over yourself? What if your gown is set on fire during a freak lightning storm? What if you discover the dry cleaners shrunk your beaded blouse and beads start popping like a fireworks display on the Fourth of July? It's not your back fat, it's the dry cleaners! Things happen. Pack extra stuff.

7. When dining in revolving restaurants, avoid placing personal items on the non-revolving portion of the table area. On second thought, avoid revolving restaurants altogether.

8. If a giant grasshopper dive bombs your head during dinner at the hotel restaurant, try to get your meal comped. It helps if you scream.

9. If a strange man pulls up a chair and tells you he’s got brilliant stories to tell if only he could find a ghost writer, maybe someone like yourself, direct him to a hotel across town. Or better yet, across the country.

10. The best way to stop the elevator doors from closing is to throw your entire body into the space between the doors. This will hurt. But it’s better than thrusting just your arm between the doors as this could result in permanent damage to your writing career.

11. If you fly on a plane for four hours, eat Mexican food for five days straight, drink vodka & tonic for five nights straight and dance all night at the Harlequin party, chances are good that those puffy ankles are NOT an indication of Deep Vein Thrombosis. (But you can’t be too careful. Check out Christie Ridgway’s story here.)


12. Ooh, don’t forget to take those very important pictures! (Here I am with best pals Maureen Child and Susan Mallery.)

13. Start your conference diet today and you just might reach your ideal weight by next July. Seriously, start today because pretty soon it’ll be Halloween candy time, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, and then it’s just one long downward spiral into Fat Back City.


Now I know everyone has a conference tip or two to share—for real. Seriously, I packed three Rita outfits for Dallas. This must stop! Give me conference tips, people, please!

The Single Traveler and Diverging Roads

posted by Jo Lewis-Robertson

When I first began writing narration, as opposed to the analytical writing we teachers foist on our students, I wasn’t sure if I were in love with writing fiction, or in love with the idea of being a fiction writer.

Surprise! I adore the narrative writing process. I like everything about it: the drafting, the dump (what I call my first raw draft), the rewriting, and even the revising. Conversely, I abhor almost anything that takes me away from it.

But there’s one thing I don’t like: the decision-making. The stories and voices and characters that run through my writer’s head leave behind a hefty dose of schizophrenia.

My stories feel like Robert Frost’s “roads that diverge[d] in a yellow wood.” I want to take both paths, but “be[ing] one traveler,” can only follow a single trail. Each decision on the turn of a word or phrase, a single paragraph or minute description, every nuance of verb or adjective can steer my characters into an entirely new world with different texture and significance.

Did you know that Charles Dickens wrote two endings to Great Expectations? The novel was serialized in a magazine, a common practice at that time. When Dickens wrote the ending most often anthologized, he kept Pip and Estelle apart; they have that poignant meeting at the end and walk away from one another – forever. But his contemporary readers were so outraged with it that Dickens wrote an alternative ending. One where there’s a happily ever after, or at least the hope of a HEA.

It’s an awesome and frightening sensation, this power writers have to alter what essentially is fiction, a made-up and (wo)man-constructed falsity, but is so often stark reality in the minds of readers.

Sometimes you know that poetic justice has to prevail and the ending is literarily perfect, but still you oh-so-wish it were different. That Scarlett got Rhett back (and maybe she did!), that Heathcliff found his “soul,” that Juliet woke up before Romeo took the damned poison!

What about you? What book, story, or movie ending would you change if you could? Which ones were perfect just as written or filmed?

Back to Reality

by Christine Zampi

I've been loving all the stories from Dallas this past week. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to Dallas this year due to a scheduling conflict with my husband. But nothing is stopping me from going to San Francisco next year and to the Romantic Times conference in Pittsburgh next April. Well for all those lucky banditas who went to Dallas it's time to get back to reality--writing!

For those of you who received requests from editors and agents get those partials/fulls out immediately. I can't tell you how many editors say they request something and never get it.

So I have to admit it while everyone else was partying in Dallas, I've been home in Maryland struggling. I have a synopsis due on the 15th of August and I’m what we writers like to call a pantser. When I start a book I usually have a semi-solid beginning, a vague sense of some plot points (okay, I know how I’ll get them in bed) and I know the black moment. I have all those fuzzy ideas in my head but I can’t seem to get them down in a clear and somewhat coherent form.

For all the readers here, be ever so thankful you’ll never have to read a synopsis. Basically, what a writer has to do is tell the story with enough detail that the editor can see where the story is going, but not so much that the editor dies of boredom while reading it. Sounds easy, right? NO! Writers are taught to show the story, not tell it.

Needless to say, I’m looking for ideas on the best way to take a story not yet written and write it without losing the energy of the story. I did start to write the book thinking that might help me. So far, I’m not so sure about that. But I do know I can’t finish writing the book in less than a month. Now, to all my writing buddies, tell me how you write your synopses. Do you write them first, as you’re writing the story or when the book is finished? Do you have a well kept secret on writing synopses you’d like to share? Any ideas that will help me along?

Basket pictures!

by Caren Crane

Okay, here are the pictures I couldn't access earlier but can now. Here was our lovely basket (wasn't the bear so cute?):



And here was our lovely winner, Kathie DeNosky, just before we began plying her with champagne and TimTams:



And just for fun, so you can see how gigantic I felt all week long, here is a picture of me with Kathie. I'm the very tall orange one on the left (my hair looked much better earlier in the evening, before the champagne!):



I'm sure more pictures from the conference will be posted in the days to come.

Kathie DeNosky Wins Bandits Basket!

Every year, in conjunction with the huge Literacy Autographing at the RWA National Conference, there is a raffle of baskets put together by RWA chapters and groups. The proceeds, like proceeds from book sales, goes to fight illiteracy. This year, the Romance Bandits decided to put together a basket for the raffle and help this great cause.

It was a fabulous basket. I have a wonderful picture, which I will post as soon as the technology gods decide to smile on me. The "basket" was a bright pink rolling suitcase stuffed full of Bandit Booty! There were chocolates, a Bandits coffee mug, a Bandits t-shirt, a Bandits stuffed bear, a heart necklace, a lovely embroidered fan, tons of autographed books and lots of other awesome swag. There were also were many, many raffle tickets placed in our bag. People wanted the Bandit basket in a big way! Imagine our surprise when the lucky winner was none other than best-selling author Kathie DeNosky!

Kathie DeNosky, who hails from southern Illinois, is a multi-published author who writes for Silhouette's Desire line. She has published 22 Desires since her first came out in May 2000 and she was a 2007 National Readers Choice Award finalist for her book "The Expectant Executive". She was previously an NRCA finalist in 2002 for "His Baby Surprise". She is also a member of the Ditzy Chix, who some of our readers may already know and love. A winner indeed!

I had the pleasure of meeting Kathie and her lovely friend Roxann at the champagne and Tim Tams reception held in my suite after the RITA/Golden Heart award ceremony. Kathie said she was delighted to win the Romance Bandits basket. "That basket was adorable," she said, "and I am glad to have something to take my books home in!" She loved both the rolling suitcase and, especially, the fluffy Bandits Bear! Though her friend Roxann threatened to steal the bear for her collection, I am sure Kathie was able to stave her off with a Caramello Koala!

Kathie and I found several previously-unknown connections between her and the Romance Bandits. For one thing, Kathie was a two-time Golden Heart finalist. She said both times, "I prayed not to win!" She was terrified of having to give an acceptance speech. (I believe some Banditas may relate.) Another connection is that her dear friend and fellow Ditzy Chick, Bronwyn Jameson, is an Aussie and a friend of our own Anna Campbell! Kathie shared that Bronwyn taught her the correct way to eat Tim Tams. (Our Tim Tams, by the way, were hauled all the way from Australia by Anna, as were the Caramello Koalas. We were very grateful and pleased to eat them so she didn't have to haul them back.)

Kathie is currently working on three more titles for Desire, so look for her new releases in 2008. Her latest release, "Mistress of Fortune", was part of the Dakota Fortunes series from Desire, and is available on Amazon. Congratulations, Kathie! We hope you enjoy the basket and stop by to see us sometimes!

Did anyone enter our raffle at the Literacy Autographing and not win? Did anyone have an encounter with a Bandita at conference they would like to share? And speaking of Banditas at conference, tell us who you met that we need to know!

PICTURES From The Daphne Awards

posted by Aunty Cindy
photos by The Duchess (aka Jeanne P. Adams)

Okay, as promised here are some pictures of our Bandita WINNERS from the Kiss Of Death Chapter's Daphne Awards in Dallas.

Here's our "double" winner KJ!











Here's our OVERALL Winner Jo!







And here are both our happy Bandita winners!


No word or pictures yet from our Golden Heart winners but we will post ALL NEWS as soon as we hear it! Again WAY TO GO Beth and Trish!

Golden Heart Night

posted by Tawny Weber

Tonight is the culmination of a thrilling 4 months of what is a wild Golden Heart Ride. It all starts in that last week of March, when unpublished writers who entered the contest all sit by their phones, anxious and nervous, waiting for a call with those sweet words “Congratulations, you finaled in the Golden Heart.”

I giggle whenever I remember my first final. I hung up on the sweet lady who’d called. Well, not really ‘hung up’ per se, my phone went dead. Oops. I did better the next two years! That first time, though, like all firsts, was extra sweet. There’s the excitement of deciding on a Golden Heart photo, finding the perfect dress for the ceremony, and the flurry of submissions made while that golden window is open.

Better yet, there is the camaraderie, the sense of togetherness that happens with the other finalists. This blog is a perfect example of the best of that, I think. Fun, varied, interesting and a little quirky!

All that has been happening over the last few months for our 2007 Golden Heart finalists – a couple of which are Bandits! And now, tonight, they find out that ultimate question... who are the Golden Heart winners?

The ceremony is a fabulous blow out, with the big screens that show the stage and flash the finalists’ pictures for everyone to enjoy. Imagine a room filled with romantics, all dressed in their finest, waiting to cheer for their fellow writers. The energy is amazing.

Then, when your category is called, the excitement twists with nerves, and in my case, often nausea (really – I did NOT want to get up that stage... color me chicken) until the envelope is opened and the name read. It’s a huge, exciting moment and one that honestly doesn’t dim when another’s name is called.

I’ve seen the contest, or more, the RITA, compared to the Oscars, and I’d agree. Yes, its importance might only shine among RWA itself, having little impact on readers or even the buying habits of editors, but among the 9000+ RWA members who watch, with bated breath, the results of the Golden Heart and RITA, it’s an amazing thing.

I hope tonight’s gala event sees the names of our lovely bandits called – Beth Burgoon, Kim Howe, Trish Milburn & Anna Sugden .My fingers are crossed for each of them.But most of all, I’m thrilled and proud of them. The Golden Heart is a pinnacle of achievement that shines its light on some of the brightest and best writers in our industry... Congratulations, ladies. You all rock!!!

I'm Not Really Here...

posted by Joan

...I’m in Dallas, TX attending Romance Writers of America’s 27^th annual national conference. Thanks to the generosity of our own Aunty Cindy I’m able to post my thoughts on this ideal setting to discuss one aspect of the romance fiction industry.

Now, the specifics of this particular conference will come out in the days and weeks following our return to the Bandit lair, but it is my seventh conference and I can tell you from previous experience there is no better place to watch and listen and learn about the business and craft of romance fiction.

My first conference was in New Orleans. I decided to attend because I had made the decision to pursue this dream and knew that to do so I had to find out what it was all about. If I was going to be a professional, I had to join the professional organization. I was also learning craft and was dazzled by the vast array of workshops offered. So I packed my bags and my newbie starry eyes and headed off with two friends.

I’m not even sure I can properly convey the energy of that first conference. Remember, I was new and totally tongue tied the first time in line for the restroom when I was asked “what do you write?” Huh? Me? I write romance, of course. It didn’t take me long to realize that the answer to that question was not so simple. I write “Category, romantic suspense, paranormal, historical, chick lit, chick lit paranormal romantic suspense, “ You name it and I found someone who wrote it.

It didn’t take too long after that first encounter to find my voice and answer with self assurance “I write historical.” Well, darn if that didn’t foster another variation on the question. “What time period?” Well do I remember the looks of pity and shock when I answered “Ancient Rome.”

That was my first lesson learned about romance fiction writing…develop a thick skin. I steeled myself against the eagerly offered advice that that time period is worse than the black plague. I listened…I always listen…but I also felt deep in my burgeoning writer’s soul that a story…well written, well crafted…can be told in any time period.

Armed with this new insight I continued on at the first conference. Lunches were fantastic. I met a new person from a new place with every meal. I listened to keynote speakers. Some authors I read and loved. Some I’d heard of and decided I needed to read (ahem…one of those was Nora Roberts. I’d heard of her, never read her and when she was pointed out to me in the bar I thought “How nice. She’s wearing a T-shirt that says Walking in a Wiccan Wonderland. Does she write paranormal?” She writes everything…wonderfully and I’ve about finished reading her entire backlist…when her new titles do not distract me). I discovered “the bar.” Now, I enjoy a drink once in a while but this is where after a long day attending classes, pitching to editors/agents the writers congregate to talk shop. I sat there that first conference in complete and total awe. The energy that filled me talking with writers at all levels just cannot be reproduced…except one a year in July at RWA.

And that first RITA/GH ceremony. I sat in that lovely old theatre and watched writer after writer go up and accept awards in stunning gowns and thought “That’s what I want.” I started writing my GH acceptance speech during that ceremony.

It took me five years to achieve the goal of finaling in the GH and while I did not get to use that speech…this time….I have grown and prospered and gained so much by attending the national conference.

As you read this I may be meeting with a published friend talking about my manuscript, or running into a favored editor and chatting in the elevator. I might be at lunch with writer friends or stealing a few moments reading one of the many free books bestowed on us and discovering a new author. I might be in the bar listening and learning. Or I might be in line at the restroom asking a newbie attendee “What do you write?”

PS I also want to take this time to offer my own salute to Kathleen Woodiwiss whose death was announced yesterday. I can only echo the honor and tribute to this woman who opened up the genre and inspired so many of us to find our voice, to write our stories. Recently, an editor judged THE PATRICIAN’S FORTUNE in a contest. She wrote that parts of it reminded her of “Shanna”. While she did not feel this made the story fresh enough I have to say I saw it as the deepest complement. My heartfelt thanks to Kathleen for being.

Joan Kayse

Speaking of WINNERS!

This just in from Dallas -- BANDITAS STORM DAPHNE AWARDS!

Yup, we heard the hootin' and hollerin' all the way into cyberspace to the Bandit Lair. Tonight at the "Death By Chocolate" party, the Kiss of Death chapter announced the winners of the annual Daphne du Maurier Awards for unpublished manuscripts and the Banditas kicked some serious booty!

Our very own KJ Howe took First Place in the Category/Series with her manuscript "Run Silent" AND she also took First Place in the Single Title with "One Shot Two Kills!"

And if that wasn't enough, our Bandita Jo-Mama, aka Jo Lewis-Robertson took First Place in the Mainstream division with her manuscript "The Warrior!" PLUS, Jo also won the overall Daphne award for Unpublished with "The Warrior!"

WAY TO GO, KJ and Jo!!! YOU ROCK!

We promise to post pictures as soon as they arrive.

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

posted by Aunty Cindy

MANY MANY THANX to everyone who took the time to comment about the blog. Nice to hear that so many of you think we're doing a good job. We're definitely having a good time and hope you feel the same.

Obviously, our guest bloggers are a BIG HIT! We love 'em too, and will be lining up some extra special guest in the coming weeks. On July 27th, my good buddy and red-hot YA author Tina Ferraro will buzz by (her group blog is "Books, Boys, Buzz...") for some Q&A. Then in August the fabulous Sabrina Jeffries, Janet Mullany and Colette Gale will all be visiting the Bandit lair. (Hmmm, Christie, Cassondra, and Christine maybe we should take this opportunity to turn the cabana boys loose with some cleaning supplies and get this almost empty place spruced up!)

It's also very nice to hear that you like our variety of posts, and especially those with a humorous slant. Sometimes it's just too difficult to be serious when we are having so much fun here with all our Bandit buddies. You never know WHAT we'll be blogging about next (and neither do we)! So be sure you drop by often.

All right, Aunty will stop blathering now and get to the GOOD STUFF. Drum roll please! The WINNERS of our contest are:
Michelle -- please email Suz at swwelsh2001 at yahoo dot com to receive your autographed copy of Sandy Blair's "Thief In A Kilt",

Keira -- please email Donna at dmacmean at columbus dot rr dot com to receive your Jane Austen Action Figure, and

diane -- please email your old Aunty at cindymm18 at gmail dot com to receive your box of See's chocolates!

Super Congrats, ladies! And we'll be holding more giveaways SOON so please check back with us. Thanx again everyone for all your wonderful comments.

Girl Power

Posted by Christine Wells

Don't you love it when a girl gets nasty? Buffy, Sidney in Alias, Charlie's Angels, Wonder Woman. We love women who can defend themselves, whether it's from the Big Bad or against more human instruments of evil. Perhaps it's because women have traditionally been seen as passive victims--when a sister goes out there and kicks butt, we all cheer.

I, on the other hand, would never pass muster as a member of the Scooby gang. Sorry, Banditas, it's true confession time! A few years ago, I went camping with my boyfriend, my best friend Vikki and her boyfriend on Moreton, which is a sand island off the east coast of Australia. After a glorious afternoon sipping mango daiquiris on the beach, it started to rain. We managed a makeshift dinner and retired early to our tents, hoping the hole the dog had chewed in ours wouldn't let too much water in.

That night, a stranger came into our camp site. No, not the tall dark and handsome type of stranger, the tall dark and scary kind. There were people looking for him, he said. They were going to kill him and could he hide out with us until daylight? Short answer? Uh, no, I don't think so. The boys managed to persuade him to get out of the tent, but they couldn't make him leave the campsite.

Meanwhile, Vik and I stayed in her tent, scared out of our wits. The place was pretty isolated, and cell phone reception wasn't the best. The guy seemed like he might be on drugs and his wild talk of someone wanting to kill him didn't reassure us. I said to Vik, "Do we have anything we can hit him with if he gets violent?" Vikki held up a tin of baked beans with her usual eyebrow quirk. We both giggled nervously. And, I'm sad to report, we left our men to deal with it. They eventually got through to the police and kept an eye on the guy for the hour or more it took for the police SUV to arrive.

But when women show strength, it's not always in the physical sense, is it? What about the sheer courage it takes to love someone and believe in them and hold on to your integrity despite the temptations that lie in your path? What about Jane Eyre? Maddy-Girl of Flowers from the Storm? Soraya in Claiming the Courtesan? Even Lizzie in Pride and Prejudice showed inner strength in going against her mother's wishes and refusing to marry Mr. Collins. There is a lot to be said for a woman who can use wit, faith or integrity as their weapon instead of their fists.

So what about you? Do you like quiet strength or is the kick-ass heroine more your style? And when was the last time you kicked butt?

Anna Campbell Touts the Stately Homes of England

posted by Anna Campbell

My last blog a month ago (although because I’m going away, I only wrote it yesterday – with all these time warps, I’m starting to feel like Doctor Who!) was hijacked by the blog fairies. It was meant to be about how visiting stately homes relates back to my writing but it ended up just being about setting in general with a final twist where I talked about a castle I’d used in CLAIMING THE COURTESAN.

But, blog fairies, away with you today! Hi, diddly, dee, it’s stately homes for me!

There’s something magical about stepping into a house that has been lived in for hundreds of years. In the best old houses, you feel all that family history around you. It’s an odd and wonderful sensation to enter a space where generations of people have walked and broken bread and loved and laughed and cried. I’m a history nut from way back and that vivid connection with people of the past is one of the best feelings I know.

Of course you can get that feeling elsewhere that the past is still alive and present. Battlefields. Churches. Historic towns. But a house is so central to a person’s life. A house is where people reveal their most secret selves. In ages past, people were born and married and had their children and died in their houses. There’s something intimate about being in a domestic space. Somewhere people eat and sleep and interact with their family. Even now, if someone invites you to their home, they’re making a gesture to let you into their lives.

These stately homes were often closely interwoven with the larger world. The aristocrats who built somewhere like Blenheim (not that I find Blenheim an intimate experience—it always strikes me as a public gesture of self-aggrandisement more than somewhere you’d want to live) or Castle Howard or Ham House were at the center of their universes. They were confidants to kings, they were politicians, they guided the church and education and trade. Even if they weren’t involved in administering Britain and its empire, they ran little kingdoms on their estates. So you get a feeling of a whole society from one country house.

Often, the houses are breathtakingly beautiful. Clearly a Marxist would consider the wealth these people had at their disposal obscene. But riches on that scale offers an experience outside most people’s reach. I’d argue many of these aristocrats had taste and education and they used both to make their houses glorious. Go to Syon Park in London, still owned by the Duke of Northumberland, and see the Robert Adam interiors. Go to Ham House in Richmond and marvel at the original fabrics with their exquisite embroidery from the time of Charles II. Or visit the lovely gardens at Penshurst in Kent, especially in spring when the orchards are a riot of color and scent. Aesthetically, these experiences are not to be missed!

For a writer, other experiences are at least as valuable as the luxury and beauty that fill these houses. The feeling of cold uneven flagstones beneath your feet in the kitchens. The smoothness of a polished mahogany banister under your hand as you sweep down a magnificent staircase. Well, all right, I’m in my ratty travel gear so perhaps ‘sweeping’ is too strong a word! There’s the dank smell of a moat through an open casement window, something I discovered when I went to Ightham Mote in Kent which is one of the most romantic places I’ve ever been.

All this sensory detail adds another dimension to writing. It’s something I try to include in my historical romances so my characters are living and breathing people moving through a world full of concrete, realistic detail. In a way, I’m trying to create that link with a vital past that I feel when I’m in my favorite stately homes.

Do you like to visit old houses? Why? Do you have any favorites? Not necessarily in Britain. There are old houses in Australia that give you a wonderful insight into how our ancestors lived. I’m sure there are plenty in America. I’d love to know if I’m the only old house fanatic here!

Just how LUCKY are you?

posted by Aunty Cindy

Last week, I ambled through the living room while DH was watching a TV program about “luck” and I saw just enough to start me thinking about the luck factor in publishing. Like that infamous “rotting rhino under the rug” this seems to be something that writers and publishers know exist, but they don’t like to admit it. Is that because admitting that publishing involves a certain amount of luck is like admitting it’s not really within anyone’s control? Forgive me, that snorting sound you hear is me trying to stifle my gaffaws.

Like it or not, selling really does boil down to getting the right manuscript on the right editor’s (or agent’s) desk at the right time. All three of those factors involve a certain amount of luck.

Allow me to illucidate:

I just wrote a vampire, girl-detective time-travel romance (not really this is just an example). Unfortunately every major publisher in NYC has just come out with a time-traveling, girl-detective vampire book and NOBODY is buying them. BAD LUCK!

My time-traveling girl-detective is really a BOY and a werewolf. The agent/editor is UBER EXCITED over my fresh new idea! GOOD LUCK! (In more ways than one, but this is just a silly example.)

My wonderfully written, delightfully fresh and innovative novel features a hero who happens to have the same first name as the agent/editor’s ex-husband. (Do NOT laugh! I actually had an agent tell me that she rejected a book because the hero had the same name as her ex! Of course, I’m sure she didn’t tell the poor, unsuspecting author this tidbit.) BAD LUCK! Sad but true!

Okay, I don’t honestly know if it would be GOOD LUCK! if your hero had the same name as the agent/editor’s latest crush. But I suppose it couldn’t hurt.

The editor has just made an offer for a book and has now filled all her slots for the next three years. Or the agent has just accepted her 77th client, a NYTimes best-selling author whose agent was hit by a bus and was therefore, “between agents”. BAD LUCK! Especially for that former agent.

The editor just had an author MISS a deadline, or become unable to fulfill his/her contract. (resisting the urge to repeat the hit-by-the-bus scenario) And lo and behold! My manuscript is on the top of the heap on his/her desk and is JUST WHAT S/HE WANTS, or at least close enough. AMAZING LUCK! And hey! It HAS happened! Just not to me or anyone I know.
OR
The agent just went to lunch with an editor who says, “If only someone had a wonderfully written time-traveling werewolf story.” Then the agent returns to his/her office and my proposal is on the top of the heap on his/her desk. Maybe not quite as AMAZING LUCK as the case above, but CLOSE ENOUGH!

Okay, maybe these examples are a bit extreme. But there is a luck factor involved with publication. And while some of it is within the writer’s control (Probably NOT a good idea to mail your proposal right before the holidays or right after a major writing conference like RWA National.), plenty of it is NOT (rampaging buses, ex’s names and all)!

Hmmmm, maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick to delete that chain email I got the other day.

But it's NOT TOO LATE for YOU! There's still time for you to post a comment and win! Check out yesterday's post.

A NEW CONTEST! MORE WINNERS!

posted by Aunty Cindy

First off, SUPER CONGRATS to the winners of books by our TWO WONDERFUL guest bloggers! We LOVE how generous our guest bloggers have been, but we think it is high time for another BANDIT BOOTY contest!
Once again, we'll be giving away the essentials and we have THREE GREAT PRIZES:

• an autographed copy of "Thief In a Kilt" by Sandy Blair,
  
• a Jane Austen action figure complete with desk, and
  
• a box of yummy See's chocolates!

HOW do you win? As always, we Banditas like to keep it simple. Just post a comment and tell us what you like most about the Romance Bandits Blog. Maybe you like the guest bloggers (and we've had GREAT ONES!), or the recipes, or the posts about writing craft, or the Memes (8 things about a Bandita). Whatever it is you like, PLEASE TELL US! Or if there's something we don't blog about and you want us to, then TELL US THAT!

Winners will be selected randomly and announced on Thursday morning, July 12th.

Welcome to Mars

I love to set my stories in small towns -- probably because that's all I've ever known (I still live in my small hometown). One thing I like to try and do is give my fictional towns names that are unique, funny, or somehow reflect the story's theme or the characters' conflicts. But as we all know, unique, funny, and/or sometimes downright weird town names don't just exist in fiction. Here are some REAL towns in my home state of Pennsylvania:

Mars

Apollo

Indiana

California

Washington

Ohiopyle

Houston

Denver

Berlin

Dublin

Belfast

Bagdad

Moscow

Bethlehem

Nazareth

Egypt

Jim Thorpe

King of Prussia

Intercourse (yes, for real)

Shickshinny

Eighty Four

Forty Fort

Bird-In-Hand

Bushkill

Paradise

Oil City

Slippery Rock

Jersey Shore

Blue Bell

Media

Plymouth Meeting

Burnt Cabins

Birdsboro

Three Springs

Yellow Springs

Boiling Springs

Sinking Spring

Roaring Spring

What about you? Any funny or unusual town names in your area? Or a memorable fictional town name from a book?

And the WINNAHS Are....

Wow! It's been quite a week at Romance Bandits! We had three wonderful guest bloggers and we have selected three lucky winners from our giveaways!

cheriej won a copy of Alyssa Day's "Atlantis Rising" and so did hrdwrkdmom. To claim your prize, please e-mail your name and mailing address to Kirsten at: scott UNDERSCORE sproles AT yahoo DOT com. Congratulations!

tetewa, you are the lucky winner of Jane Graves's "Hot Wheels and High Heels". To claim your prize, please e-mail your name and mailing address to Suzanne at: swwelsh2001 AT yahoo DOT com.

Congratulations, ladies, and thank you for coming to play with us at Romance Bandits!

Perfect Your Pitches

Special Guest CJ Lyons talks about the three main types of pitches with KJ Howe

When CJ visited us a few weeks ago, the response to her pitching ideas was phenomenal. She has graciously offered to share her other pitching article with us today, focusing on the three types of pitches you should prepare for editor/agent appointments. With National coming next week, it's time to sit down and hone your pitches. Don't be afraid to grab your friend, your spouse, or your Cocker Spaniel and practice until you perfect your pitch. It's your time to have an editor/agent's undivided attention. Granted, it only lasts for about ten minutes, but it's important to make every second count. Wishing you all good luck!!!

KJ


Award winning medical suspense author CJ Lyons is a physician trained in Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Winner of the Golden Gateway and a Golden Heart Finalist in Romantic Suspense, CJ is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. Her writing has appeared in Romantic Times BookReviews, CrimeSpree and Spinetingler. Look for her debut novel, LIFELINES, coming from Berkley in April, 2008. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net

Here is CJ's advice on pitching...


If you're a writer, the Pitch is your best friend.

Why? Because it's what you'll use every time someone asks you to tell them about your book. Agents, editors, elevator folks, Great Aunt Martha. Whoever.

So you need to polish it. Since it's verbal, shorter is better. No more than 25 words total, 10-15 is better.

Short, sweet, memorable. That's what you're going for—hey, I didn't say it would be easy!

There are several different types of pitches. Here's how I define them:

#1 The Elevator Pitch
--a very quick, easily memorable way to let someone who has never read your work know what it's going to be like (note: not what it's about, but what they can expect).

To use an example from my own work, the elevator pitch for my new medical suspense series from Berkley (first book out next April, yeah!) is: ER meets Grey's Anatomy

Implying that it has the edgy realism and non-stop action of ER, but also focuses on relationships like Grey's Anatomy.

I think elevator pitches were invented by all those ADD Hollywood types

It's your down and dirty answer to: what is your book like? It's a comparison, not an explanation or description.

The trick with elevator pitches is to use something universally known or something current and trendy. You need to use comparisons your audience will understand, nod their heads and say, oh yeah, that sounds like something I'd read

#2 The TV Guide Description
--this pitch is more descriptive. Start with your book's tag line (also known as a "log line")

These are those throw away lines that scream at you from the cover. Also look at movie posters and TV guide ads--they use hook lines a lot.

JAWS: don't go into the water, ALIENS: in space no one can hear you scream, etc.

These lines are useful to hook the reader and transition into your blurb.

For the first book in my Berkley series, LIFELINES, the tag line is: July 1, the most dangerous day of the year.

Notice what a tag line does that's different than an elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a comparison.

A tag line gets the reader to ASK questions, builds that emotional velcro by getting them involved.

Back to my tag line. Readers might ask: why is July 1 the most dangerous day of the year? What will happen then? Who is in danger? What kind of danger? Etc

These tag lines are also great to use on websites, business cards, etc. Often, they'll end up on the book's front cover.

Okay, so you have a tag line. Sometimes that's all you need, the conversation will evolve naturally from there. Other times you use it simply to attract attention and move into a more detailed description. So be prepared, either way.

#3 The High Concept Pitch
--the high concept pitch: also quick and dirty, but here you're going farther than a simple comparison.

Instead of comparisons you use ICONs or universal concepts to connect your fictional world to the real life world of your audience. This creates emotional velcro with your audience, leading them to be interested enough to want to know more!

To do this, you need to do two things:First, find a hook. This is the unique spin that you have put on your story. This means narrowing your search to one small part of your story. Start with your premise, usually the hook will be apparent there. If not, keep looking

Basically you're boiling your novel down to one and only one unique concept--whatever it is about your story that will create an immediate emotional connection or spark interest. Second, tie this unique hook to the larger world by using universal icons and feelings, implying that society at large is affected.

Something that brings this hook, specific to the time and place of your novel, into the ordinary world of your audience.You're building a bridge here, connections, emotional velcro....whatever you want to call it, it needs to be so easy to grasp that anyone can feel it immediately.One of my favorite high concepts: ALIEN's.

It was: Jaws on a spaceship.The unique hook = spaceship. Unique because no one has been on a spaceship, it's something unfamiliar to the ordinary audience.The universal icon = monster (Jaws). Everyone has had childhood fears of monsters under the bed. We all know and understand fear, nightmares, terror. In fact, a large segment of the movie going audience (Alien's target audience, in fact!!) pays good money to feel these emotions! Add the two together and we have a universal fear of monsters combined with no where to run (trapped on a spaceship). A powerful one-two punch!!! Feel how it evokes an immediate visceral response as well as intrigue??? The audience hearing this high concept immediately squirm in their seats, ask themselves: where can the people on the ship run? How can they fight the monster?AND, the movie makers tied this high concept into their advertising by using a tag line of: In space, no one can hear you scream....But note—there is no mention of character names, no long, involved psychological profiles, nothing except the bare essentials needed to pique the audience's attention. That's the beauty of the high concept, it strips everything away except what you need to intrigue your audience.

Another example. David Morrell's recent book, SCAVENGERS used as its high concept: a scavenger hunt (unique hook) to the death (universal concept). The tag line used in advertising: Some secrets should remain buried... Pretty obvious David's audience are lovers of thrillers/suspense, and wouldn't that audience immediately respond to that high concept? Be intrigued, think, hmm...I want to read that book, wondering what this master of suspense has in store for them.

Stephen King is also brilliant with high concepts. CUJO: rabid dog (hook) terrorizes town (universal fear). SALEMs LOT: vampires (unique hook--at the time) terrorize town (universal fear), CARRIE: prom queen (hook) terrorizes town....okay, anyone think King is writing sweet romance? Or has he earned his title of the King of Terror? So much depends on knowing your audience that it's hard for anyone else who hasn't read the entire book to create a high concept for you. It all depends who your target audience is and what kind of emotional experience you want to promise them.Often, because the high concept is such a tiny taste of the entire book, as writers, we get frustrated because we're looking at the big picture. We just spent months with these characters, we want to share them with our audience, expand on them, not boil them down to a bare skeleton But think of it this way--if you boil down a compelling high concept, then the reader will spend hours with your characters and story as they read....after they pay their money for the book, of course, lol! The high concept isn't a synopsis or blurb, it's merely a way to give your audience a sneak peak of the emotions they'll feel while reading your book. And not every book lends itself to a high concept, so don't get too frustrated if this doesn't seem to fit your work!

But no matter which kind of pitch you use, you'll probably need a more fleshed out description. Something that conveys very quickly what kind of book this is, what it's about (or who it's about) and what stands in their way.

Again your goal isn't to give away everything but rather to raise interest and more questions in the listener's mind.

Try starting with your theme or premise, add in your main character and their goal and main obstacle.

This is hard, very, very hard!! Be patient, keep trying, brainstorming power words, re-arranging and most importantly practicing saying them aloud. Pitches are verbal so they need to sound smooth, natural, not awkward or stilted.

The only way to learn how to do these is dive in and give it a try!

Good luck!
CJ

CJ, thanks for joining us again today. We'll miss you at RWA next week (CJ is attending Thrillerfest in New York), but know that we'll be using your helpful tips when we pitch! Have a great time at the conference.

KJ

Independence or Bust!

by Caren Crane



In the USA, today is Independence Day. Most of us are happy to have the day off from work and spend time with our family and friends. At my house this is, traditionally, a day we don't do much besides grill hot dogs and watch fireworks.

Today, however, my daughters have a job to do. They are Program Aides (counselors) at a Girl Scout day camp. At first, I thought it was odd they were having day camp on Independence Day. But as the plans developed and my girls frantically assembled appropriate red, white and blue attire for the day, I saw it as a great opportunity for my girls to share what Independence Day means to them with the younger Girl Scouts and to make sure Independence Day means more than fireworks to the little people.

When I was 11, the USA celebrated its Bicentennial. What a huge celebration that was! I recall special ceremonies at school, in the community, on television. And it wasn't just on Independence Day, it was the whole year! Now, 31 years after the Bicentennial, I still remember that heightened sense of pride and patriotism. Not because of a war or a perceived enemy, but because we studied and heard about and talked about the principles on which our country was founded. The sacrifices our forefathers made to ensure we could live by those principles, the efforts people have made over the last 231 years to ensure those principles are upheld. That is the source of my patriotism and, in my opinion, what makes the USA great.

So, what does Independence Day look like at your house? And are fireworks legal where you live? (The good ones are illegal for the public where I live!) Ever burned yourself with a patriotic, but ill-executed display of pyrotechnics? Or, my favorite, do you have any special memories from the Bicentennial?

WELCOME, JANE GRAVES, GUEST BLOGGER!<

Jane Graves began writing stories at the age of five, and she hasn't stopped since. She's a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, where she earned a B.A. in Journalism in the Professional Writing program. The author of fifteen novels, Jane is a six-time finalist for Romance Writers of America's Rita Award, the industry's highest honor, and is the recipient of two National Readers' Choice Awards, the Booksellers' BestAward, and the Golden Quill. She lives in Texas with her daughter and her husband of twenty-five years.

1.Welcome to the Romance Bandits blog, Jane. We’re very happy to have you visit us! Your newest release, “Hot Wheels and High Heels”, from Grand Central Publishing, debuted on July 1st. Can you give us a sneak peek at it?

Hot Wheels and High Heels is the story of a spoiled trophy wife who gets her life jerked out from under her when her husband sends her on a vacation with a friend, cashes in their assets, sells their house, embezzles $300,000 from his employer, and skips the country. She's left with nothing but the clothes in her luggage, her neurotic Chihuahua, and her beloved Mercedes Roadster. Of course she wants to marry rich all over again, but who does she find herself falling for? The sexy ex-cop turned repossession agent who comes after her Mercedes.

I love creating heroes and heroines who are polar opposites, then tossing them together and watching the fireworks. She hates blue-collar men, and he hates high-maintenance women. Instant conflict, instant fun.

2. How did you come up with the idea for this book?
Believe it or not, this story began as an idea for a romantic adventure series about a team of highly-specialized repossession agents who go after high ticket items like Lear jets and oil tankers. Before it was all over with, the story had evolved to a smaller scale comedy with a heroine who is a fish out of water: a former trophy wife who wants to become an auto repossession agent. My mind works that way sometimes. Scary, isn't it? I still have the original story idea, though, and someday I may write that one, too!

3. Trophy wives usually aren’t sympathetic. What about Darcy should make your readers root for her?
Ah. Good question. You're right, of course. Who gives a flip about a woman who has everything and doesn't have to lift a finger for it? But in fiction, it isn't about who a character is. It's about who you can watch them become. Personally, I don't believe a character has to be sympathetic from page one. She does, however, have to be interesting. Sympathy can be built as the story progresses. Remember, too, that the more flawed a hero or heroine is in the beginning, the more powerful their character arc can be. As Darcy is making that journey from spoiled trophy wife to self-sufficient woman, I think you'll be cheering for her to find love and happiness, particularly when that love and happiness centers around a really great hero instead of her platinum AmEx and her Mercedes Roadster.

But you know, that's still an interesting question. As authors, we constantly hear that we have to make our characters "sympathetic." As a reader, if you encounter a character you think is unsympathetic in the opening pages of a story, would you keep reading? If so, what about that character would keep you from putting the book down?

4. On your website, http://www.janegraves.com/ , you have a flash movie with one hunky hero. Is this your vision of John? And who made this movie for you?
I made the movie myself. I love playing with Macromedia Flash, so it's all kinds of fun to do these trailers. As far as the guy in the video being my vision of John, yeah. He is. Sort of. What you have to understand when you see these Flash trailers is that most of them draw images from the same few online sources that are cheap and royalty-free, which limits your choices. When I see book trailers and even e-book covers, I recognize a lot of the photos on them just because I've been through those royalty-free photo sites so often.
Also, since my hero is 42 years old, I couldn't have a guy who looked too young, which limited my choices. But all in all, he's got the right attitude--an alpha guy who's the boss, and don't you ever forget it!
Here's a sneak peek at an interactive Flash presentation I created for this book. It's not officially up yet--it'll be on the new website I have coming soon. But you can play with it now if you go to http://www.janegraves.com/hotwheelsbonus.htm and start clicking. You'll find all kinds of fun things!

5. This book is less suspenseful than your previous single title books. What made you decide to go this direction?
The original proposal for Hot Wheels and High Heels had a mystery thread in it, but it also had a lot of other elements, too. I had offers from two publishing houses. One wanted me to write it as a straight mystery, and the other wanted me to take the mystery element out and write it as a straight romantic comedy. Since the mystery stuff is just kind of a sideline for me and I'm not all that enamoured with dead bodies, I decided to go with writing it as a romantic comedy for Grand Central Publishing (formerly Warner Books).

6. This is your first book for Grand Central Publishing. Do you have any others coming out for them? If so, when can we look for that book, too?
Tall Tales and Wedding Veils will be out in June 2008. The hero is a sexy charmer who wakes up in Vegas--oops--married to an ultra-serious plain-Jane. But instead of getting the annulment they intended to, an unexpected series of events forces them to spend the next month pretending to be happy newlyweds. They're two people who couldn't be any more wrong for each other, or so they think...

7. You’ve written books for Harlequin/Silouhette under the name Jane Sullivan. Are there plans for more of those books, too?
Not right now. I absolutely adored writing for Temptation. When that died, I stayed in mourning for a while, then wrote a book for Next, and I did an novella for a Harlequin anthology. But to tell you the truth, right now there's not a line at Harlequin where I can really let the funny stuff rip the way I could at Temptation (and write hot at the same time!) so for the time being, I probably won't be writing for Harlequin. But I never say never!

So is there something you'd like to talk about? The effectiveness of video trailers as promo tools? The need for sympathetic characters? The upcoming RWA conference in my hometown of Dallas? Let's chat!

P.S. Jane is giving away a copy of her new release, "HOT WHEELS & HIGH HEELS" to one lucky visitor/commentor on the blog!

Welcome USA Today Bestselling Author Alyssa Day!

Hello Banditas, and please help me give a warm welcome to the fabulous Alyssa Day!! Alyssa Day is the pen name (and dark and tortured alter ego) of RITA award-winning author Alesia Holliday. She is a multiple finalist in the prestigious RITA awards for excellence in romance fiction and has won several awards for her novels. We are lucky to have her here at the Romance Bandits blog! :-)

1) First, tell us about your current series and the next book you have coming out. Where did you get the idea to write about Atlantis?

I've loved everything Atlantis since I was a little girl - I even told my mother that I was going to discover Atlantis when I grew up. Now, in a way, I have! :) I am a huge fan of anything mythological, of ancient history, and of anything to do with lost civilizations. I asked my editor what she thought about the idea for my series and she said Go for it!

2) How did you start writing romance? What was the road to publication like for you--short and smooth or long and bumpy?

My first book was actually non-fiction about what it's like to be a military family when one spouse/parent goes off to war. E-MAIL TO THE FRONT came out to a lot of buzz and gave me the courage to make the jump to my lifelong dream of writing novels. I actually had a Cinderella story to publication - my first novel sold in two weeks, at auction, on a synopsis and the first 42 pages. And that book, AMERICAN IDLE, launched a new trade paperback line for Dorchester Publishing and was a double-RITA finalist. So it was a crazy, crazy time.

3) You've written both steamy adult romance and fun young adult urban fantasy. What do you like about writing in each genre? Which direction do you see your career headed?

The YA I wrote was at the request of my editor at the time, who'd started a new YA line of books. I really had fun writing it, but haven't had the time to do more of it. Maybe some time in the future. Although my kids are demanding I write a tween-age book next . . .

4) The romance formula is pretty clear--boy meets girl, boy and girl hit some bumps on the road to paradise, boy and girl live happily ever after. How do you keep your stories fresh and exciting?

I have never thought of romance as a formula any more than I thought of mystery as a formula, with the two mysteries I wrote. And I've never written according to any so-called "rules." I truly believe that all good books begin with a great story and characters the reader can connect with, and after that anything's possible.

5) Have your books changed since you started writing? In what ways?

I hope they've gotten better! :) I know they've gained emotional depth. In the comedy, that was something I wanted to learn to do better and in the paranormal romance/action novels I'm writing now, I'm reaching that goal. I've actually made myself cry writing some scenes!

6) Do you have a favorite book that you've written? Hero? Heroine?

Every book I'm writing is both my favorite book and the book I hate the most, depending on what time of day it is. And I fall in love with the hero of every book.

7) What's in your "to be read" pile? Anything you've read recently that knocked your socks off?

I recently read and loved an ARC for Alexis Morgan's upcoming book in her Paladins series, and also I've read the first two of the launch books for the new Shomi line by Liz Maverick and Marianne Mancusi. You can find them at their Rebels of Romance site. Very fun and different books!

8) Anything else you want to share with our readers? The meaning of life? How to lose those last ten pounds? (I'm particularly interested in this last one...)

Yes!! I am the champion of declutter! My husband is in the Navy, so we move every 2 years or so and in 6 weeks we're back on the road to move to Florida. So I am the queen of decluttering! Here are some simple rules:
1. If you haven't used or worn it in a year, get rid of it! Charities will find someone who needs it.
2. If it has a layer of dust, you don't need it.
3. Sentimental value is fine, but limit it to one small box/trunk for each child. Anything that doesn't fit in the box, take a picture of it for the scrapbook and get rid of it!

Thanks for inviting me to guest at your wonderful blog!! The Banditas will pick two winners from comments to win an autographed copy of Atlantis Rising.

Please stop by and visit me at www.alyssaday.com and say hi!
hugs,
Alyssa

And the Winnah Is....

Super Congrats to heidi! You are the winner of Brenda Novak's latest release "Coulda Been a Cowboy" which is on the Walden's Best Seller list!

Way to go, heidi! Thanx for hanging out with the Banditas! Please email Jo Lewis-Robertson at: hellofromjojo at yahoo dot com with your snail mail info.

Please check back SOON for more great give-aways!

Which Superhero Are You?

by Kirsten Scott

Seems like superheros and superpowers are everywhere these days. On TV you can find Heros, Smallville, and did you hear they're remaking the Bionic Woman for the fall? I, for one, can't wait. Don't forget about Tobey Maguire, my favorite Spiderman of all time.

I'm thinking about superpowers partly because I just finished a major revision on my YA manuscript, which features a heroine struggling with an uncontrollable pyschic power. Sent that baby off to my agent tonight, yippee! Then there's our special guest on July 3, Alyssa Day. The heroine of her smash bestseller, Atlantis Rising, is an empath who forms a mind-link with a warrior from the lost city of Atlantis. Not to mention that Alyssa, under the name "Jax Abbott" published a fun couple of books about the teenage daughter of a superheros, who comes across her own super powers at precisely the worst possible time!

So I've been thinking--who's your favorite superhero/heroine? Do you like the "regular human" ones with technology or special aids (Batman, Wonder Woman), the ones who were "changed" by some extraordinary event (the Hulk, Spiderman), or the ones who were born with their powers? If you had a power, what would it be?

In The Bandit Lair

posted by Aunty Cindy

HURRAY! The Banditas are about to embark on their third month in the blogsphere! We are having such a fun time, and Aunty continues to be AMAZED at the things she sees and hears around the Bandit Lair. Just in the past week alone, I learned:

• the correct way to make peach cobbler (and this is how Aunty made it before she retired from cooking) versus the North Carolinian way
• how to properly affect the Stink Eye (sometimes known as the death ray glare or simply The Look)
• more facts than I ever knew existed about Flint, Michigan
• six ways to pronounce author Ayn Rand's first name, including the Finnish Russian way
• how to "brand" myself without soliciting

And that was only a few things.

It was quite a week! Who knows what might crop up next week?

Oh, all right, your old Aunty does have a FEW insights. How about TWO great guest bloggers? This Monday, the fabulous Alyssa Day will join us in the Bandit Lair. Then Tuesday, the always lovely and vivacious Jane Graves will be our guest! And don't be surprised if one or both of them have prizes to give away. (And it's still not too late to leave a comment on Brenda Novak's great guest blog on Author Branding and win an autographed copy of her latest book.) What might transpire the rest of the week is anybody's guess!

As for the rest of July, expect a lot more of the same: another guest blogger or two, more contests, lots of fun and the Banditas will INVADE DALLAS!

The RWA National conference will be held in Dallas on July 11 --15 and of course the Banditas will be there! Not to worry, a few of us (including your old Aunty) will stay behind to (wo)man the Bandit lair. But we hope to have some special "on the scene" posts for everyone's enjoyment and plenty of tales to tell afterward. (If you are lucky enough to attend the conference, be sure to look for a Bandit Basket of very special plunder that will be auctioned off at the Literacy signing.)

July is gonna be a HOT TIME in the Bandit Lair, so be sure to hang out with us! Make lots of comments! And tell us what you'd like to see in the future on the blog.