Guest Linda O. Johnston asks: YES or NO?

Hosted by Kate
Please join me in welcoming back Linda O. Johnston to the Lair! She's here to tell you all about her latest Pet Rescue mystery! Take it away, Linda!

Hi, Romance Bandits and fans. Thanks for inviting me here. Now, ready for a challenge?

Here it is: What do you do if you’re given two choices--yes or no? You must go one way or the other--and you have reasons you don’t like each of them. How do you make your decision?

The lesser of two evils? The one you’re most likely to succeed at?

I’ll tell you in a moment what I’ve done to Lauren Vancouver, the protagonist of my Pet Rescue Mystery series, by giving her that kind of decision in her latest adventure, THE MORE THE TERRIER.

First, though, I’m going to provide you with that decision. You can choose to read THE MORE THE TERRIER, or not. Guess which one I’m aiming for! Better yet, you can also choose to read its predecessor in the series, BEAGLEMANIA, if you haven’t already. If you choose yes, I’m betting you’ll have fun with them. And, by the way, THE MORE THE TERRIER is a Mystery Guild selection!

Now, let me tell you about Lauren. She’s a skilled and dedicated administrator of a private, no-kill pet shelter. She’ll do anything to save animals, and she despises those who harm them. Most of the time.

But in THE MORE THE TERRIER, Lauren is faced with a decision she doesn’t like at all: ignore her one-time cherished mentor, who is the major suspect in a murder case, or help her. Sounds easy, right? But that mentor has apparently become the kind of person Lauren hates most: one who abuses animals.

So what does she do?

Here’s the background:

At the beginning of THE MORE THE TERRIER, Lauren is horrified to learn that her former mentor, Mamie Spelling, has become an animal hoarder. Of course Lauren does all she can to save the animals. Every one of them comes out of it just fine. It’s fiction, after all. And in the Pet Rescue Mysteries, “no-kill” means pets, not people!

It doesn’t hurt that Lauren’s love interest, Matt Kingston, is a captain with Los Angeles Animal Services who can let her know when the abused animals that are taken into official custody are ready for private shelters to come and rescue them. Oh, yes, my mystery protagonists always have a love interest, just like my romances always come with suspense.

Anyway, a woman who has been hounding Mamie is soon murdered, and Mamie becomes the major suspect. But Mamie is aging and confused. Lauren lost touch with her after she, and not Mamie, was chosen to run HotRescues, a generously funded private pet shelter.

What do you think Lauren does? You undoubtedly guessed it. She helps Mamie. That means that Lauren once more must solve a murder. She’s already had to do that, in BEAGLEMANIA, when she was the main murder suspect.

The Pet Rescue Mysteries are a spinoff series from my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries, in which Kendra comes to think of herself as a murder magnet. Kendra makes cameo appearances in the Pet Rescue Mysteries, and the person who supports Lauren’s shelter HotRescues financially is Kendra’s wealthy guy friend Dante de Francisco.

That adds to Lauren’s dilemma, by the way. She likes Kendra well enough but she doesn’t want to be like her--especially in solving murders. Not that I’m giving her much choice. And the murder in THE MORE THE TERRIER isn’t the last one Lauren will need to solve!

The next Pet Rescue Mystery will be HOUNDS ABOUND, which will be published in 2012.

So--how do you make those yes or no decisions? And if your decision about THE MORE THE TERRIER is to read it, please let me know!


Kate here. I want to thank Linda for stopping by the Lair today! You can visit Linda at http://www.lindaojohnston.com/ and at http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/ on Wednesdays. You can also friend her on Facebook.

P.S. Tricks and Treats begin on October 14 so be sure to stick around for the fun! And later this month, a BIG Bandita Surprise!! More Prizes will be involved! :-)

Mystery Under the Vines

by Caren Crane

The scene: a quiet street in working-class neighborhood in the suburbs. A small elementary school sits on this street, where there is little traffic except on weekdays when school begins and ends. Across from the school, a wooded ravine, overgrown with ivy and vines winding over the ground, down the hillside and up the tree trunks.

Within the skeletal fingers of dead vines, buried in heavy mulch from years of fallen leaves, lay half-hidden, half-seen things. Things no one wanted, no one needed. Things that should remain hidden, things with stories unheard and untold.
People drove by every day. Parents picking up their children from the school across the road. Unsuspecting neighbors believing nothing more than trees and undergrowth dwelled in the woods in their midst.

What we discovered shocked us and the wondering neighbors who drove by - some several times - to see what was dragged up the hill from the overgrown depths. When my Girl Scout troop went yesterday to help with a local Litter Sweep, we had no idea what we would find. We had been told this spot needed "a lot of help", but were unprepared, first, for the overgrown state of the ravine and, second, for the sheer volume and disparity of objects we unearthed.

Many of these were not glamorous things: bottles (beer and liquor), cans (beer, soda and cat food), bags, cups, plates, wrappers, lids with straws. Some appeared to be in the ravine by mistake: a basketball, several soccer balls, the casings from roman candles. Some were clearly left for the sake of dumping convenience: a mattress, a space heater,a metal garbage can, a gas can, a futon pad, mini-blinds, a patio umbrella, a PC tower, a typewriter, a couple of car tires.

Still others made us wonder: a pair of pants, a nice pair of Nike tennis shoes, baby socks, adult socks, baby shoes. A crib. A meat cleaver. The sign pointing the way to a church in a nearby town. A pair of panties.

It wasn't just my writer's imagination that was piqued by all this "treasure". The girls in my troop – all high school juniors and seniors – crafted elaborate scenarios of how some things had come to be there. There were stories of young women making bad choices, trusting the wrong men. A young couple setting up a meth lab, trying to raise a baby they couldn't support and shouldn't have had. Until things went south and they had to ditch everything: the lab equipment, the burners, the futon, the crib. The wife. The cleaver. The baby.

By the time the girls got this far into the tale and we were deep in the ravine, we all fully expected to uncover skeletal human remains. It got very CSI down in there yesterday. Suddenly, our two and a half hours was up. There was more to be done, much more, but Starsky – our trusty town employee and clean-up supervisor – reclaimed our orange vests, gloves and trash picker-uppers.

Still, there is much more to be done in the ravine and there are many more stories for it to tell. The volunteer supervisor is sending us information on how to permanently adopt that spot, to come back on a regular basis and unearth more fascinating pieces of other peoples' lives. I feel sure we will. Who could resist all that buried drama waiting to be dragged from the vine-choked depths of the ravine? Not I.

What about you? Have you encountered a place that made your mind race with speculation? A house, an empty lot, an abandoned space, that compelled you to recreate how it came to be in its current state? We would love to hear about your mysterious spot and the story it told to you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be sure to stop by later this month. Beginning on October 14, we will be giving away tricks and treats daily in anticipation of our BIG SURPRISE coming at the end of the month. Don't miss out!

OCTOBER PREVIEW

by Jo Robertson

Isn't the photo to the right delicious! It's a perfect blend of fall and winter. I want to use it for one of my covers!

Fall is in the air in northern California! And BIG NEWS is in the air for the Romance Bandits...and the rooster seems to be in a tizzy, running around like a chicken with his head cut off!

October 14 kicks off a special Trick or Treat for our visitors, with the biggest treat of all coming in the Duchesse's post on Halloween! Stay tuned for the delightful details, and the kicking off of our trick or treat surprises with a very special announcement!

Bawhaaaaa! 'Tis also the month of ghosts and ghouls and goblins, and we have a great lineup of guests to keep you returning to the Lair where things go bump in the night. Especially on All Hallow's Eve!


On October 3, Kate will host Linda O Johnston, who's back in the Lair to talk about THE MORE THE TERRIER, the next book in her delightful Pet Rescue mystery series.


Christie brings Theresa Romain to the Lair on October 4.


Nancy's guest Gina Robinson visits on October 5 to talk about her new release, "The Spy Who Left Me." They will discuss what marriage to a spy like Bond might really be like. Oooh, now that sounds delicious!





Cheryl Ann Smith will be returning to the lair on October 6 as Donna's guest. About her latest Regency release, THE ACCIDENTAL COURTESAN, Romantic Times says, "With a dash of humor, plenty of sensuality and a fast pace, Smith's second School for Brides novel is a pure delight..."


Kate again plays hostess as she brings Regan Hastings back to the Lair on October 7. You won't want to miss this one because, as RT Book Review says, "the sexual tension ... sizzles off the page!"



On October 8 Nancy brings another guest. Barbara Monajem and she will chat about juggling historical and contemporary books. They'll also discuss Barbara's paranormal romance, Tastes of Love and Evil.

On October 9 Trinity Faegan

is T r ish's guest. They'll be talking about her debu t young adult novel, The Mephisto Covenant.




On October 12, Bandits Jeanne and Cassondra will host the venerable Barbara Vey for an intimate discussion about how she emerged from deep depression to become one of the most influential voices in publishing. Oh, an d she'll announce a fun upcoming surprise!

Deep breath to pause. That's a host of guests, folks, and tons of books to ad to our TBR piles. So let's pause on October 13 to wish Bandita Cassondra a very happy birthday!!!



Nancy returns again on October 16 to chat with guest Gerri Russell about the appeal of continuing series. We'll also find out a bit about Gerri's new novella, The Border Lord's Bride.

Lair favourite, Kate Walker, will be back on October 22 as Vrai Anna's guest to chat about her new and rather special title The Return of The Stranger (Presents Extra October ). She'll be talking about the way that the seeds of this book were set in her mind when she was eleven and have been growing there ever since. Verrrra interesting. I'm sure what was in my head at eleven wouldn't be worth writing about.

Joan hosts guest Kristan Higgins on October 25

On October 27, Cassondra and Nancy will bring debut author Debbie Kaufman to the lair as their guest for her first time on the "author" side of the chat.

Brenda Novak will return October 30 as Jo's guest to discuss her latest writing ventures!

And, of course, Halloween is always a terrifyingly lively event in the Lair, so be sure to be here on October 31!

Anna Campbell’s current contest is for your choice from her backlist. FIVE people who enter can select a book from CLAIMING THE COURTESAN, UNTOUCHED, TEMPT THE DEVIL, CAPTIVE OF SIN, MY RECKLESS SURRENDER or MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION. Just email Anna on anna @ annacampbell.info (no spaces) and tell her which book you’d like. Contest closes 31st October. For more information, please visit Anna’s contest page: http://annacampbell.infor/contest.html

Happy October, everyone!

.......

The debonair Golden Rooster sauntered into the Lair. A big development was in the works for the Romance Bandits, and he must be ready for it. He needed to refresh his traveling supplies, maybe pick up a couple of weapons to replace those, er, misplaced along the way.

The Bandita Buddies generally treated him well, but the Bandits themselves showed him no mercy. They actually thought he should work when he stayed with them! He was still recovering from his last encounter with that big, ugly beast Nancy called a dog.

At least no one should be around this time of day. Sven and his lackeys would be shopping, Ermingarde the dragon would be sleeping, and Demetrius would have his muscular gladiator louts sparring in the gym. This was the perfect time for pilfer--ah, replenishing--supplies.

The rooster strolled toward the kitchen. Ah, the aroma of brownies. Those would fit nicely in his pack.

"Yes, freeze them all." Sven's voice came from the kitchen. Drat. Well, the busybody major domo was bound to get distracted and go fuss with something soon, leaving the coast clear.

"We'll need them," Sven continued. "Duchesse says her Halloween party will be the biggest bash in the history of the Lair. Lars, if you've finished the chocolate chip cookies, you can start on the bourbon balls."

Sven and Lars? Double drat! The GR sidled to the door and peered inside. Sven, Lars, Paolo--and was that a new guy? Extra staff? No one had consulted him about that. With all those vigilant eyes around, he'd have no chance of stealing anything.

Well, perhaps to the armory now. He could come back when Sven's crew were busy elsewhere.

He hurried down the stairs and into the great vaulted corridor leading to the armory and the writing caves. He rounded the corner to the armory, only to find the door ajar.

The rumble of deep male voices drifted out of the door. Gladiators, here? They were supposed to be pounding each other at this time of day.

If he'd had a lip, the rooster would've curled it. Over-muscled, over-sexed, and over-rated, those gladiators were. There was simply no accounting for their popularity. Not that it rivaled his own, of course, not with women other than those bossy Banditas.

He crept to the door and peered inside. If he could grab a rapier, perhaps a Derringer, without being seen . . . But no. Not with all of them in there. He glared at the men counting sabers, broadswords, daggers, even the shortswords the gladiators normally wore.

"Each of you take a full set," Demetrius said. "Then we'll lock up the rest. This is going to be the biggest Halloween bash the Lair has ever seen. There'll be gate crashers. We'll need a tight security net."

"I guess we need to polish our armor, too?" Marcus asked. On receiving a nod, he added, "What's the big deal, anyway?"

Demetrius shrugged. "They're not saying, other than warning me there's a 'very special treat at the party.' And yes, those were Jeanne's exact words."

"Ours is not to reason why." Marcus grinned. "Ours is just to keep problems away. Including the Golden Rooster."

"There'll be no repetition of his annoying conduct at the Valentine ball," Lucien chimed in. "We'll be ready for anything, including him." He patted the net hanging at his side.

Vile thing! The GR remembered it too well from the Valentine's event. They thought they'd be ready? He snorted, as best he could without an actual nose. He'd show them ready.

But first he had to find out what was going on.

Will the Golden Rooster uncover the Lair's secret? Or will he learn it on October 14 along with everyone else? Check back

Stuff Happened

posted by Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy

I'd planned to have this post be the Launch Party for my self-published novelette, The Sidhe Princess, but you know what they say about the best laid plans:

STUFF HAPPENS!

I'm sorry to say that STUFF did happen, and I missed my deadline. In this case some of the STUFF included a sojourn to the Big Easy and other destinations south of there across the Gulf of Mexico. But all along the way, Aunty had the Lair and it's inhabitants firmly in mind.

Aunty made several stops on her journey, the first being the Central American nation of Belize, where the DH and I investigated the Mayan ruins at Altun Ha.

Never fear, Aunty was assured by her guides Ed and Tracy that the world really is not going to end in December, 2012 as some claim. That's just as far as the Mayans bothered to calculate their calendar! Sounds like a perfectly reasonable explanation to me, considering the ruins at Altun Ha date back a couple of centuries BC. Aunty doesn't feel the need to calculate HER calendar nor even the Lair's for more than the next 23 centuries.

A bit further south, Aunty found herself on the island of Roatan, which belongs to the country of Honduras. This long, narrow island was once the stronghold of pirates, but Aunty didn't see any scalawags she recognized (Ho! Romance Writers Revengers, where were you?) However, this scurvy knave claimed to be kin to our Golden Rooster.

As you can see, Aunty severely questioned the validity of his claim!

Also on Roatan, Aunty's lovely taxi driver, Mario showed her around his hometown of Coxon Bay. He even stopped at the local grocery store and helped Aunty procure an ice cold Diet Pepsi, the perfect pick-me-up on a hot and humid day!

Aunty thinks it's high time we recruited a Honduran cabana boy for the Lair. What do you think?

Back on the ship, Aunty headed for her last port of call in Cozumel, Mexico. But not before she finally located her missing reading glasses in a most unusual place...

And got a great idea for a whole new kind of shape-shifter story!

Back in our home port of New Orleans, Aunty made a quick stop at Cafe Du Monde to sample beignets and pick up a few recipes for Sven. Somehow, I doubt he will serve beignets on a regular basis considering the trails of powdered sugar they leave behind, but perhaps on special occasions...

So now you know Aunty's excuses for missing her deadline and NOT having her novelette up for sale in September as expected. But I promise we will have a SUPER LAUNCH PARTY for Sidhe Princess very soon!

Meanwhile, what do you think:

Is that Pirate Parrot related to the GR?

Should we recruit Mario as the Lair's newest cabana boy?

And would you read a paranormal romance in which the hero or heroine shape-shifted into a manta ray?

Elegant Menace

by Susan Sey

I was listening to NPR the other day. Yeah, I listen to NPR in the car. I'm geeky like that.

Anyway, they were discussing an independent film about the studio musicians of the 50s & 60s, & how there was this prevalent attitude among serious musicians of the time that rock & roll wasn't 'real' music. Many of the established studio musicians of the time simply refused to play it.

Enter the carpet baggers. The profiteers. The soulless capitalists who'll do anything for money.

Enter the hungry studio musician wannabes who said, "Hey, I'll play that." And they did.

One particular set of musicians, the Wrecking Crew, took that ball & ran with it, becoming the power players of the next two to three decades. They played behind everybody from the Beach Boys to Elvis, Sinatra to Sam Cooke.

Charlie Watts, the drummer from the Rolling Stones, was interviewed for this film, & was asked to list his his top ten all-time favorite rock drummers. He was startled to find that five of them were Hal Blaine of the Wrecking Crew.

I feel this way about Alan Rickman.

I sat down with a writer friend the other day & our conversation turned (as it tends to do) to villains we love. I started waxing eloquent about how Alan Rickman utterly saved the movie Robin Hood. How he dripped well-heeled danger in Die Hard. How he oozed disdain so gorgeously as Professor Snape.

I realized in that moment that when it comes to villains, I have a favorite flavor.

Elegant menace.

This is what I like. This makes me happy. I like my bad guys smart, slick, well-funded & exquisitely well-spoken. I like them cool & calculating. I like brains with a side dish of evil.

Who knew?

So what about you? When it comes to bad guys, do you have a favorite flavor? Tell us about the villains you love!

Double Bandit Booty!!

Today I'm posting winners from two of the guests I've interviewed lately.


The winner of a signed copy of MAGICAL LOVER by Karilyn Bently is Sheree!! Congratulations Sheree!!

The winner of a signed copy of LIVER LET DIE by Liz Lipperman is hrdwrkdmom aka Dianna!! Congratulations Dianna!!

Please email me your snail mail addresses to swwelsh2001 AT  Yahoo DOT com (yes there are 2 w's in that addy) and I'll see Karilyn and Liz get the information ASAP!

Winner of Kathleen Eagle's book

The winner of the book from Kathleen Eagle is megganconnors. Please e-mail me at trishmilburn AT yahoo DOT com with the name of the book you'd like and your mailing information.

Surprise! Liz Lipperman's Debuting today!!

interview with Suzanne

Suz: Romance Bandits, all of our Bandit Buddies and readers, I have a surprise guest for y'all. Today I'm chatting with my friend Liz Lipperman. Liz is one of the people who first made me feel welcome in my DARA (Dallas Area Romance Authors) chapter when I first moved to Dallas. Now I get to return the favor by hosting her for the release of her brand new debut, first-ever published book, LIVER LET DIE: A CLUELESS COOK MYSTERY available Oct 4th!

Liz, please pull up a barstool and we'll have the Lair's chief cabana boy, Paolo bring us a pitcher of Margaritas.

Liz: Yum! Margaritas are my favorite. No salt, please. And what's more fun than drinking it with you Suz, and the fabulous line-up of Romance Bandits and their readers? And I can only imagine what Paolo looks like! Thanks to all of you for inviting me here today.

Suz: So Liz, I love the story on how you came to write a cozy mystery series. Can you tell our readers what events led up to you writing LIVER LET DIE?

Liz: First of all, I didn't even know I was a mystery writer until my agent told me. Duh! I had been chasing the romance market for many, many years and never ever finaled in a contest. Guess my dead bodies and big explosions didn't go over with the romance judges.

Anyway, once I realized she was right, I wrote a paranormal mystery, the first in a proposed series. It's about a trash-talking ghost who helps her sisters solve her murder. My agent sent it to a new editor at Berkley Prime Crime who'd just moved from an inspirational publishing house. I thought it would be a resounding "no" since there is a lot of bad language, sex, and gruesome murder scenes.

Turns out you can never tell about people. Not only did she love the story, she read it twice and quoted some of my ghost's best lines. BUT (don't you hate those?) she couldn't buy it since she was acquiring cozies, and she'd have to cut out the best parts. She wanted to know if I could write a cozy, specifically a "foodie." That's when I rushed out to the bookstores and grabbed up a bunch of them to read.

What I found was that most of the foodie cozies were about gourmet food, and there was no way I could pull that one off. I am one of 9 children. We ate casseroles, and to this day, I hate fancy food. So, I said no, I couldn't write it. Fortunately, my agent knows me better than I do, because she said yes, I could and to sleep on it.

I woke up the next morning with this great plot in my head about a wannabe sports reporter who gets dumped in Dallas and ends up in a small town writing personals. When she is offered the culinary column temporarily for a woman who is out with a broken hip, she jumps on it, seeing it as a way to mover closer to her dream job. The problem is, she was raised with four brothers, and although she can throw a great touchdown pass, she can't cook a lick, surviving on fried bologna sandwiches, fast food and Hostess Ho Hos. Three chapters and a synopsis later, I had a three book deal.

Suz: I love that story! LIVER LET DIE is set in a small town in Texas. How did you get the small-town feel for the story? Is there one key element about small towns that you think plays into the way a cozy mystery fits into it?

Liz: You've hit on one of the big requirements for a cozy, Suz. They're all set in small towns with a protagonist who just happens to fall in the middle of a murder. There are usually no cops or private eyes solving the mystery. As for the small town, originally I wrote it with a specific town in Texas. However, I changed it later because a fictional town offered way more options-that and the fact that I called the cops Dumb and Dumber.

Here's an excerpt from LIVER LET DIE:

Jordan dropped her review on Dwayne Egan’s desk and stepped back to await her fate. She’d spent the entire morning researching foie gras on the Internet and had come away outraged and ready to make a stand on the issue. 

That was before Egan grabbed the report and lowered his eyes to read, and all her bravado dissipated. Shifting nervously and second-guessing herself, she tapped out the melody of a rock song along the side of her slacks with her fingers.

Too late to change her mind as Egan motioned for her to sit.

She eased into the chair behind her, eyes fixed on the editor while he finished the first page and flipped to the second. Her nerves were like aliens ready to burst through her skin.

“You actually ate this?” he asked, finally glancing at her over the top of his silver-rimmed reading glasses.

“Yes and no,” she replied. “Mostly, no.”

Egan had already turned back to the report, re-reading the first page. “And this is how they get the duck liver?”

Her eyes lit up. Maybe he wouldn’t scream at her after all. “Yes sir. They force-feed the animals to fatten them up.” She paused, remembering how the pictures had sickened her, how seeing the tubes shoved down their throats had nearly made her gag. “The ducks are kept in tight cages so they can’t exercise or even move around.”

“Geez! And they’re serving this right here in Ranchero?”

“Yes,” she answered quickly. “At a price that would water your eyes.” She stopped, not sure she wanted to remind him how much she’d charged on the company card.

Egan dropped the report on his desk and leaned back in the chair, hands behind his head, making his ears protrude even more. “This is going to ruffle a few feathers at Longhorn Prime Rib.” He grinned, obviously pleased with his play on words.

Jordan shifted in the chair. “I was totally complimentary about the restaurant in general.” She thought about the Chocolate Decadence Cake that had doubled as breakfast that morning. “The desserts were phenomenal and the service – fantastic.”

Egan studied her face, his head tilted as if in deep thought. “I had you pegged for a simple meat and potatoes girl. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why you’d order this when you’re obviously so outraged at how they get it.”

Here it is! This was where she’d have to admit she was clueless when it came to fancy food. This was where he’d realize what a big mistake he’d made giving her the job. “The waiter recommended it. Said it was imported from Canada. Since I knew it was too expensive to ever try on my own, I went with it.”

“I still find it hard to believe you’d even order the dish, knowing how you feel about it.”

“I thought it was chicken,” she blurted, looking away for a moment, imagining the pink slip falling from this week’s pay envelope.

Egan threw back his head and laughed. And continued to laugh until Jordan finally gave in and smiled.

“So, let’s see,” he began when he was finally able to speak. “I have a culinary expert who has no idea what she orders at restaurants.” He slapped the desk. “That’s rich. Loretta would never see the humor in that, of course, nor would she be caught dead ordering anything but a thick, juicy steak.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “And just between you and me, she wouldn’t know foie gras from chicken piccata, either, even if it bit her on her overpaid butt.”

“I’m sorry, sir. Maybe you should give this job to someone else.”

His eyes bored into her. “Are you joking? This is going to grab the attention of every animal lover in Ranchero who probably has never even looked at Loretta’s column before.” He slid the papers across the desk. “Take this down to the copy room ASAP. I want it in tonight’s edition.”

Stunned, Jordan grabbed the report and headed for the door.

“Oh, and McAllister?”

She whirled around, expecting her little bubble of excitement to burst like a piñata at a birthday party with eight year old boys on a sugar high.

“From now on, you’ll do a bi-weekly column with recipes and food information. Fancy food like this. A couple of exposés would be great.” He rubbed his hands together. “If my gut is right, with the exception of the restaurant owner, the good citizens of this fine town are going to love you.”

“What about the Personals?”

He smiled. “Look at this as a freelance opportunity,” he said. “And the Personals as your day job. Now go.”

Jordan wondered how he could say that with a straight face, but she was too excited to care. She hurried out the door, surprised to see Jackie Frazier smiling. She’d obviously been eavesdropping. She imagined her, as Roseanne Roseannadanna saying, “It’s always something,” and she smiled back.

Who knew fatty duck liver could wipe the sarcasm off the secretary’s face and maybe even jump-start her career?

Suz: Your heroine, Jordan McAllister stumbles into more than a new career when she takes over the food critic position at the local paper. Can you give our readers a little hint about the trouble she gets into?

Liz: Her first assignment is to critique a steakhouse on the edge of town that has just reopened after being closed for six months when one of the owners died in a botched robbery. Since Jordan only eats hamburger meat well done, she asks her hunky waiter what on the menu isn't red meat, not seeing chicken anywhere. He tells her the foie gras must be good because the guy across the restaurant ordered the pricey dish every week. After one look at the squashy fatty duck liver, she nearly gags, and the entire entrée ends up in a borrowed purse. Two days later, the hunky waiter is found dead outside her apartment with her name and number in his pocket. And that's when it all starts.

Suz: Alex Moreland is the hero of LIVER LET DIE, how does he fit into the story?

Liz: Did I mention I am a romance writer at heart? Everything I write has a little romance in it. I knew I needed a love interest, but she's just new in the town, and the only friends she has are residents of her apartment. Most cozies are written in first person, but I am more comfortable with 3rd person and asked the editor if she had any problems with that or with multiple POVs. She said no. Later she had me take out a couple of short scenes written in a "he" point of view as the killer, but she liked that we were in Alex's head at times. She felt like the deleted scenes weren't necessary since we found out the info later in Jordan's POV. She was right. Anyway, Alex thinks Jordan is the killer, and she thinks he's been ransacking her apartment.




Suz: In cozy mysteries there are always some whacky secondary characters. Do you have any waiting to help or hinder Jordan and Alex?

Liz: I think the secondary characters are what convinced Berkley to buy the series. The editor loved the wacky residents of Empire Apartments who took Jordan under their wings that first day when she arrived broken and unsure of herself. There's a retired sixtyish cop with his seventyish psychic "lady friend", two gay guys who own the apartments, one of whom is my favorite character of all times to write, and a hippyish fifty year old who has been married four times and does all the cooking for the gang.

Suz: What's next for your series?

Liz: BEEF STOLEN-OFF will release in July, 2012. It's about modern day cattle rustling and has the same cast of characters with a fresh batch of suspects. Here's the down and dirty short blurb.
On an assignment to write a column about the famed Cattleman's Ball in Fort Worth, Texas, Jordan is the guest of wealthy ranch owner, Lucas Santana, who sees her review as a way to increase the sagging beef sales in the county. He's even hand-picked her escort, his right hand man, Rusty Morales, who looks like he just stepped off the cover of GQ, Cowboy Edition. But instead of dancing the night away, Jordan ends up in the emergency room where her date is DOA.

Currently, I am writing the third book of the series, MURDER FOR THE HALIBUT, where I have sent Jordan and her friends on a Caribbean Cruise to judge a cooking competition. (think Bravo's Chopped.)

One last thing before I have to shut up-beginning October 4th through the 31st, you can enter the LLD contest where the prize is a Pandigital Kitchen Technology Center worth $399. I'm also putting up my straight mystery, MORTAL DECEPTION, on Amazon next week as a marketing tool for LLD, kind of a try-me-you-might-like-me thing. For the entire month of October, it will download for $.99. Check out my website www.lizlipperman.com for details on both.

Okay, I've done all the talking. Now, it's your turn. Since I had to walk into B & N and pick several books to tutor me about cozies with no knowledge of cozy writers, I made an interesting observation about myself. I made my choices after reading the first line. The cover may catch my eye initially, but ultimately, it has to grab me with the opening line. What about you? What teases you into buying a book from a debut author or one you're not familiar with? The cover? Blurb? Chatting with them on a blog? All of the above? None of the Above?

I have one copy of LIVER LET DIE to give away, thanks to Berkley. To enter, leave a comment with a valid email address. This is open to US residents (publisher's request.) Suz will pick the winner. Before I leave, I want to thank Suz and the Romance Bandits again for having me here today. Answering these questions has been fun.

Heroes on Horseback: My Lifelong Love Affair

I'm very happy to host the fabulous Kathleen Eagle today. She's talking about the wonderful world of horses, cowboys and the American West. Take it away, Kathleen.

Hello, Bandits!

I have a new book for you. And if you bear with me for a bit of book talk, maybe bare your soul a bit in a comment, we’ll enter you in a drawing for a chance to win one of the earlier books in my current series.

ONE BRAVE COWBOY (on sale 9/20 from Harlequin Silhouette) introduces another competitor for Mustang Sally’s Wild Horse Training Competition, a thread I’ve carried through four of the six books connected with my fictitious Double D Wild Horse Sanctuary in South Dakota.

His name is Cougar, and he served in the Army with Mary Tutan (ONCE A FATHER). He’s a wounded warrior, but his worst scars are not visible. Newly released from a VA hospital, this Indian cowboy desperately needs to come to terms with his losses at home and on the battlefield. He came home from his first tour in the Middle East to find his girlfriend—the woman he’d planned to marry—with another man. During his second tour he was involved in an incident in which his best friend and several civilians were killed, and he blames himself. His hope for saving his sanity--the horses his brother was keeping for him--were sold during his absence. His entry into Mustang Sally’s Wild Horse Training Competition is the means he’s using to find his way among the living after pulling himself back from the brink of suicide.

Then he meets Celia Banyon and her young son, who was injured in an accident and whose worst scars are also not visible.

I’ve written lots of stories featuring Indian cowboys. To begin with, I’m married to one. We met during the summer I took off from working in the college library and headed west in search of adventure. I was a summer volunteer on a Dakota (North and South) reservation. I’d always been interested in American Indian culture, always loved Western movies, and always always loved horses. I’m not a natural athlete by any means, but I used part of my summer earnings to pay for riding lessons when I was in college. Horses are majestic and magical, sensitive and strong. From the moment I met the man who was to become my husband—a man whose world was quite different from mine—we had two key things in common. We loved books and horses. And I just love the smell of horse on a man.

My husband has a way with horses, and he’s tamed his share of them over the years. He speaks their language. Because horses are prey animals, they are extremely sensitive. They seem to connect with people who are wounded or hurting. I’ve known many people—particularly women—who find solace in the act of grooming a horse. Horse therapy has come into its own in recent years. Prisoners, troubled teens, abused women, special needs children—so many people turn to horses for renewal and healing. This is a theme that arises time after time in my Double D Wild Horse Sanctuary series. It’s a theme that complements the love story beautifully.

Let’s talk books, writing, or whatever else comes to mind. Have you ever had a moment when you connected in some mystical way with an animal, some kind of communication that surpasses human expectations?

One commenter will win her/his choice of one of these four books from Kathleen's backlist.

Bandit Booty from Cassondra, Dianna Love and Feenix!

I apologize for the delay in letting y'all know my winners for this month--I posted this the day after Dianna was here, but apparently blogger ate the post, and I just now clued in with a "where are my winners?" sort of squinty face as I thought about it.

So...trying again, to give away some Bandit Booty..

The winner of the $5 Bath & Body Works gift card from my "Steamy Hot Soak" blog is...

MsHellion!

And the winner of ALTERANT, Book 2 in the Belador series, from the "Real friends help friends...Babysit?" blog with guests Dianna Love and Feenix is......

Sheree!

Y'all send an email to our Bandits email listed on the sidebar, with your snail mail address, and I'll get your prizes out to you, pronto!

And thanks for reading and commenting!

BANDITA BOOTY!!!!!!!!

The winner of a copy of REDEEMING THE ROGUE is

MOZETTE!!!

If you can go to www.DonnaMacMeans.com and send me your contact information, I'll get a copy in the mail ASAP.

Thanks for visiting the blog!

On a Bender

by Nancy and Jeanne

N: Jeanne and I both enjoy books that don't fit squarely into a niche, romances or books with strong romantic elements that bend the genre lines. So today we're chatting about those.

J: You know, that always sounds hinky. In a Bend-it-like-Beckham kind of way. (Speaking of Genre Bending)

N: Bwhahaha! I didn't start out reading as much romance as I do now. I discovered science fiction (and comic books) and mystery first. I read YA romances without realizing that's what they were, courtesy of my local library and the Scholastic Book Club, but I didn't read romance as an adult. I did read historical fiction with romance in it, but I didn't pay much attention when the romance genre exploded in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I read a handful of those early sagas, but I was in school, preoccupied with trying to decide where my life was going. I stuck to the genres I'd come to know better.

J: Nancy, you and I kind of followed the same path on this. I too read a lot of science fiction and fantasy, as well as a lot of historical fiction. I also read a lot of biographies when I was younger.

N: Once I started reading romance, however, I was hooked. Even when reading other genres, I now much prefer books that have a strong romantic plot line to those that don't, although I'll settle for a pretty low threshold of romance in a thriller. A couple of years back, I read a debut military science fiction novel with an interesting premise. It was well done but didn't draw me in, and I realized that was because there was no romance in it. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. So I didn't read the next book.

The series is now in hardcover, so it clearly has many avid readers. I just don't happen to be among them.

N: The current market is doing a lot to make me happy. Romance is slowly, sometimes grudgingly, allowing elements from other genres, like action, magic, and suspense, to assume prominent roles. At the same time, romance is establishing a strong presence in science fiction, fantasy and in mystery, bending the genre lines to a degree that wouldn't have been possible several years ago. I love historical and contemporary romances that are pure romance--nothing extra added in, but I also love the extra elements crossing genres. So today's blog is about the line benders.

A couple of books I recently put me in mind of this change. One was Meljean Brook's The Iron Duke, which I read because Barbara Vey recommended it when I interviewed her at Dragon*Con. It's steampunk, with a dark, gritty, distinct world. The worldbuilding and the dark tone are worthy of science fiction, but the romance is the core of the story. The setting seems to be around the turn of the last century, considering the references to King Edward.

The title character saved England from invaders known as The Horde. The heroine is a police inspector on the trail of a killer who dumped a body onto the hero's house. He joins her because, well, it's personal now, doubly so when he learns he knew and respected the victim who drew her to his home. Pursuing the killer drags them into a conspiracy to kill the thousands of English men and women, including the two of them, who carry Horde technology they can't live without.

Conspiracy to commit mass murder is more common in thrillers than in romance. There's the worldbuilding, as I said, and the dark, gritty tone. Oh, and zombies, who technically belong to horror but have begun cropping up in romance.

J: That's another mindbender, isn't it? I mean zombies? In Romance? Seriously? But I've been seeing it too. Since you mentioned it to me, I picked up Iron Duke. haven't had a chance to read it yet though.

N: I know you'll enjoy it. The other book was Bloodlands, by Christine Cody, who also writes the Vampire Babylon series as Chris Marie Green. Now, I'm not a huge fan of vampire books, particularly not of vampire heroes. But I am a big fan of post-apocalyptic stories, and this is a post-apocalyptic vampire romance Western. Yes, really. I debated with myself in the store for some time, fearing this could be truly terrible, but I couldn't resist that combination of elements.

While I found the first quarter a bit slow, it was good enough that I felt it was going to get better. So I kept reading. Once the bad guy appeared, things picked up quickly. The hero is a vampire searching for his lost (human) love in the wreck of civilization. People kill monsters--vampires, shifters, and others--so he doesn't want anyone to know what he is. He has become very good at passing for human. The heroine is part of an isolated community with secrets to keep.

Naturally, his quest and her secrets collide in the midst of the final confrontation against the villain who wants to wipe out the heroine's community. Despite the paranormal elements and the setting, this book reads like a romance. But it's published by ROC--perhaps because HEA isn't guaranteed at the end of the book, and romance requires that.

J: This is another one I'm going to have to read. I mean vampire westerns? Really? But this sounds quite good.

N: I liked it a lot. I'd like to see some continuing couples in romance, romantic arcs that don't tie up with HEA at the end of the book. The popularity of Eve Dallas and Roarke among romance readers implies that's do-able, but it isn't happening so far. Speaking of genre benders, those books are, first and foremost, serial killer police procedurals. The romantic arc, though, is much more intense than is usual in the mystery/suspense genre. It's a line bender. I'm not featuring it here, though, because with the latest book just out, I don't want us to spoil New York to Dallas for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

J: I'd love to see more of this too, Nancy. Her series is also a futuristic, and Nora is known to frequently bring other paranormal elements, like witchcraft and psychic abilities.

N: You know I loved Nora's Sign of Seven trilogy, and that actually had horror elements in it. I don't usually read horror. Jessica Andersen's Nightkeepers are romance with strong, strong fantasy elements. Jon Land's Caitlin Strong series are thrillers with a strong romance element. C. S. Harris's Sebastian St. Cyr novels are mysteries, but Sebastian's love life plays a prominent role.

I'm also seeing a lot of urban fantasy with romance-like plots but romantic arcs that continue beyond the end of the first book. Laura Anne Gilman's Retrievers are a prime example. Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels books (starting with Magic Bites) have become increasingly romantic as the series continued, with the romantic arc being a driving element in the last couple of books.

J: As you know, I love the Retriever Series as well. Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris's Adept series (although there hasn't been a book out in that series for several years) has quite the long arc. The ongoing/developing romance in The Adept is subtle, but quite good. The longer arc on the romance seems to actually be more intense in some ways than in a one-book.

N: I just started M. J. Scott's Shadow Kin, which is technically urban fantasy but starts out just like a romance. The heroine is an assassin with paranormal abilities who comes to kill the hero. He has abilities of his own and turns the tables. I'm assuming this couple will stick together in future books, but we'll see. I haven't finished it. The author's website describes a different couple for the next book, so maybe this one ends with HEA. The book is unusual, at least in my experience, in that both characters are written in first person.

N: Anne Aguirre's RITA-nominated Sirantha Jax series (first one is Grimspace) are also prime examples. There's a science fiction primary plot, but the romance between Jax and March is iKathern ntense and often painful. With one more book to go, I'm hoping for a big payoff there.

J: As you know, I love Anne Aguirre's novels. Grimspace was superb. And since you sent it to me, I'm guessing that's why I liked it so much!

So, we'd love to know, what are you reading now? Do you like your romances straight, with no paranormal or other elements? Or do you like a bit of boom or magic or other paranormal elements with your romance?