Trinity Faegan Enters the YA World with Edgy Debut

I'm thrilled to host debut Young Adult author Trinity Faegan today, not only because I had the privilege of reading her YA work while it was still in manuscript form but also because she's a dear friend.



Your first YA novel, The Mephisto Covenant, just released. Tell us a bit about the book and the main characters.

A descendant of the daughter of Eve, born before Original Sin, Sasha falls in love with Jax, a son of the dark angel, Mephistopheles, then discovers she alone can save him from Hell, but only if she gives up mortality and her birthright of certain Heaven to join him and his brothers in a brutal war to save mankind’s free will.

How did the idea for this book, and the rest of the series, come to you?

I was going through a difficult period after someone close to me was sexually assaulted. I sort of obsessed about evil – why does it exist? Is there really a devil, or Hell? One night, I dreamed of kick-ass guys who could destroy evil. It was hazy and weird, like all dreams, but when I woke up, they were fully formed in my head. As I created the story, I wanted a girl who could be with them only because she was unique in some way. I came full circle to where I’d begun, thinking about original sin. According to the Bible, original sin began when Eve ate the apple and tempted Adam to eat it, too. It’s like they doomed each of us to constant temptation, and only by rising above it can we reach Heaven. At least, that’s what so many religious doctrines teach. I imagined what a human would be like if they weren’t around when Lucifer visited Eden and offered the apple to Eve. So I invented Aurora, born before the fall, who wandered away and was lost. It kind of went from there.

Did you have any moments during the writing of the book when you went, "This is freaking awesome!"? Any when you wanted to pull your hair out?

Writing the first draft was awesome. Revising based on feedback from agents was not so awesome. Throwing the whole thing out and starting over was back to awesome. No, really. Revisions from my editor were…difficult. I’m not sure if that’s because of what he wanted, or that I was going through a major health crisis and surgery during first and second round revisions.

You previously wrote for Harlequin's Bombshell line before it closed. How is writing YA different from writing those earlier books? How is it similar?

I wrote the Bombshell books in first person, and they were funny. The heroine was a divorced down-on-her luck CPA. Her entire worldview was more mature and jaded than Sasha in Mephisto, which I wrote in third. The Pink books were light, even though they dealt with a serious subject, but Mephisto is very dark. I was more conscious of my audience with Mephisto, although I didn’t pull any punches.

Are you a big fan of reading YA? If so, what are some of the best YA books you've read this year?

Huge fan of YA. I haven’t read much since June, when I got serious with writing book 2 in this series. Before that, I read OyMG by Amy Dominy, about a Jewish girl at a Christian camp, and I loved it. As soon as life slows down, I’m excited to read Simone Elkeles’s third Fuentes brother book, Chain Reaction. I’m a total fangurl! Also really excited to read Heather Brewer’s first book in her new Slayer Chronicles series.

If The Mephisto Covenant was made into a movie, who would you love to see cast as the leads?
I never think about this. Really. Never.

Tell us about what you're working on now?

Getting some sleep after turning in book 2 of the Mephisto series, which right now is only two books. Here’s hoping there’ll be more!

If you could ask the Banditas and our Bandita Buddies one thing, what would it be?

How do you guys stay so fun, fresh and on top of things? And where can I buy some? LOL!
~~~
Trinity will be giving away a copy of The Mephisto Covenant today to one lucky commenter. Tell us, are you a fan of YA fiction? If so, what are some of the best YA books you've read this year? What are your all-time favorites?

A Haint in the House

posted by Nancy

Today's guest is a debut author and one of my buddies from Georgia Romance Writers, a past president who has sometimes been mistaken for my twin (and vice-versa). This only happens at National, not in Atlanta, where we're both known much better, so be warned if you think you see either of us in Orlando.

Although Maureen Hardegree concedes to having all the usual baggage of a middle child, she is NOT a ghost handler. She does, however, believe in connecting with her inner teenager and in feeding her active imagination—it likes Italian food and chocolate. When she’s not writing, she’s working on costumes for the Northeast Atlanta Ballet . . . or doing the bidding of her husband, daughter, and cats Pixie and Turnip Ann. Welcome, Maureen!


We love call stories in the Lair. Will you share yours?


My offer took place via e-mail! I’ve been published with BelleBooks since 2005 in their Southern Stories Collections and Mossy Creek Hometown Series, but hadn’t yet made the leap to a sale in novel-length fiction. When Bellebooks expanded to the Bell Bridge Books imprint, I noted that they were looking for YA. I believed Haint Misbehavin’, which won the Children’s/YA category of the Sandy Writing Contest as A Ghoul Just Wants to Have Fun in 2007, would be a good fit for their YA line. I changed the title because I wanted something that reflected the story better, and I knew Deb Smith liked a good pun. Besides my ghost is truly a haint (Southern for ghost), not a ghoul. I also revised it extensively, cutting it down and giving the sister relationships more subplot thanks to some suggestions from contest judges and editors.

I also felt comfortable querying editor Deb Smith about my middle grade YA in the fall of 2008 because we’d worked well together in the past. She liked the partial enough to pass it onto Deb Dixon, who asked for the full in January of 2009. I saw Deb Dixon at a Georgia Romance Writers meeting in the spring of 2009, and she told me my manuscript was toward the top of her YA to-be-read pile.

In the meantime, I’d started a different book, which I’d hoped to sell to Harlequin American. In June of 2009, I had an e-mail from Deb Smith in my inbox about Haint Misbehavin’. My heart pounded as I opened it, expecting a rejection. Having almost sold several times to other publishers with several other books, I keep my expectations low. ☺ I think my daughter can attest to the squeal of joy that forced her from her bed that morning. It was similar to a recent squeal I let out when Deb let me know also via e-mail that Bonnie Bell’s Lipsmacker Lounge was going to offer a review of Haint.


Tell us about Heather, your heroine, and her friends.

Heather, who will be a high school freshman in the fall, wants nothing more than to be perceived as normal. Since pre-school, she’s been plagued with the nickname Princess and the Pea because she’s hypersensitive and often breaks out in hives. Actually, she has two additional goals for the summer: one is to have her popular older sister like her and the other is to gain the positive attention of the hottest lifeguard on the planet—Drew Blanton. She gets along with her younger sister Claire, who’s a bit of a ditz. Her older sister Audrey finds Heather an embarrassment and doesn’t stop her popular friends from making Heather their favorite object of ridicule. Heather’s best friend is Tina Wilson, who can’t keep a secret and is a boy magnet. Tina’s popularity hasn’t rubbed off on Heather, unfortunately. During the course of this story, Heather reluctantly befriends geeky altar boy Xavier Monroe.


How does life change when you can interact with ghosts?

For Heather it means constantly having to hide her ability so that no one else knows. When ghosts are around, she’s on edge. She doesn’t want her weirdo status to expand exponentially. It means seeing or feeling entities as she goes about her regular life, which can make shopping at the mall or sunning at the neighborhood pool complicated. It also means having to put someone else’s needs before her own.


What's keeping Heather and Drew apart?

At the beginning of the book, Drew doesn’t even know who Heather is. As the story develops, what keeps them apart is her reluctance to stand up for herself and that he sees her as the funny girl sidekick, not as girlfriend material. During the course of the series, I’ve set up a love triangle. Will Heather ultimately get together with Drew or with geeky altar boy Xavier?

Here's a video peek:


Wow, how cool! Would you like to share an excerpt?

Sure! Here’s a sample:

“We’re playing. Now.” Amy sounded as miffed as Audrey does when someone leaves two Pringles at the bottom of the canister. I swear I don’t do it on purpose . . . most of the time.

The little girl balled up her fists like she wanted to hit me, and then, I swear to God, she levitated off the ground. My heart drummed in my chest.

There had to be a logical explanation for it. I must be having a sunstroke for real. I felt my forehead. My skin was sweaty, but normal, except for that tingle I feel just before I erupt in hives. I backed up to gain a little perspective. Amy followed. I don’t think heatstroke manifestations can do that.

That left me with three options. I was insane, I was still in bed sleeping, or this Amy girl was playing some kind of cruel trick on me.

She looked real; she wasn’t all filmy, so she had to be real, right?

I steeled myself and focused on her arm. Slowly, I extended my pointing finger. My skin cooled, then crawled as my fingertip touched her sleeve, which suddenly lost its substance, yet remained three-dimensional. I poked right through her like she was some hologram, but no hologram was dimensional.

Oh, my, God. I was crazy. My pulse sped so fast I could barely hear anything else. I stumbled back away from her, dropping the jar of dead beetles.

If I wasn’t insane? Then this kid who could levitate and turn translucent was magic, or she was dead.

My legs no longer worked. I was stuck, planted just like the vines that surrounded me. I tried to swallow, tried to remember how to breathe. “What are you?” I managed to croak.

“I done told you, I’m Amy.”

She levitated higher—as if I needed any more convincing of her ghostly nature at this point. Her little ankle boots rose nearly a foot off the ground. She came eye to eye with me, only her brown eyes didn’t reflect back my image.

The elastic in the waistband of my underpants started to itch, and then I felt the two metal hooks in my bra and the elastic in the bra band rub against my skin along my rib cage, like it always did when I was nervous. I started scratching the top of my head, then at the bumps rising on my neck.

The temperature of the air around me turned frosty. I rubbed my itchy arms against the chill. “I’m not sure what you are, Amy. I’m not even sure that I’m awake. For all I know, I could still be in bed, and you’re some bad dream. But just in case I’m wrong, could you please go away?”

“Nope.”

I prayed that if she was truly a ghost that she wasn’t like Geneva’s, who according to my aunt, was bent on sticking around. “Why not?”

She shrugged. “I wanna play Hide and Go Seek.”

Okay, this had to be a dream. Ghosts in movies don’t play cheesy kids’ games. They wanted to go toward the light or something like that.

“If you don’t play with me, Heather, you’ll be right sor-ry,” she sang.

That’s when one of the galvanized wires training the grape vine closest to me pinged and dropped its burden like someone had snapped it with cutters. The whole vine arm with its spurs and large leaves slumped, nearly touching the ground. It was rust, not Amy, because Amy didn’t exist, because I was in bed having a nightmare, because fate wouldn’t be so cruel as to stick me with a whiny kid ghost after years of trying to live down a nickname from preschool that wouldn’t die.

What do you do when you're not writing?

Well, I can assure you I’m not cleaning my house unless I’m stuck on a plot point or company’s coming. ☺ I spend a lot of time at my daughter’s ballet studio as a costume committee chair. While she’s in dance class every day after school for a couple hours and most Saturdays, I’m often in the company sewing room altering costumes for the next production or fitting dancers. The pre-professional Northeast Atlanta Ballet performs an average of three full productions each season, and the company owns their costumes and most set pieces. Last year we did four productions, but that’s highly unusual. During productions, we perform up to six shows in a weekend plus two school shows for students from title one schools.

I’m there at the performing arts center working in the Green Room, fixing costume issues, helping dancers into and out of tutus, making certain all costumes and their headpieces and other accoutrements are accounted for at the end of each show. Who knew learning to sew in high school would lead to this? It’s a big commitment, but I’m happy to make it for my daughter. Plus, I’m around the audience I hope books like Haint Misbehavin’ might appeal to. I hear how the girls talk to one another. I learn what music they like, what their biggest conflicts are. I’m immersed in YA culture with a bunhead slant, you could say.

What's next for you?

I’m working on Book Two in the Ghost Handler series Hainted Love, which takes place during the family vacation to Jekyll Island, Georgia. I have another short story “Sister Knows Best” included in Book Eight of the Mossy Creek Hometown series Homecoming in Mossy Creek that’s coming out in the fall. I’ve been working on a novella and have also been revising another novel that I’d like to send out soon.

As to ballet, this dance season includes The Nutcracker, Cinderella, and Little Mermaid with pieces from Anchors Away and Paquita. So I’ll probably look at some of those costumes over the summer to see what repairs can be made prior to fittings. The ballet season follows the school calendar, which means I have a lot more time during the summer to get projects finished.

Maureen is giving a book to one commenter today, so tell us: What's your favorite ghost story? If you could talk to ghosts, would that be a boon? If so, what would you ask?

Into the Dread Forest . . .

by Nancy


Today we welcome back YA author Gillian Summers and her alter-egos, Michelle Roper (below left) and Berta Platas (below right). They're celebrating the launch of The Secret of the Dread Forest. This is half-elven Keelie Heartwood's third outing and the final book of the Faire Folk Trilogy.


Welcome, y'all! For those who aren't familiar with the Faire Folk, who is Keelie Heartwood, and why is she in the Dread Forest?




Michelle: Keelie Heartwood is a California girl, who discovers while living with her Dad on the Ren Faire circuit that he's an elf, and that makes her half-elf. The Dread Forest is the home forest for her father's tribe of elves.





Berta: Keelie initially doesn’t want to leave California or live with her father, and especially dislikes the Renaissance Faire. She has a lot of changes in store!



How has Keelie changed over the course of the trilogy?

Michelle: She's gone from a grieving teenager, totally overwhelmed with her new magical abilities and the discovery of the elves to someone who is learning and accepting her place in her new world.

Keelie's journey begins when she arrives at the Renaissance Faire, and she
tree allergy she's had all her life turns out to be tree magic inherited from
her tree shepherd father, Zekeliel Heartwood. As Keelie opens herself to her
magic, she discovers more and more about the trees, and her elven side.
As she learns how to balance her magical abilities with the trees, she also
grieves the loss of one parent, and getting to know her father, along with living
in a new environment. It's a lot to throw at a kid, but she handles it.

The Tree Shepherd's Daughter is the first book in the Faire Folk trilogy. It starts when fifteen year old Calilfornia girl, Keelie Heartwood has to go and live with her father on the Ren Faire circuit, after she loses her mother. At the Renaissance Festival, Keelie experiences another world within the Renaissance world, she discovers magic and that her father is an elf. And that means--she's not totally human.

Into The Wildewood continues Keelie's story as she travels with her Dad to an upstate New York Renaissance festival. She is still grieving the loss of her mother, adjusting to life with her father, and discovering her magic. To complicate matters, the elves are getting sick, the forest is not well, and the Wildwood unicorn, the forest guardian is dying.


A hawk figures prominently in this book and earlier ones. What inspired you to use it?

Michelle: At the Georgia Renaissance Faire there are raptors who cannot be released into the wild. I thought as a character, Keelie could relate to an injured hawk. Keelie is grieving for her mother and her old familiar life. An injured hawk has to grieve for its freedom and for the life it once had.

Berta: Yes, the hawk’s frustration mirrors her own. Because the hawk is half blind it can no longer hunt or fly well. Keelie identifies closely with Ariel the hawk. Hawks are so beautiful, and can be so strong and deadly. We saw Keelie’s potential that way as well. Her growing powers, if she chooses to accept them and learn to use them, will make her a force to be reckoned with. If she doesn’t learn, she’ll be just as injured as Ariel.


There's no Ren Faire in this book, as there was in the first two. What takes its place?

Michelle: We have lots of fun things taking the place of the Ren Faire. The setting of the Dread Forest allows readers to see the home forest of the elves. There is a 'human' town that borders the Dread Forest, and we created some fun characters, including a tattoo artist who reside in this unique place and befriends Keelie.

Berta: We wanted to have a Ren Faire in each book, but there was no way to cram one into this story, and it was a story that we had to tell before we went on with Keelie’s adventures. The next book definitely has a festival, as do the next two, but as Michelle said, there’s plenty of exciting stuff happening in this one. Lots more magic, for one thing.

Keelie seems to be having some romantic issues. Can you tell us a little about those?

Berta: Keelie has an ugly surprise waiting for her in the Dread Forest. I won’t say anything more about that. I will say, though, that she gets to spend much more time with Sean than she has before, since he’s not working. Elves are such workaholics. Who knew? He’ll be in the Redwood forest with her in book four, as well.

What unusual goodies do you have on Gillian’s website?

One way we connect with readers is by adding to the published stories. Gillian's website has a map of the fair from The Tree Shepherd's Daughter, and we're putting the finishing touches on a map of the fair from Into the Wildewood because readers requested it. For Into the Wildewood we also posted paper dolls of Knot the cat with various outfits, suitable for the color, cut and paste kid in all of us! At Halloween last year we posted a short story on our blog about Knot's visit to the elven pumpkin patch. As you can imagine, no good came of it.

Besides Keelie’s further adventures, what’s ahead for Gilian Summers?

We plan to write stories about Keelie's friends, too. Laurie, her old friend from California, and Raven the herb lady's goth daughter, will get stories, and so will her new friend in the Dread Forest.

What has been happening with Gillian Summers since you were here last year?

Seems as if it was just the other day! Had we announced the continuation of the series then? We’re doing three more Keelie books! We just finished an appearance at TimeGate 2009, a science fiction and fantasy convention where we hosted a launch party for The Secret of the Dread Forest, and were surprised by a group of kids who made a role playing game of The Faire Folk for a school project! It’s based on Dungeons and Dragons rules, and it’s amazing! What a huge amount of work and dedication, and so much fun! We’re wrapping up our May contest this weekend. We have two autographed copies of the new book to give away on our blog, and on June 20th we’ll be signing at the Norcross Hilton on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard at 2:30 pm, joining several other authors. The public is welcome! Romance Bandit readers don’t have to enter our contest – we have an autographed copy for you to give away here (much better odds, believe us).

For more about Gillian Summers and Keelie's adventures, visit Gillian's website.

Do you remember teenage angst? Do you like the outdoors or are you, as Keelie starts out, much more at home at the mall? If could have a magical power, how would you use it?

Tina Ferraro on ABCs and Kissing

posted by Aunty Cindy aka Loucinda McGary

Young Adult author Tina Ferraro was one of our very first guest authors here in the Lair, and we are always happy when she can come back and pay us a visit! Aunty is tickled pink to sit down today with her buddy Tina and talk about her new release, changes in the YA market, and a cool new thing called “webisodes!”

AC: Welcome back, Tina! Please tell us a little about your new release with the fantastic cover -- The ABCs of Kissing Boys.

Tina: Sure!

Parker Stanhope has played soccer practically since she could walk. And now that she’s a high school junior, everything she’s worked for is finally coming together. She’s paid her dues on the field, and as an upperclassman, she’s a shoo-in for the varsity team. But that’s not what happens. This year, the coach moved up every JV player but two­-and one of those two was Parker. Now, she’s stuck with the freshmen, and her friends are cutting her loose. But Parker is determined to get her life back. She has to get on the varsity team, and she has the perfect plan. All she needs now is the right kind of coach.

Which comes first for you, the plot or the characters? And how did you come up with it/them for this story?

I had the idea that a girl-doesn't-get-moved-up-with-her-team floating around, as well as a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque parental feud.
(Shakespeare fan AC rubs her hands together with glee!)

But it didn't come together until I decided on my (admittedly ridiculous) title, and had to figure out how to tie those things all together with the heroine learning "everything there is to know about kissing." My critique partner, Kelly Parra, was wonderful in helping me sort out my thoughts, and before you knew it, I had a storyline, and I started writing.

So that was a really long way to say "the plot first."

AC: This is your third Young Adult release in as many years. What changes have you seen in your sub-genre since you first started writing in it?

Tina: Wow--I am no expert on Young Adult fiction, so take what I say with a grain of salt. But it does seem like the most popular books today have fantasy/paranormal themes, while when I started targeting YA, the books on people's lips were more contemporary high school stories, like Gossip Girls and (the now-defunct) Dorchester Smooch line. As for the future? Well, everything old is new again, right, so I imagine things will circle back.

AC: What new and exciting things are coming up in your future?

Tina: I have another book coming out in the summer of 2010, which I am really excited about. Here's a blurb:

When Bad Flings Happen to Good Girls

It took 17 years for Brandy to get her life the way she wanted it--and about 17 seconds for it to fall apart. Her well-intending friends tell her it's time to stop working so hard and "get a life." By this, they mean a boyfriend, and they give her the summer to find one, or they're going to go hunting the halls themselves. Not realizing that adding a boyfriend to her hectic AP and robotics team schedule, she'd have zero for them.

Away at her uncle's cabin, she sets out to find a guy who will "break her heart," so she can return from summer in need of her friend's TLC, rather than matchmaking skills, and then can resume her well-planned life. She quickly finds the perfect candidate. But hooking up with the lifeguard proves harder than she can imagine. Even with the help from his nice-guy friend who seems to have his own reasons for getting them together--and keeping them apart...

AC: Sounds like another fun read Tina! Now what other fun things have you been up to?

A "webisode" version of my second book, How to Hook a Hottie, is currently being shopped at TV studios. A "webisode" is a mini-episode, especially geared at websites. You'll find them popping up on TV channel websites in the forms of brand-new programming, and "extras" from your favorite TV shows. For instance, "The Office" just ran a three-part webisode series on the NBC website.

Anyway, yeah, so wish me luck on that.

AC: How exciting, and GOOD GOOD LUCK!

Tina will give away a copy of her newest release The ABCs of Kissing Boys to one lucky commenter today.

AC: Since Tina’s book is all about kissing, why not share one of your favorite kisses (first or otherwise) in a book you’ve recently read. Hey, Tina! You can go first!

Tina: I liked the first time Ranger kissed Stephanie in Janet Evanovich’s series. WOO HOO! Hot stuff!

AC: NO arguments here! Okay Banditas and Buddies, lay the kisses on us!

The Bandits Welcome Terri Clark!

Let's give a rousing Bandit welcome to Young Adult author, Terri Clark! Terri's novel, Sleepless, is out now (and check out that great cover *g*)

I've long been fascinated with dreams. Here are some interesting facts you may not know:̊

• Nearly six years of your lifetime will be spent dreaming.̊
• Your brain waves are just as active when you're dreaming as they are when you're awake.̊
• Dreaming takes place in the R.E.M.—Rapid Eye Movement—stage of sleep.̊
• Scientific studies have proven that animals dream.̊
• Elephants, in fact, sleep standing up when they're in non-REM sleep. When they're in REM sleep, they lie down.̊
• Mrs. Maureen Weston participated in a rocking chair marathon in 1977 and still holds the longest recorded period for going without sleep--449 hours (18 days, 17 hours). She suffered hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.

While dream research in the last twenty-five years has certainly yielded some interesting facts, there's one question that continues to be debated—WHY do we dream?

A lot of people think dreams are just a way for our brain to purge the day's happenings. The images we see as we sleep are nothing more than nonsensical remnants of the things we came into contact with.

Other people believe our dreams are detailed truths and if we take the time to study them, interpret them, we'll discover hidden meanings in our mind's late night movies. Freud, the pioneer of dream interpretation, believed our dreams were symbolic of our deepest wishes.

Another common belief is that our subconscious is merely working through issues and trying to alleviate stress.

However, throughout history dreams have been given much more weight as they were often viewed as prophecies.

Still others believe that power can be found in our dreams. During our sleeping hours our mind is not restricted, our thoughts are boundless, and our brain can expand beyond its physical shell. Unimaginable things can be attained when we're not shackled by logic.

And some believe we can control our dreams, manipulate them and even use them as a tool for bettering ourselves and our lives.

As for me, I tend to believe dreams can be all the above, but the one thing that most fascinated me was that old wives tale, "If you die in your sleep, you'll die for real."Is that possible?

SLEEPLESS is about Trinity Michael's, an eighteen-year-old dreamwalker who's being stalked in her sleep by a killer. If she dies in her dreams, she'll die for real. In order to survive, she must stay awake and find her would be murderer before he can find her and the only person able to help her is the last person she thought she'd ever align herself with.

I guess the answer, for me, was yes....

So, what do you dream about?

WHATCHA' READIN' KID?

by Jeanne Adams

How old were you when you started reading? If you like to read now, that started somewhere, right? So…where?

Do you remember the first “real” book you read?

No, I don’t mean See Spot Run. Ha! I mean the first story that affected you. Anna Campbell’s Big Fat Book post got me thinking about Kid Books.

(Yes, it was a convoluted path from that sexy Riders cover to this, but hey…)

So, for you, what was “THE BEGINNING” ? (cue the music from the 10 Commandments)

For me, since my father’s a Librarian, The Beginning was at the Library. As a kid, I loved anything with fur or feathers. (Have to confess I’m still not a reptile fan, except for dragons) Tell that to an astute Children’s Librarian and s/he will pile your arms with books – fiction and non - about animals. (Note: I just LOVE Librarians!)

For horses, I started at the beginning. Billy And Blaze: A Boy And His Horse(Anderson) were ancient, but well loved books in my library’s Children’s Room. I graduated to BLACK BEAUTY (Sewel), National Velvet> (Bagnold) and a fabulous book on life, growing up and harness racing called Red Horse Hill (Meader) which made me want to move to New Hampshire. From there I read non-fiction about Shires, Clydesdales and Connemaras.

I deeply wanted a dog, but my folks said no. So Lad: A Dog (A.P. Terhune), Big Red (Kjelgaard), Azeet, paratrooper dog (Gur), Call of the Wild (London), the REAL 101 Dalmatians(Smith), and Silver Chief Dog of the North (O'Brien) became my pets.

In reading O’Brien and London, I found adventure stories. OH! The wonders! Swiss Family Robinson (Wyss), The Black Arrow (Stevenson ), Ivanhoe (Scott), Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk (Sabatini), Robin Hood Tales,The Egypt Game (Snyder) and (tribal drum roll please) Tarzan of the Apes .

To my mother’s great dismay, for weeks I lived, slept, breathed and ate while holding a book by Edgar Rice Burroughs. There are 10+ in the Tarzan series alone. From his John Carter of Mars tales, I transitioned to the fantasy realms of the late great Andre Norton, as well as Robert Heinlein, Arthur Clarke, Zelazney and so on.

All these gave way to stories about relationships, friendships and adventure – Heidi (Spyri), The Complete Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery, Captains Courageous , The Jungle Book (Kipling), Tales of the South Pacific(Michener) and so on. Or to stories of fantasy and the supernatural: The Hobbit, LOTR (Tolkein), The Chronicles of Narnia Boxed Set (Lewis), The Exorcist (Blatty. The only book my parents ever tried to censor), The Once and Future King (DH White), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Twain).

I read the obligatory school-reads like Lord of the Flies (Golding), A Separate Peace (Knowles), and the dread The Crucible (Miller, Ugh), but the ones I search for are those oldies which evoke a vivid image from the tale. The bear fight in Big Red. When the weakling heir finds his inner Survivor and his mate in The Cave Girl (Burroughs) The quiet scene with the cocker spaniel as Pongo and Perdita search for their missing pups. The mines of Moria. (Shudder)
Most are HEA – happily ever after – which eventually led me to Romance…but that’s another story altogether…

So this flashback made me wonder what would be the Anne of Green Gables for the next generation. I asked a friend, fellow 2006 Golden Heart pal Lavinia Klein, what her daughter was reading these days and got a GREAT list…(I didn’t see my old favorites on Becca’s list, but I chalk that up to my early Children’s Librarian being into TRADITIONAL books. Oh, and me being animal mad. Yeah, that’s the reason.) BTW, I’ve already made a trip to the library and B&N to snag some of Becca’s recommendations, as well as ordering Anna’s Silver Brumby stories. (TOLDja I’d read 'em Anna!)

Here’s some from Becca’s list, I edited for space, but kept a pretty good list of titles from her favs. (Note to those buying for teens, the Peterfreund and Gleason contain either sex or sensuality!)
Poison Study (Study, Book 1) (all the Study books) by Maria V. Snyder, (Mira) The Bridei Chronicles (The Dark Mirror is book one) and Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier, (TOR) Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) Twilight, Eclipse and New Moon by Stephanie Meyer, (Little, Brown) Rowan Hood: Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest (Rowan Hood) by Nancy Springer (Puffin) Secret Society Girl: An Ivy League Novel (Ivy League), The Secret Society Girl books by Diana Peterfreund, (Delta) The Luxe by Anna Godberson, (HarperTeen) The Rest Falls Away: The Gardella Vampire Chronicles (Signet Eclipse) by Colleen Gleason, Gossip Girl, The Carlyles #1 (Gossip Girl) by Cecily von Ziegesar, (Poppy) The Year Of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty (Scholastic paperbacks).

Do you see YOUR favorites listed? If not, what’s YOUR fav Kid Read? Was there anything your parents tried to, or did censor?

**Becca, don’t forget to look for our own Trish Milburn/Tricia Mill’s YA release, HEARTBREAK RIVER, Penguin, in Spring of 2009!

Lorraine Heath, guest blogger

Interviewed by Suzanne Welsh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One lucky commenter will receive an autographed copy of JUST WICKED ENOUGH along with a JUST WICKED ENOUGH mug!

Guest Blogger Tina Ferraro Buzzes About YA and MORE!

posted by Aunty Cindy

Your old Aunty has been writer-buddies with the WONDERFUL Tina Ferraro for *ahem* some years now. Matter of fact, Tina and I were 'roomies' at RWA National in Reno in 2005. Tina got to wear her pink First Sale Ribbon and Aunty introduced her to the addictive TV series "Lost." Whereupon we immediately became perpetual fans of our mutual lust object Sawyer/Josh Holloway. But I digress... Tina's young adult novel, "Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress" came out earlier this year to rave reviews. Her next YA novel, "How to Hook a Hottie" will be out early in 2008 and is sure to be equally well-received!

Tina regularly blogs with a group of six other YA authors (including 06 Packer Heather Davis!) at Books, Boys, Buzz (http://yawriters.blogspot.com). Check it out! And now give Tina a BIG BANDIT WELCOME as she answers all kinds of questions from your old Aunty!

AC: Please tell us a little about your current release, "Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress" and your soon to be released, "How to Hook a Hottie."

TINA: All my recent ideas have started with titles. TOP TEN USES FOR AN UNWORN PROM DRESS came to me when I saw a nonfiction book called something like 101 THINGS TO DO WITH A BRIDESMAID DRESS. My brain came alive with what-if's: "What if it was a prom dress? An unworn prom dress because her date dumped her two days before the prom. And what if her mom--in an attempt to help her heal--started a list of 101, no, no, 10 silly things to do with it..." A week later, I pitched it to my agent, Nadia Cornier, and she gushed, "Oh, I could sell that on the title." Okay, it didn't exactly happen that way, but I loved her enthusiasm!

The title, HOW TO HOOK A HOTTIE, came to me while brainstorming with my teenaged daughter, but oddly enough, by the time I submitted the proposal, I'd changed it to something slightly different. When Nadia called to say they wanted to buy it and told me what they'd proposed as a title, I laughed, realizing I'd actually gotten it "right" the first time. And I'm very happy we went back with that because it encouraged me to come up with "how to tips", including a Six Point Plan, a hexagon for hooking hotties! (And how could THAT go wrong???) The basic idea is that kids at school hire 17 year-old Kate to help them hook their secret crushes, assuming she's got some insider info on the ways of the heart because how else could such a no-nonsense girl like her have hooked the hottest guy in the school? ("Thanks a lot, people!")

AC: Aunty knows that once-upon-a-time you wrote contemporary romantic suspense (and won some contests with your efforts). What made you decide to switch to YA? Any advice for other writers thinking of trying to break into the YA market?

TINA: I am also a Confession short story author, and over the years, have sold as many teen stories as I have adult. So the teen voice has always been with me. But I had always heard to "write what you love" and romantic suspense what was I loved to read, so when my youngest went to kindergarten and I joined the RWA with serious aspirations of selling a novel, I set my sights on romantic suspense. And yes, I did have some success with writing contests, but the truth was, I had trouble bringing a good idea or a good first few chapters to a good 300 page conclusion.

I knew that first person writing (the tense used for Confessions) was my natural voice. So when a couple of the Harlequin/Silhouette lines started accepting first person, I gave them a try, and found I was suddenly writing better books. Meanwhile, a friend had told me about the Dorchester YA "Smooch" line. After hitting a bump in my professional life, and then one in my personal, I decided to throw caution to the wind and try writing a "Smooch". My daughter was a high school freshman at the time, and she read all the chapters to make sure I didn't sound like a grown-up pretending to be a teen, and when I'd finished, I could honestly say it was the best thing I'd ever written. Too bad it didn't sell, huh? But it got me my agent, and she sold the next one!

For those interested in writing YA, you will probably hear the advice to pay attention to the teen market. Read the books, watch the movies, go hang at Starbucks and listen to them talk. I completely agree. But here's something you may not hear: do not feel you have to be a representation of today's teen. Be yourself, just tap back to the teen you were, or the teen you wished you were. Write a book that the teenaged you would have wanted to read, and you'll have a much better chance of selling it. (Just make sure your heroine has a cell phone and calls her best friend her BFF!)

AC: Please give us a few highlights of your "Rocky (or not so) Road to Publication."

TINA: Highlights! Okay, at age 23, I sold my first story to True Love magazine, and still write for them today (when time permits). About 5 years later, I had the Big Boss at my job come into my office to tell me I'd been nominated for a special performance evaluation, all the while a first draft a romance novel gleamed behind me on my computer screen. It gets better: months later, he returned to tell me I'd won and hand me a check, and guess what was on my screen again? Yep. Jump ahead some more years, and I've joined the RWA, am finaling in writing contests. I made the switch to YA in 2004, signed later that year with Nadia Cornier, sold first book in 2005, second in 2006, third and fourth in 2007.

That's all the good stuff! Just know that in and around those highlights, there were numerous days and weeks and years when there were no advancements, and I wasn't even sure I believed in myself. But the simple truth is I love writing. I love being in-the-zone. I love looking back on the good pages and thinking, "I did that". And it makes all the other stuff fade in comparison.

AC: What is on the horizon for you (and your readers)?

TINA: In addition to HOW TO HOOK A HOTTIE, my January, 2008 release, I have two more books contracted with Delacorte Press (Random House) for Spring 2009 and Spring 2010.

The Spring 2009 book has the very silly title of THE ABC'S OF KISSING BOYS, and will have 26 chapters, each with a heading featuring a fun-fact about kissing. The premise is that high school junior Parker Stanhope watched her JV soccer team get promoted to Varsity without her...and she and her brother devise this crazy-but-just-might-work plan to get her on Varsity, which includes giving the prom king a kiss he'll never forget at the sports fair kissing booth. But first she has to learn everything there is to know about the art of kissing...

The next book has a crazy-ass title and premise, but until it's been formally approved, I need to keep my lips zipped!

Also, both TOP TEN USES FOR AN UNWORN PROM DRESS and HOW TO HOOK A HOTTIE have been optioned for film/tv rights, and I'm presently working with producers to get those projects rolling...

(AC falls over in a swoon at the thought of her buddy Tina writing a TV series or movie! Tina obligingly slaps AC with a wet cloth and murmurs something about hunks to bring her round and finish the Q&A.)

AC: What piece of advice or life-lesson has helped you most in your writing career? And any pearls of wisdom you'd care to pass along to us AYUs (As Yet Unpublished)?

TINA: Well, I have long lived by the belief that everything I have written--no matter how awful--was a step in the right direction. It's all about staying in the game. I'm also a huge believer in networking. Many doors have opened for me out of the kindness of others, and I try to "give back" whenever I can, by making introductions I hope are helpful, doing contest coordinating and judging, etc. I see other authors as friends or potential friends, and there's always room for more at the table.

AC: Finally, you didn't think Aunty would let you out of here without mentioning your connection of one of the GREATEST Bandit Icons of all time, Clint Eastwood. What has Cousin-In-Law Clint been up to lately?

TINA: LOL--you've "outed" me, Aunty Cindy! Yes, my cousin, Dina Ruiz Eastwood, is married to Clint, which makes for some very interesting family reunions! My favorite memory is from a pool party. He was telling my husband how great a particular movie was. My husband said, "We were going to rent it, but Tina thinks it's going to be too violent for her." Clint turns to me and explains it's more a drama, not all that violent, etc., and all the while, I'm biting my tongue from saying, "Excuse me! Consider the source here! You're Dirty Harry!" But to be fair, we later rented it, and it was great. He was right. Imagine that!

I can also tell you that it's really hard to talk to him on the phone without giggling because he does this dead-on Clint Eastwood imitation...

As to what he's up to, we saw them a few weeks ago at a family reunion, and I heard talk about a new movie he's filming in LA this fall. And as a side note, Dina told me she bought every copy of my book they had in her local store, and gave them to teen girls in her neighborhood. Generous and kind--that sums the two of them up perfectly!

Thank you SOOO MUCH, Tina for hanging out here in the Bandit lair today and answering our questions and (as Foanna and Christine like to say) giving us the GOSS! Aunty happens to think Dina and Clint aren't the ONLY kind and generous people in your family. ;-) And not that we needed more convincing after her wonderful and insightful answers, but Tina will give away an autographed copy of her novel, "Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress" to one of our commentors (winner chosen by AC's handy-dandy random number generator)!