The Day I Became A Celebrity

posted by Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy

The iconoclastic artist Andy Warhol was once quoted as saying, "In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes."

Well, I got part of my fifteen minutes, if not exactly fame then a taste of what it is like to be a celebrity. It happened in Thailand, an amazing and beautiful country with some of the nicest people in the world.

DH and I were doing a 'self tour' of the Summer Palace which is a short boat ride up the river from Bangkok. The palace is actually about a dozen different buildings on extensive, beautifully landscaped grounds. I was walking by myself across a pretty little stone bridge over an ornamental pond, when I heard a huge group of school children approaching. There must have been a couple hundred of them, around ten years old and wearing crisp blue and white uniforms. Undoubtedly they were on a field trip.

I scooted out of the way, and stood with my back against the low stone railing of the bridge to let the big noisy group pass. As the first dozen kids walked by me, they all stared (I was probably one of the first if not THE first American they'd ever seen live and in person). Then, one bold youngster shouted out, "Hello!" To which I answered, "Hello!" This brought a gale of nervous giggles, followed by a raucous chorus of hellos.

After a few dozen more kids, all chirping out "hello" like myna birds, scurried past me, one little boy got brave and stuck out his hand while exclaiming, "hello." I obligingly shook his hand and said hello back. Well, that opened the flood gates! Next thing I knew, about a hundred enthusiastic kids were crowded around me, all shouting hello and grabbing for my hands.

YIKES! It was more than a bit scary!

All those eager little bodies pressing around me could have easily sent me over the railing and into the pond. Dozens of them might have fallen with me! Fortunately that didn't happen. I kept smiling, shouting hello, and grabbing as many outstretched hands as I could, while the teachers herded the kids the rest of the way across the bridge. They also smiled and bobbed their heads in thanks to me.

The whole incident lasted maybe ten minutes, but it felt like a lot longer at the time. When I got back to the DH, I collapsed onto the shady bench beside him and said, "Now I know how Michael Jackson feels."

And I can just imagine the discussions in the school yard days later. While one kid brags about his adventure, another kid whines, "No fair! We didn't get to shake hands with an American tourist at the Summer Palace!"

Have you had your fifteen minutes of fame? Maybe five minutes? Please share your exploits as a celebrity with Aunty and the rest of us here in the Lair!

Becoming Captain Jack Sparrow

posted by Nancy
I'm delighted to have bestselling author A. C. (Ann) Crispin return to the Lair today. Ann is not only a science fiction and fantasy author but a co-founder of Writer Beware. She has written numerous science fiction tie-in novels for series like Star Trek and V as well as a wonderful trilogy exploring Han Solo's early life. Yesterday marked the launch of Ann's latest project, a Pirates of the Caribbean prequel that shows us the young Jack Sparrow.

Welcome, Ann! You may be the only woman to have delved so deeply into Jack Sparrow's psyche.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom obviously ties into the Disney movie franchise, but this book has a somewhat different spin. Please tell us about the story.

This book is a prequel to Pirates of the Caribbean and takes place when Jack Sparrow was 25 years old and sailing for the East India Trading Company (EITC) as an honest merchant sailor. His boss is Cutler Beckett, and we find out in the book that it was Cutler Beckett who branded him with the P for Pirate. They left their mark on each other, as Beckett says.

There are also flashbacks to when Jack Sparrow is living the pirate life in Shipwreck Cove, and he’s twenty. His idea of rebellion against Captain Teague (the character played by Keith Richards in the third film) is to go straight. Actually, he doesn’t have much choice because he broke the Code and faced exile from his pirate brethren.

What draws you to the character of Jack Sparrow?

He’s a complex character. He’s a challenge to write dialogue for because Jack often speaks in a very obfuscating way, deliberately so, and it’s hard to get those speech patterns down. It’s a challenge because he doesn’t talk like anybody else. His ways of expressing himself and his manners are as much of a weapon, frequently, in getting him out of scrapes as his pistol and his sword. For example, he just unnerves straight men by coming over swishing at them and talking extravagantly. They don’t know what to do. Their brains stop working, and then Jack gets one over on them.

How do you envision Jack in this book?

Jack in the book is Jack becoming. He is not the Jack that we see in the movies, but the seeds are there. The seeds have been planted, and by the end of the book, you can see the shoots growing for the man we see at forty. Jack in my book is more trusting. He is not as devious, but he’s learning. Many of his characteristics are the same, but he’s trying to make it in the straight world of being a merchant sailor. So he’s sort of playing a role.

I think he’s kidding himself, and I think the reader will understand that he’s kind of kidding himself, but he really thinks he can put his pirate nature behind him. I think we all know Jack has got to embrace his inner pirate.


How did you approach creating the character and tying him into the film franchise?

I was given a lot of material by Disney. They have an extensive volume called The Pirates Mythology that’s four or five hundred pages long. It’s everything about the Pirates universe and some extrapoloations, but not too many. It talks about all the members of Hector Barbossa’s undead crew, for example, and gives all their names and a line or two about each of them, who they were.

It gives the names of minor characters that you would not know otherwise, the names and types of all the ships, the maps, material about the East India Trading Company in the Pirates of the Caribbean universe.

The important thing to understand is that this is not our world. It’s an alternate universe. It’s not quite our world because magic works. In addition to undead pirates and Aztec curses, there are historical events that don’t add up. For example, in our world, Port Royal, Jamaica, was destroyed in 1692 by an earthquake, but it exists in the Pirates of the Caribbean universe.

I made changes when necessary. For example, I created the island of Kerma with this beautiful, shining city of Zerzura. I also created New Avalon, another island settled by the English. It’s not quite the same universe, but it’s based on our universe.

My instructions were to be historically and nautically accurate where it didn’t conflict with the Pirates of the Caribbean canon. There’s a lot of nautical and historical detail, and it’s all real unless it comes directly from Pirates of the Caribbean, like mentioning Port Royal. If I talk about how they raised the sails or took the sails down in a storm, that’s very accurate. I was lucky to have a very good nautical advisor and an advisor on pirates who was also a swordmaster. So these two resources, Steve and Ben, were just invaluable. I couldn’t have written the book without them.

This book starts on an island with Egyptian cultural influences. Can you give us a hint as to how that fits into the story?

Lower Egypt was called Kush, and the pharaoh was lord of both Kush and Egypt during certain historical periods. The capital of Kush was called Kerma. It has been partially excavated, but it’s now in the Sudan, and the area is very unstable.

The island in the prologue is a off the west coast of Africa. For a while there were dynasties from Egypt and some from Kush. There is a legend of a place called Zerzura, where the children of Kush, as quoted in the prologue, were told to go west. In The Last Camel Died at Noon, one of the Amelia Peabody mysteries, Elizabeth Peters wrote about her version of the sons and daughters of Kush founding a secret oasis in the mountains.

My book is dedicated to Barbara Michaels, who is Elizabeth Peters. My island is between the Canaries and the Cape Verde, shrouded in illusion and secrecy. In The Last Camel Died at Noon, Radcliffe Emerson, Amelia Peabody’s husband, says Zerzura is "from the Arabic zarzar, meaning sparrow," and that linked in my mind with Jack Sparrow, and it all came together. Many things fell into place in this book because of that.

I thought this would be so much fun. I was given parameters for this assignment. One of the things we learned from Jack’s history was that Jack had to call on Davy Jones to save his ship and make him a captain.

Without giving away the crucial plot development, the island plays a role.

What’s your favorite Pirates of the Caribbean moment?

I believe my favorite moment was from the first movie, The Curse of the Black Pearl, when they throw Jack Sparrow a line and they winch him up onto the ship in this big rush of water, and AnaMaria hands him his coat and his hat, and she says, “The ship is yours, captain."

He takes the wheel and runs his hands over the spokes with such love, and gives his orders and says, “Bring me that Horizon, and I really loved that whole little moment, when he gave his orders, said, “Bring me that horizon,” and began to sing quietly the song Elizabeth had taught him, “drink up, me hearties, yo-ho, it’s a pirate’s life for me.”

That’s a great moment. And Johnny Depp actually wrote the line “Now bring me that horizon.” They couldn’t think of a last line for the movie, and they were discussing what nautical instructions they should give, and there’s this anecdote in the Making of the Pirates of the Caribbean book Disney did. Johnny Depp came running out of his trailer and ran, bouncing, up the gangplank ontpo the ship where they were all standing around wondering what the last line should be. He had this Post-It note in his hand, and he wrote “bring me that horizon.”

I liked that. I thought it was good. From that moment when he touches the wheel, you know that’s what he really loves, the ship and the sea.

Will Jack have a love interest?

Yes, he has two love interests, though, his true love is the sea and his ship, like any good captain. He has an African princess and a Spanish pirate queen as his love interests. Esmeralda, in the book, is nothing like Angelica in the movie. Esmeralda is the pirate lord of the Caribbean.

What’s next for you?

I’m going back to science fiction, which is my first love, and I’m going to write a YA science fiction novel. I’ve made kind of a slow start because of all the book promotion I’m doing. I have a cool add on my blog, which is reproduced here.

My appearances are kept updated on my website, and I’m hoping to meet people at my various signings. Tomorrow from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m., I'll be at Stories Comics, 5067 Forest Hill Avenue, in Richmond, Virginia. I'm appearing at various science fiction conventions, with a big launch party at Balticon. As usual, I'm also teaching at DragonCon over Labor Day weekend.

There are excerpts from The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom on Ann's website, www.accrispin.com. Scroll down below the ad on the excerpt page (also the one reproduced at left) and click the links. You can also follow Ann on Facebook and Twitter.

Ann is giving away a copy of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom to one commenter chosen at random today. So tell us what your favorite Pirates of the Caribbean moment was. Or tell us about your favorite pirate book or movie or your favorite prequel.

Vanessa Kelly's Favorite Winners!

by Anna Campbell

Thanks, everyone, for the fabulous day in the lair when Vanessa Kelly visited. Vanessa very kindly offered us TWO copies of her latest release MY FAVORITE COUNTESS to go to people who commented. I'm delighted to announce the winners are:

LOLARIFIC

CAROL L.

Congratulations, girls. Please email Vanessa on vanessakelly @ rogers.com (no spaces) with your snail mail details and she'll get your books off to you. Happy reading!

Movies I Missed....

by Jeanne Adams

Hey gang! Sorry for the late blog today. I was under the weather a bit yesterday...feeling better today, thank you. One of the "good" things about being a bit less energetic than usual is that I got to clear out the TiVo and watch some movies I'd been meaning to watch.

I watched five episodes of my dear, darling Special Agent Gibbs and his NCIS agents then followed that up with an after lunch serving of NCIS:LA. LL Cool J is SUCH a treat for the eyes.

Here's my problem. I've got two kids, both of whom are sports-boys and have extracurricular activities. I'm writing books and managing a household and generally running like a crazy woman.


I have great plans to watch a movie with the hubster, settle back into the big chair and a half and snuggle up with him and some popcorn and watch some of those DVDs we bought one another for Christmas. (We do this - buy the latest one for one another, because we'd buy it anyway, but it gets a present for one of the boys to give to the parent for a relatively low cost. The 21st century version of buying dad a tie or pencil leads or handkerchiefs)

Sorry, I digressed. Anyway, the challenge for me is, that I seldom have time - or make time - to sit down and watch the chick flicks and fun movies full of explosions that my boys buy me for birthday or Christmas. I have good intentions...but there are books to read (which I can take with me into the car pool lane) and I've been listening to Despicable Me in the car over and over and over again, thanks to the built-into-the-van DVD player. I love it, and can now quote every line. But I can't watch it, so the DVD in the van is very little use for ME when it comes to watching those waiting DVDs.

It has to wait for a sick day.

So, long story short (or is it too late for that?), yesterday, I got in some movies. I watched The Blind Side. WOW! What a fabulous movie! Made me want to root for the Baltimore Ravens - somethign I've been resistant to because I don't like that the shall-not-be-named-owner pulled the team out of Cleveland and took them to Baltimore. Grrrr. Nothing against Baltimore but...

Again, I digress. But it was a GREAT movie. I missed seeing it in the theatre. I'm really sorry about that because it would have been great on the big screen. Sigh.

I also missed Batman Begins. And Master and Commander. And Tangled.

I had wanted to see ALL of them in the theatre, but with babysitting and movie costs so high, books due, baseball schedules, (...my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wife to murder, Guilder to frame for it...I'm swamped!)....it's just been impossible.

What movies did you miss on the big screen? Any you bought on DVD and still haven't watched?

When's the next "sick day"?

Grins.

Bandita Booty

The winners of Tawny's copies of JUST FOR THE NIGHT are EllenToo and Tami Brothers. Ladies, if you'll drop me an email with your shipping info, I'll mail those books out to you right away.

The Lone Warrior--Bandit Booty!

posted by Christine Wells

With many thanks to the lovely Denise Rossetti, we have a winner!

Lindseye!! Come on dowwwnnn! You've won a signed copy of THE LONE WARRIOR. Congratulations!!

Please email me at christine AT christine-wells DOT com with your snail address to claim your prize.

My Favorite Vanessa Kelly!

by Anna Campbell

It's my great pleasure to introduce Vanessa Kelly to the lair, not that she needs much introduction to our discerning readers.

Here's the official lowdown:

Vanessa Kelly writes Regency-set historical romance for Kensington Zebra, and was named by Booklist as one of the new stars of historical romance. You can find her on the web at: http://www.vanessakellyauthor.com. She also writes contemporary romance with her husband for Carina Press, under the pen name of V.K. Sykes. You can visit her at: www.vksykes.com.

Vanessa's current release MY FAVORITE COUNTESS is getting rave reviews. RT Book Reviews gave it 4.5 stars and called it 'captivating' and 'memorable'. Booklist gave MY FAVORITE COUNTESS a starred review and called it 'sublimely sensual'.

Here's the blurb:

Spirited, stubborn, and entirely irresistible...

She is difficult, demanding, and at times, quite fierce. And Dr. John Blackmore can't take his eyes off her. The Countess of Randolph is the most striking woman he has ever seen...and the most infuriating patient he has ever tended. Mired in responsibility, Bathsheba doesn't have time to convalesce in the country. She should be in London, hunting for a wealthy new lover to pay off her late husband's vast debts, not dallying with a devastatingly handsome doctor. But it is only a matter of time until the good doctor and the obstinate countess will have to contend with the sparks that fly between them. And once their bodies surrender, their hearts may follow...

Vanessa, your latest book is MY FAVORITE COUNTESS and it sounds like such a delicious romance across the class divide, with your aristocratic heroine and your doctor hero. Can you tell us about the story?

Hi Anna! Thanks for hosting me on the Bandits, one of the best spots to hang out in the romance blogosphere!


As you point out, MY FAVORITE COUNTESS is a romance across the class and money divide. My hero, Dr. John Blackmore, comes from a respectably landed family in the north of England—he’s a gentleman’s son in the way Elizabeth Bennet was a gentleman’s daughter. My heroine, Bathsheba, is the daughter of a viscount and the widow of an earl, so she’s clearly higher up the social scale. She’s a bit of a snob, too, although she’s very strapped up for cash, which is why she needs a rich husband. Not that a little debt (or a lot) ever stopped your average aristocrat from lording it over everyone else!

John, on the other hand, does very well for himself as a physician to the ton, but he works for a living. Oh, the horror! Even worse, he insists on risking his life by going into the slums to doctor poor women and their babies. That freaks Bathsheba right out, although she can’t help but admire his courage and dedication. But the thought of giving up her elevated social standing to be the wife of a physician—especially one who takes so many risks to help poor people—is something she really has to struggle with.

But Bathsheba isn’t totally selfish. She really does have a compelling and understandable reason for finding a rich husband, although she has to keep that reason a secret from everyone she knows.


Sounds fantastic! Did you come across any surprising facts as you researched this book?

Lots of interesting research tidbits for this book. My hero is not your garden variety physician. He’s an accoucheur, which was the Regency version of an obstetrician. One thing that surprised me was how skilled and knowledgeable some of the doctors and midwives were, even by today’s standards. You can imagine, though, how utterly desperate childbirth could be during this era. In fact, the climax of my book involves one of the secondary characters going through a difficult and possibly life-threatening labor. I bet you can guess who saves her!

Here’s one bit I found really fascinating – forceps were developed as far back as the early 17th Century by the Chamberlens, a French Huguenot family who emigrated from Paris and specialized in midwifery. The family kept the instrument a secret for decades, handing it down from father to son in a long line of surgeon specialists. It helped them make their fortunes since the Chamberlens were obstetricians to the Royal family. Part of their success was very likely due to the use of their “secret” instrument. Eventually, the secret got out and various designs of the instrument gradually appeared. The use of forceps was actually quite controversial, though, as physicians argued for years over its safety and utility. A lot of politics came into play in the birthing business, as mid-wives, surgeons, and physicians all competed for a slice of the pie. It’s a fascinating and complicated topic of study.


That's fascinating! What’s next for Vanessa Kelly?

I’m working on my next book, which is the wrap-up to my series and is a Christmas book. The hero is introduced in MY FAVORITE COUNTESS. His name is Major Lucas Stanton, and he’s a career army officer who’s forced to give up his commission in order to take on the ramshackle estate he’s just inherited. He’s not very happy about it, but the Christmas season (and a Christmas bride!) has a way of making things work out.

Since that book won’t be out until Oct. 2012, I’m writing a Regency novella which I’ll be publishing in e-book form in the early spring of 2012.

And I’m also continuing to write contemporary romances and romantic suspense novels with my husband, under the pen name of V.K. Sykes.

What made you choose the Regency as your setting? You obviously have a passion for early 19th century Great Britain!

I became interested in the Regency era the same way many romance writers did – through the novels of Georgette Heyer. From there I moved on to Jane Austen, which pretty much sealed my fate. In graduate school I studied British women writers of the Regency period, especially Fanny Burney. Her diaries are a fascinating account of life in artistic circles and at the court of King George III.


I guess what I love most about the period is that combination of glamour and grit, wit and crudity that seemed to exemplify life in Regency England. The beauty and culture of Mayfair was only a few blocks from the worst slums in London. But those worlds so often intersected in a strangely democratic way in places like Covent Garden and Vauxhall.

You’ve been published now for a little over two years which makes you an old hand at the publishing game! LOL! Can you share some highlights? Have there been any surprises along the way?

The most surprising thing to me about the publishing business is how fast everything is changing. When I first started writing, e-books were considered to be a niche market and being self-published was akin to existence in the Third Circle of Hell. Now, e-publishing is growing at an astonishing rate and self-publishing is a respectable and sometimes very lucrative alternative. When a first class romance novelist like Connie Brockway decides to go the way of self-publishing, you know the revolution is upon us.

Can you take us through a typical Vanessa Kelly day?

I don’t think I have a typical day. I do spend too much time on the internet, so it’s a battle to keep that under control and stay focused on writing. But I generally do email in the mornings—along with the chores that come from daily living—and write in the afternoon. Evenings are free time to read or watch TV. I get brain burnout if I try to work longer than that.

Vanessa, is there anything you'd like to ask the Bandits and Bandita Buddies?

The hero of MY FAVORITE COUNTESS is neither earl nor duke, nor even a viscount. Do you prefer your Regency heroes aristocratic, or does the idea of a different kind of hero (like a doctor!) appeal to you?

Vanessa has very generously offered commenters today the chance to win TWO copies of MY FAVORITE COUNTESS. Good luck!

Shows Gone Too Soon

Earlier this week, I watched the series finale to Stargate Universe. And while it was a really good episode, I was upset afterward. Why, you ask? Because SyFy had canceled the show, but the cancellation came too late for the show's writers to wrap up the story. It ended on a big cliffhanger! I want to know what happens to the crew of the Destiny, dang it! I hate when this happens, and I seem to have this talent for liking shows that end up in some sort of similar demise. So I thought today I'd talk about shows that I feel didn't get the chance they deserved and were canceled too soon.

1. Firefly -- This is my all-time favorite show. After all it combined two of my favorite genres (westerns and sci-fi), was created by Joss Whedon (who is awesome!), had that fantastic Whedon dialogue, and...what was the other thing? Oh, yeah, it starred Nathan Fillion. :) It lasted less than a season and I blame FOX for showing the episodes out of their intended order for part of the failure. Don't even get me started on how much I loathe the powers that be for canceling this show. But fans did get the movie Serenity after the cancellation. And if there's any doubt about how popular this show was with its fan base (known as Browncoats), you only have to go to Dragon*Con when any of the stars are there. I've waited in lines for 3 hours, lines that wrapped around the downtown Hyatt in Atlanta close to three times. The people in the back of the lines never got in because the number of people in line always exceeded the fire marshal's limit for the huge ballroom. And the lines for photographs and autographs with these stars are always very, very long. (Hey, look, it's me with Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk!)

2. Jericho -- This post-nuclear attack drama had so much more to explore. And it had Skeet Ulrich -- I love Skeet Ulrich. It was canceled after one season, but a highly publicized fan campaign in which fans sent the network tons of nuts gave it a second chance. But the network canceled it again only 7 seasons into the second season.

3. Roswell -- Three alien teens who landed at Roswell pass as human and fall for humans. My YA-loving heart loved this show. Katherine Heigl and Colin Hanks had two of their earliest roles on this show. It lasted three seasons, but I think it could have gone a couple more.

4. Veronica Mars -- Another wonderful show with snappy dialogue, great characters, and the best father-daughter relationship on TV played by Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni. It was a modern day Nancy Drew mixed with the sass of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And I loved the romance between Veronica and Logan.

5. Legend of the Seeker -- This fantasy series based on the Sword of Truth series of books by Terry Goodkind was a lot of fun and welcome in a TV landscape that doesn't have a lot of fantasy in it. I liked this show so much that I dressed as one of the main characters at Dragon*Con last year.

6. Moonlight -- Vampire show starring the oh-so-easy-to-look-at Alex O'Loughlin. It was canceled after one season.

7. Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles -- This was an interesting take on the Terminator stories starring Lena Headey, who is in Game of Thrones now. Sarah kicked ass. Cameron, the working-for-the-good-side Terminator kicked ass (and was played by Summer Glau, who also kicked ass in Serenity). In case you can't tell, I like strong female characters who kick butt.

8. New Amsterdam -- Only got 8 episodes before being canceled by FOX. It was about an immortal, 400-year-old NYPD officer who'd been in Manhattan as a Dutch soldier in 1642. Starred Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who is also in Game of Thrones.

9. Invasion -- This alien invasion show only got one season, though it was conceived as having a five-season arc. So, guess what. Yes, viewers were left with lots of questions.

10. Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe -- Atlantis got five seasons, but I still think it could have gone several more. And SGU got the plug pulled after two seasons even though it was getting better all the time. That's the problem now -- shows have to be a hit out of the gate with no room for a slow build, or they get the ax. I don't think shows like The X-Files would be able to make it in today's cut-throat TV world.

11. Men in Trees -- Quirky show set in Alaska. I love stuff set in Alaska with quirky characters (hello, Northern Exposure, I'm talking to you too). I think they killed this one because they resolved the love interest too soon.

So do you agree with any of these? Or are there other shows which you think were canceled too soon? Did they leave you with burning questions? And just how annoyed were you when you found out they'd been canceled?

Favorite Reading Habits

by Tawny

Like most of the Banditas and Bandita Buddies, I'm an avid reader. I adore books. Actually, I adore the written word on anything, from a book to a screen to the back of a box of cereal. I'll read them all.

But, over the years, I've developed some favorites in my reading.

• I prefer light over dark.
• I read more contemporary than historical.
• I like witches better than vampires.
• I love fantasy over SF, especially in YA.
• I lean towards sexy over sweet.
• I'm a fan of suspense, but no blood and gore.
• I'll pick characters over plot every time.

How about you? What are your reading preferences? Do you stick with the tried and true favorites?

And how do you choose which books to read? I have auto-buys that I grab as soon as they hit the bookstore, of course. And I read on recommendations from friends. I used to belong to a couple of the Harlequin book clubs, getting the entire line of Temptation and Duets each month. But I ignore reviews and haven't ever bought a book because of an ad, although I have because of a blog visit here in the Lair if the person was fun and their book sounded intriguing.

Do you have a book buying regime you stick with? How do you choose?

And how about when you read. Do you have to have an open space of time to read the book all the way through, or are you able to stop at the end of a chapter and pick up again later? I'm an addicted reader, so I will skip sleep to finish a book. But that doesn't stop me from starting a story when I know I don't have time, if I'm in the mood to read.

Do you read through? Or take breaks?

Aaaand, last but not least... Want a copy of my latest Blaze, JUST FOR THE NIGHT? I'll draw two names from today's comments to win copies :-)

Hey, Mr. Blogger-Man!

Posted by Jo Robertson

Blogger must've had a melt-down because the wonderful posts of Cassondra and Joanie have been ground up and eaten by the monster!

We apologize to our loyal readers and assure you that Blogger (so they say) is madly working to address the problem.

Check back in an hour or so!

It's been a while and looks like Blogger's in a snit and isn't going to return our posts.

Hey, anyone want to trash Blogger? It's like the little girl who was very very good, but when she was bad she was horrid!

Strawberry Pancakes

by Cassondra Murray

Yes, I'm blogging about food again.

I had a different topic picked out, but I got to thinking about this and couldn't muster any enthusiasm for the other subject. So we'll save that one for another day because I have to tell you about this.

I've been traveling, which is why I've been scarce around the lair, and one of the worst things about travel, for me, is that I tend to eat badly. Not because I want to, but because when I travel and I'm trying to keep on a schedule, quite often I end up at drive- through windows, eating junk.

Chicken McSugarbombs, grease crunchies, and oh, yes, bread. Lots and lots of bread. Bread and more bread. And if it's not overt bread, it's bread pretending to not be bread. None of the stuff in this paragraph is on my diet.

I love good food. It's one of life's most wonderful sensual pleasures.

Don't get me wrong. I eat common food much of the time. Last night we had quickie taco salads made with an off-the-shelf seasoning packet. It wasn't very good, but it was fast and filling.

Right now I'm typing this with a bowl of cereal in front of me. Raisin Bran Crunch to be precise. That's what I'm having for supper.

But I love all kinds of good food, and take great pleasure in it when I can find it. Real Italian pasta sauces. A thick, medium rare steak. Fajitas steaming on a cast iron pan. Fresh gulf shrimp with homemade cocktail sauce. Wonderful sushi. I won't even talk about the wine. That's a whole nuther blog.

And if there's time, almost anywhere I am, I can find good food that actually fits into my diet. One of my favorite things to do in any new place I go is to find where the locals eat, and eat there.

It comes down to being interested in people and cultures I guess. I feel like if I eat the food that is native to a region, and drink their wine or beer (or tea or lemonade if the occasion calls for it), I get to know those people and their culture a little better. I just don't get that from eating in a chain that's the same no matter where you plunk it down.

So a little stage setting here....I flew to Baltimore two weeks ago, where The Duchesse, a.k.a. Jeanne, picked me up at the airport, and from there I proceeded to run like crazy from Thursday until Monday, and although there were a few bright notes, the entire experience can be summed up in three words. Hotel Banquet Food.

Yeah. It was bad.

Good company, fun people, but the food? Blech.

Then we got to Charlotte.

And right here, in front of God and everybody, I will say that in Charlotte, North Carolina, I had some of the best food I've had in ages.

I was there with Jeanne, and fellow Banditas, Donna and Nancy. Nancy knows the area well, and she played tour guide. Between rounds of working on book plots, we went all kinds of interesting places to eat. This was my first visit to Charlotte, if you don't count the inside of the airport, and it's now on my list of top ten food cities.

I have two new favorite places to eat.

Mama Ricotta's is one of the best Italian restaurants I've found. Granted, I don't live in an area where there is a large Italian community, but I love Italian food. I could eat Italian several times a week without getting bored. Bandit Buddy Dianna once took some of us to a great little place in downtown Charleston, WV, and that was pretty high on my list, but Mama Ricotta's is right there with it.

That's a picture, on the left, of the inside of Mama Ricotta's. I tried to hire our server, McGregor, to join the cabana boy staff, but he would not take the bait. Apparently word has gotten around about Ermingarde the dragon.

So if you're passing through Charlotte and have time for dinner, Mama Ricotta's is the place to go.

But for breakfast or brunch, nothing--and I do mean nothing--has ever come close to the strawberry pancakes at The Pancake House. We went there just before we left. I understand that this is a franchise, but I'd never been to one. The service was just okay, but sometimes the food is so good that all else falls away.

Yes, they got the eggs right, but I completely forgot eggs and bacon when they brought the pancakes. Three pancakes piled on a plate, covered with sliced fresh strawberries and real whipped cream. The crowning glory, though, was the syrup. This was no sugar water glaze out of a package. These people took fresh strawberries and pureed them in a blender, poured that liquid magic into a little pitcher and brought it to the table to use as syrup.

I took one bite and about had a heart attack. It was so good I wanted to put my face in it. I was about to, but Jeanne stopped me. Thank goodness, because there were other people around. I finished it all and if I hadn't been there with polite people I would have licked the plate.

I looked at the manager and said, "how do you do this?"

"We grow our own yeast in the back," he said.

I'm now wondering if ordinary, everyday people can grow yeast in a kitchen, and just how much trouble it is to make scratch pancakes the way they do. This is the ultimate pancake.

I am not a food snob by any means. I love trying out the food wherever I am. I like little greasy spoon diners and catfish houses. I've been known to stop for the occasional pecan waffle at Waffle House. I've also been lucky enough to taste fantastic food in New Orleans, and I've had plate-licking experiences in San Francisco. The pizza at Patsy's under the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC is the best pizza I've ever eaten.

But for down-home, can't put the fork down, eat until you pop, all-out yumminess, the strawberry pancakes at The Original Pancake House--at least the one in Charlotte--gets the award.

Y'all have to go there. I'm certain they got the recipe from God, and if they didn't, when I die, Heaven better have a shuttle to Charlotte, NC, because I want those Pancakes every morning. With no calories of course.

Now tell me Bandits and Buddies, what is the best meal you've ever had?

Are there cities you love to visit because of a certain restaurant you love?



What's your favorite kind of food? Chinese? Mexican? Greek? Italian? Sushi?

Have you traveled to other countries? If so, did you like the food?

Do you tend to stick to the tried and true, or you adventurous when it comes to food?

When you eat out at your favorite place, do you always get the same thing, or do you try something new each time?

If you were a roving food reporter, what places would be your top three recommendations?

Have any of you been to The Pancake House in Charlotte?

Is there a Pancake House where you are?

The Lone Warrior Meets his Match--Chatting with Denise Rossetti

Posted by Christine Wells

It's my very great pleasure today to welcome back one of our favourite authors to the lair, the fabulous Denise Rossetti! Denise also happens to be my critique partner, so I'm doubly excited to kidnap--ahem--host her in the lair today.

The latest instalment of Denise's Four-Sided Pentacle series is out now, so make sure you rush to the bookstore (or let your fingers do the ordering*G*) and buy it. Isn't that a fabulous cover? And I can vouch for the fact that the amazing hero, Walker, fulfills the cover's promise.

Walker the Earth Shaman is big, beautiful, utterly deadly and so self-contained that everyone is too afraid of him to get close. Of course, his forbidding aspect hides great pain, and it takes the rather clueless but endearing Mehcredi the hapless assassin to penetrate that profound reserve. This is a hero to die for and a heroine to love. A sexy, romantic fantasy full of adventure and heart.

Now, over to Denise!

Hey there, Banditas and BBs! Thanks for having me over to the lair to talk about The Lone Warrior. Looking forward to a classic Bandits chat, plus I get to play Lady Bountiful and give away a copy to a lucky commenter.

Totally love what you've done to the place, BTW. *blinks* Wow, look at the high gloss on those cabana boys. Tough job, but I guess someone's gotta keep 'em well buffed. *snork* Shame about the pesky chicken. [Christine: He's useful as a duster, though sometimes he makes the cabana boys sneeze]

A recent academic study shows that reading fiction improves social skills. Why is this asked the experts? Well duh, it’s something romance readers have known forever. Reading fiction allows us to experience life as it’s lived in someone else’s head – and the direct immersion increases our empathy and understanding of others. (They measured it.)

And what are romance novels all about, pray tell? Emotions, of course!

I still recall how enthralled I was with Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, even though it’s not a romance. The narrator is a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy and the book is an amazing insight into the interior world of autism. University lecturers make it required reading for education and psychology students. By any standard, it’s a terrific read!

I think this is where the Muse first started mumbling at me about the amazing character who grew up to be Mehcredi in The Lone Warrior (released 3rd May). She may well be the most unusual, and probably the most engaging, heroine I’ve ever written. For a start, she’s an apprentice assassin, though she’s hopeless at it. She’s not actually autistic - I felt I could never understand enough about the reality of the condition to do it justice – but she was abandoned at birth and grew up as a kind of ‘wild child’, bereft of any kind of affection. As a result, she has no concept of relationships, no empathy and therefore no tact! She has tremendous difficulty reading faces, let alone understanding the inflections of speech that allow humans to communicate subtle emotional changes. But despite these handicaps, she retains an essential shining innocence.

Poor Mehcredi, she really should watch Tell Me Lies! Those of you who do will understand my fascination with the science of facial expression. It’s underpinned by a solid body of research and it really works. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies use it.

So who better for Mehcredi’s hero than a man who is so self-contained, so cold and deadly, that everyone holds their breath when he enters the room? Walker, the earth shaman, first appeared in Thief of Light and Mehcredi is the unknown assassin he’s hunting.

Prue shivered. In all the years she’d known Walker, she’d never seen him smile, though he was unfailingly patient with the courtesans he trained in The Garden’s fighting salle. His reserve was so deep a pool of silence surrounded him, his step so quiet it seemed he had no footfall. She had no idea how old he was. Though silver threaded the sable of his hair, he moved with the supple grace of a man in his prime.

If she hadn’t been so wild with rage and terror, she might have pitied the unknown assassin. As it was… Breathing hard, she watched Walker turn without another word and glide through the press of bodies to the door. People made way for him without seeming to realize they did so.

Unfortunately for Walker, Mehcredi has no reserve, no fears, and she boldly walks through his barriers as if they were mist. Poor man! Add in Walker’s pain, his grim desire for vengeance and the machinations of an evil necromancer and there’s enough angst and adventure to stop the heart of an empathizing romance reader. Oh, and I mustn’t forget the rascally dog!

Needless to say, Walker catches up with our hapless assassin…

She opened her mouth to shriek, to plead, but long-fingered hands fastened around her throat. As he slowly increased the pressure, digging painfully into the soft flesh under her jaw, the man smiled, lips pulling back from white teeth. The expression gave him an eerie, chilling beauty. He could have been an avenging angel or a handsome demon. Either way, those elegant brutal hands were the sure instruments of her death.

Her fists flailed, punching. When that failed, she raked at his forearms with her nails, but he didn’t even flinch. Mehcredi knew she was strong, stronger than any woman she’d ever met, but it made no difference. Black spots formed in her vision, her lungs labored and cramped.

“No,” she tried to rasp. “No, please.”

From far off, as if down a long tunnel, came the sound of hysterical barking.

The man thrust his face into hers. “Now you pay,” he snarled as he sent her down into the dark. “Assassin.”

After a start like that, things can only get better surely? *evil cackle*

You can read the whole of the first chapter here -Subscribe to my monthly newsletter for more chances to win, excerpts and sneak peeks.

I’d love to hear about a book that had you really empathizing with the characters. Have you shed tears, laughed with joy, had butterflies in the stomach for them? What was the book and who were the characters whose reality you shared? There’s a signed copy of The Lone Warrior up for grabs!

Prizes!!

We have winners!! YAY and congrats to Artemis who's name was drawn to Virna DePaul's fabulous prize package.

And to BJ, Diane D - Florida and Louisa, who each won a copy of Tawny's release, JUST FOR THE NIGHT.

If you'll email Tawny with your shipping info, we'll get those prizes right out to you - and a big happy thank you to EVERYONE for hanging out with us!!!

Odds and Sods

by Anna Campbell

As most of you know (because so many of you very generously popped over to support me on my blog tour and various other promo efforts - thank you!), I've recently had a book out. MIDNIGHT'S WILD PASSION hit the stands on 26th April and I've been talking to readers all over via interviews, blogs and in person.

One question that often comes up is where do I get my ideas. And I always answer (because it's true) that I get ideas everywhere.

To give you an example, a couple of days ago I was reading the English National Trust magazine - I have a friend who very kindly sends them to me and they're a goldmine of quirky social history - and I came across the sort of thing that might well spark a story idea.

The National Trust has recently bought a wonderful early 18th century (well, I say wonderful but it sounds a bit creepy, frankly!) house in Northumberland in the north of England called Seaton Delaval Hall. It was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh who designed the cold but very impressive Blenheim Palace which formed the inspiration for much of Cranston Abbey in MY RECKLESS SURRENDER. By the way, Vanbrugh combined successful careers as architect and playwright - not a double that immediately comes to mind! He was also a spy and spent time in the Bastille.

Hmm, I can see a blog coming up on him too! See what I mean about ideas being everywhere? Anyway, back to my piece on Seaton Delaval Hall!

When I read about it, Seaton Delaval Hall struck me as an unlucky house. They had a huge fire in 1822 because jackdaws nested in the chimney shafts (bit more dramatic than "I went to bed with the bar heater on," huh?). The family line died out as a series of heirs fell off the perch (for example, the original builder, Admiral Delaval had no living son and his nephew inherited) much like jackdaws in a lit chimney. After the fire, the house wasn't inhabited until the 1980s. There's even a ghost - a white lady who apparently pines for a Delaval heir who couldn't marry her.

Here's a link to the National Trust site for the house: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-seaton-delaval-hall

When I was reading this NT magazine, I came across a fascinating bit of history that really set my synapses firing. In the grounds there's an impressive mausoleum (pictured below) containing the remains of John Seaton who died at the age of twenty. Here's the quote:

"John, the heir of the Seatons, perished in 1775, having been kicked in a vital organ by a laundry maid to whom he was paying addresses. Thus died the last of the Delavals by the foot of a buxom slut. Over the broken remains of so much hope...his father raised a temple."

Oh, dear! Ouch!

Not the way you want your aristocratic line to come to an end (I'd say 'sticky end' but that might be gilding the lily!).

Now these few lines are interesting for a whole stack of reasons.

Did she kick him where we think she did? I suspect she might have!

What happened to the maid? I haven't been able to find out - I hope she wasn't charged although given the power structure of 18th century England, she probably was.

Then there's the very revealing language. Surely calling a lower-class girl defending herself against a predatory sprig of the aristocracy a 'slut' is a bit of a misnomer! Again, a sad indication of the position of women although I love the descriptive detail of 'buxom' - it gives you a vivid picture of her! More power to her left foot!

Was this action the tragic end of a long and loving relationship? Cue chance to put in a very nice picture of Robin Ellis and Angharad Rees in the POLDARK series.

Or was our heroic laundry maid like Verity/Soraya in CLAIMING THE COURTESAN before the start of her career as a courtesan? Preyed upon rather than preying upon?

More importantly, could our feisty washerwoman be the heroine of a romance novel?

You know, I think she's got potential!

Or could our wincing would-be rake be the hero? He'd need to be a bit more robust but I could definitely imagine a bit of sparky dialogue over the washing line if we wrote him as a sexy beast.

Could our laundry maid be a runaway aristocrat? Charis without having enlisted Gideon's help? Grace trying to make a living after they repossessed the farm? The laundry maid isn't that far away from previous heroines I've written and she shares the strength of character which I like to give my girls.

At this stage, I have no intention of writing MY RECKLESS WASHING MACHINE or CLAIMING THE CLOTHES PEGS but you can see how a quirky incident like this sparks ideas that go on to spark other ideas and so on until you've got the basis for a book.

So while I'm digging around looking for inspiration, I'm turning to you! Do you have any quirky bits of family history - hopefully not a randy great-uncle who was done in by one of his squeezes! - that strike you as funny or strange or romantic or scandalous? Any ghosts in the family? Any skeletons? Any feisty laundry maids? Come clean, as they say in the best laundry romances!