West and (passionate) Union!

by Anna Campbell

It is my great pleasure to bring back to the lair one of our favorites, Aussie Harlequin Presents/Sexy/Modern author Annie West.

Annie's here to tell us what's been happening in her world (lots of good stuff) and give us some background info in her great new North American release FORGOTTEN MISTRESS, SECRET LOVE-CHILD. FORGOTTEN MISTRESS, SECRET LOVE-CHILD is a brilliant take on a couple of really popular romance themes, including amnesia and the secret baby! How can you resist?


You can find out more about Annie and her books (including great contests) on her website: www.annie-west.com

You can order Annie's books post free anywhere in the world from The Book Depository or even easier, if you click on the covers of any of her North American releases, it takes you right to that page on Amazon.

Annie, welcome back to the lair! Your latest North American release is the wonderful FORGOTTEN MISTRESS, SECRET LOVE-CHILD. Can you tell us about this story?

Hi Anna! Hi Banditas!. Thank you for inviting me back. It’s lovely to be a guest here again. I always feel so at home here. Speaking of which, I’ll take mine chilled and with bubbles if there’s anything liquid on offer, she says, looking around for a handsome young waiter...


What can I tell you about FORGOTTEN MISTRESS, SECRET LOVE-CHILD? Well, the back cover says: ‘He’s forgotten their past but not her body…’ I love that line! It sums up Alessandro’s predicament. Successful, gorgeous, hard-working Italian tycoon seeks information on his missing past. He finds it in the most unlikely place – a brochure for a Melbourne hotel. One of the staff pictured there evokes a series of almost-memories that Alessandro’s determined to follow up. Once he sees Carys he’s convinced she holds the key to his past. More, he knows with absolute certainty she was his. So he does what any red-blooded Italian male would do – gets her to himself.

Carys wants nothing to do with the man who gave her such happiness then destroyed it. But Alessandro isn’t the sort of man you can brush off and he’s not taking no for an answer. Both discover far more than they bargained for as they gradually get to uncover the truth. It was tremendously satisfying to write a story so packed with emotion, where the characters grow beyond their past hurts and learn to build on the positive.

What were the inspirations behind this book?

The book came about because I’d wanted for a while to write a secret baby book – one where the father discovers out of the blue that he has a child. But the sticking point was always why the heroine hadn’t told him, closely followed by why he hadn’t got involved in their lives earlier. I loved the emotional potential of such stories but had to find a plot, and characters who convinced me they were real. Once I sorted that, the story catapulted on at an amazing pace as Carys and Alessandro took over my life.

One of the joys of writing this story was researching the Lake Como district, where much of the story is set. I’d been there but needed to refresh my memory. Discussions with Italian friends, reading travel guides and indulging in Italian food helped me dive into that world. The location itself proved a great inspiration.


What’s coming up next?

Ah, Anna, I’m thrilled about the next book. Last year my editor asked if I’d write a story in a short continuity – the DARK-HEARTED MEN OF THE DESERT series. I jumped at the chance and I’m so glad I did. Writing Tahir’s story was such a treat. He fascinated me. He’s a loner, a man rejected in his youth who turned to rebellion before devoting himself to life in the fast lane. Hugely wealthy by his own efforts and good fortune, he’s busy sampling life’s pleasures. The trouble is they’ve started to bore him. Then he meets Annalisa: gentle, caring , capable and unlike anyone he’s met. When his chopper goes down in the desert she saves him and their lives are never the same again.

I particularly loved writing the scene where Annalisa, alone at an oasis, looks up to see a tall man in a tuxedo slipping down the sand dune towards her. His bow tie is undone, his face is covered in sand and a pair of piercing blue eyes fix on her. He’s unsteady on his feet, like an elegant party goer who’s had too much champagne. It’s only when he collapses in front of her she realizes he’s injured. And yes, I freely admit I was thinking of Daniel Craig as 007 as I wrote that.

Oops! I’ve rambled. Sorry! As you can see, I’m so excited about SCANDAL: HIS MAJESTY’S LOVE-CHILD coming out soon. There’s an excerpt on my website if you want to check it out. By the way, despite the similarity in titles, these two aren’t linked books. They were named after I started writing.

There’s always so much going on in the Annie West universe. I notice your wonderful THE SAVAKIS MISTRESS is a Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence finalist. And both THE SAVAKIS MISTRESS and BLACKMAILED BRIDE, INEXPERIENCED WIFE are finalists in the Australian Romance Readers Association Awards. Congratulations! You have a story out in a March anthology in the United Kingdom (remember, you can order all Annie’s books post-free from the Book Depository). THE SHEIKH’S RANSOMED BRIDE is one of my favorite books of yours and I’m delighted a whole new audience will discover this great story now it’s out in LORDS OF THE DESERT: THE SHEIKH’S CINDERELLA. Can you tell us about THE SHEIKH’S RANSOMED BRIDE?

Fantastic! A chance to talk about another of my fave books! Hey, I like visiting here, Anna lets me have such fun. Thanks for the congratulations on making the finals of the Australian Romance Reader Awards. That’s an enormous thrill!

Belle and Rafiq’s was my first sheikh story. It would never have got written except a certain crit partner (AC) kept saying ‘You should write a sheikh story.’ To which I’d reply ‘No, I couldn’t do the justice to the sheikh fantasy’. To which the response was, like clockwork ‘Yes you could. It’d be great!’. This went on for ages, as we giggled over potential titles (my favorite was ‘Pashing the Pasha’. If you ever see that title you’ll know Anna and I have finally collaborated on a story – what a hoot that would be). Finally she wore me down and I started plotting.

This book almost wrote itself. In fact (dare I say it? My editor didn’t even ask for revisions!). It’s a marriage of convenience story with an element of suspense as well as lots and lots of sensual tension. It’s full of exotic things that were enormous fun to include like pirates, priceless heirloom jewelry, an exotic oasis camp, marine archaeology (hey, they’re on an island!) and a kingdom that’s a fascinating mix of ancient and modern. The romance is between a handsome monarch who takes what he wants (he has the practiced skills of a seducer as well as a steely core of honor) and a woman who sees herself as ordinary yet is anything but. I’m so lucky I was allowed to let my imagination run riot with this book. How often do you get to start a story with a kidnapped heroine stuck on a desert island wearing only a swimsuit and manacles on her hands and feet!

I’m always interested in a writer’s core story. For example, mine is definitely Beauty and the Beast. Do you think you have a core story and why do you think this particular core story appeals to you?

Anna, I have to say the story that keeps appearing in my work is Cinderella. Lots of my stories have transformations and an apparent mismatch between a wealthy, powerful hero and a heroine who’s doing it tough. However my Cinderellas don’t sit around waiting for their princes to appear with glass slippers. They’re trying to improve their lives or help those they care for and they’re not always sure Prince Charming is who he says he is! It makes them intriguing to write. I also seem to throw in a few other story themes like Beauty and the Beast or Rapunzel or even The Frog Prince. Oh, I forgot – why does Cinderella appeal? Probably I’ve always loved the idea that the most ordinary person could be special. That princesses weren’t just the loveliest, smartest, most favored people, but sometimes the ones who did it tough, who blended into the ordinary world yet who had something – character or generosity or heart that was special.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers out there?

One thing that I discovered: it’s helpful to know what’s happening in the market, it’s fantastic to get useful feedback from contests, it’s fascinating playing ‘pick the trend’ and seeing what’s selling and what’s not, but none of it helps unless you write a book you’re committed to – not just because the goss is that this way is the next big trend but because you love the story, you believe in the characters AND it’s the sort of story that plays to your strengths. I don’t mean you should ignore the wider world, but at the same time you need to remember writing a book is intensely personal. You’ll never appeal to everyone and you have to love it yourself. Particularly for someone trying to get their first project published, it’s important to focus on the sort of story that lends itself to your voice, that sparks your imagination and that inspires you. And to anyone out there, aiming for publication – good luck!

Annie, is there anything you'd like to ask our Banditas and Buddies to get conversation started?

Talking about these stories made me remember visiting marvelous places. For me one of the treats of traveling is trying local specialties. When I wrote Carys and Alessandro’s story I remembered the fresh-made lemon gelato I had at Lake Como and crisp white wine (not at the same time). With Tahir and Annalisa’s story it was memories of waking to a breakfast that included home-made rose petal jam and evening meals with skewered meats and middle eastern treats

Do you have favorite food memories from your travels or your reading, or even your home town? Is there a special dish (or drink for that matter) that instantly transports you back to somewhere special?

Annie has very generously offered us TWO giveaways today in the lair to people who leave a comment. The first is a signed copy of FORGOTTEN MISTRESS, SECRET LOVE-CHILD, the second is your choice from her contest finaling books, THE SAVAKIS MISTRESS or BLACKMAILED BRIDE, INEXPERIENCED WIFE. All fantastic reads! Good luck and get commenting!

Bulletproof Winner!

by Suzanne

Thanks everyone for supporting Kay Thomas' return to the Lair. The winner of a signed copy of her new book, Bulletproof Bodyguard is...
Virginia!!

CONGRATULATIONS, VIRGINIA!! I know you'll LOVE this new and exciting book!

Email me your address at swwelsh2001 AT yahoo DOT com (yes there are 2 W's in that addy) and I'll see that Kay sends you that book ASAP!

Do you remember the first time?

No, not that first time. Do you remember the first time you went to Walt Disney World or Disneyland, if you've been? For many people, they have memories of that first magical, childhood visit to the Magic Kingdom. For me, it came a bit later -- when I was in my 20s and fairly newly married. But you know what? It wasn't any less magical. I was as excited as if I were six years old, and I fell in love with Disney World the moment I stepped into the Magic Kingdom that first time. There's something about the Disney parks that truly is magical, that makes you feel like you're experiencing a few days outside of real life.

During that first trip, hubby and I visited the Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center and what was then MGM Studios (now Hollywood Studios). When we returned for a second visit in 2004, Animal Kingdom had been added and we visited it instead of MGM. I was in my mid 30s then and still loved it. So now, as the days are ticking away toward my 40th birthday, I went back for a third time recently -- this time with good writer friends Terry McLaughlin and Stephanie Feagan and Stef's 20-something daughter. She's about the same age I was when I visited Disney the first time. Here's a bit of a look at how we spent our time with commentary, a Disney travelogue a la Trish, if you will.

Woohoo, Main Street USA and Cinderella's castle. Hey, we romance writers are suckers for a good fairytale where the heroine gets the prince.















If you haven't ridden Pirates of the Caribbean for awhile, it's worth a return trip. It's been Johnny Depp-ified. Tawny, try not to swoon. :) From left: Terry, me and Stef.
































I am so not a fan of roller coasters or things that spin, so there were no rides on Space Mountain or the Mad Hatter's teacups. I'm more of a It's a Small World kind of gal. The last time I was at Disney, it was closed for renovation. So this was my first time seeing the new-and-improved version. It's been updated but still has that wonderful sweetness to it.















One of my favorite spots in the Magic Kingdom isn't a ride at all. It's the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. I loved the book, loved the movie, and so I walk through every time I visit Disney. Here is the kitchen area of the tree house.


















One of my favorite characters is Winnie the Pooh, and there's a store in the Magic Kingdom called Pooh's Thotful Shop where I purchased the cutest stuffed Pooh, Eeyore and Roo. Then when I went back outside, I noticed a line of kids waiting to get their photos taken with Pooh and Tigger. Don't think I didn't consider getting in the line with them.



























Day 2 we spent at Animal Kingdom, mainly on the safari, and then dining and shopping at Downtown Disney. Here I am hanging with Sleeping Beauty outside the World of Disney store, which always gets a good bit of my money when I visit. What can I say, I have two nieces and they have such adorable stuff for little girls.



















Near World of Disney is a candy store, where I also dropped some cash and saw probably the biggest candy apples I've ever seen. One had Mouse ears, and the other was decorated in honor of St. Patrick's Day, which was during the week of our visit.

















Day three brought our visit to Epcot Center. When I first visited Epcot, we saw just about everything. But now, I totally skip Future World and head straight for the World Showcase, miniature replicas of countries around the world. Here's Germany, where I tried to remember some minuscule amount of the German language I studied for three years in high school. Guten tag, meine Freunde! (Good day, my friends.) We also got some giggles out of saying the name of the toy store in the Germany section -- Der Teddybar. Go ahead, say it to yourself. :)















We had a yummy lunch in the France section at Le Chefs du France, where the rat from Ratatouille made an unexpected and very fun appearance at our table. He was just like in the movie, same sounds, same actions. Too cute!

















I spent quite a bit in the China section at a clothing store. If you're coming to RWA's national conference this summer, you might catch me wearing some of it. I am endlessly fascinated by Chinese culture and film, so it's one of my favorite sections of Epcot.

Throughout our trip, Stef's daughter was having us take really funny photos of her posing at different sites. I don't have too many of those of me, but here's the Viking dude in Norway asking, "You spent how much in China?"




















So, now it's your turn -- have you been to any of the Disney parks? If so, which is your favorite? What are your best memories of those trips? What are your favorite rides and attractions?

WINNERS--THE DANGEROUS DUKE

by Christine Wells

Thank you all so much for sharing your bad mommy stories with me and telling me about your favourite competent heroes and heroines. I must admit, it was very therapeutic:)

Linda, Gamistress66 and Kirsten!!

Congratulations!!

You have each won a signed copy of THE DANGEROUS DUKE.

Please send me your snail details at christine AT christine-wells Dot com and I'll send those books out to you.

Techno Addict

Hello. My name is Tawny and I'm a Techno Addict.

It all started in 1990 when I bought my very first computer. A Tandy from Radio Shack that took me YEARS to pay for. That sucker was expensive. But I had to have it. I'd touched the keyboard, I'd caught the bug.

Yep, I've been in the game since floppy disks. Would you believe I still have the same email address that I signed up for that first day that I unpacked that baby and got online? Granted, I have a dozen additional emails, but that first one holds a sentimental place in my life.

I was happy with my Tandy for years. Of course, back then, technology wasn't moving as fast as today, when a computer is obsolete before it leaves the store. There weren't as many choices. And slow was the name of the game. Then things changed. The dot-com boom swept us all into a new era of addiction. I mean, of technology.

First it was a better, faster, sleeker computer. A computer that the family all shared, with the bulk of daytime usage going to my daughter who used it for quite a bit of her homeschool work. Yet another reason I write best at night -in those first writing years, that was the only time I had computer access. After a year or so of that, we realized (aka, I nagged until hubby gave in) that we needed separate computers. And I got my own, giving the now-slightly-obsolete one to hubby and kids.

Of course, I couldn't use it when I traveled. When I went to conference. When we vacationed. One fateful Mother's Day, I received a lovely laptop. Then my oldest went to college and needed her own computer. So she got her own laptop. Then we moved and hubby was tired of fighting for computer time on the now creaky PC. So he got his own laptop, and since the youngest does most of her homeschool via computer, she got her own laptop. Yes... (hanging head in shame) We have 4 laptops. We don't share. We're all greedy.

Then there're the smaller techno addictions.

My cell phone. For years, I had a basic, free with your contract but it does no tricks cellphone. Now? It gets internet, it emails, it means I no longer have to find a wifi hotspot when traveling to stay in touch (yes, thats addiction speak for check my email).

iPod? I loved my iPod. I started small, as all things techno tend to do. A simple little Nano. But I filled it up. So I gave it to hubby, who wanted one, and got a bigger one. Then the iTouch came out. Have you seen that sucker? Holy cow, its amazing.

This week's craving? The Nook. I've been looking at ereaders for a year or so. Like all writers, I adore books. I love the crackle of pages, the smell and feel of the paper. Nothing satisfies me more than seeing that colorful line of spines filling my wall-to-wall bookcase. But I still wanted a reader. I researched. I considered. I put off. I played with a Sony. I perused a book via a Kindle. Then I touched the Nook. And like that Tandy, my fingers tingled and I just had to have it. The only downside so far? Its too easy to buy books on!!! I've spent a bundle on books this week!!!

I swear, its an addiction. I don't set out to fall in love with technology. I ignore new toys as long as possible. I pretend I don't lust after them. I appreciate what I have. But... the lure is there. Its a siren's call. Beckoning, teasing, irresistible.

Lucky for me, most of them can be writing related tax write-offs, too LOL.

How about you? You're obviously tech savvy, since you're hanging on a blog, right? Are you a little tech addicted or a lot tech addicted? What's your favorite tech toy? And have you tried an ereader? What did you think?

A Pet by Any Other Name

It was a long winter.

Like so many others, I had to deal with horrible weather, work layoffs, family and friends surgery and life changing events. Throw the holidays in there and gaining those 8 pounds I’d managed to lose and you have a recipe for stress.

Sometimes the effects of that stress sneak up on you and you find yourself working through the after effects. Lots of ways to do that….exercise, chocolate, meditation, chocolate, essential oils and massages….

Chocolate.

It set me to thinking about a lot of ways to deal with this level of stress and then I looked out the window. My neighbors had a new puppy.

Hmmm. A puppy. Well, the experts say a pet can help relieve stress. I like petting my brother’s cat Citrus. I enjoy my friends dogs Buckarudi, Pooka and Brody.

There would be challenges. Among them that I’ve never had a dog. I don’t have a fence. I do NOT enjoy getting up early in the morning to let said dog out. Howling makes me anxious and barking makes me jump. And if I ever found a flea or tick I’d faint.

Ok, so a cat. Well…that presents challenges too. No good out of the way place for a litter box. Cat hair clashes with my new recliner and I know…just KNOW that while I worked 12 hours Fluffy would be on my kitchen counter making tuna sandwiches. Don’t get me started on hairballs.

Fish? Been there, done that, slopped the water on the carpet.

Hamster? Squeaky wheel.

What to do, what to do?

So I talked over my thoughts with Buck’s Mom. I could hear her laughing. “A stuffed animal or a pet rock. Those are the ones that would work for you.”

“No,” I protested. “I could adjust.”

She snickered.

“I could make pets of all the birds I like listening to in the morning,” I protested.

“Really?” she said.

“Yeah,” (scuffs toe in carpet) “I just have to come up with 25 robin names.”

Sigh.

So I guess I have to take her suggestion. Pet rock it is. And I have experience! I had one in high school. This picture shows a pedigree pet rock. Mine was a stray :-)

Tell me about your pets. Any suggestions for me? Have you ever had a pet rock? What was its name?

Love in Mid Air

posted by Nancy

Freelance writer-turned-novelist Kim Wright joins us today with her debut women's fiction novel, Love in Mid Air. This hardcover launch, the story of a woman confronting her life choices at forty and deciding to change them, earned a starred review from Publisher's Weekly and 4.5 stars from RT.

Welcome, Kim! We love call stories. Tell us about your writing background and how you sold Love in Mid Air!

My background is journalism and I wrote nonfiction for 25 years as a profession. I loved magazine work and still do … yet I always felt like I had a novel in me somewhere.

I started writing the book about ten years ago but the timing was wrong for me. It was too close to my own divorce, so I put it aside. After about three years I picked it back up and there had been a transformation. I had perspective. I cut about half of out it out, rearranged everything, sliced the time frame from three years to nine months. It really became, for the first time, not just a bunch of ramblings, but a novel.

So I worked on it two more years (all of this is part time since I was making my living as a travel and food writer) and then started looking for an agent. For me that was the hardest part. Countless rejections. I had it in my head that I wasn’t going to ask any of my writer friends to recommend me to their agents, which was silly. Just me trying to be independent and exhibiting my family’s particular brand of foolish southern pride. Because when I finally broke down and asked a friend for help, she introduced me to her agent and he read the manuscript and took me on immediately.

That’s made all the difference. I signed with David in November and by the next month he had three bids on the book. Then I had to wait two more years for my publisher to bring it out. This is not a business for the impatient, that’s for sure!


Briefly, what’s the book about?

On the surface it’s about an unhappily married woman who has an affair. Below the surface I think it’s about the self-examination we all go through in midlife when we stop and ask some version of the question “Is this all there is?” There is also the issue of how my heroine Elyse’s discontent affects her friends. That was one thing that bugged me about the divorce novels I was reading after I had my own divorce – they made it seem as if the couple splitting up lived in a vacuum and nobody was affected by what was happening but their own little family. In my experience a divorce can shake up a whole circle of friends…it has a real ripple effect. So I wanted to not just show Elyse but show the women around her who are giving her advice, becoming increasingly uneasy about her choices, and now being forced to reluctantly look at their own marriages through a new lens.

How does a chance encounter on an airplane launch Elyse’s self-examination?

Elyse is reasonably stable at the beginning of the book. Not thrilled with the fact her husband is non-communicative and a little cold, but she has her daughter, a strong circle of friends, her part-time career as a potter, an economically privileged and in many ways enviable life. But she switches seats in an airplane to do a fellow passenger a favor and suddenly fate takes over. She sits down beside a man named Gerry who is also ripe for temptation and they begin to flirt.

The affair is just the catalyst for a series of changes that I think Elyse is long overdue to make anyway. Love in Mid Air is not about swapping one man for another. It’s about reaching forty and wondering whether or not it’s worth the risk to try and reinvent yourself, to reach out for something more – and whether or not that discontent is inside of you and can’t be solved by any sort of external change at all.

It’s exciting that you’re launching in hard cover. How does that feel?

It’s funny, but my initial impulse was to not launch in hard cover. As I mentioned earlier, three houses expressed interest in the book and, after I’d spoken by phone to all of them, I felt a great affinity for an editor at one of those houses. I thought she really “got” the book and would be a great person to launch it, it but her house only printed in soft cover.

My agent suggested – suggested very strongly for him, because he’s a mild mannered guy – that I go with one of the two houses that wanted to print it in hard cover. He said that a hard cover launch would help with both foreign rights sales and reviews and he has been absolutely 100% correct. The book has been widely reviewed, including some national forums like People and USA Today, and the cruel reality of this business is that they tend to review only hard cover debuts. Seven countries have bought foreign rights, and I doubt that would have happened either.

It’s a strange business. I buy 95% of the books I buy as trade paperbacks, i.e., soft covers, and I suspect most people do too. Book clubs lean very strongly toward soft cover, so there’s this whole market you don’t tap when you launch in hard cover. It’s like delaying your true sales for a year after your debut. But, on the other hand, certain reviews and foreign rights sales are indeed easier if you debut in hard cover. And there is the additional advantage a two-tiered launch gives a book two chances to find an audience. Love in Mid Air came out in March, 2010 and a lot is happening now. When the soft cover comes out in March 2011 there will be another little publicity shove.

What role do women friends play in this book?

A huge role. Elyse is in a book club in the book and this circle of women who are brought together through the facts that they live in the same neighborhood, go to the same church, have kids the same age, etc., is a large part of her life. In some ways, the key relationship in the book isn’t the one Elyse has with her husband or her lover – it’s the relationship with her longtime best friend Kelly, who sees her careening toward danger and tries to talk her out of it. I’m currently working on the sequel to Love in Mid Air, and it will move the women ten years down the road, to where they’re almost 50. And this time the story will be told from Kelly’s point of view.

Here's an excerpt about Elyse and her friends:

It's one o'clock before I look up. I'll be a little late for the daily walk, but one of us is often late and the others all know that things can happen, that no one's schedule is entirely within her own control, We have agreed that whoever arrives first will just start and let the others join in or drop out on their own pace. It's one of the advantages of walking in a circle.

Yeah, Kelly and Nancy and Belinda are all there when I arrive. I park the car and wave at them, but they don't see me, and I stand there on the hill above the elementary school track and watch them. Kelly is leading slightly as she often does, glancing back at the others as she talks. She could walk much faster if she wanted. In fact, she could run. But what would be the point of that?

Because it really isn't about walking, it's about talking. Our here, in the suburbs, we live and die by our friends. There may have been a time when it would've surprised me to realize that nearly every woman I know is someone I met through my church, that the highlight of my day is meeting them at one o'clock to walk for an hour before we pick up our kids. But I'm over that by now. I can't afford to think about it. I need these women too much. I begin picking my way down the damp overgrown grass. Over the years we've shared secrets and toys, passing down car seats and strollers and cribs as the kids grew older, taking turns keeping them so that we can occasionally get a free afternoon. Once, in a dreadful pinch, I ever nursed Belinda's sobbing daughter when I couldn't find a bottle, although it makes me feel strange to say that, as if even our bodies are interchangeable.

We have a running joke that some Sunday we should all go home from church with the wrong husbands. We debate how long it would take them to notice, but the truth is I'm not sure we would notice either. We're too busy, the details of our lives wrap around us like cotton, and we meet almost every afternoon at the track, trying to walk off the weight from the baby, trying to walk off the weight from the baby who's now in second grade, trying to get down to 130 or 140 or something decent. We're always moving, more like nomads than housewives, circling the drop-off for preschool, pulling around to load the groceries, hitting the drive-thru and passing back chicken nuggets one at a time at stoplights, running the middle one to soccer and the oldest one to the orthodontist, putting in sheets and taking out towels, spinning in the cyclic world of women.

For more about Kim and the book, visit her website.

Kim's giving away a copy of Love in Mid Air, so tell us about your women friends or your own longterm projects. Do you have particular women friends (or men friends if you're a guy) who share your interests or who've been there during rough times? Have you ever worked at a project for a long time before feeling you'd succeeded?

ARC Winner!

Wow, what a day in the lair yesterday. The cabana boys have been sent off to various clinics in Switzerland to recover!

Thanks, everyone, for playing the game so wholeheartedly. It is now time to announce who won the advance copy of MY RECKLESS SURRENDER!

Seriously I wish I had one for all of you, but there's only one and it goes to:

SANDIE HUDSON!

Sandie, congratulations. Please email me with your snail mail details at: anna@annacampbell.info and I'll get your book off to you.

Just Point Your Finger and Laugh

by Christine Wells

Lately, I've come to a conclusion that is both slightly depressing and rather freeing.

I am one of those mothers who make all the other mothers feel good.

I am the mother who arrives at school, wild-haired and sans makeup, carrying a rigid 3 year old who is still screaming because he didn't get into the car first; simultaneously trying to calm her anxious 7 year old because we're a little later than usual and he won't have the privilege of turning on the class computers.

I am the mother who forgets her camera on sports days and begs a friend to snap her child, who sends her son in uniform when it's one of those 'wear orange for an obscure cause' days. Who looks vague when people mention tuckshop, Parents and Friends' Association and slings a money at any fundraising initiative rather than commit to actually spending the time. Because she knows she'll either mess it up or forget entirely.

My name is Christine Wells and I am a writer on a deadline.

Not sure if you all have experienced something similar to the kind of haze that falls over a writer when she's in the writing zone, but it is an awesome and frightening thing. I can lose track of time, forget all but the most crucial responsibilities. When I'm in that phase where my creative brain seems to take up all the space in my head it is very hard to shift gears into Mommy mode.

Take Easter, for example. The note that told parents we had to make an Easter bonnet so that our children could participate in the junior school Easter parade didn't find its way home to me. I knew about the parade of course, but last year, the kids made their hats in school.

Arrived on the day before Good Friday (early because of those dang computers) and waited outside the classroom for the teacher. The horror when all those boys and girls started streaming up the stairs with their fancy hats on and here was my poor 7year old with not a feather, curly pipe cleaner or painted egg to his name.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME????" I wailed. My son looked at me with his gorgeous big eyes as if I'd run mad. "Oh, yeah," he said.

"Never fear," said I. "I'll go home now and make one." He shrugged a little. "OK."

That resulted in what has to be the fastest craft activity in the history of the universe. After raiding the local newsagent for supplies, I had an extravaganza of a hat ready and raced back to the school to deliver it. Then I went home and cried. Everyone knows this kind of thing scars a child for life!!

I AM A BAD MOTHER!!!

But when regaling the other mothers with my incompetence later in the day, I realized that I perform a very useful and important function in our little community. When someone else is mortified by some glaring omission they've made, all they have to do is look at me.

And then they feel better.

You might imagine, then, that it's with great relish that I write heroes and heroines who are far more competent than I could ever be. In SWEETEST LITTLE SIN, Lady Louisa Brooke is a crack shot and a keen horsewoman. When she's asked to spy for her country, she's unschooled and makes mistakes but she learns quickly and has bucketloads of courage, especially when protecting her loved ones.

Lady Louisa doesn't forget what time her secret assignations are or leave her pistol in her other reticule when the going gets dangerous. I bet she'd make a mean Easter bonnet, too.

The ruthless and dangerous Marquis of Jardine is frighteningly competent. He has uncanny omniscience and cunning, which makes it a challenge to deceive him, as Louisa is intent on doing. But he has one vulnerability, and that's his love for one steely-eyed blonde.

So here's my question to you, readers. Who are your favourite gutsy, competent heroes and heroines? Any funny motherhood stories to tell? C'mon, share the humiliation. At least you'll make everyone else feel better!

Last month, I offered a prize of Sweetest Little Sin, which will be delievered to the winner as soon as they reach my hot little hands! The winner is: Deb!!!!

This month, I'm doing something a little different. Louisa and Jardine first come onto the scene in an earlier book, THE DANGEROUS DUKE, so today I'm offering three signed copies of THE DANGEROUS DUKE to three lucky commenters. Be sure to let me know if you want a copy, as I know a lot of you have already read it. Good luck!

ARC-itectural Treasures

by Anna Campbell

Yes, it's that time again!

My next Avon historical romance MY RECKLESS SURRENDER is out on 25th May! Less than two months away.

By the way, you can pre-order the book just by clicking on the cover. Same goes for the other books I've mentioned in this blog. We're all into user friendly here in the lair (especially when it comes to the cabana boys!).

Don't you just love that cover? I think it's absolutely luscious! And that come-hither look in my heroine's eyes is just right for the rather naughty Diana Carrick! Especially when she's come-hithering the rakish Earl of Ashcroft.

STOP PRESS!

THE NEWS TODAY IS THAT I HAVE AN ARC OF MY RECKLESS SURRENDER TO GIVE AWAY TO ONE OF OUR BANDITA BUDDIES!

I'm hoping someone here will surrender recklessly to the desire to comment and win it! Good luck!

Here's the gorgeous Aussie cover for MRS! Doesn't that just take your breath away?

I'm sure you've seen the American back cover blurb for MY RECKLESS SURRENDER. If not, you can read it here: http://www.annacampbell.info/recklesssurrender.html And please check out the excerpt while you're there!

The Aussies are doing things differently (that's just part of our independent, pioneering spirit, yanno?) and I really like their blurb tooI've never had a dual-continent simultaneous release before. It's pretty exciting.

June is gonna be a big month chez Campbell:

A passionate tale brimming with lust, tenderness and betrayal from Anna Campbell, the queen of Regency noir.

Diana Carrick has very good reasons to seduce Tarquin Vale, Earl of Ashcroft. None of which she intends to share with the notorious rake. But instead of the selfish, jaded debaucher she expects, Diana discovers a man unlike any other, and even the dangerous secret she must protect cannot shield her from his dark allure.

The scandalous earl wearies of easy conquests and empty pleasures. When the mysterious Diana suggests an affair to while away a few summer weeks, he’s intrigued and becomes increasingly and powerfully drawn to Diana’s mix of innocence and passion..

Unwittingly yet most willingly, they are playing with fire. Now the fuse has been lit and there’s no escape … except surrender.

I thought to get conversation going, we'd play a little game. It's one we've played before and it's a regular on the Australian Romance Readers Association loop. But it's always fun and we're all such readers, it's pretty easy!

OK, just tell me three things:

The book you finished most recently.

The book you are currently reading.

The book you'll pick up next.

To get the ball rolling, here are my answers:


LAST: WHAT REMAINS OF HEAVEN by C.S. Harris (fabulous, I am in love with Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin. He's a delicious mixture of the man of action and brain box, and he's so adorably tortured).

CURRENTLY: FORBIDDEN by Christina Phillips (OK, this is a bit of a gloat. It's an ARC of Aussie writer Christina's wonderful debut, an erotic historical set in Roman Britain. Those men in skirts sure could do the hula! Keep an eye out for FORBIDDEN from Berkley on 7th September! )

NEXT: KISMET by Monica Burns (I've been manfully keeping my hands off this one for a couple of weeks because I know when I start it, I won't stop. A courtesan and a sheikh? Sounds like my idea of heaven!)

So let's play! And one lucky person will get an advance reader copy of my next release MY RECKLESS SURRENDER! Best of Aussie luck to you all!

Breakfast of Vampires

by Cassondra Murray

What do you eat for breakfast?



I’m having a series of breakfast crises, so in lieu of therapy, I’m doing a survey.

I have a love-hate relationship with breakfast.

When breakfast is right, it’s REALLY right. When breakfast is wrong?

Dis. Gus. Ting.

When I was a kid, I always ate breakfast. Some of my best memories were of early mornings.

My mom took her first job at a local factory when I was three years old. My grandparents lived between us and town, where she worked. So we’d get up and she’d shuffle me off in my pajamas, with whatever pile of toys and books I wanted for the day, and she’d drop me off at MotherGrant and DaddyMike’s house for the day and she’d be to work before seven .

Yes, I see mouths dropping open and looks of disbelief all around the lair, but it’s true. There were times in my life when I was forced to wear the burdensome cloak of a daywalker. Crime against nature, but there it is.

So anyway, she’d pull into the driveway, we’d pile out of the car with my gargantuan load of necessary accoutrement, and head for the back door. Cows were already mooing in the barn lot. I stood by the back door as mom reached for the handle. She pressed the button on the latch of the ugly gray aluminum storm door. She pulled. It opened just a crack, and the heady scent wafted over me.

Bacon.

Not just any bacon either. I knew from whence this bacon came.

Every now and then Daddymike would be running late, or mom would be running early, and I’d get there before he started breakfast. Daddymike would pull out the butcher knife, give it a few swipes across the whet stone, and off to the smokehouse we’d go.

The smokehouse was dark and the smell was heavenly. Cured meat. Big hams lay on the rough-hewn benches in piles of salt mixture. Other hams and sides of bacon hung from the rafters. He’d cut a chunk off of one of the sides of bacon and back to the house.

Slice the meat. Rinse the salt off. Plop it into the cast iron skillet. And aaaaahhhhhhhh!

There came the smell.

Now when I see eggs at breakfast, I make the sign of the cross and get queasy unless there are copious amounts of gravy to hide them. But Daddymike made perfect eggs. Fried eggs, over medium well plus. (That "plus" is extremely important. Not well done. Not over medium well. Over medium well PLUS a little.) Buttered toast. And coffee. Yes, it was instant, but at that time it was nectar. Diluted by half a cup of milk and a whole bunch of sugar.

By that time MotherGrant was up and about, setting the table, getting the house running for the day. We sat down to eat together. MotherGrant gossiped about the neighbors. I did this every day for years. And my love of breakfast was set.

After breakfast I followed DaddyMike to the barn to milk his three cows. I played. I climbed trees. I played. I ran. I played. I rode my tricycle. I played. I watched Captain Kangaroo. And I played. All the way up to lunch. Then again all the way up to dinner. That breakfast gave me energy in abundance.

The memories of those breakfasts with DaddyMike and MotherGrant haunt me.

Because I can’t get them.

There's the whole "nobody fixes eggs the way DaddyMike did" issue. Bacon comes from the grocery store now, and still smells wonderful, but not like his bacon.

I have searched for other fulfilling breakfast food, and I’ve gone through some stages. I had my Cheerios phase. I had my Captain Crunch phase. I had my egg sandwich phase (lots of jelly to hide the egg) and my bagel phase. In my college days I had a cold pizza and coke phase.

Recently I’ve been traveling down south a lot with a woman who loves fried catfish for breakfast with eggs and grits. I admit, it’s pretty darn good.

In my search for breakfast fulfillment I paused at the front bar, where a few Bandits were taking breaks from the writing caves deep in the bowels of the lair.

“Joanie,” I said, “What do you eat for breakfast?”

Joanie said, “Good or bad day?”

Clearly, this could get more complicated than I thought.

“Okay, Joanie, Good day.”

“A cup of cheerios, and a cup of skim milk.”

I was aghast. “What the heck makes THAT a good day?”

“Bad day,” Joanie went on, “is scrambled eggs, bacon, shredded hashbrowns, a biscuit with sausage gravy. And a Diet Coke.”

Hmmmm. That sounds much closer to a GOOD day to me.

Except for the Diet Coke. *shudder*

“Okay, I said, “Nancy, what do you eat for breakfast?”

“Well my goal is a bowl of Raisin Bran with the serving size specified on the package, skim milk, and coffee with half and half.”

I frowned. “You are not right.”

Donna broke in. “I usually have a cup of Raisin Bran cereal, only I use one-percent milk, I won’t drink skim.” (YES! *Cassondra pumps fist for the very slight gain toward the good-tasting ground of whole milk*) “But,"Donna said, and paused to glance at Nancy who raised one eyebrow, "my favorite breakfast is half of a banana sliced in a bowl, topped with a handful of granola, a cup of low-fat vanilla yogurt, and sliced strawberries and blueberries. “

"Okay I am down with this idea. A parfait. I could go with that...except for the no-protein part. Yogurt does NOT count as honest protein. Yogurt is an interloper. A late-arriving fake. It's hoity toity. And I say that all y'all are a little twisted.” Now Donna has her eyebrow raised.

I have one last hope from the people in the bar. My evil twin. Jeanne.

Jeanne did not hesitate. “Three eggs, scrambled firm. A bowl of Cheerios with whole milk and a bagel with cream cheese. If I’ve got it I’ll eat bacon. Oh and there’s usually a decaf, venti , skim, with-whip mocha involved.”

Hallelujah and THANK GOD!!!! My evil twin comes through again.

“Yes, "Nancy said, but you’re having breakfast at one in the afternoon.” She points at me with that same eyebrow raised even higher. I can see that she’s considering buying a cross-shaped necklace to wear at all times.

“FINE FINE. Okay. It’s true. I am a vampire. But why should I be breakfast-penalized for this?”

And you see, I am penalized. I tend to stay up very late and sleep late. Then I want breakfast. Almost all restaurants turn off the eggs and bacon and turn on the burgers and barbecue by the time I’m up and have had coffee. By that time, any form of biscuit has turned into a reasonable imitation of a hockey puck. And I’m sorry, but I just don’t want spice for breakfast. No ketchup. No complicated sauces. Nothing fancy. No gourmet concoctions in cute heart-shaped ramekins. No mushroom quiche. These foods I mention…they are challenging. I do not want to be challenged by my breakfast.

The world makes breakfast for daywalkers. And I am not one.

And I cannot, under any circumstances, manage cast iron skillets and slow-cooking eggs within the first three hours of waking. To consider such a thing could be a threat to national security. Or at least to the dog and the FedEx guy, who tends to arrive in the mornings. I am not a morning person.

So recently I have been gravitating toward catfish because it’s available even after noon.

But I have to admit, it’s lacking. It’s not DaddyMike’s breakfast.
DaddyMike’s breakfast was comforting, filling, full of energy and not challenging. The ultimate breakfast.

Recently I’ve been logging some long hours and trying to increase my writing output –I mean double or triple it. I have decided that I need breakfast. My books need breakfast. And since I no longer have DaddyMike on this realm, I need help.

What do y’all eat for breakfast?

Eggs? Bacon? Sausage? Toast or biscuits?

How ‘bout potatoes?


What did you grow up eating for breakfast? Do you still like that? Or have you switched? And if so, is it a diet you’re on? Or has your taste changed?

Are there certain breakfast foods which are traditional in the area or country where you live, or where you grew up?


What's your favorite breakfast ever?

Help me, Bandits and Buddies. What’s a vampire to do? (And no, blood is not an option. It's far too challenging for a morning meal.)