Bandita Booty!!

by Anna Sugden

Time to announce the lucky winner of Kate Walker's fabulous book, Kept For Her Baby!

As Sid was still sulking about not being able to get his paws on that pesky rooster, my cat CC decided to take over the reins for prize selcetion. Her muddy paw landed on ...

Michelle!!

Congratulations, Michelle. Please send your snail mail details to me at Anna@annasugden.com and I will pass them on to Kate.

On the Road Again ... and Again ...

By Kate

Whew. After traveling back and forth to Las Vegas for my fabulous plot group, and Buffalo, New York, for my lovely niece’s wedding, and then up to Oregon to visit old friends, last week I went through yet another airport security line, jumped on another plane and headed off to Indianapolis to attend Bouchercon. That's the convention that brings together authors, readers, librarians, booksellers, agents, editors and publishers from all over the world to celebrate the mystery genre. It was five days of fun and I had a blast meeting some of my favorite authors, having afternoon tea with a table full of delightful librarians from Ohio, attending my publisher’s cocktail party, and having a marvelous dinner with five super mystery authors, namely, Avery Aames (Cheese Shop mysteries), Sheila Connolly (Orchard mysteries), Maggie Sefton (Knitting mysteries), Kate Collins (Flower Shop mysteries) and Betty Hechtman (Crochet mysteries). And in between the many panels and the bar scene and the Starbucks scene and the book signings, I got a chance to hang out with the marvelous Becke Martin (our own Treethyme) from Barnes & Noble’s online book club forums. What a treat!

I have to say, I loved the weather in Indianapolis. It was cold and clear and beautiful, every day. I got to wear jackets and scarves and my leather gloves. Gloves! Believe me, we don’t get many opportunities to wear gloves in southern California.

Because of all the crazy traveling, I recently went on a serious book buying binge. I always pack lots of books, hoping they’ll distract me while I’m waiting in cold airport lounges, or sitting in cramped airline seats several miles in the air, or trying to go to sleep in strange hotel rooms. I'm so thankful to Kristan Higgins and Lisa Kleypas for providing absolutely wonderful distractions on my last trip. I’m also very excited about all the books I’ve pre-ordered that will arrive in next week’s shipment: Jennifer Lyon’s SOUL MAGIC, Susan Mallery’s HOT ON HER HEELS, Lorna Barrett’s BOOKPLATE SPECIAL, Susan Donovan’s AIN’T TOO PROUD TO BEG, Nora Roberts’ BED OF ROSES, Diana Killian’s DIAL OM FOR MURDER, and Judi McCoy’s HEIR OF THE DOG. Good grief, I wonder when I’ll find the time to write my own book??

So, Bandita Buddies, time to share! Have you traveled anywhere recently? Where did you go and what did you do? Did you bring lots of books? What books are you looking forward to reading soon? Do you like to read when you're flying--or do you have to drink three Bloody Marys and pop a xanax, just to climb on board the plane? Whoa, hey now, that's not me!

I’m thrilled to be giving away an Advance Reader Copy of my February 2010 book, IF BOOKS COULD KILL to one lucky commenter today! So comment away!

Mystery Booty!

The real mystery is why it took so long to announce the winner from my mystery blog last month!

Ahem!

But at long last … the random number generator has chosen the winner of my bountiful bunch of books, and the winner is ...

Misa Ramirez!!!

Misa, Congratulations!!!

All you have to do is write me at katecarlisle99@yahoo.com, give me your snail mail address. and I’ll ship that armful of books out to you, post haste!

THE FACE OF EVIL

Thanks, KJ and the rest of the Banditas for inviting me back!

Have you ever come face to face with evil? I have.

I'm CJ Lyons and I practiced pediatric emergency medicine and community pediatrics for seventeen years. During that time, I faced rapists, child abusers, gang-bangers who would kill over a pair of shoes, sociopaths, psychotics, narcissists, and even one killer our prosecutor classified as a serial killer.

You know the scary thing about evil? It looks just like you and me.

When I left medicine to fulfill my life-long dream of becoming an author, I knew that I wanted to explore the various faces of evil. Because I've faced it in real-life, I knew how different it was from most of the "bad-guys" portrayed in fiction.

Evil doesn't spend its days plotting dastardly deeds of cunning or intricate, diabolical plots involving red herrings and webs of intrigue.

Rather, the evil I've seen is driven by one simple desire: they know what they want, they want it now, and they don't care what they have to do to get it.

The boy-friend baby-sitting while mom's at work who brutally beat and raped a three year old because she wouldn't go to bed when he told her the first time. He's currently on death row.

The woman who shook her baby so hard the baby hemorrhaged into his brain….because the baby wouldn't stop crying during her favorite TV show.

The gangbanger who shot a kid because he said "hi" to the wrong girl on the wrong street corner while wearing the wrong color of hat.

These are just a few of the faces of evil I've seen.

Is it any wonder that in my medical suspense novels I focus on what makes evil so compelling to so many readers: the fact that it hides among us, so very hard to see, hiding in plain sight.

In Gavin deBecker's book the Gift of Fear, he speaks about how easily evil walks among us. And that women are especially vulnerable because we've been trained to ignore our "sixth sense" that alerts us to danger and instead follow societies norms of politeness.

Like offering to help a strange man with his arm in cast…..just like Ted Bundy.

We all have something in common with evil. No matter who we are, we are all driven by the same universal needs and wants: love, security, recognition.

In real life, there was frustratingly little I could do when faced with evil. I could care for the victims, help the police and prosecutors to the best of my ability, but it always felt as if there should be a way to stop the senseless deaths and violence.

As rewarding as my medical career has been, I'm finding that my new career as an author has its own rewards. Especially when it gives me the chance to not only put a face to evil but to give its victims the justice they deserve.

That's why writing my latest in the Angels of Mercy series, URGENT CARE, has been so fulfilling. Not only does Nora, the ER charge nurse, come face to face with her greatest fear—a fear every woman can understand and share—but she finds the courage to defeat both her fear and the man behind it.

How? By making a stand and refusing to allow it to control her life.

I think this is the best way to fight evil--bring it into the light where everyone can see it for what it truly is.

So you tell me—have you ever come face to face with evil? I'll bet you have.

The boyfriend who came close to stalking you, the sociopath next door who lies about everything—for no reason than the sheer joy of getting away with it, the school kid setting fires and torturing animals…..they're all out there, closer than you think.

Thanks for reading!

CJ

PS: In honor of URGENT CARE's upcoming release (it hits the stores on Tuesday!), I'm hosting a contest. One lucky winner will have their query package critiqued by my agent, Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Agency.

Check here for more details: http://cjlyons.net/2009/10/08/cjs-query-contest/

Feel free to spread the word to all your writer friends!

About CJ:

As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels. Her debut, LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), became a National Bestseller and Publishers Weekly proclaimed it a "breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller." The second in the series, WARNING SIGNS, was released January, 2009 and the third, URGENT CARE, is due out October 27, 2009. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net

Par-ty, Par-ty!

by Donna MacMeans

Sorry, it's not a launch party. No exciting excerpts or promising premises today. Plenty of those coming up in the near future, though.


Today, I'm celebrating my birthday. It's actually tomorrow but, you know, the older I get - the longer the celebration lasts (grins)! So party with me. Celebrate your birthday - no matter the date. It's Friday. Let's all just kick back and have fun. I've instructed the cabana boys to be generous with the frothy drinks and I've ripped open a few bags of Halloween candy for treats. There's still a full week to replace the evidence. Please note that fire regulations restrict the number of candles I can put on the cake (grin).

For those into such things, I'm a Scorpio. Right on the cusp, actually. According to Astrology-online.com, that means I'm determined, forceful, emotional, intuitive, powerful, passionate (yeah!), exciting and magnetic. Yup - that's me (very big grin). I'm also jealous, resentful, compulsive, obsessive, secretive and obstinate - well, maybe not so much. I was really into this astrology-thing when I read that good professions for me would include anything that involved analysis, investigation, research, dealing with practicalities, and the solving of mysteries. When one considers the mysteries inherent in the IRS code - it's apparent both CPA and historical romance writer fit me to a tee.



As I'm on the cusp for Libra, I read those traits as well. Diplomatic, urbane, romantic, charming, easygoing, sociable, idealistic and peaceable - well heck, those work for me as well. Downside - indecisive, changeable, gullible, easily influenced, flirtatious and self-indulgent - some of those fit. Maybe I can pick and choose the traits I like between the two signs. Cuspiness has its priviledges.

I was born in the year of the Dragon which means I believe rules and restrictions are made for other people. I'm an extroverted bundle of energy, gifted and utterly irrepressible, confident, fearless in the face of challenge and inevitably successful ---no, don't think that's me.

I am, supposively, a water dragon and I must admit I experience a creative rebirth when I'm near the ocean. So that fits. Dragons are also compatible with roosters, the GR was pleased to hear that. This site also says the Dragon's originality is the most impressive and outstanding of all is characteristics - like the sound of that. Just in case you were wondering...this site says suitable gifts for a dragon include tarot cards, camera, a copy of the I Ching, mirror, a family crest, and a mobile phone. What! No bling!

Speaking of presents - there's a pile of them by the front door. I think my husband is taunting me - does yours do this? He has shopped exclusively online and hasn't opened any of the parcels - but has left them there to entice me with the stack. I do like presents. It doesn't matter what kind of present it is - as long as it's wrapped. I prefer the paper/scotch tape type of writing rather than the pretty bags - but I put other people's presents in pretty bags all the time. I like to go to the hard work of opening a gift, but have no patience for the wrapping of one.


I'm hoping for a new laptop. Those don't look like laptop boxes by the door, but hope springs eternal. As a result of my kids using my laptop for their homework papers, and I suspect for the occasional online shoot 'em up game, I no longer have a delete key/or function. If I make an error, I have to backspace. That's a pain. However, I suspect I'll have to buy my own laptop one of these days. My family learned long ago that they can't go wrong with a book for a gift and I think that's what's in the pileup by the door - more fodder for the TBR pile.

This past year I've released The Seduction of a Duke and a story in the anthology, Tails of Love. I won a number of awards for The Trouble with Moonlight - so those three titles will be giveaways for today's blog. I also have a couple of DVDs from Lori Foster's event that contain an interview with myself and several other authors. Those are up for grabs. So tell me - What are you hoping for your birthday/ Christmas? Do you believe in astrology symbols? Any Scorpios out there? What's your sign - does it fit? Do you have any thoughts on wrapping paper? Singing cards? Birthstones? (Mine is an opal, by the way). Do you do anything special on your big day? Let's celebrate!

Romance as a Deep Tissue Massage

by Anna Sugden

I'm thrilled to welcome to the Lair one of category romance's top authors, my dear friend and fellow Brit, the fabulous Kate Walker.

Kate has been writing for Harlequin Presents since 1984. In that time she has over 54 novels published in over thirty-five countries and total sales amount to over twelve million copies of her books. Kate is also the author of the award-winning 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance. Her latest book, Kept For Her Baby is out now.

You can find out more about Kate at her website http://www.kate-walker.com/ and on her blog http://kate-walker.blogspot.com/ .

So, without further ado, I'll hand you over to Kate.

Hello Banditas – thank you so much for inviting me on to your blog. I’ve visited often, but only as a reader, never actually as a blogger before, so it’s wonderful to be here at last.

I really sympathised with a recent posting on this blog. When I was reading through all the fantastic Romance Bandits blogs that have appeared over the last week or so the one by Christie Kelley really rang bells for me. What can I blog about, she asked – just as I was wondering exactly the same. The point is that I’ve been invited on to a lot of different blogs just lately. The reason for that is pretty obvious. It’s October and I have a brand-new book out in October . Kept For Her Baby was published in Harlequin Presents Extra on October 13th and so lots of places have wanted me to guest on their blogs and talk about my latest novel.

And they all want something different. I know I could make it easy on myself and simply say that’ I have a new book out – the title is . . . and it’s about . . . Please buy it.’ But that just doesn’t seem right. I’ve never been a fan of the hard sell, and I really think that if wonderful people like the Romance Bandits are kind enough to invite me to join them, the least I can do is to chat with you a while. But that means that I have to find something to chat about. Specially for this occasion - my very first visit with the Banditas.

I could tell you just how many months – er – years – this visit has been in the planning. With Anna and I trying so hard to connect up and arrange for me to come and visit, ISP problems and email providers that just wouldn’t talk to each other meant that I thought Anna hadn’t sent an invitation and she thought I was ignoring her message. But we got there in the end and here I am – and can you just guess that I’m prevaricating like crazy and rambling on about nothing because I still haven’t thought of something to talk about?

Well no, that’s not really true. I thought of several things – like discussing the difference between Presents and Presents Extra (there isn’t one – it’s the Modern Heat books in the main Presents line-up that are different) . But I did that for Tote Bags. Or there’s imprisoning my characters – that was on I heart Presents. I was running out of ideas. But then I spent a couple of days away when I was doing a library talk and so was my husband, and the hotel we had an overnight stay in had a spa and as a special treat I booked myself in for a massage and . . . well inspiration struck.

I’d write about why writing Presents is like having a deep tissue massage.

Huh? I can hear you all saying that even as I write those words and yes, it does need a bit of an explanation. So bear with me and I’ll tell you what I mean. You see, a deep tissue massage is quite unlike the other massages this spa had on offer. You could have an aromatherapy massage, a ‘serenity’ massage or a ‘feel good’ massage – all of which were tempting. But I knew that life had been so fraught lately that I needed a really deep, strong pressure massage, one that dug deep and helped to get all the kinks and the knots out of my muscles. And I was right. It was amazing – it was partly painful, partly sensuous, partly curative - and it left me knocked for six and yet wonderfully relaxed at the same time.

And that is really why I write for the romance line that I do – why I write for Presents. It isn’t easy. Sometimes by the end of a book (OK, who am I kidding – by the middle of a book.) I feel as if I’ve gone three rounds with the emotional equivalent of the heavyweight champion of the world. Because the vital part of writing a Presents novel is digging deep into the emotional intensity that makes these stories work. Yes, I know, they also have a reputation for being sexy and sophisticated – the tag line ‘seduction and passion guaranteed’ wasn’t invented for the classic Presents stories for nothing. But it’s the emotional intensity, the powerful conflicts that create such emotional responses that are really at the heart of writing a Presents book. And that’s what takes the effort and the concentration when I’m writing.

Because the conflicts have to be so intense then the characters have to have really good reasons why they are behaving as they do. To me, it’s important not just to write about a ‘Greek Billionaire’ who’s out for revenge because that’s what the line demands. I have to give my hero – and my heroine – really deep, intense, truthful motivations for their actions. And the worse, the more dramatic, the more intense those actions are, the deeper and more involving those motivations have to be.


And that’s why my latest book, Kept for her Baby was a difficult, a powerful, a complicated book to write. I set out to do what my dear friend and wonderful Presents writer Michelle Reid describes as ‘digging myself – and my characters – into a hole.’ And the deeper you dig, the harder you have to work to get them out of it. So I started Kept For Her Baby with a premise that really needed justification if it was not to alienate every reader right from the start. Because my heroine does what might look like the unforgivable – she runs away and abandons her very young baby, leaving him behind with his father while she . . .

Ah but no I’m not going to tell you that. Because that’s what the whole book hinges on. The reasons why Lucy, my heroine acts as she does. The reasons why she thinks she has no alternative but to go. She can’t think of any other possible choice of action – and it’s when I put my hero or heroine into a situation where they really have no possible other choice and they have to behave as I want them to, then I know I’ve succeeded. That’s when (hopefully) the book has that vital ‘deep tissue massage effect.’ It digs deep and exposes uncomfortable feelings to the sunlight. When it reaches out and grabs the reader and just won’t let go.

I had to do a lot of research for Kept For Her Baby. I had to get my facts right – medical facts. But most of all I had to get my emotional facts right so that readers not only sympathised with Lucy but understood exactly why she behaved as she did. And if the emails and letters I’ve been getting from readers have been anything to go by that I’ve succeeded – and I’m really proud that I have. One reviewer called it “a powerful tale imbued with sensuality and pathos that had me reaching for the tissues and kept me engrossed and frantically turning the pages in the early hours of the morning.”

That’s the reason why I write classic Presents stories. So that I can dig deep into those emotions and bring out the stories that I hope will touch my readers hearts and keep them reading and reading until they find out just how the story will be resolved in the end. As a reader and as a writer, I like my romances deep and intense, I like them to wring my heart, to tug on my nerves, to be both painful and wonderful - like the very best sort of massage - so that at the end you feel wrung out, almost a little bit bruised, but so strongly affected that you were glad you went through the experience in order to get through to the other side.

And what about you? Do you like your romances sweet and gentle or powerful, intense and deeply emotional? Do you love to have your heartstrings tugged? Do you really enjoy a ‘weepie’ – a story that has you reaching for the tissues as you read? And what books have you read recently that have really moved you emotionally and had you dabbing away the tears as you turned the pages? I’d love to know

I have a signed copy of my Presents Extra title Kept For Her Baby to give away to one of the people who leave a comment to this post.

Bandit Booty!

Congratulations...Drew!! You're the lucky winner of a set of 4 Dressed To Thrill books and Halloween goodies from Samantha Hunter!

Just email your snail mail info to Samantha at: samhunter@samanthahunter.com with the subject line Romance Bandits Winner :-)

Congrats again! And thanks to everyone for the great discussion on Book Crack *g*

Historical Heat

Today bestselling author Jacquie D’Alessandro makes her first appearance in the Lair. Jacquie has a new release, Touch Me, from Blaze Historicals.

Welcome, Jacquie!

Thanks, gals—I’m very excited to be here!

We love call stories here in the Lair. Will you tell us yours?

After several years (which felt like decades), I got my agent after winning the Romancing the Novel contest sponsored by the Washington DC RWA chapter. She was the finalist judge and after reading the first chapter I’d entered, she asked if the book was done. I told her it was, and after she read it, she called me and said, “I can sell this.” Sounded good to me! She asked for some revisions, which I did, then sent it back and held my breath. About two weeks after submitting the manuscript to multiple houses, she phoned me and the call went like this:

Her—I have an offer on your book.

Me—What does that mean?

Her—It means someone wants to buy it.

Me—Oh my God—did my mother call you??

She laughed and assured me no, Mom hadn’t called, but an editor had. That was in September of 1998, and that book, Red Roses Mean Love, came out in September of 1999. At that time I never dreamed it would be ten years and 30 books later!

I notice that the heroine of Touch Me is a courtesan. We also love courtesans here. Tell us a bit about the book and the Blaze Historical line.

The heroine, Genevieve Ralston, was a secondary character in one of my earlier historicals entitled Love and the Single Heiress. I’ve wanted to write her story since she first appeared on the page. She is my first courtesan heroine, and is a woman who has experienced great pain--both emotionally and physically. Coming up with a hero worthy of her took a lot of thought because not just anyone would do for this unique woman Touch Me is my first historical for Blaze, and while I really enjoyed writing it, it presented a challenge because all my other historicals have been 100,000 words while the word count for the Blaze line is only 60,000 words. There isn’t a Blaze Historical line—but happily for both Blaze authors and readers, the senior editor of the line is a woman of vision who is open to new ideas and expanding the line to include select stories featuring such things as paranormal elements and historical settings. If the historical Blazes sell very well, my guess is that Blaze would feature more of them in the future.

How did you become interested in writing for this line?

I came to Blaze through a rather winding road. My first HQ book was for the Duets line. When that line folded (not my fault, I swear!), I began writing for the Temptation line. When that line folded (again, not my fault, I swear!), I became a Blaze Babe. In addition to the full length books I’ve written for the line, I’ve also done a number of holiday anthologies. I enjoy writing for Blaze because not only do I like writing about strong contemporary (and now historical!) heroines, I also love the shorter format—especially after writing a 400 book!

What’s the biggest problem the hero and heroine have?

In Touch Me, I’d say the biggest problem between Genevieve and Simon is trust. Both have very compelling reasons to be suspicious of the other and their motives. I loved peeling away those layers of mistrust and allowing these two lonely, disillusioned people to discover the hidden goodness in each other.


Will you give us a peek inside Touch Me?

Absolutely! Here you go:

She wore only a chemise. A wet chemise.

Simon’s breath halted, and for several seconds he completely forgot he was in hiding. Forgot what was at stake. After all, this woman might have been involved in a conspiracy to commit murder. It was imperative he learn all he could about her.

And God knows he was learning plenty given the way that drenched material clung to her. Clearly Mrs. Ralston had indulged in a dip in the hot springs. It was well documented that taking the waters was good for the body, and she absolutely was testament to that.

She moistened her lips and his gaze was drawn to her mouth. Were her lips naturally so plush or were they kiss swollen? Had someone joined her at the hot springs? An unexpected mental image flickered through his mind...of her, standing in the gently bubbling water...and of him, joining her--

Suddenly the object of his fantasies moved toward him. Simon’s breath halted--partly due to the great risk of discovery and partly because the sight of her rendered his lungs incapable of functioning. He’d seen many alluring sights in his life, but he’d be hard pressed to name any that could compare to the sight of a wet, nearly naked Genevieve Ralston. His gaze flicked down to the erection straining against his snug breeches.

And speaking of hard...

The entire first chapter is posted on my website at www.JacquieD.com. Hope you enjoy it!

After that, what’s next for you?

My first Victorian historical will be coming out in December 2010 in an anthology entitled A Victorian Christmas with Betina Krahn and Hope Tarr. I’ve recently contracted for my first two single title contemporary novels, the first of which will come out in May 2011. And I’m excited to announce that there’s going to be a follow-up to last year’s New York Times bestselling anthology It Happened One Night with Stephanie Laurens, Mary Balogh, and Candice Hern! This one is entitled It Happened One Season, and the plot we are all going to write will be decided by readers via a contest! Prizes will include signed books and the readers who submit the winning plot points will have the book dedicated to them. I’ll be posting details on my website and Facebook as they become available—near the end of this year.

Since you were kind enough to invite me to your Lair—tell me about YOUR Lair. Where do you call home, and what’s your favorite spot to curl up with a book? (mine’s my comfy recliner in the family room, wrapped in my cozy blanket). And how about sharing the last good book you read curled up in that favorite spot? I’m also happy to answer any questions that will not require me to reveal how many Doritos/oreos/other fattening snacks I can devour while sitting in my comfy recliner!

Jacquie's giving away a book to one commenter today.

Book Crack

Please join me in welcoming fabulous Harlequin Blaze author Samantha Hunter to the lair today!

Hello Bandits! Thanks to Beth and the gang for having me by today... I hope we’ll have a lot of fun.

You might find the title of my blog confusing – I’m not talking about that ever present debate of cracking bindings or not, but about those books that we hook into like a drug…when we read them, we have to have more, and the cliffhangers leave us needing a new fix, and soon!

For me, I’ve found two series like that recently, Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series, which I stumbled across completely by accident on Kindle free reads and thought, hey, I’ll try it… I had no idea that I wouldn’t be able to pull my head out of that series until I had read the last line of the most recent book, which ended on a cruel cliffhanger and readers now have to wait a year! In the meantime, I’ve gone back to read her Highlander books, to sort of ease off that addiction.

Before Moning, I was into Richelle Mead’s Dark Swan series… just two books so far, but I read them with rapt attention. I like them much better, even, than the succubus series.

And before that, earlier this year, was Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mystery series, which I again read one after the other until the last, and very happy to find there is a new one coming out in a few weeks.

I enjoy many books, which are very good reads, but there’s something special about a series you get so hooked into that you can’t put it down, and that doesn’t happen too often for me – to have found 3 in one year is unusual. I think whatever makes certain reads “book crack” to each individual reader has to be different, because I know people who get grabbed by books that I couldn’t get halfway into the first in the series. It’s great that we all like different things. *G*



With the series I mention above, there were strong, capable, smart female protagonists who I wanted to root for, lots of action, smart plotting, sexy, intelligent heroes, and a lot of originality. The romance was the subplot in all three series, all were very sexy (though the mysteries not as sexy as the first two) and they all had overarching plots as well as the story of the book. They also had powerful secondary characters who were more than props. So… these are all important qualities to me in making any read book crack.

What about you? What’s the most recent series or “book crack” you’ve read that you just couldn’t pull yourself out of, or the one that you found yourself skipping meals for, staying up far too late, or snapping at anyone who dared to interrupt while you were reading? *G*

And I hope you’ll check out my current Blaze release, Caught in the Act, part of a 4-book miniseries, Dressed To Thrill (revolving around heroines who receive the wrong costume than one they ordered for various events, and that mistake changes their lives) that has been a lot of fun to write. Also, you can catch up with our Twitter Online reads which are spinoffs of the Dressed to Thrill books, one new story each month, written round-robin style on Twitter – for more, check out http://www.tweettweetlove.com/

At the end of today, I’ll give away one set of 4 Dressed to Thrill books to one lucky poster today, along with a Halloween goodie! (since my book, Caught in the Act, begins at a Halloween party).

Let’s talk book crack! *G*

A Mystic Ending

Today award-winning author Patricia Rice returns to the lair. In addition to being a three-time RITA finalist and gracing numerous best-seller lists, she has won the Romantic Times Career Achievement and Lifetime Achievement Awards, and her paranormal historical, Merely Magic, was one of the Romantic Times reviewers' 200 all-time favorite books. Pat joins us today to discuss Mystic Warrior, the final book in her wonderful Mystic Isle series.

Welcome, Pat! For readers new to the series, what's the Mystic Isle, and how do these books fit together?

The Mystic Isle is invisible to the human eye, hidden behind illusion to protect the valuable Chalice of Plenty. The inhabitants have lived there for centuries, developing into a race with physical and psychic powers not found elsewhere on earth. In the first book of the series, MYSTIC GUARDIAN, the Chalice leaves the island in the hands of a half-human, half-mystic mermaid. Without the Chalice, the island begins to deteriorate, so the islanders must seek it out. In each book of the trilogy, one of the most powerful people on the island must set out in search of the elusive Chalice, unaware that the Chalice has a purpose in leaving the island.


How did you come up with this concept?

Hear me laugh! Not easily is the fastest answer. Characters tend to come to me first, in rather vivid images. I knew the heroine of the first book was a form of mermaid desperate to save her home and family in Brittany, a country on the brink of revolution. And the hero needed to be a golden god. Very strange characters lurk in my subconscious! I can’t remember how the invisible island came to be. It sort of emerged from the mists, as it were. From there, a lot of head to desk pounding ensued, accompanied by some extremely creative and often hilarious brainstorming sessions.

The French Revolution is an unusual setting, but you've woven it into the character conflicts in all three books. How does it play into this last one?

You are either very perceptive or an English major, Nancy. In my character-driven mind, people are more important than battles or politics. In romance, one needs “inciting incidents” to drive the protagonists out of their normal world. By the time the trilogy reaches the last book, MYSTIC WARRIOR, my Mystic Isle is mirroring the same sort of class revolution happening in France. My heroine isn’t a “queen” per se, but she’s the next in line of the powerful leading family. And she can’t stop her country from self-destructing. She needs the aid of a man who has been banished from the island years before, a man of essentially peasant extraction who is intent on changing the world, who has joined the revolutionaries on the Continent. Lissandra has never left the island, she’s too valuable, but she must step into the human world for the first time to find the revolutionary renegade she once loved because Murdoch has powers greater than her own that her family failed to recognize. So there’s revolution in a nutshell—the desperate versus the status quo.

You're now selling ebooks of your Magic series, which I loved. Can you tell us a little about those books?

Oh, the Magic books are wicked fun! The Malcolms are descendants of a long line of psychics and metaphysically challenged women . Although, since these are Georgian historicals, the women barely escape being called witches, usually by marrying powerful lords. Their nemeses are the extremely logical, scientific Ives’ men who aren’t about to believe that one can paint the future or smell danger. I had entirely too much fun writing those books and had so many people ask for the earlier books to complete their set, that I asked Belgrave House to issue them as e-books.

If you’re interested, here’s the link.

Could we have a peek inside Mystic Warrior?

As if a fire-breathing dragon lurked in the shadows under the trees, a cloud of smoke engulfed her, and Lissandra coughed harshly. Curse the gods, but this was worse than climbing the volcano’s slope. She could feel the heat through the soles of her shoes.

A rabbit dashed across her foot. She tripped and caught her balance on a tall standing stone. The rock was so hot, she quickly withdrew her palm before it burned.

She dragged her gown up from where it tangled her feet, and held the fabric in her hands, using her Aelynn strength to stride faster. She doubted anyone could see her abnormal speed in this murk, and her lungs would appreciate a hasty departure.

A geyser of fire flamed upward through the layers of decaying vegetation on the side of the road. Startled, she halted. Was Murdoch out there, warning her to leave?

The devil she would.

Determined, she marched on, coughing harder in the thickening smoke. She would have this confrontation done with. The setting might be ominous, but it was certainly fitting—

A demon shot through the smoke at inhuman speed. Lissandra glimpsed only a blur of broad, filthy bare chest before iron arms tackled her waist. She shrieked as the creature tore her heels from the ground and tumbled with her into the ashes on the far side of the lane.

Another fiery geyser spewed into the air on the spot where she’d just been standing.

Muttered curses assaulted her ears. With bare arms propped on either side of her head and muscular thighs pinning her legs, the demon prevented her escape. In shock, Lissandra closed her eyes and screamed at this smothering male proximity. Her attacker covered her mouth with his hand.

Refusing to surrender, she locked her mental shields against any emotional assault and shoved at broad—naked—shoulders, with the intent of flinging her assailant into the air with her superior strength. Beneath her palms she encountered the grit of soot and ash and the powerful play of muscles, but no matter how much strength she applied, her attacker merely beat the ground with his fist.

The ground trembled. She opened her eyes in terror.

And watched the geyser of fire die.

Cursing tonelessly in several languages with phrases so vivid they scorched her ears, her attacker trapped her between his bulging arms, glared down at her through the smoke, and, after only a moment’s hesitation, covered her mouth with his.

Stunned by this invasion of her sacred person, Lissandra grabbed the monster’s arms and tried to pry him away. She kicked and struggled, but her screams were smothered by lips so commanding she almost forgot to fight.

She did forget to fight. Senselessly, she clung to the strong support of his arms and kissed him back. Or maybe not so senselessly. This kiss lived inside her heart …

…… and her memories. She had dreamed of this kiss so long… …

His mouth tasted of strong wine, his beard bristles chafed her skin, and the heavy desire consuming them erased rational thought. She parted her lips at her assailant’s insistence, drank his breath into her lungs, mated her tongue with his, and almost burst into flames .

Wow! I love that. And I love what comes after it, too.

You've had a long and varied career. Have you ever seen the market go through a cycle like this one? Do you have any advice for weathering it?

Oh wow, my crystal ball cracked with this cycle! Yes, I have seen “down” cycles caused by events over which we had little control. The worst one was when all the independent distributors were bought out, collapsed, or went bankrupt in a single summer back in the 90s. It took a year or more for the market to stagger back to recovery, and we lost a lot of wonderful authors in the process. Oddly enough, writers must eat, too, and if they can’t get contracts, they have to move into the salary-paying world.

This cycle is different, driven by the world economy more than anything in publishing. Before, the publishers survived. This time, I’m not sure they will, not as we’ve known them in the past. Yes, we’ll have big NYC publishing houses for a long time to come, because print books aren’t going out of favor in my lifetime. But I suspect the bigger publishers will eventually be spun off from the conglomerates that own them and will survive on “brand name” authors and niche markets. It will be the smaller publishers who provide us with our mass market reading “fix.” They’re more flexible and their overheads aren’t as high, so they may be able to weather the storm.

That said, I don’t see the big money for midlist authors that was once there. Not until this newly emerging market settles. The new platform should allow for tons of wonderfully inventive books, but they will have to be on the market for years before they become profitable. It should be very interesting.

Where do you see the market going? Have you read other books about the French Revolution? Would you rather visit Paris (without a revolution) or a tropical refuge, and what influences your choice?

Pat's giving away a couple of copies of Mystic Warrior to commenters today.

Fun and Game Shows

posted by Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy

"Come on down..."

"Survey says..."

"I'd like to buy a vowel..."

How many of you recognized those phrases? Or maybe I should ask how many didn't? Phrases from game shows have become such a part of our lives, we might know them without even connecting how we do! I know lots of the Banditas and Bandita Buddies are just like me, we grew up watching game shows on television and we still enjoy them today.

Back in my elementary school days, game shows were on in the mornings before and between soap operas. I watched them on school holidays and during summer vacations. My favorite was "Concentration" because I quickly became adept at knowing where the matching puzzle pieces were. But, much to my frustration, I could never figure out 'the puzzle', that combination of pictures and letters behind the overturned pieces.

Of course, some game shows were on at night, too. My mother and grandmother constantly commented on Kitty Carlisle's evening gowns in "What's My Line." And who could forget (no matter how much you might want to) smarmy Richard Dawson kissing all the women contestants on "Family Feud?"

When I was a single mom and my son was a pre-teen, our favorite game show was "Wheel of Fortune" which was usually on right after dinner every night. We quickly developed our own ritual. When the answer was obvious and the contestant kept spinning the wheel to rack up more cash, either my son, or I, or both of us would shout in a sing-song voice, "Greedy guts! Greedy guts! You're gonna lose it all!" And if the hapless person actually did hit the dreaded bankrupt, we'd both laugh like loons.

I always wanted to be on a game show, and even tried out for one once. But I always feared that once I got in front of a live audience and the cameras that I'd blank out and turn into a blithering idiot. A former co-worker was on "The Price Is Right" when she was a college student, and she actually won the big showcase which included a new car (which she said she had to sell in order to pay the tax and license fees) and a tanning bed (particularly useless since she was African-American). She showed us the video of her appearance at an all-staff party and we got a huge kick out of seeing her. And one of our Banditas was on "Jeopardy" but I'll let her tell her own story.

Turns out my dreams of being on a game show came true, not once but TWICE this past year! Well, sort of... This year, at RWA National in DC, our very own Joanie T. was in charge of the Golden Network dessert reception, and I volunteered (along with a couple of other Banditas and other members) to help her. For entertainment, we decided to have our own game show, kind of a cross between "Deal Or No Deal" and "Jeopardy." We had a board full of little golden suitcase cutouts with questions to go with each. I got to play "Vanna" to Kristina McMorris' "Howie" with Joanie as "referee." Our questions included trivia about agents, editors, authors, and books. A good time was had by all, and our very own Posh T. was the victorious team captain!

My second brush with game show 'stardom' happened a couple of weeks ago on my cruise. On our "at sea" days, the cruise director and his staff hosted activities like trivia, scavenger hunts, and other games. One day, the game was "What's My Line" just like the old show I watched as a kid! The cruise director asked for passengers with 'an unusual occupation' to write it down and turn it in before the game started. I thought, "Hey! I have an unusual occupation -- romance novelist!" So with my DH egging me on, I entered and was one of the 6 contestants picked to stump the panel (two comedians and a singer).

Considering I had to follow an owner of an "adult entertainment" store and a female SWAT cop, I thought my occupation would be pretty anti-climactic. But when the audiece saw my profession, they responded with lots of positive laughter and applause. And I completely stumped the panel! Best of all, the cruise director asked me the name of my latest novel and where people could buy it. When I returned to my seat, dozens of people asked if I had a card. Of course I did! So I passed out post cards and book marks for The Treasures of Venice. The DH even helped.

Plus, for the rest of the cruise, people would stop me in the hall or look at me in the elevator and ask, "Aren't you the romance writer?" I even had one woman say, "Thank you for writing stories with happy endings." So I guess I wasn't too much of a blithering idiot, and I definitely had fun being on a game show!

What about you? What are your favorite game shows, past and present? Have you ever been on a game show? Which one would you like to be on?

Blogger's Block

by Christie Kelley

I have to admit I have blogger's block. I suddenly looked at the calendar this morning and realized I had to write a blog! What am I going to say that will be witty, interesting and different. I have nothing! We have already talked about fall on the blog, rainy days (which we are having again this morning) and food!

What's left?

Books? I did that last month!

I don't have a clue how people can write daily blogs. All I have do is once a month and I'm blocked. My life isn't interesting enough to blog every day. It would go something like this: got up, fed the cat, the kids went off to school and I sat down to write. Hmm, I'm thinking that wouldn't bring readers back day after day.

I would love to hear from the readers of this blog. What do you like to read about from the banditas. Do you want to hear about our boring lives? Do you prefer guest bloggers? What topics make you come out of lurking to post a comment? Do the giveaways draw you out? (it's okay to admit it)



I do have some exciting news in my boring life. My editor sent my new cover for my April 2010 release, Something Scandalous. Isn't it gorgeous! The blue is fantastic. And according to some in the lair, backs are in. Not only do I have a back but a part of a torso too!

Here's the back cover blurb:

Raised as the youngest daughter of the Duke of Kendal, Elizabeth learns a devastating truth on his deathbed: he wasn't her father at all. And because the Duke had no sons, his title and fortune must go to his only male heir: a distant cousin who left England for America long ago. Anticipating the man's imminent occupation of her home, Elizabeth anxiously searches for her mother's diary, and the secret of her paternity...

Arriving in London with his seven siblings, William Atherton intends to sell everything and return to his beloved Virginia farm and his fiancee as quickly as possible. But as Elizabeth shows William an England he never knew, and graciously introduces his siblings to London society, it becomes clear the two are meant for each other. Soon, Elizabeth finds herself determined to seduce the man who can save not only her family name but her heart...

Now that I teased you with that, you have to wait until April.

So another tidbit in my boring life, I bought a new washer and dryer. I do like the front loader and the dryer is taking 1/2 the time to dry as my old one.

Are you ready for the next bit of exciting news? My 17 year old got his driver's license on Wednesday. So if you live in Maryland, watch out! I do like Maryland's teen driving rules now. A teen driver has to hold a permit for 9 months, take driver's education and have 60 hours of driving time in various situations.

You are all officially caught up on my life. But still, I'd love to hear some answers to my questions above!

The Magic of Wine

Today, we welcome Laura Anne Gilman, whose Retrievers series from Luna utterly captivated Jeanne and me. Laura Anne’s celebrating the release of her first hardcover fantasy, Flesh and Fire, from Pocket Books. Welcome to the Lair, Laura Anne!

Thanks for having me! Hrmmm, that’s a nice sofa. Mind if I take that back to my own burrow? Someone spilled tequila on ours during the last party….

You can try to take it, but the gladiators may object. They're fond of it. You have experience on both sides of the editor’s desk. Can you tell us a little about your background?

Summing up fifteen years in a paragraph or less… I started in publishing right out of college – worked as the assistant to Neil Nyren, publisher/editor-in-chief at Putnam. My love was always with genre, though, and when a friend told me that there was an opening at Berkley, the mass market arm of Putnam Berkley, working for the science fiction imprint… with Neil’s blessing, I jumped at it. Worked my way up to editor, and then about seven years later I was offered the job of executive editor at NAL, heading up the Roc science fiction/fantasy/horror imprint. I did that for another six+ years.

I love editing, and I got to work with some wonderful writers, and had the joy of seeing many of them go on to very successful, long-term (and NYT best-selling!) careers. Eventually, though, trying to balance an increasingly corporate day job with my own writing… I had to choose, and the writing won.

Having been an editor at major NYC houses gave me a very pragmatic, practical view of the industry – I know what is possible, what isn’t possible, and when I should just throw my hands up in the air and say “oy.” My agent, however, will be the first to tell everyone that this makes me no less neurotic than any other writer. *grin*

Flesh and Fire is the first book in a trilogy, The Vineart War, with a magic system based around wine. What inspired you to create this world?

Oh, that’s one of those “you’re not going to believe this” stories. I’m a foodie and a wine nerd. So is my agent, Jennifer Jackson of the Don Maass Agency. We were on the phone one day talking about a food expo we wanted to go to that weekend, but finally decided the ticket price was too high. “It needs to be a work deduction, somehow,” I said – a common plaint among writers, who are used to thinking of everything as somehow business-related, because almost everything is inspiration, one way or another). “So,” Jennifer says, “write me a food or wine based fantasy.” And she meant it as a joke, but when we ended the conversation ad I went back to sit at the computer – working on one of the Retriever books… something clicked. And I grabbed my pad and pen and started jotting notes, and the next day I e-mailed her to say “I know you were kidding, but…”

Winemaking has always fascinated me, from my very first trip to the California wine country region back in the early 90’s. The idea of a winemaker as magician… it was completely natural. And the fact that wine is both an intoxicant and a shared social event [we generally drink it with meals, not sitting alone in the dark] made it an interesting thing to base a civilization on.

It seemed as though everything—my love of epic fantasy, my interest and experiences with wine, the things I wanted to say, story-wise, at that moment… all came together in what I referred to as ‘the project that ate my brain.”

I had the pleasure of hearing you read at Dragon*Con and noticed that you have several point of view characters. Who are they?

The Vineart War trilogy is the story of an entire culture in flux, so I decided to go with a 3rd person limited narrative in order to showcase that change. Mainly, we follow Jerzy (pronounced Yehr-zee), who is the pivotal character around whom the action moves. He’s a student of the Vineart Malech, a former slave being trained to use magic – but he’s also a teenager, trying to figure out his place in a world that’s changing even as he discovers it.

Master Vineart Malech, Jerzy’s owner/teacher, has the counterpoint in this book – age and experience to Jerzy’s raw fascination and turmoil. We’ll also meet Kainam, a young man dealing with terrible losses, Ao and Mahault, Jerzy’s companions along the way, and of course, The Guardian. You’ll have to read the book to find out about the Guardian.

You blog about wine on your LiveJournal page, and it’s clear you know a lot about it. For those interested in branching out beyond chardonnay, white zinfandel, and merlot, what do you recommend?

I used to work at a wine store, and the first thing I’d tell everyone is that the best wine is the wine that you like the best. Too many people are intimidated by all the Big Names and magazines saying what’s good and what’s hot…ratings and reviews should only be a guide, not a command.

There are so many different grapes, and different styles, it could take a lifetime to taste them all. Finding a good local wine store, one with trained staff, is a good short-cut. Tastings are a good way to dip your toe in, but really, in order to learn a wine, you need to sit there with a glass and consider it. Good wine rewards thought.

For someone who prefers white wine, I am a big fan of Sauvignon Blanc, especially from New Zealand, and German Rieslings (I tend toward the dryer “Kabinett” or Trocken, but they have a range from dry to sweet)

On the reds… oh, the choices are so many I’d take up the entire blog with my answers. Pinot Noir, if you want something smooth and sexy and not too heavy. Zinfandel for big mouth-filling spice (Zinfandel is a red grape, yes. ‘white’ Zinfandel is just…wrong!) Tannat or Shiraz, for something that was made to be drunk with red meat…. Okay, there’s a start.

Can we have a peek inside Flesh and Fire?

"For the next two weeks the mustus will wait in these giant vats, stirred twice daily to ensure a flow from top to bottom, forcing the flesh and juice to mingle. That will be your task, to attune yourself to the feel of each vat, to learn its temperament, and what it would be best suited for.” It was a deceptively simple step, for such important results, and a Vineart needed to know every one of them the way he knew his own heartbeat.

Jerzy’s eyes flicked to the vats again, clearly measuring them against his own height, and just as clearly remembering the fate of the slave killed for overturning the vat. Good. It would keep him alert and careful.

“You will use those rakes,” and Malech pointed to the four long instruments racked along the wall behind them. “Twice a day. And yes, there will be more vats added as the rest of the yields are brought in. You’ll wish you were back in the field by the time you’re done.”

The look the boy gave him suggested that he highly doubted that, and Malech almost laughed. He, for one, was thankful to have someone else to pass this chore along to. Not only would it free his time for more advanced work, but his arms would ache considerably less this year. A few weeks of this and Detta’s cooking, and the boy would bulk up to better match his height and stop looking quite so fragile.

“When it is ready, we will transfer it to smaller barrels, and from there the final transformation.” Some of it would be bottled immediately as vin ordinaire, sold to those with coin who desired the intoxication of near-magic, without the risks—or costs—of spellwine. Only then would the final, most important touches be put on each spellwine, refining and finishing each for specific results.

“But that will not be for at least a month, and there is much you must learn in the meantime.”

“More magic?” Jerzy asked hopefully.

Malech laughed, if a trifle ruefully. “Nothing so simple, I fear. You, boy, must be civilized.”

© Laura Anne Gilman, 2009

Also, you can go to the Pocket website and read a larger excerpt…

As you know, Jeanne and I love the Retrievers with their mix of action and romance. Don’t you have a new book coming out this Spring that’s set in that universe?

Ahhh, Bonnie and the PUPs. Yes – when I determined that Wren and Sergei needed to take a bit of a vacation – mainly because I wasn’t sure where they were going to go, next – Bonnie Torres, the paranormal investigator introduced early in the series, piped up and demanded her own story. She’s pushy that way. So I suggested it to my editor, who thought it would be a great idea, and in May we have the first of the Paranormal Scene Investigations books, HARD MAGIC, coming out.

The PUPS are taking modern magic a step further, using it not as an art but a science, in order to investigate crimes that involve the Cosa Nostradamus, the magical/supernatural community. It seems like an idea whose time has come...but not everyone in the Cosa agrees…

Bonnie is very different from Wren – she’s an educated, sassy 20-something with a very strict code – she tells the truth, she doesn’t hurt anyone, and she has a good time, because life’s too short to be miserable. But then she’s recruited to join PUPI (Private, Unaffiliated Paranormal Investigations), and she has to grow up in a hurry. But since this is Bonnie, she’s going to do it her way. And God help the criminal who tries to cross these PUPs…

I had a lot of fun working with Bonnie – especially when she finds the one person whom she can’t charm her way around….



Any chance we’ll see Wren and Sergei (the Retrievers, for those who haven’t yet had the pleasure of diving into that world; the cover of Book 1, Staying Dead, is pictured at left) again?

I hope so! I have several proposals on my editor’s desk, so we’ll see what happens…

Have you ever been to a vineyard?

Oh yes. My first visit was in the early 1990’s, in California, but since then I’ve been to vineyards along the East Coast, in Italy, in France… I’m hoping to get to Argentina and Australia as well, someday soon. Grapes take on the characteristics of the soil they’re grown in (terroir, in French) and I find it fascinating to compare soil and taste differences. Plus, vineyards? Are amazingly pretty.


When doing research for FLESH AND FIRE, I spent ten days in Burgundy, walking and riding a bike around the countryside, visiting with winemakers and getting my hands dirty in the vineyards, and looking at a lot of the old – 14th century – equipment they still have on-hand. Fascinating stuff! [At left is one of the photos from that trip, which is, naturally, copyright Laura Anne Gilman, 2008]


What’s your favorite world in a science fiction, fantasy, or paranormal romance series, and why?

Oh… that’s almost impossible for me to answer. A lifetime of reading, and almost two decades editing… I’ve read and loved a lot of books! If you want to know my favorite genre novel, though, it’s Peter Beagle’s A Fine and Private Place. Two ghosts, one raven, one old man, and some of the loveliest, most heartbreaking prose ever. It’s proof that people who say that SF/F is somehow less worthy of respect than “literary fiction” don’t have any idea what they’re talking about.

What about you? Have you ever been to a vineyard? What's your favorite paranormal or fantasy series world? Do you have a favorite wine? If you were going to create a magic system based on a food or beverage, what would it be?

Laura Anne is giving one commenter today a chance to appear as a character in one of her books. this is her explanation:

A Tuckerization, named for the man who first started it as a ‘gift’ to family and friends – I will take the name of the winner and work it into Book 2 of THE VINEART WAR. I’ll also use as much physical description or a personal characteristic as possible, so you can show it to your friends and family and prove the name wasn’t just a fluke.

For more about Laura Anne and her work, visit her website.

Upcoming signings:

October 17 - Mysterious Galaxy, San Diego, CA, 2-4 pm
October 25 - Clayton Books, Clayton, CA, 3-5 pm
October 28 - Haight Street Library, San Francisco, CA, 7-9 pm
November 7 - Barnes & Noble, Ledgewood, NJ, 12:00 - 4 pm