Anna Campbell Interviews Bronwyn Jameson

I am delighted to introduce fabulous writer, wonderful person and 2006 TRIPLE RITA finalist Bronwyn Jameson to the lair. In 2000, Bron was the first Aussie bought for Harlequin's Silhouette Desire line and she's been a shining star there ever since, regularly appearing on the Waldenbooks bestseller lists. If you haven't read her romances, you're missing out on a real treat. They're beautifully written, sensual, sexy, passionate and feature breathtaking heroes. What's not to like?

Bron, lovely to have you here. First of all, can we go back to basics? Can you please tell us something about your journey as a writer?

Thanks for inviting me, Anna. It's a pleasure and a privilege. How did I get here? Courtesy of a mid-life crisis of sorts. I was approaching a landmark birthday, and the "I'm going to write a book someday" started to niggle away at me. I thought if I didn't start soon, I might never finish that one book. As with most things I do, I procrastinated for months. I read how-tos, joined Romance Writers of Australia, read and read and read. Luckily I didn't have internet to glom or I might never have started. But I did and I fell in love from day one. Writing romance, where had you been all my life? Five years later I received the call from Leslie Wainger at Silhouette books. I'd never actually submitted anything to Silhouette Desire but fell into the right place courtesy of a contest final.

Your new book VOWS & A VENGEFUL GROOM sounds great, really passionate and dramatic. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

This is the part where I whimper because I'm so BAD at blurbing my own book. You’d best cut me off if I can’t condense it into “a little bit”. VOWS -- my working title was "Perrini's Boardroom Bride" -- is a reunion romance about workplace colleagues, and secret lovers, who married too quickly and for the wrong reasons. Ten years later Ric Perrini and Kimberley Blackstone are reunited after a tragic plane crash sends shock waves through the diamond company where they met. Kim had sworn never to return while her father was alive. Now he's dead and Perrini wants her back, at Blackstone's and in his bed. But can she trust his motives? Does he want her, the woman, or does he want the power she wields as the Blackstone heiress? So, there's passion, drama, intense emotion, a struggle for power in the boardroom, a family feud, and rumours of a scandalous affair that's about to rip this family even further apart.

You've worked on a couple of continuity series for Harlequin where a number of authors come together to write linked books. Can you tell us some of the rewards and challenges of working this way? Can you give us some insight into how you go about creating a continuity series?

This is the fourth continuity series I've worked on and the most challenging by far. The first three were editor-led -- the editors came up with the series concepts and storylines and invited the authors to participate. The editors wrote the series bible.

This series, DIAMONDS DOWN UNDER, is author-led. We came up with the concept, the characters, the storylines, and put together a proposal which Melissa Jeglinski, the Desire senior editor, loved. We wrote the (lengthy) bible, which is the source document to ensure we get all the details right from book to book. It contains character sketches, family tree, backstory, settings, locations, company structure, contents of a will, plane crash logistics, timelines, and detailed synopses of the six stories. In other words, this was a lot of work which makes the reward of finishing a series we’re proud of all the more sweet.

The series sounds fantastic! Can you give us some insight into how you put a book together? Are you a pantser or a plotter? How does your working day pan out?

I am most definitely a plotter. Before I start writing, I've already written a detailed synopsis which I expand into an outline. I spend A LOT of time pre-writing and jotting down scene ideas and snippets of dialogue. When I write it's pretty much a final draft. I'm not saying I write one-time perfect; I edit as I go. I guess my outline with all those snippets and scene ideas incorporated is something of a first draft.

As for my working day: I'm a slow starter. I do email and home stuff first thing while I'm still waking up. I try to start writing mid-morning but often it's more like midday. I work through to dinner. If I have to, I'll do some more at night but usually 6-8 hours is enough to finish my brain off for the day. A glass of wine at dinner completes the job.

You write the most marvelous sensual tension. Honestly, it's edge of the seat (and steaming up windows) stuff. A lot of people who visit the Banditas are writers. Can you give us any hints as to how you build the heat between your couple?

Gosh, thank you. That's just the loveliest compliment coming from you! So, this is the part I don't plan, but I guess it’s a direct result of my own love of the intense, delicious, seething underbelly of sex ten. My best tutors, I think, were historical romance authors who aren't afraid of lush, evocative, sensual language.

It has to be there from first meeting, in the eye contact, the impact of first touch, the snap of dialogue, but in a covert and intriguing way. It's not all T&A. From there it needs to build scene by scene, a function of the pull of primal attraction versus the push of whatever conflict prevents them acting on it. I think the secret is in the build. If you go all-out from the start, where is there to go? Something you do so well, Ms. Campbell.

Why, thank you, Ms. Jameson! Something that's struck me is that Australians seem to do really well internationally in the romance industry. Why do you think this is?

Interesting question. Hmm. think many of us start out independently (not as part of a chapter or critique group) and so we develop a strong voice -- or don't lose our strong voice -- by being told "you can't do this" or "you can't write like that". We're probably a bit fearless in the storylines we tackle, for the same reason. Also, I'm told we do the alpha male particularly well; I'm not sure why that is, but I do know that it stands us in good stead with editors everywhere.

What are you working on now?

A new series for 2009 which starts with an unintentional sister swap, a case of mistaken identity with two brothers, and miscellaneous twists involving identity, which (needless to say) is the overall theme. A large part is set in England and so I get to include a society wedding, a country house party, polo, Bond Street shopping, a weekend in Paris, and all manner of things that I find quintessentially British. Including a titled hero with a delicious James-Bond voice. It's definitely not as intense as my last two books. I'm able to have some fun with these characters and situations. I'm having a ball.

Bron, sounds like the usual delicious romance you dish up to your ever-hungry readers! Particularly love the idea of the James Bond voice. Sort of you had me at hello!

Bron has really reached into her treasure chest and put together a fabulous Aussie prize pack. One lucky commenter will win not only VOWS & A VENGEFUL GROOM, but also THE PRINCE'S OUTBACK BRIDE by Marion Lennox, CONTRACTED: WIFE FOR HIS BED by Carol Marinelli and PINK TIM TAMS!!! Seriously, this is booty worth celebrating. Get commenting, people! Good luck!

Better Late than Never...

by Jeanne Adams

Well, I had a whole other post ready for today and it's gone. Yep. Gone. The cyber-gremlins ate it. Which is why it wasn't posted at midnight like it was supposed to be. Sigh.

But it made me think about what happens when we lose something, whether it's text on the page or an earring, or a friend. Sometimes it's a devastating loss, as with the latter case of losing a friend. Sometimes, that seeming loss opens up a door we would never have known was there if we didn't "lose" the text for that scene from our new book. Recreating it, rewriting it sometimes leads to the invention of a whole new character or a more tension-raising scenario that makes the book SO much better. Suddenly, the book takes on a faster pacing, a new, edgier life, all because we lost half a chapter due to a power blip on the grid.

Hmmmm. So, is it a loss? Or a gain? Going back to that friend thing, I've lost a friend or two, sometimes through my own stupidity or neglect. Thankfully, I've usually been able to make up for my boneheadedness and reclaim the friendship, or at least smooth the water. I've finally learned to not regret it, but to be sure never to do "that" - whatever pushed the friend away - again. Then again, I've also had a time or two when I thought the world was ending because I had lost or upset a friend, only to discover that the "loss" was not only liberating, it was the best thing that had happened to me in years. In one case, it opened up the dialogue within the friendship to allow us to be more ourselves - less what we used to be as girls, more what we were becoming as we grew older.

In another, I quickly came to realize how much the so-called friend had brought me down, emotionally, and how much time I had spent listening to endless complaints which never seemed to have resolutions. I'm not sure that person actually wanted resolution, just a sounding board for griping. Wow. How could I have not seen that?

It took a loss. There's a kid's movie, made by Disney, called Meet the Robinsons. For those of you with older kids, or none at all, you've probably not seen this one. It's smart and funny on several levels. Like most of the Disney movies for the last few years, it has an adult level humor that the kids don't "get" and a kid level humor that isn't too annoying. I mention it, because one of the theme of this movie is to not give up on your dreams, to keep moving forward, refining as you go. As writers, we're called upon to do that all the time, with every critique, with every rejection letter, pretty much every time we sit down to write. At one point, in the Robinsons movie, a secondary character, in talking about failure says to Lewis, the hero, something that sticks out to me every time I see the movie. (BTW, I see this movie a LOT, since my three year old is on a Robinson's kick) Anyway, the Aunt Billie character is trying to boost Lewis's spirits after a particularly spectacular failure. She says, "From failure, you learn. From success? Not so much."

In Ninjitsu, it's said that you learn the most by being "uke" which is the demonstration partner. (The one who gets thrown around.) Ha!

What have you learned from a particularly spectacular failure?

What has failure taught you that you might not have learned any other way? Where has so-called-failure actually been or led to a roaring success? One of today's posters will win a cool Barnes and Noble bookmark and a Starbucks card, so let 'er rip!

The Wonders of Modern Technology

by Anna Sugden

My new mobile phone arrived a few days ago. The one that has a camera, an MP3 player, a video device, internet capability and, almost as an after-thought, the ability to make and receive calls. If only it could iron, vacuum and clean the bathroom.

It got me thinking about modern technology. And reminded me of my time as a teacher when I used to read one of my favourite children’s stories, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, to the class. (They loved it too). To help them understand just what life for Charlie would have been like, I would always spend time talking to them about when the book was written. They couldn’t imagine a time without CD’s and DVD’s, the internet, colour TV and yes, mobile phones. Understandable when it’s all they’ve known in their short lives.

But what about me … although I lived through those ‘ancient times’ (hmm a topic for another blog post perhaps), there are a few things I can’t imagine life without either. So, here are five things I wouldn’t want to be without:

The internet - preferably wireless and broadband. You’re all here, so you get what I’m saying *grin*. Almost instant access to whatever you need to know, see, hear and buy is truly a miracle. Internet shopping saved my sanity over the holidays - no malls, no traffic, no rude people. One of the things I can’t wait to get home to, in the UK, is internet grocery shopping! But, it’s also a great way to communicate. The art of letter-writing may be dead … but I’m not sure that’s a bad thing when you can bash out an email! How else can you converse with friends thousands of miles apart, even on different continents at the click of a mouse? And how else can you check the hockey scores, see pics of your fave players, catch highlights and learn the latest scoop before a game?

My laptop. These days, my handwriting is considerably slower than my typing. I may not be a trained touch-typist, but I can hold my own! Having my own computer that I can tote about with me (did I mention wireless internet access? *grin*), and which has all the tools I need, is perfect. I’d be lost without it. Not just for my writing and surfing, but for all the other programs too; I can play music, watch films, catalogue my books and autographs and play around with photos. Oh, and let’s not forget the adventure games. Wonderland anyone?

My iPod. What’s not to love? With all the innovations Apple has made, this is a dream device. Especially for all the travelling we do. Aside from podcasts and music, I use mine to listen to writing workshops and to catch up on the TV series I’ve missed. Now that you can surf the internet too … I’m in heaven. Is there a theme here?

A microwave. While I do enjoy cooking with a real stove or oven, there are times when convenience is the key … and a microwave is the perfect answer. Whether it’s zapping baked potatoes, a quick defrost of the left-overs I forgot to take out of the freezer or steaming veggies, I wouldn’t like to do without a microwave!

A telephone. At the end of the day, nothing beats speaking to a person. Especially when one of these lovely devices is not doing what it’s supposed to!

The next item of modern technology on my ‘to buy’ list is Tivo. Most of the shows I like to watch are on too late or clash with other things.

One modern device I doubt I will ever get is an e-reader. I love books … just as they are!

So, what are you favourite modern devices? What’s on your to-buy list? And which device are you unlikely to use?

Take the Pulse of Romance ... with Medical Romance's Newest Star!!

by Anna Sugden

I’m thrilled to welcome one of my dearest friends, the super-talented, award-winning author Janice Lynn.

For as long as she can remember, Janice Lynn has dreamed of writing romance novels for Harlequin. Unfortunately, she didn't start pursuing that dream until 2002 when she penned her first novel since high school. A 2003 Golden Heart finalist, Janice's work has won numerous contests including the very first American Title, run by Romantic Times. JANE MILLIONAIRE was published by Dorchester in 2005. In 2006, Janice achieved her dream when she sold her first medical romance to Harlequin.

A nurse practitioner, Janice lives in Tennesse with her husband, their four children, their Jack Russell - appropriately named Trouble - and a lot of unnamed dust bunnies that have moved in since she started her writing career. She keeps her muse happy with lots of Matthew McConnaughey photos.

For more information, check out Janice's website and blog:
http://www.janicelynn.net/

http://www.janicelynn.blogspot.com/

Welcome, Janice.

What an awesome intro! Thanks, Anna. Very glad to be here.

Many people will remember you as the first American title winner, with your fabulous book JANE MILLIONAIRE. Can you tell us how that contest changed your life and what you learned from it?

Do you have all day? No? Okay, I’ll be brief. The American Title contest was an amazing journey to publication that was filled with a lot of ups and downs. From the moment I found out Jane had been chosen as one of the ten finalists, my life got sucked into a big whirlwind that was filled with a lot of fingernail biting, developing ulcers, and pulling out my hair.

Fortunately, meeting the other finalists, getting to know the fabulous folks from Romantic Times magazine, learning how wonderful and loving my friends really are (they actually still talked to me after the contest and months of begging them to vote, along with all their family and friends, of course. ;) ), doing multiple media stints, and seeing the pride and excitement in my children’s eyes when they’d heard I’d advanced another round, made it all worthwhile. That, and the publishing contract that came along with the win.

The one thing I’d say the contest taught me most though is to push myself one step further than I thought I could go. I stuck with it, gave it my best, got a LOT of help from friends, and in the end all the hard work paid off.

Your latest book, THE DOCTOR’S PREGNANCY BOMBSHELL is a Medical Romance. What made you decide to switch to writing medicals?

I submitted a Modern Extra to the London office. The editor didn’t purchase the book, but said she really liked my voice, and oh by the way had I ever considered writing medicals? I hadn’t for the simple reason I was afraid it would be too much like my real life and I wouldn’t enjoy it. I work as a nurse practitioner and use writing as my stress relief. I had visions of my stress reliever becoming part of my stress. But I decided to give it a try, wrote a proposal, sent it to her, she asked for a full, then revisions, and unbelievably bought that book and my next one in a two book deal.

Although I love the fun, quirky books like Jane Millionaire I have enjoyed writing Medicals as well. It’s kind of nice to have the power to actually make patients get well and to give happily-ever-afters.

Can you tell us a bit about THE DOCTOR'S PREGNANCY BOMBSHELL?

Without really meaning to, I poured a lot of my heart--a lot of me--into the first book. Nothing literally, but I have a lot of me buried in the layers. Early on in my career, I really struggled with knowing that it’s okay to have a life of my own and at times felt guilty for being happy when so many around me were sick, miserable, or dying. Medicine/caring for people can be very soul-consuming.

THE DOCTOR'S PREGNANCY BOMBSHELL is about a doctor who struggles to find balance in her life. She’s torn between the patients who need her and the man who loves her. My hero feels neglected because of the heroine’s commitment to her career. He plans to jar her into realizing how she always puts him last in her life. Only his plan backfires when she tells him she’s pregnant. He’s a tortured soul who feels responsible for the death of an infant and after which decided he never wanted kids. Together they learn the true meaning of love and the sacrifices/compromises that go along with the emotion.

I actually cry every time I read this book. Bawled like Joan Wilder while writing one particular scene. It’s an emotional read—at least, I think so. There is a bit of humor laced in, but overall, TDPB is a very different kind of book from Jane Millionaire. Much more intense, deeper characters, more serious conflicts/settings.

I know a number of our visitors will be keen to get their hands on a copy of THE DOCTOR’S PREGNANCY BOMBSHELL, but it isn’t available at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. (though you can get copies from Amazon.co.uk) If they don’t manage to snag one of your prizes, how can they purchase it?

eHarlequin.com is the easiest place to purchase a copy in the US. It’s actually on sale right now. Yea!!! Janice's book on eharlequin.com

Your first Medical Romance sold out in the UK - Congratulations!!! Can you tell us about your next books and when they will be available?

I’m in love with the hero from my second Medical Romance, THE HEART SURGEON'S SECRET SON. He’s a dedicated 35 year old heart surgeon, who is developing a new pacemaker—exciting, I know. My heroine works for the company who is going to market the pacemaker and has to spend time training with him in the OR. A really cool thing about this book is that my hero has blond hair on the cover and apparently that is a rarity! His name is Daniel and in my mind I saw Daniel Craig—yes, that *might* be why I adore him. The guy on the cover is a bit too young, but he is blond!

The heroine is loosely named after a dear friend. She has a thing for “Dr. Travis” from ABC’s The Bachelor from a couple of years ago. Did I mention that Daniel’s last name is…drum roll please…Travis, making him “Dr. Travis”. That’s a secret first revealed here, btw.

You mention that you used Daniel Craig as a model for Daniel Travis. Is that how you come up with your characters - by basing them on a star?

Normally a character comes to mind in my head and I see him clearly without using photos or the such of stars. In Jane Millionaire, I used Benjamin Bratt as a loose basis for Rob. In others, I've used Goran V and Jude Law. Considering I’ve written 20 books, that works out to about a quarter of them being connected to a star in some way.

For those who don’t know you, tell us about your Matthew obsession!

Matthew? Matthew who???? Okay, I confess. Despite my infatuation with Daniel Craig and David Beckham, I am madly in love with Matthew McConaughey and were I not happily married, I’d be plotting ways to sign my checks as Mrs. McConaughey. Unfortunately, his taste tends to run to gorgeous, dark, exotic foreigners—Anna, I think you have a better chance with him than I do.

I fell for Matthew in A TIME TO KILL, the John Grisham thriller. He gave a powerful performance in that movie and I was hooked. By the time he did HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS, I was a total goner. That is my all time favourite movie. He and Kate Hudson rocked. I hope their new movie captures that same great chemistry.

My husband is very tolerant of my Matthew obsession. For some reason, he isn’t too worried about Matthew actually showing up on our doorstep to whisk me away. Pity.

And, yes, I am very aware of the fact there is no hero based on my darling Matthew. Honestly, I’ve not come up with a story big enough. When I do, there will most definitely be a Matthew book. I’ve been teased that when I write that one it’ll be my all time best seller.

So, Janice - if Matthew showed up on your doorstep, what would you say to him?

I'd just ask him to play doctor with me!

Over to the rest of you, if the hunk/hotty of your dreams (no husbands/wives allowed) appeared on your doorstep, what would you say to him/her?

Three lucky visitors can win prizes!! Janice is giving away a copy of JANE MILLIONAIRE, THE DOCTOR'S PREGNANCY BOMBSHELL and THE HEART SURGEON'S SECRET SON.

I Love Paris... But Why?

posted by Aunty Cindy

Have you ever visited a place, and quite inexplicably you just loved it? I don't mean like Disney World, or the Indy 500, or even the county fair. Of course you LOVE those, but that's why you went there. I'm talking about an affinity for a place, usually a city, that's like a strong sense of connection.

A feeling of belonging.

A bond.

I've heard this phenomena referred to as "genetic memory." Something in ye olde DNA is sparked somehow. Now much as I like this theory, I can't quite buy it. At least not in my case, but I'll explain why in a moment.

The first time I ever got this feeling was in my late teens, and it was my very first visit to San Francisco. Chalk it up to youthful enthusiasm, but The City By The Bay remains one of my favorite places in the world. The only other American city I've felt so strongly attracted to was New York City. And I have yet to connect like this with any place in Asia. But Europe is that WHOLE NOTHER STORY...

The first time I went to Italy, I had about a dozen people tell me how much I was going to love Florence! In short, I didn't. However, the minute I walked out of the Termini train station in Rome...Badda Bing, Badda BOOM! Love at first sight! And every time I've set foot in Rome since, I've had the SAME FEELING! So much for that genetic memory theory, because as far as I know, I don't have one drop of Italian blood in me. And no other place in Italy has affected me that strongly.

So far, the only other city that has stirred this unconditional love-fest in me is Paris. This is doubly strange because not only am I not even a miniscule bit French, but I was prepared to NOT like the place. Let's face it, Parisiennes are not known for their friendly hospitality, and that first visit for me was a month after Princess Diana died there. My head was not in a 'good place' about The City of Light, but it didn't matter. Paris instantly stole my heart!

Now I'm about to see if that love is true. This time next week, your old Aunty will be jetting off to see London and Paris for a few days. I'll let you know if I still LOVE PARIS!

Have you ever felt that instant attraction to a city or place? Please TELL us all about it! Also, since Aunty hasn't been to London in over 20 years, pretend you are stowing away in my luggage. What do you recommend we not miss in good old London town?

A Bit More Bandita Booty

The winner of the autographed copy of Sara Reinke's "Dark Thirst" is crystalgb!!

Congratulations! Crystal, please send your snail mail address to saraATsarareinkeDOTcom

Fantasies

By Kirsten Scott

My dear readers, I invite you to light some candles, pour a hot bubble bath, grab a spoon and a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and cuddle up with your favorite semi-automatic weapon. (Okay, that last bit was for p226.) Ready? Comfy? Now, I want you to tell me your fantasies.

No, not THOSE fantasies. Goodness, this is a family blog, you know! I mean, those fantasies are important, and they are a crucial part of our genre. But I'm looking for something a little...er...cleaner.

I want to know your favorite romance novel fantasy.

The way I see it, we romance writers are trying to do one thing, and do it well--create a fantasy world into which our readers are longing to dive. We have a few basic elements that stay pretty static. We've got goregous men, strong, independent heroines, and true love.

The rest is really up to you.

We know some of our readers' fantasies. There's the heroine who gets kidnapped by pirates fantasy, the ever-popular Cinderella fantasy, and the ugly duckling who turns into a swan fantasy. My favorite fantasies involve kick-ass heroines who are themselves pirates, bounty hunters, and spies. We write variations on these themes, but the fantasy is the same.

This isn't just true in romance. All genres have their fantasies. I write young adult novels as well as adult romance, and I think it's remarkable how many young adult books center around the same fantasy: the orphaned child who turns out to be the chosen one. Think about it. How many books have you read and loved with this basic theme?

I don't have much stomach for horror and mystery, but I'm sure there's a common fantasy there as well. How about the hard-on-his-luck detective who solves the crime that has eluded all others? I've been seeing a new fantasy lately emerge on tv shows where the nerdy guy becomes an action hero. That's a great one.

We all need fantasies. We need somewhere for our imagination to go when our mundane worlds of desk jobs, cubicles, baby food, diapers, and traffic get to us. We need to go back to our childhoods, when we really believed we might turn out to be the adopted child who was destined to save the world, or the princess in disguise, or the kid who solved the crime.

So tell me...what's your favorite fantasy? Is there a romance novel you can't pass up? The bluestocking who captures the rake's heart? The best friends who realize they've been in love all their lives? The kidnapped woman given to a madman who turns out not to be mad at all but a damn good lover? :-) Tell me your fantasies, gentle readers, and maybe they'll end up in my next book!

Linda and Jean's Bandita Booty!

Congratulations to Jennifer Y and Maureen who each won a copy of The Valentine Gift during Linda and Jean's visit. Please sendyour snail mail details to anna@annacampbell.info and I'll contact Linda and Jean about getting your books to you. Thanks to everyone for a fantastic day of blogging!

Kensington Author Sara Reinke

by Joan Kayse

Sara Reinke lives with her husband and children in Kentucky. When she's not writing books or dreaming up strange new worlds in her mind, she's dutifully employed as a travel writer and editor. She's a proud member of Louisville Romance Writers chapter of Romance Writers of America as well as the Wild & Wicked Authors and Dark Muse Society. A rabid fan of actor Orlando Bloom, she can also link herself to Kevin Bacon in six degrees or less.

Sara, welcome to the Romance Bandits!

Thanks, Joan. It's a pleasure to be here!

Congratulations on your first paranormal book. Tell us about “Dark Thirst”

"Dark Thirst" is the first in a new series from Kensington's Zebra imprint, about Brandon Noble, one of an ancient clan of ruthless vampires known as the Brethren. Horrified by his birthright, Brandon shuns the ritual of the first kill, earning his family's lasting wrath. When he finds love with a human named Angelina -- forbidden among the Brethren -- his fate is sealed. Can Brandon protect Angelina from his enemies -- and his own dark thirst?

"Dark Thirst" is unique in its approach to the vampire world. Where did you find your inspiration?

I found inspiration from different places at different points in my life. The idea for the story has been in my head for a long time, probably more than 10 years. When I was growing up in Frankfort, I can remember seeing the enormous Thoroughbred horse farms lining either side of US 60 on the way to Lexington. I always wondered about who lived there, what kind of lives they led, because it occurred to me that someone could theoretically hide away from the rest of the world there, tucked back among the bluegrass fields. So that's where the original idea of the Brethren as a race evolved from; that speculation in my youth.

As far as the Brethren themselves, I wanted to approach vampirism from a logical perspective, so to speak. I wanted to find a way to make vampires seem plausible, their existence actually possible, and not just something fun or entertaining in a story. Presenting them as "undead," unable to walk in sunlight, warded off by garlic and all of that makes for creepy fun as far as fiction goes, maybe, but I thought there could be a different way, a more reasoned way to present them. Call it my inner Scully compromising with my inner Mulder, a la "The X-Files," I guess, LOL. I like writing paranormal, but I like the challenge of finding some plausible basis in reality for the stories, something that makes them more real. Making the Brethren more akin to a wolf pack was my solution. To me, the Brethren are like wolves, and humans are like dogs -- we're similar in many key ways, but intrinsically different in others as well.

Your heroes face some physical challenges. Was it difficult to get into their POV? What as been the readers reactions?

Brandon is deaf and mute, and from even the most primitive incarnations of this story in my mind, he's been that way, so I don't know that it was necessarily a challenge to write him, or difficult to get into his head-space, so to speak. I don't know why exactly I decided to make him deaf, but I like the paradox that he doesn't consider this to be a disability to him as much as being a vampire is. I wanted Brandon to be an underdog, but someone with the courage, determination and strength of character to stand up for himself and those he loves when the time was right.

Readers have really embraced Brandon. While he's definitely not your stereotypical alpha-male hero, he's also definitely not a wimp. He's young and sort of naive about the world beyond the safe perimeter of the Brethren farms, where he's spent his entire life, but he's also trained in martial arts and capable of handling himself. I certainly fell in love with him while writing the book. I always figure if I can't fall in love with my hero, I can't expect my readers too, either.

What’s next?

I just wrapped up "Dark Hunger," the sequel to "Dark Thirst," which will hit bookstore shelves in July, 2008. Now I need to get cracking on revisions for another project, a paranormal romance called "Resurrection," so my agent can begin marketing it. Somewhere in there, I try to fit in eating, sleeping and picking Play-Do out of my hair after playing with my toddler.

What one piece of writing advice can you give to our aspiring authors?

Never give up, no matter how discouraged you may become. While it's true that it takes talent to elevate your work to the top of a slush pile, from there, it's all a matter of luck -- of getting the right manuscript in front of the right person at just the right moment. And you'll never do that if you let rejections get to you, if you give up. Set realistic goals for yourself and your writing career and work hard to attain them. Never stop learning how to improve your craft. Above all else, have fun. Write what you love and love what you write and eventually, everything else will fall into place.

Thank you, Sara for joining us in the lair. Now I'd like to ask our readers what they like best about vampire romances? Sara is giving away a signed copy of "Dark Thirst" to one of our lucky readers.

Bandit Booty

The winner of a copy of Double Dare and Does She Dare is...

Flchen1! Congratulations!! Please send me an email at bethandrews91@gmail.com (that's bethandrews91 AT gmail DOT com) with your mailing information.

And thanks to everyone who commented about dares *g*

The Valentine Gift

Last year (seems strange to be saying that!), I did my first literacy signing at RWA Nationals in Dallas. I was nervous and excited, as you can imagine, but I ended up having a whale of a time. Part of that whale of a time was because I sat next to another debut author, Linda Cardillo, whose photo is at the head of this blog. Linda's first book, Dancing on Sunday Afternoons, had just come out from Harlequin Everlasting Love. I've since read her book and she's an amazing writer, emotive, sincere, passionate. During our long evening together, I talked about inviting Linda to blog on the Banditas. I'm now delighted to introduce her to Banditas and friends. And as an extra bonus, she's brought along her friend Jean Brashear. Linda and Jean are contributors to a new Harlequin SuperRomance anthology The Valentine Gift which is out now.

Can you tell us a little bit about your stories in your new anthology The Valentine Gift? Are the stories linked? Did you have to collaborate on elements of the stories?

LINDA: Several years ago, my fingers wrinkled and numb from several hours of harvesting grapes on a rain-soaked hillside overlooking the Rhine river, I said to myself, “Someday I’ll write about this and it will all seem worth my aching, cold bones.” I had readily agreed to help a friend bring in her harvest my first autumn living in Germany, grateful for the assistance she’d offered me as a new arrival. It turned out to be much more than I had anticipated—physically exhausting but a challenging and exhilarating adventure. The Berlin Wall fell the following year, and I got caught up in what it meant for the people of both Eastern and Western Europe. When my editor at Harlequin called to invite me to participate in The Valentine Gift anthology, it seemed the perfect experience from which to craft “The Hand That Gives the Rose,” a love story set in a vineyard and challenged by duty, geography and political upheaval.

The stories in the anthology are linked simply by the element of Valentine’s Day. We didn’t collaborate, and I found it fascinating how each of us wove the meaning of a Valentine’s gift into our stories in such diverse ways.

We all love to hear about a writer's development. Could you please give us some background of your individual writing journeys and your path to publication?

LINDA: I have been making up stories since I could speak, it seems. I was one of those firstborn children who had an imaginary friend to entertain me when all around me were only boring adults. I began to write seriously in high school and was inspired and nurtured in college by one of my English professors. In my adult life, I filled notebooks with ideas as I made a living, first as an editor of college textbooks (psychology, engineering!! and history), then as an author of business texts in marketing and corporate policy. I took workshops and courses in creative writing, and after a few years, began teaching those workshops. Throughout this “apprenticeship” I continued to write and hold onto the goal of one day publishing fiction. I finished my first novel, Dancing on Sunday Afternoons, in the spring of 2000. I developed a very thick skin and an unwillingness to be defeated by “No” over the four years and twenty-five rejections it took me to find an agent who believed in me and loved my work. It took her another year and twenty-two rejections to find an editor who wanted to publish my book. I had once read that the difference between published and unpublished writers is persistence, and I stubbornly refused to give up.

JEAN: I was never one of those writers who knew from childhood that she wanted to be one. I was sorta in the slow class when it came to figuring out what I wanted to be when I grew up. ;-) I've always been an avid reader--okay, book junkie. It wasn't until my youngest was about to graduate from high school and my beloved and I were having one of those "so what do we do with the rest of our lives?" conversations that I made a casual remark about how amazing it would be to see my name on the spine of a book...and, bless him, he challenged me to go for it. Went way beyond that, really, to be my staunchest advocate to this day.

Why do you write romance?

LINDA: I think I fell in love with romance as a teenager buried under the covers with a flashlight reading Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. I’m a sucker for darkly troubled heroes who are healed by the steadfast love of strong, spirited women—like Tomas and Marielle in “The Hand That Gives the Rose.”

JEAN: With the above statement about the man I've been married to since I was twenty-one, need I say more?

What's coming up next for each of you?

LINDA: I am about to complete another Everlasting Love novel, set in Boston’s Little Italy, the North End, and narrated by three women for whom food is love, change, defiance and salvation. After that, I’ll be working on another novella for a Mother’s Day anthology.

JEAN: An Everlasting Love full-length novel, The Way Home, in July, then two NASCAR projects in November, a novella in the Harlequin NASCAR Christmas '08 anthology (A Family for Christmas) and a book in the 2008 NASCAR continuity, Secrets and Legends. My book is called Go With the Flow. (And how I got involved with NASCAR is a whole other story!)

What would be your ideal Valentine gift and why?

LINDA: The gifts I cherish the most from my husband are the words written in his own hand expressing his feelings for me and his appreciation for our life together. These gifts fill my soul.

JEAN: I don't need diamonds or chocolate or roses--what I treasure is time away from the world with the man I love.

Lovely answers, Jean and Linda. And Happy New Year to you both. Linda and Jean have generously donated TWO signed copies of The Valentine Gift to lucky commenters. So tell us, the Banditas want to know, what would be your ideal Valentine Gift?

And the Western Historical Winners Are . . .

Jennifer y, congratulations! You've won an autographed copy of Stacey Kayne's new release MAVERICK WILD.

Hrdwrkmom, aka, Dianna, you've also won -- an autographed copy of BRIDE OF SHADOW CANYON.

Please email Stacey at stacey at staceykayne dot com with your snail addies.

Thanks, everyone, for participating in Stacey's interview in the Lair!

Resolved: Get Organized

by Susan Seyfarth

My first blog of the new year & I forgot it. Or spaced it. Or just wrote it wrong on my calendar. Who knows? I sure don't. If I were more organized, however, it might be a different story. Unfortunately, being organized does not crack my top ten list of things that must be resolved for this new year. Frankly, it does not crack the top five.

Oh come on. Let's be honest. I don't have five resolutions. I can't even keep track of three. I have two. Two little things that, if I can manage them, will satisfy my puny little will for self-improvement. And here, with all the appropriate fanfare, there are.

1. I will write twenty pages per week.

That's four pages a day, five days a week. I try to write every day while my kids are ostensibly sleeping and/or observing quiet (HA!) time. Whether or not this hallowed time occurs on any given day is not necessarily under my control, which is why I'm going for the weekly rather than a daily page count. This gives me evenings & weekends for make up. It's a humane schedule, & one that will put me on track to finish a 400 page book by June. Assuming my weekly pages are more or less salvagable, this will allow me to pitch a new book at the RWA conference in July.

Doubtful, but hey, a goal's a goal, right?

2. I will have a date with my husband at least once a month.

This involves lining up a babysitter & convincing my skeptical 1 year old that the world will not come to a shattering end should I occasionally absent myself from the bedtime routine. It's a hard sell, but one I'm willing to make. We spent Christmas with my husband's family, & they (wonderful, fabulous people) took it upon themselves not once but twice to deal with said 1 year old's convictions that armageddeon was upon us so my husband & I could go out to a matinee one afternoon & out to dinner one evening.

It was revolutionary. We spoke like adults. We cut only the food on our own plates & stayed seated during an entire meal. We had wine. I curled my hair & wore a dress that I absolutely couldn't nurse in. I looked great, & he appreciated it. And I appreciated that he appreciated it. I'd almost forgotten we could do that. And now I'm addicted. So if anybody knows a good babbysitter in the upper Midwest, give me a shout. I'd like that number.

So how about you? Any new year's resolutions out there you want to go on record with? Or do you hate resolutions & refuse to make them on principle? What was the best one you ever made? The worst? Let's share!

Interview with Author Stacey Kayne

by Jo Robertson

Hi, readers and fellow Bandidas, give a big, warm Bandit Lair welcome to our guest Stacey Kayne, four-time Golden Heart finalist and author of amazing western historicals. Her debut novel Mustang Wild - which currently is a contender for Best Western Romance of 2007 at Love Western Romance - sold to Harlequin Historical in July 2006, followed shortly by Bride of Shadow Canyon. Stacey resides on two blogs; you can catch her on Petticoats & Pistols, a western blog, and Writers At Play.

Stacey is a fellow chapter mate of mine, and for those who don’t know her, she’s one of the kindest, most generous persons you’ll ever meet. Learn more about her at www.staceykayne.com.

Stacey, thanks so much for joining us in the Lair!

Happy New Year’s, All! Thank you Jo and Banditas for inviting me over. Wishing y’all a wildly fun and successful 2008!! The release of Maverick Wild is a fun way to start the New Year. With any luck, I’ll see the completion of my Wild Trilogy by the end of '08.

Stacey, we love call stories here in the Bandit Lair. Would you mind sharing yours with us?

It comes when you least expect it. It was two days before I had to board a plane to RWA National in 2006…and I was at an all-time low. I had promised my hubby I wouldn’t attend National unless I’d sold a book – I hadn’t, but I was a double Golden Heart finalist — I HAD to go.

Guilt was running high and funds were running low as I slogged out of bed and dropped into the chair in front of my computer. I hit my email and thought to myself, “You are such a pathetic loser.” And then I saw it. The subject MUSTANG WILD, the sender a Harlequin editor I’d sent two westerns to just a few weeks before.

(A friend/contest-rival of mine, Lyn Randal, had just sold to Harlequin Historical and mentioned to her editor that she had a friend who wrote westerns. Her editor asked if she could look at them, and I thought, "Why not?" They weren’t doing anything but gathering dust. I hadn’t looked at the files in nearly two years — I didn’t even open them, I just attached them to the email and hit send.)

My next thought on this suddenly-eventful morning was, "No way!" I read the first line. "We’re interested in MUSTANG WILD and have contacted your agent. We would like to discuss this with you before you leave for National…." I ran down the hall, glanced at my hubby who’d just poured his morning coffee and shouted, "Holy shit!" Then I turned and ran back to the computer with him chasing after me shouting, "Holy shit, what?"

LOL. Sounds like the kind of language and excitement that run amok in the Lair!

I emailed back that I was home and awake, pulled the phone cord from my computer and my phone rang — that fast! I answered and heard the words I’d waited nearly five years to hear while my hubby sniffled behind me. Of course he wasn’t crying *wink, wink*.

Packing my suitcase was a lot more fun after that phone call and National was a blast. A couple weeks later I sold Bride of Shadow Canyon.

Oh my gosh, Stacey, chills run down my spine just hearing your call story. I remember how ecstatic you were at National that year! And it just keeps getting better! You’ve sold the second books in each of the above-mentioned western series. Tell us about Maverick Wild, just released, and The Gunslinger's Untamed Bride, due July 2008.

Maverick Wild is the second book in my WILD Trilogy and is out TODAY! YAY!!! It’s been two years since the Morgans arrived in Wyoming, and Chance Morgan, Tucker Morgan's straight-faced twin brother, is our hero this time around. Chance is doing all he can to avoid the snares of marriage-minded women looking to capture a husband.

When a woman from his past arrives at his ranch, his resolve to stay single is weakened. Cora Mae Tindale owns a foothold into the emotions he’s kept under tight rein for most his life. A distracting array of curls and curves, she hardly resembles the mischievous spitfire from his youth, but her eyes hold the shadows of a painful past, and a passion she struggles to conceal. When Chance gives in to his own desires, he discovers something he’s never faced—she doesn’t want him.

Cora Mae’s indifference entices Chance in a way blatant flirtation never could. He yearns to discover the truth she hides, and as their pasts catch up to them, rekindled love becomes their greatest protection.

Sounds great! There's nothing like an alpha-male turned on his ear to pique my interest!

The Gunslinger's Untamed Bride, second in my BRIDE series, will be out in July, and features the young gunfighter adopted by Jed and Rachell at the end of Bride Of Shadow Canyon. I’m really excited about this book — it was a blast to write. The plot and characters were conducive to the amount of action I like to experience in a western.

Juniper Barns has grown into a hunky man who’s having a hard time shedding the violence of his past. She vows to kill him....he'll risk everything protect her!

Lily Carrington sees the name of an infamous killer on the payroll of her new lumber company and leaves her cushy San Francisco office to journey into the untamed wilderness and avenge her father’s death. Unprepared for the turmoil of a lumber camp torn apart by financial strain, Lily finds herself at the mercy of lumberjacks willing to do anything to get their pay. A handsome stranger determined to keep the peace becomes her sole protector—the very man she’s sworn to kill.

Juniper Barns has sought out a secluded life to escape the ghosts of his past, men seeking revenge for those he'd killed during his youth as a gunfighter. Realizing his new pretty boss has come with vengeful intentions, Juniper knows his troubles have just begun. As they work together to bring the lumber camp under control, their mutual desire becomes a new threat.

Can they overcome a past built on vengeance to find love in their future?

I hear you have some exciting news about a four-book contract! Give us the 411 on that.

I dropped into bed after finishing GUNSLINGER, relieved to finally be deadline free for the first time in over a year. I figured I'd take a little break before working up any new western proposals...sometime before Christmas maybe...*g* Well, I woke up six hours later to a message from my agent - my editors at Harlequin sent us an offer for FOUR more westerns — no proposals or anything =:-O I was stunned, and excited to say the least. After some pleasant negotiations and working out deadlines that didn't give me chest pain *g*, we accepted the offer :)

The first of the four will be the third book in my Wild series, where Garret Daines gets his shot at love — during the Wyoming blizzard of 1886. I’ll be taking part in a Spring Bride Anthology with Jillian Hart and Judith Stacy, due out in June ’09 — and two more full-length westerns will fall somewhere in between.

You’re the mother of two teenaged boys, which is a huge challenge all by itself. How do you manage such a prolific writing career with parenting teenagers?

I rely on my laptop and spend a lot of time writing in my truck. We live nearly ten miles from town, so once I leave my casa, it’s not time or gas effective to go home until all activities are done. Every weekday from 2:30 – 5:30 I’m sitting in the parking lot of the school or the tutor, writing on my laptop. Over the summer my boys had drum camp and water polo practice, and the heat drove me to the local library, where I searched out a quiet corner to keep cool and pump out pages in between events ;-) .

The great thing about having teens is they can work a microwave, dig through the laundry pile and be understanding when mom needs to get caught up on her page count after driving them to and fro.

The Banditas were just talking about keeping risqué clench covers away from inquiring young eyes and minds. What do your boys think of your writing? Do they read your books? Do you get teased by their friends?

When a new cover comes in, it’s quite the excitement in my house. It usually starts with a squeal when I see the attachment in the inbox and the family gathers round to watch my dial-up deliver the jpeg in tiny increments. My boys (hubby included) prefer the cowgirl on MUSTANG WILD over the cowboy on MAVERICK WILD.

My hubby’s first comment about MAVERICK was, "Hey, they forgot to button his shirt!" My fourteen year old said, "What’s that guy going to do, challenge a cowboy to a posing contest?" Me, I just grinned *g*. The men in my life are very supportive of my writing.

I don’t allow my sons to read my books because of the love scenes, but they tell me quite a few of their junior high friends have read their parents’ copies, certain chapters at any rate — which embarrassed me, but surprisingly made my boys all the more proud. I’ve had young readers attend my book signing with their parents who’ve told me all of them are reading my series — and that’s pretty neat. Considering I was nearly thirty when I read my first romance, I still blush.

You also write romantic suspense, which was a surprise to me. That’s a genre near to my heart. Tell us about your romantic suspense books. I know you believe in stock-piling completed manuscripts. Are those books part of your stockpile LOL?

I do have a few contemporary manuscripts in my stockpile. You can’t fight the market. That’s just fact. The 2002 RWA conference was my first, and the big buzz around conference that year was WESTERNS ARE DEAD. Not exactly what a budding western writer wants to hear. But I stuck to my guns, finished a few more westerns--had a few bites from editors. After two years of NEARLY selling westerns my agent told me I had two options…wait out the market or try something new. I’m not so good at the waiting thing, so I decided to try my hand at a contemporary western with a splash of suspense—before I knew it I had another pile of manuscripts and contests wins.

My RS manuscripts have been waiting patiently on the backburner while I settle into my western digs, and hopefully will find their own home in the next year or so. Trying to keep it fresh, I’m currently working on a hit man series, which I’m anxious to get in front of editors.

Which did you start writing first – romantic suspense or western historicals – and why did you become so prolific with the westerns? How much research do you do for them?

I started with western historicals. I finished my first western the day before the 2002 Golden Heart deadline, dropped a hundred bucks to overnight Bride Of Shadow Canyon to RWA, then mailed it to an agent, who signed me three weeks later. Characters are always talking to me, and I was in the midst of writing two more westerns when, to my sheer astonishment, BRIDE finaled in the Golden Heart. I wrote five westerns before I made the jump to Contemporaries in 2004.

I love researching a new historical. I have a fetish for old maps and love reading pioneer journals and pouring over history books. My first few westerns started with old maps and plotting a course I wanted my characters to take, and then I figured out the catalyst for getting them from point A to point B and all the calamity they’d find along the way.

While writing Bride Of Shadow Canyon I was taking American History night classes, which helped to fuel the backstory of my characters. My personal library is now bursting with books and encyclopedias on the old west, Native Americans, railroads, horses, logging camps, western slang, trade and trappers, cooking and housekeeping in the 1800’s—lots of interesting tidbits!

I know you’re something of a contest diva (in the Lair, we usually say Contest Ho). Tell us how you’ve run the contest gamut and your feelings about contests.

*LOL* Uh, yeah. I’ve entered a few contests. *g* For me, contesting was a wonderful motivator to keep plugging on, to start the next book and make those next contest deadlines. I also met some of my very best friends on the contest circuit. Writers At Play is a new blog founded by all my partners in crime (including a few Banditas), a group of unpublished contest divas who banded together to make the journey to publication a lot more fun!

When I decided to write a book, it wasn’t about craft or a love of words or writing (I’d never written anything beyond a term paper) or even being a reader (I’d read two romance novels ever) — I was a mother of two boys who’d just started school and I was looking for a job.

A daydream spawned in an American History night class during a documentary on Sitting Bull was the start of my first manuscript — it’s where Jed Doulan was born *g*. When I sat down at my computer that night, the characters just poured out of me and I had a hundred pages by sunup. But I didn’t know what to do with it. I tend to be a tad obsessive compulsive, and over the next month or so I read about 200 romance novels. I weeded out my favorite authors and tried to figure out their rhythm between prose and dialogue.

A few months later I figured I needed to test the waters, to see if I really had a shot at writing, because if not, I’d have to keep my daydreams in my head instead of on paper and put all my focus on getting my teaching credentials. An Internet search yielded writing contests, and I entered the first chapters of two different stories (I write in pairs; a quirk of having a short attention span *g*). I entered them in three contests. I didn’t final, but I ranked in the top ten, and for me that was huge - it gave me some validation that as a total beginner who didn’t know her GMC from her POV, I had promise.

I pored over those pages with every ounce of standard formatting information I could gather, finished the first book about six months later—sent out my first submission, and signed with an agent (proof that it DOESN’T take contest finals to snag an agent), and just a couple weeks later I began to final in contests consistently…and so started my slo-o-ow journey to publication *g*. Further proof that a truckload of contest wins isn’t a guaranteed sale. Sometimes it just takes TIME to hit that right combo of the right editor in the right mood on the right day, in the right house…persistence is the key.

My advice to contest entrants is to always enter in groups of three. I listened to people who liked my work, connected with my characters and gave positive feedback along with suggestions. For those who didn’t like my stuff—and there were many; some even called my heroes names, in red ink!—I figured they were prejudice against cowboys, and tossed them in the trash. Personally, I don’t regret a single contest entry—but they were merely one of many tools at a writer’s disposal.

Who is your favorite hero in your historical westerns? I must confess to being partial to Jed in Bride Of Shadow Canyon.

Thanks, Jo! Jed was great fun to write. I really enjoyed the complexity of his backstory, and the strength of his integrity. He has a few cameos in my upcoming BRIDE books. I love each new hero—every one is interesting in his own way and has something new to teach me about writing and relationships.

I have many more questions, but I’ll leave some for our readers. Now’s YOUR turn, readers, to ask Stacey anything you’d like, from juggling deadlines to how she crafts her stories and characters. Check out Stacey's website at www.staceykayne.com/ for more information about upcoming releases.

We’ll have random drawings for TWO lucky winners: The first will win an autographed copy of Stacey's newest western Maverick Wild, and (my favorite) the second will receive Bride Of Shadow Canyon. Be sure to post a comment even if you don’t have a question!