tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74069619341068594372024-02-18T18:27:04.923-08:00Suz WelshSuzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-21700487628121131692010-01-23T02:34:00.001-08:002010-01-23T02:35:54.751-08:00<span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:85%;" >interview with Suz</span>
<br /><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0451229118" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" border="0" height="1" />
<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">We're welcomin</span><a style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-c4Ce4mEy3U6TSyyAck6SNIgeK1oDMlpHH2CyiERhbpvY29efAbp-L4yzx4ox4vnZlj9vJl0rTY7rtm5vznIQUq3HvTlmq91oQl69LJFMOY2awzEYflhry46tlTfg_oewjPkmAvgd5A/s1600-h/Jo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-c4Ce4mEy3U6TSyyAck6SNIgeK1oDMlpHH2CyiERhbpvY29efAbp-L4yzx4ox4vnZlj9vJl0rTY7rtm5vznIQUq3HvTlmq91oQl69LJFMOY2awzEYflhry46tlTfg_oewjPkmAvgd5A/s400/Jo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429760585760605202" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">g my very good friend, Jo Davis, back to the Lair today, not to talk about firefighters, but SPIES! I've been looking forward to the debut of this book and bringing Jo here to give us the details. Be prepared dear readers, you'll need a fan and the air conditioning to help you get through reading this erotic suspense series!</span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Suz</span>:With your latest foray into the world of Erotic Suspense you've delivered a new series for our readers to devour. Care to give us a look into the world of sexy spies?
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Jo:</span> </span>The idea for the SHADO Agency series resulted from my love of spy thrillers. I'm a fan of James Bond and the BOURNE thrillers, and just about any spy story out there. When faced with creating a new series, I thought what fun it would be to write a spy series, and seriously turn up the sexual heat to scorching levels?and the SHADO Agency was born. My visit this previous summer to the Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. fueled my imagination even more. What an intriguing world of disguise, subterfuge, and danger! There was no way I could resist.<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSue%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 14.4pt;" align="center"><b><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >
<br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 14.4pt;" align="center"><b><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >The mission: Seduce…and Eliminate.</span></b><b style=""><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" > Jude St. Laurent is a former assassin for SHADO, a covert homeland security agency. After a mysterious accident causes gaping holes in his memory, he embraces his career as an artist, pouring vibrant, colorful life into his erotic paintings, and he often seeks solace in the arms of his subjects. But when he’s haunted by visions of the past, he turns to his new personal assistant for help—and she knows just how to make him forget.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" > Lily Vale is not what she seems. An agent as deadly as <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">St. Laurent</st1:place></st1:city> , she uses sex to manipulate her targets—and always gets her man. When she’s sent on a mission to kill Jude, she’s startled—and aroused—to find that he’s not the monster she expects. As Lily succumbs to Jude’s decadent sexual lifestyle, one wicked sin at a time, she realizes that there’s more to this case than meets the eye—and if she’s going to save them both, she’ll have to found out who’s pulling the strings.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">
<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Suz:</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">The book starts off with a bang:</span></span></p><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSue%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.04BodyText, li.04BodyText, div.04BodyText {mso-style-name:"04 Body Text"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-indent:22.0pt; line-height:200%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:36.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:11.0pt; mso-fareast-language:JA;} span.ITAL {mso-style-name:ITAL; font-style:italic; mso-bidi-font-style:normal;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Prologue<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"><span style=";font-family:";" >“Sweet Christ.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">Elbows on the ratty desk, John Sandborn dropped his face into his hands. In the wake of this terrible exercise of connect the dots, he’d be goddamned lucky if he didn’t wind up at the bottom of the <st1:place st="on">Atlantic</st1:place>. In five different oil drums.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">Because a traitorous, murdering bastard was coming for him. No doubt about it.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">If he had a whisper of a prayer of avoiding a grisly fate, he had to work fast.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">Clicking the X in the top right corner of the laptop’s screen, he closed the classified file and opened another. Fingers flying, he activated a program he’d hoped never to use, but <span style=""> </span>was damned glad he’d put into place. Next, he composed a simple coded message a ten-year-old couldn’t decipher, yet not so difficult a trusted operative couldn’t, either.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">“Okay . . . got it.” He blew out a deep breath. It wasn’t perfect, but would have to do.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">Last, he opened his e-mail and hit <span class="ITAL">Send</span><span class="ITAL"><span style="font-style: normal;">.</span></span> He waited, every muscle tense, while the new files, along with the classified one, shot to six different destinations and burrowed into six different hard drives. A high-tech worm that would make any hacker cream in his shorts—and just might save his ass.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;"><span class="ITAL">Action complete.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">Sandborn attacked the keyboard again, clicking rapidly. His instincts screamed <span class="ITAL">Get out</span>, but he didn’t dare leave the last two tasks undone.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">Precious seconds were whittled away, scraping his nerves raw, as he accessed the script file he’d written to initiate the virus that would destroy his hard drive. The final box popped onto the screen, and he executed his CTRL+F+U command.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">Sandborn gave a grim chuckle at the double entendre in his chosen three-finger salute and wiped the sweat from his brow. Time to make like a ghost.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">The door to his motel room burst open, hitting the inside wall like a gunshot. Sandborn spun, the SIG from the desktop already in hand, arm leveling at the leader of the traitor’s cleanup crew.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">Too late. A pop split the air, and pain blossomed in his chest. He stumbled backward, managing to get off a shot, the explosion deafening in the tiny space. The leader went down with a grunt as Sandborn trained his gun on the second man, tried to squeeze the trigger. And couldn’t. His arm fell limp and useless to his side.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">The second man crossed the room, a smirk on his ugly, pockmarked face. Cold overtook the pain, spreading from Sandborn’s chest to his limbs. Numbing every muscle. Looking down, he stared in fascinated horror at the dart embedded in his left pectoral.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">He swayed, speaking quickly. His life depended on it. “Tell your boss I know everything. I put safeguards in place, and he’ll never find them without me,” he rasped, the drug freezing his vocal cords, fast. “If I die . . . the whole world will know . . . what he’s done.”</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">Sandborn’s legs buckled and he slumped to the floor, completely nerveless. Aware, but paralyzed, along for the ride and at their mercy. A nightmare.</p> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">A pair of heavy-soled leather boots appeared in his line of vision as the second man paused, obviously peering at the laptop. “You smart-ass sonofabitch,” Crater Face hissed.</p><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link style="font-style: italic;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSue%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.04BodyText, li.04BodyText, div.04BodyText {mso-style-name:"04 Body Text"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; text-indent:22.0pt; line-height:200%; mso-pagination:none; font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:36.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:11.0pt; mso-fareast-language:JA;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="04BodyText" style="line-height: normal; font-style: italic;">John Sandborn’s last image was a snapshot of the man’s right shitkicker rocketing toward his face.</p>
<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451229118?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0451229118"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCi2b_Nqg_vSpyWvGvyTJjHfz6YL6PsmiKzzVsQnJ5JOdXBDHKOA2Bng39VnoThj8A_29HWL-fTssHCgQFNDNoWRVbwOOvOR0Z5XO8311hD_wDzXBmGtr44mVrAg0nvWASCc7oqYYCI8/s400/I+spy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429761891197446802" border="0" /><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0451229118" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" width="1" border="0" height="1" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Suz:</span> WOW! Jude St. Laurent, the hero of <span style="font-weight: bold;">I SPY A WICKED SIN</span>, is a very damaged hero. What is it that makes wounded men so sexy and how did you come about giving him the flaws in this story?
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Jo:</span> </span>I think there's something about a tortured or damaged hero that brings out the caring and nurturing side of a woman. At least that's true for me. I want to fix it, make it all better-but not before he's put through the wringer. With Jude, I knew from the beginning he was blind and had holes in his memory due to the villain having his mind swept. (Think Bourne Identity) I said to myself, "I blind former assassin/spy? Are you nuts? He'll be such a difficult hero to write!" But it didn't matter. Jude was what he was, period. As with all my heroes, once he introduced himself to me, that was it. And on top of memory loss, can you imagine having one of your most relied-upon senses denied you, while becoming increasingly aware that you're not what you believed and that your life is in terrible danger? The challenge was too much fun to resist.
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">Suz:</span> In<span style="font-weight: bold;"> I SPY A WICKED SIN</span> Lily Vale is a very beautiful operative of SHADO. What is her area of expertise?
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Jo:</span> Like Jude, Lily is an assassin, and she's posing as Jude's new personal assistant. Her job in this case is to locate computer files that Jude hid regarding the theft of a weapon of mass destruction, a theft he was supposedly instrumental in pulling off. Then she'll eliminate him. Lily uses her sex appeal to bring down her targets in a much more?hands on manner than most agents. In particular, she's very proficient in using poisons that don't leave a trace?
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Suz: </span>A Jo Davis erotica wouldn't be complete without a ménage. Liam O'Neil is the third member of this trio. Is he also a spy for SHADO?
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Jo:</span> No, our sweet Liam is Jude's in-house chef, companion, and sometime lover. He's a young man with a big, open heart and almost stole the story from my clutches before I quite knew what happened. I adore Liam, and completely balked at a suggestion while writing the book that I kill him off! SO not happening! I hope readers love him as much as I do.
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Suz:</span> Since<span style="font-weight: bold;"> I SPY A WICKED SIN</span> is the first of this series, will we be seeing these characters in the other books?
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Jo:</span> The two characters that will carry over from the beginning of the three-book series are handsome SHADO leader Michael Ross and the villain, ex-SHADO right-hand man and traitor Robert Dietz. The first two books in the series will have a conclusion, but Michael and Dietz will have their final showdown in the last book. Also, book two will introduce someone very important to Michael's story.
<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451229789?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0451229789"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 332px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokEWZRevirJeUlrSoUZ6F830qbcnh5GVBGzx7Xoo3Yy1yXatbOMaRF3ffLM_NRFsGY3wxbKBnSgPSjg8ju1g1lKxlf-6MY3zMCB5SQ1h0uwED8ag7t6iEy9QzO1KWmeojIR80LVUuI70/s400/Line+of+Fire.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429753183797705170" border="0" /><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0451229789" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;" width="1" border="0" height="1" /></a>
<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">Suz:</span> And I can't have Jo Davis in the lair without asking? <span style="font-style: italic;">WHEN </span>will we be seeing the next firefighter book?
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Jo: </span>I'm so glad you asked! Tommy Skyler's story,<span style="font-weight: bold;"> LINE OF FIRE</span>, will be released on May 4, 2010! The team's youngest hottie will get his story, and it sets up an explosive plot for the final book, <span style="font-weight: bold;">RIDE THE FIRE</span>, Captain Sean Tanner's story coming in December! In Tommy's story, lives will be irrevocably changed. Think of these last two books in the series as dominos falling, setting off a chain reaction?
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<br /><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Suz:</span> </span>Jo, thanks for being here today. We love having you with us. Do you have a closing question for our readers?</span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Jo: Sure do, Which type of </span><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1264215564_1">action hero</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> is your favorite in books, TV, or movies (cop, firefighter, Navy SEAL/other military, spy, etc.) and who is your favorite action hero of all time?</span></strong>
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<br />Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-55027927890316469502009-09-14T23:31:00.000-07:002009-09-14T23:34:52.995-07:00Wendy Watson<span style="font-size:85%;color:#990000;">Interview with Suzanne</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgsUVqJt4f7zK5w1IHTPoMe-xXIFHAZTYFOpj-edAjomj-6zTPTPJAIauYkxk8AK_kY85yBTThEea4orv00aB5s1JxgKVDxHkyVAMFzwOox0xPJjdheF_XCKadmAfyWouTTKZCCoHqeyM/s1600-h/Watson-PubPhono-Color.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381217773636386082" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgsUVqJt4f7zK5w1IHTPoMe-xXIFHAZTYFOpj-edAjomj-6zTPTPJAIauYkxk8AK_kY85yBTThEea4orv00aB5s1JxgKVDxHkyVAMFzwOox0xPJjdheF_XCKadmAfyWouTTKZCCoHqeyM/s320/Watson-PubPhono-Color.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="color:#990000;"><strong>Suz:</strong></span> Welcome to the Bandit, Lair, Wendy. Pull up a barstool and we'll have one of the cabana boys fetch us a margarita. So congratulations on the debut of <strong>I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM,</strong> the first in your cozy mystery series. Please tell everyone what the book is about.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3366ff;"><strong>Wendy:</strong></span> Cocktails! Fantastic! Had I known we were having snacks, I would have brought along some of Tally's avocado gelato. Maybe next time ...<br /><br /><strong>I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM</strong> is about Tally Jones, proprietor of Dalliance, Texas's ice cream parlor, Remember the A-la-mode. With a struggling business, a crumbling historic home, and a motley assortment of family members depending on her, Tally swallows her pride and agrees to provide ice cream for her ex-husband's company luau. But when her ex's arm-candy girlfriend drops dead, Tally finds herself scooping for her life, hoping to find a murderer before she finds herself locked in the hoosegow.<br /><br />Thankfully, Tally's cousin Bree, Bree's daughter Alice, and Tally's high school beau Finn Harper are all on hand to help her out.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;"><strong>Suz:</strong></span> I've been looking forward to this book since you first announced it at one of our chapter meetings. How did you come up with the concept?<br /><br /><span style="color:#3366ff;"><strong>Wendy:</strong></span> Funny you should ask. Normally, I start with a very vivid scene, and the characters and plot flow from that. For<strong> I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM</strong>, though, I started with the hook: ice cream. My agent and I had a brainstorming session, trying to think of ideas for a cozy series, something that I knew about and was passionate about and that people would find relatable. Well, friends, this girl knows food. Cooking it, eating it, reading about it, dreaming about it ... I {puffy heart} food. And the mother of all foods, in my opinion, is ice cream.<br /><br />As soon as I said the words aloud, Kim and I knew it was the perfect hook for me. And it has been. My husband jokes that he can always tell when I've been writing "ice cream procedural," the passages where Tally is making or eating ice cream, because I get all keyed up and he can't drag me away from the computer.<br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;"><strong>Suz:</strong></span> Tallulah, "Tally" Jones is the star of this series. She has a lot to overcome, but doesn't come off perfect. How did she first make her appearance to you?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">Wendy:</span></strong> Ice cream equals indulgence. It's sensual and luscious and fattening as heck. I wanted a character whose life was the opposite of that. And thus Tally Jones was born. She's all about duty and responsibility and being a good girl and not making a scene. At least on the outside. She's got ice cream in her soul, though, and getting down to that vibrant, raw, passionate person is going to be tons of fun.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451228359?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0451228359"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381217982632876722" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 198px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6aTGNUWrOgUxDGbrRZ482KgMvY_CGtAY2keGNR0ylLrPtO9bQOd_-wFZAYVv8BhJAbb6C4R64K99auKbtZCIMBqVPmvlXjz3YFG80CtoiWnMGj9s_DQwVQW8ZDEH0LUYA_lz9LRygoXc/s320/IScreamFrontLarge.jpg" border="0" /></a><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="1" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0451228359" width="1" border="0" /><span style="color:#990000;"><strong>Suz:</strong></span> The secondary characters in <strong>I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM</strong> are a hoot. How do they play a part in Tally's life?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">Wendy:</span></strong> Wow. You get right to the heart of the matter, huh?<br /><br />That's a big theme in the book, how we define ourselves relative to the people around us. My extended family lives in a small town, and everyone is defined by their relationships to one another: "Roberta's boy," or "Junior's ex." We moved around a lot when I was growing up, so for me, those sorts of relationships were largely impermanent; I didn't have a place in some vast interpersonal web, but was mostly floating free. As a result, that small town feel intrigues me.<br /><br />In this book, I play a lot with that notion of being defined by the people around you, both your relationships to them and their expectations of you. On the one hand, I find that sort of belonging seductive. On the other, I can see how it could be stifling, oppressive. For Tally, it's both.<br /><br />Gee. Didn't mean to get all heavy, but you really touched on one of the more emotional themes of the book. And while I love to laugh--and hopefully make others laugh, too--I want Tally's story to touch people's hearts, too.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;"><strong>Suz:</strong></span> Speaking of Finn Harper, is there a future romance in the works between him and Tally?<br /><br /><span style="color:#3366ff;"><strong>Wendy:</strong></span> LOL! Yes, one of the most delicious threads of the story (to me) is Tally's struggle to define her relationship with her high school boyfriend Finn. When the book begins, she hasn't seen him in nearly two decades, not since she broke his heart in the Tasty-Swirl parking lot on the eve of their high school graduation. When he comes back to town and into her life, he stirs up all sorts of feelings she'd rather not examine too closely.<br /><br />Do they have a future? Hmmmm. Maybe. Finn and Tally have a lot of past to overcome before they can start thinking about happily ever after. And, well, there might be a competitor for Tally's affections just around the corner .....<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span></strong> So what's next in the <strong>MYSTERY A LA MODE</strong> series?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9gXwnJcvqEfKx23qlv1iN9uq_yHOEB7lWnlIxaZZ7q65sXn7WmzAo4VhRTz3bkilIGsBVfuFgGsr4lEjrsgY7pe5D5dK-QknBtCHIvfnSkHfE1BANObO5K2bYVidGxn5yEFUZZP2ndI/s1600-h/ice+cream.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381576113462149778" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 132px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 99px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9gXwnJcvqEfKx23qlv1iN9uq_yHOEB7lWnlIxaZZ7q65sXn7WmzAo4VhRTz3bkilIGsBVfuFgGsr4lEjrsgY7pe5D5dK-QknBtCHIvfnSkHfE1BANObO5K2bYVidGxn5yEFUZZP2ndI/s400/ice+cream.jpg" border="0" /></a><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">Wendy:</span></strong> <strong>SCOOP TO KILL</strong> is slated for a July 2010 release. Tally's precocious niece Alice is finishing up her first year at Dickerson College, and when the annual Honor's Day festivities turn bloody, Alice enlists her Aunt Tally's help in solving an ivory tower murder.<br /><p><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span></strong> At the end of <strong>I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM</strong> you have a delicious recipe for "Tally's Tropical Sundaes", which sounds delicious by the way, is this going to be something you do with each book? If so, I can see one dear husband wanting me to buy more books!<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">Wendy:</span></strong> Trust me, that ginger-lime-coconut sauce is highly addictive (great for dressing up carrot cake, too!). There will be recipes for ice cream goodies in every book, all using store-bought ice cream and all designed so even "can't boil water" cooks can craft something company-worthy. </p><p><span style="color:#009900;">So dear readers...what is your favorite ice cream and/or toppings?</span></p><p> </p>Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-30412849992069856662009-09-08T06:11:00.001-07:002009-09-08T06:54:43.408-07:00<span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:85%;" >interviewed by Suzanne</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxzebTqdHfQM8jgwtDJXL9pE-UZfxQcABi8Cdv7UxgUXUc1Z4x3kHtO6XxgriIMBnM5UWndhzNKeCS91AR5wJmuBRQwvqk6UX0PVTOt7-t38lbkIlcJsFoCWhIXR1YhaQcBpeP-Ag-j8/s1600-h/Jaci.JPG"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px; float: left; height: 258px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379070277237423122" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxzebTqdHfQM8jgwtDJXL9pE-UZfxQcABi8Cdv7UxgUXUc1Z4x3kHtO6XxgriIMBnM5UWndhzNKeCS91AR5wJmuBRQwvqk6UX0PVTOt7-t38lbkIlcJsFoCWhIXR1YhaQcBpeP-Ag-j8/s320/Jaci.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> Bandits and readers let me introduce you to my friend, Celya Bowers. Welcome to the Lair Celya, pull up a cushy chair and I'm sure we can find a cabana boy around here to bring us some refreshments!<br /><br />Suz:</span> <strong>ANYTHING BUT LOVE</strong> is one of my favorite Celya Bowers books. Can you give us a little look into the story?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><strong>Celya:</strong></span> <strong>ANYTHING BUT LOVE</strong> is a contemporary romance about two very A-type personalities who don’t want to date, but end up doing just that. Kendall Matthews is a very talented doctor in a prestigious hospital. Her world get turned upside down when her past comes back to greet her. Coletrane Highpoint was her first love and now he was back in town. He hadn’t noticed Kendall when she 16, but he notices her now at the tender age of 40.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585712876?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1585712876"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 124px; float: right; height: 200px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379070624558987394" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wS4ZBRuwMjAnP2ypBnFaAgcs4f-BAlTnFjgxmDZFdmLy5RT9IQR5GDNWJSiaUsiO-WacheSIDjDtCIXULImI_zKAf7tFi6ieYEVWrV8HszYniJSxbKfQ4QpKPvcrzaHfT4YhTFtxGc8/s400/anything+but+love.jpg" border="0" /></a><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1585712876" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Suz:</span> Your heroine and hero have a past history. How did that mold them into the people they are now? And how does it affect their relationships both together and with other people?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Celya:</span></strong> Kendall always carried the hurt of Cole’s dismissive attitude toward her all these years. It formed her into the very focused woman she is now. She’s determined not to let another hurt her again. At first Cole can’t understand why Kendall has such an attitude about him, but when he realizes she was still harboring ill feelings from the past. He tries to rectify it.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Suz</span>: Both characters have strong family ties. Is this important to you to show that part of their lives?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Celya:</span></strong> I’m very close to my family. I couldn’t imagine not speaking to someone in my family at least weekly. There’s such negative images of the African-American family, I’d like to show the world that there are still solid families on this earth. All my books have strong family ties.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Suz:</span> Your secondary characters also have a second parallel love story. Do you feel that adds to the richness of the main story?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Celya:</span></strong> Yes, I do. I think it helps adds a much needed layer to a romance. Nothing is worse than being so focused on someone else’s romance you don’t realize you’ve fallen in love yourself.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Suz:</span> So what's next for Celya Bowers?<br /><br /><div><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585713503?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1585713503"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px; float: left; height: 320px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379070979173374914" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW50gkx9djpovpl1OdF9-ygYERmcG4sc83uTY4_ylaH5LsI508zDxEEaZL-MMNQBM6olbhrDGV5zsOTxD8G3baBiLgh1iTbefCNweLDimt-1oc2aVRw3cLlqWsJiPGhw1F4TuZBXUilbo/s320/2+good+cover.jpg" border="0" /></a><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1585713503" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><strong><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Celya:</span></strong> My latest release is a Celya Bowers book and is called <strong>2 GOOD</strong>.<br /><br /><strong>2 GOOD</strong> features a plus size heroine, Madisyn O'Riley and wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, Aidan Coles. Madisyn is tired of playa-playas and wants to find just one good man. She's had her fill of two legged dogs. When she volunteers at Aidan's charity, she can't believe that he's actually interested in her. Aidan is immediately attracted to Madisyn because she's not swayed by his wealth. Is she 2 Good to be true? When her security is threatened by an ex-lover, Aidan jumps at the chance to show her how much he wants her. Madisyn had begun to think men like Aidan didn't exist anymore, but is so glad she was wrong.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Suz:</span> Can't wait to read 2 GOOD. I love football players as heroes! You also write as Kennedy Shaw. What’s up next for her?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Celya:</span></strong> The next book by Kennedy Shaw is called <strong>TOUR OF DUTY</strong>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1599831031?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1599831031"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 197px; float: right; height: 320px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379071590767864290" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDWSLTNCChIAljXeUIlTiWnoLzNpJdHWzucLX-aSWc1ikwFu7pDpPltGRqOG1R_64JqG_q036DqSQSZMDgxMmKKK_FMTSrGD9c_ETM5lHe-SwMWY8lr7mfgUBcwh5vwIJc9c99LYqaj0U/s320/tour+of+duty%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" /></a><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1599831031" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><br />will be released December 2009. This is a romantic suspense and is concerning unauthorized military testing with our troops in Iraq. It features high school sweethearts Mikerra Stone and Drake Harrington. This story is set in Wright City, Texas. Mikerra has a secret. She's been living in New York working as an editor, and seeing a married man. Now that man wants her dead. Mikerra returns to her hometown for safety. She never dreamed she'd run into Drake. He still habors bad feelings toward her for the break-up. Drake is a an army ranger, home on leave after a tour in Iraq. Unfortunately, he's been suffering from headaches since his return from the desert. The one person who holds the key to his headaches is the same person who broke his heart all those years ago. Can he put his hurt aside and listen to Mikerra?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Suz:</span> Why do you write as two different pseudonyms? What is the advantage in doing that?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Celya:</span> </strong>Kennedy Shaw’s story are usually set in the fictious city of Wright City, Texas. Every now and then Kennedy Shaw will have something different.<br /><br />I wanted to keep those stories separate from Celya Bowers.<br /><br />When you write totally different stories, it’s best to do it under a different name, so your loyal readers won’t be offended.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Suz:</span> What do you see as the advantages of being a romance writer who happens to be African American? The disadvantages?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Celya:</span></strong> When I first started writing, there weren’t many African American romances out there. Now there’s more opportunities for writers of color, which I’m so grateful for. I try to write uplifting stories that give a reader hope. That’s why they’re paying to read my book. Escapism, but with the thought “hey, this could be me.”<br /><br />To me the biggest disadvantage is that most mainstream readers think the minute they see AA on the cover, it’s going to be a story about the hood, drug dealers, and so on. I don’t write those kind of stories, because frankly, I don’t know that life style. I don’t write about baby mama drama, baby daddy drama. That’s just not my cup of tea. I write from my heart and things that occur around me. None of my friends are doing drugs, so I can’t write about that.<br /><br />I guess I would like people to see my books as just romances. I don’t want it labeled a black romance just because of the color of the characters. </div>Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-18157291042454780192009-04-15T10:58:00.000-07:002009-04-15T12:11:13.900-07:00<div><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:85%;" >by Suzanne</span><br /><a style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYgyJbrQyTVmeVqUmPXPQy6-9acFMbqqzcOd4k5X9LIzL1Idp1fdKYP0jEPyzxF8o3SpbOTTdMY81BveKsXU2elweza2br_VekJHYXtoGT8KF-mHCXO67FUs2kmYiVNeNFVMuYVP4sQJA/s1600-h/Kay_Thomas.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324813053668060818" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 220px; height: 220px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYgyJbrQyTVmeVqUmPXPQy6-9acFMbqqzcOd4k5X9LIzL1Idp1fdKYP0jEPyzxF8o3SpbOTTdMY81BveKsXU2elweza2br_VekJHYXtoGT8KF-mHCXO67FUs2kmYiVNeNFVMuYVP4sQJA/s400/Kay_Thomas.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Oh hey, y'all! Give me a second to finish putting on my Kevlar vest. There! Now I'm ready to sit and chat with my good friend, Kay Thomas, who once again has brought us another intriguing book with bullets flying.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Suz: </span>Kay, welcome back to the Lair. <span style="font-weight: bold;">BULLETPROOF TEXAS</span> is your second novel for Harlequin Intrigue and this is set, of course, in the Hill Country of Texas. Tell us a little bit about this book.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Kay, eyeing the vest: </span>Sure, Suz. Thanks so much to you and the Banditas for having me back in "the Lair" today.<br /><br />The bulletproof action continues when a pharmaceutical research scientist and a brooding caving guide are forced to work together extracting cancer-eating bacteria from a flooding Texas Hill Country cave. As the sparks fly and passions rise, so do the dangers when a competitor decides this potential cure shouldn't see the light of day--and is willing to kill anyone who gets in the way.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Suz: </span>Can you tell us how you came up with the idea for <span style="font-weight: bold;">BULLETPROOF TEXAS</span>?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Kay:</span> My family and I were in Carlsbad Caverns a couple of years ago for Spring break. I was listening to an audio tour that talked about cancer-eating bacteria found in Lechuguilla, another nearby cave. This bacteria is showing promise for cancer treatment in the research world. From the moment I heard the details of the discovery, I was fascinated with the idea of setting a romantic suspense novel against a cavern backdrop. I'd just finished a manuscript with a biomedical edge and a pharmaceutical company's machinations as part of the plot that would later be my debut novel, <span style="font-weight: bold;">BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF</span> (Harlequin Intrigue, January 2009). This new idea seemed the perfect fit for a sequel.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Suz: </span>Your hero in <span style="font-weight: bold;">BULLETPROOF TEXAS</span>, Zach Douglas is a Park Ranger with a fascinating background. Can you tell us how you used it in the book?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Kay: </span>Zach is the twin brother of Tammy Douglas from <span style="font-weight: bold;">BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF.</span> In the opening scene of <span style="font-weight: bold;">BULLETPROOF TEXAS</span> he makes the discovery of a lifetime (Devil's Hollow Cavern) and gets the news of Tammy's murder, both within moments of each other. The next scene takes place three months later. He's quit his job with the park service and is now a free-lance caving guide for the heroine, Maxine (Max) O'Neil.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Suz:</span> Maxine O'Neil isn't your typical research scientist. How has she had to prove herself in her field and why?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Kay: </span>Max is a woman with the body of a "Hooter's girl" and the brain of a rocket scientist. On the surface she appears to have it all. But her success has come at a huge price and her personal life is a wreck. She's just left her unfaithful fiance' at home in New York.<br /><br />As a top pharmaceutical researcher in her field, her looks have been a handicap and she isn't always taken seriously in this "boys club" because of her stunning appearance. Over the years she's developed a very "hard case" personna. From the moment she and Zach first interact, there are fireworks. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0373693974?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0373693974"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324855361414195106" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; width: 253px; height: 400px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTKRrHgFSTAqmCD9HxB2LnOMqku3nv01NJ7eaMV1gD9SCIscXXciRq5Q5u8Pqjja786m2DfhYt2WmZCL0BC2GhYEB-iGAgu3f1aM03ZRxKB108KQ-OxB_M0Mf1vFs_6svtZn1m7cyWh4/s400/Bulletproof+Texas+cover+from+HQ.jpg" border="0" /></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0373693974" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Suz: </span>The relationship between Max and Zach sizzles on the pages, are you finding it harder or easier to pack both steamy romance and plot into the category size books?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Kay: </span>In this case it was easier to write because these characters just couldn't keep their hands off each other. Their relationship is more intense from the beginning and their personalities dictate a more physical relationship from the start.<br /><br />Zach is angry with himself that he's attracted to a woman who infuriates, yet fascinates him at the same time. What he feels for Max breaks through the wall he has put up since his sister's death.<br /><br />Max is drawn to Zach despite all her best intentions to keep him at arm's length. She's very aware of her responsibilities on this project and being in charge at Devil's Hollow, plus she's just broken off her engagement. She doesn't feel she's in a good place for a relationship or a casual fling because of how it would look to the others on her research team. But all those objections fall away once she and Zach start spending time together. Their chemistry is unstoppable.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Suz, grinning at Kay:</span> Okay, since we're good friends, I know you did some interesting research for <span style="font-weight: bold;">BULLETPROOF TEXAS</span>. Want to tell our readers how far you went to be authentic in your story?<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0373693974?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0373693974"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324812331998913362" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 290px; height: 400px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvBhhXVcqfsorPgWA3-jKYGVqA11jJoehFeWNLa81rB2xBPx3Cu2Juk8Wa6CYeMnC6osrdmbfR_d_jzeMFvdnIVl-1A8rFbkzyUAIMpVfQzFPDkJunFKxSBUV6Sykie-XIBUGrsxyrpU/s400/cave+with+pool.jpg" border="0" /></a><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0373693974" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Kay, rolling her eyes at Suz:</span> Oooh, I knew you were going to ask me this. : )<br /><br />Much of the book's action takes place in a cave and since I'm too claustrophobic and too chicken to try actual "on-my-belly-in-the-mud" caving, my husband and I went to a rock climbing gym for the climbing part of the research. I was determined to feel my rear end in the rappelling gear, to feel the exhilaration of sliding down that rope and to get great pictures for my website. (For the record, my agent begged me not to do this! She thought I might get hurt. I assured her I would be fine! <snort>Note to self. Always listen to your agent.)<br /><br />After the initial stomach churning experience of climbing to the top of the thirty-foot wall, (Did I mention I have this thing about heights, too?), I was having a fabulous time. Once I got over the nausea and rappelled down a couple of times, I was feeling very proud of myself...quite accomplished. What had I ever been afraid of? My husband was "on belay." He does lots of this kind of stuff a lot, so I wasn't worried.<br /><br />A few minutes later, on my last climb of the afternoon we had a major "equipment malfunction." I was about twelve feet from the ground and my rope kinked. The ascender thingie (that keeps you from falling) jammed and I plummeted straight down. Flat on my back. The earth moved. Some of you may have felt it there in Australia. I scared those teenagers running the place half to death. Not to mention my sweetheart. It wasn't pretty.<br /><br />After an MRI and multiple hours on a massage therapist's table, the doctor decided I did not have a compression fracture and cleared me to travel. For a month I had been planning (and packing) for a big writers' conference in San Francisco that started a few days after my umm...tumble. The doctor gave me a raft of muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories and pain-killers to get me through RWA National. This conference is always a wonderful and wild time, but a backache in high heels, even when you haven't fallen on your rear the week before.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Suz glances over the rim of her glasses in that omnipotent way of hers</span>: And what did you ultimately learn from this adventure?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Kay, laughs:</span> Well, this could be a whole other blog post about how I learned not to be stupid while researching.<br /><br />Number one. About my agent.<br />Always listen to your agent. After I fell, the first thing that ran through my head (as I was lying flat on my back and trying to breath again) was: "My agent told me not to do this. I should've listened."<br /><br />Number two. About my research.<br />Always, always in these kinds of situations rent the "how to DVD" and<br />interview the hot athlete. Have your picture made with him for your website (The photo of my behind in that sling is something that will never see the light of day!)<br /><br />Number three. About my husband.<br />When I've had an MRI because my husband thinks he dropped me, I can buy as many pairs of shoes as I want and he won't say a word. In fact, he may ask if I want to buy a purse to go with them! However, I do not recommend this as a path to Jimmy Choo.<br /><br />Number four. About myself.<br />I am a writer. I do not necessarily have to experience things to write about them. (I know, not exactly an epiphany, but apparently I need to be reminded of this "truth" from time to time!)<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Suz: </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">BULLETPROOF TEXAS</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> is Kay Thomas's second novel from Harlequin Intrigue and is on US store shelves this week. Romantic Times gave <span style="font-weight: bold;">BULLETPROOF TEXAS</span> 4 stars calling it "taut, tricky and worth the read." Cataromance gave it 4 ½ stars calling it "non-stop action, nail-biting suspense and fiery passion." Her debut novel </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF </span><span style="font-style: italic;">was released in the US in January and in Australia in March. For excerpts, to enter Kay's April contest, and more please visit <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">www.KayThomas.net</span>.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Kay:</span> <span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">So, readers, what’s the silliest thing you’ve ever done against good advice? Or if you really don’t want to share that particular experience ‘cause trust me, I know we’ve all had some “never-want-to-think-about-it-again” adventures. What’s the best thing you ever did against good advice?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">You’ve already heard about one of my sillier moments. Now for the best thing I ever did against good advice….I got married! I’d only known my husband seven weeks when he proposed. Some friends thought we’d lost our minds. But I knew this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Twenty-one years later—we’re still together and ridiculously happy. Not listening to those friends was the best thing I ever did against good advice!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">So…your turn…best thing you’ve done against good advice or silliest mistake made against good advice? One random commenter will get a copy of my new Harlequin Intrigue, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">BULLETPROOF TEXAS</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">.</span><br /><br /></span></snort></div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyGnyIa7c7ovgLBTcgWSwNr2wuUc2uz7rD9WrkaSlVm_fbjsnp0UKsGcFnE6CEh5YUwcYPjAO95BbdroOXH3g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-69401644218966343882009-02-19T01:16:00.000-08:002009-03-02T12:17:16.132-08:00<span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:85%;" >By Suzanne Welsh<br /></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFhoAzEjofZljpjmB1jQF0ONkvJDyVVT6PdPB7gftiBi1uhgnrVyKazoqwdYXYtjtJAaBVe_HL5Kjr9G8Ibw9eFxNTqlAu6o55DETTUuUP-J94nJW72mgTY8UdMwXVRTYxiOf3RUDkg_Q/s1600-h/Jaye+Wells.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308237845852938418" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 266px; height: 400px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFhoAzEjofZljpjmB1jQF0ONkvJDyVVT6PdPB7gftiBi1uhgnrVyKazoqwdYXYtjtJAaBVe_HL5Kjr9G8Ibw9eFxNTqlAu6o55DETTUuUP-J94nJW72mgTY8UdMwXVRTYxiOf3RUDkg_Q/s400/Jaye+Wells.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">As many of you know I'm the resident vampire of the Lair. Not so much because I drink blood, but because I work at night, which means I also prowl the Lair at all hours in the dark. So it seems rather appropriate that I invite my friend Jaye Wells to the Lair after hours to discuss her Urban Fantasy series. </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);"></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);"><strong>Suz (offering Jaye a glass of Merlot):</strong></span>Welcome to the Lair, Jaye. Have a seat here near the fireplace. Please excuse the sleeping cabana boys and poor Sven the masseuse over there. They've had a hard day taking care of our Banditas and Bandit buddies. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">RED-HEADED STEPCHILD</span> </span>is your first book. We love "call stories" in the Bandit Lair. Care to tell us yours?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><strong>Jaye:(takes a long swig of wine and settles in)</strong> </span>Thanks, Suz. Okay, I love telling this story. My husband left for Japan the week my book went on submission. At the time, we laughed about what would happen if I sold while he was gone. So funny, we thought. Little did we know.<br /><br />Fast forward eight days. I'm sitting in a play area with my son. We were cutting snowflakes out of construction paper when my cell rang. Now, I'd convinced myself that if The Call was coming it would happen before noon. I don't recall why I thought this. So when my phone rang at like five on a Wednesday evening and I saw it was my agent, I was convinced he was calling with bad news. I figured he was letting me know we'd gotten the first rejection.<br /><br />So I pick up and he says, "Are you sitting down?" I sighed, still thinking it was bad news, and went to sit on a stool that was literally a foot off the ground (kid's area, remember?). So I'm squatting there, waiting for the bad news, when my agent informs me that he's gotten an offer for a three book deal.<br /><br />I leapt off the stool and screamed "OH MY GOD!" Then I promptly burst into tears. Remember: I'm in the middle of a play area surrounded by tired mothers and toddlers. I'm sure they thought I was insane.<br /><br />After I'd calmed down a little and assured my son that I was crying because I was happy, my agent drops the next bomb. Since this was the first response we'd received, he needed to call the other editors. Then he said words I never thought I'd hear, "We'll probably go to auction."<br /><br />Well, sure enough two days later, my poor tired husband gets off a plane from Japan. I literally walked in the door from picking him up and got on the phone. The next several hours flew by with me pacing around the house as I fielded phone calls from my agent. Toward the late afternoon, he called to tell me Orbit had preempted. So at 5:30, ten days after my book went on submission, I had myself a three-book deal. And my husband made it home just in time to drink champagne with me.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);"><strong>Suz:</strong></span> What a great story! I've read Paranormal Romances for years, what is the difference between and Urban Fantasy and a Paranormal Romance? Also, how is an Urban Fantasy different from Sci-fi or Epic Fantasies (ala Lord of The Rings)?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><strong>Jaye:</strong></span> To me, the main difference between paranormal romance and urban fantasy to be one of focus. In paranormal romance the plot centers around a budding relationship and usually ends in a happily ever after. In urban fantasy, the central plot revolves around one character's goals--be that defeating the bad guy, saving the world or what have you. You often find romantic elements in urban fantasy but you're much less likely to get a happily ever. But all this flies out the window when books get into bookstores. A lot of books I'd consider UF are being shelved in romance right now.<br /><br />As far as UF versus science fiction or epic fantasy, the biggest difference for me is world building. Science fiction and fantasy don't occur in "our" world. Generally the author creates a unique world--another country or planet or galaxy. But in UF, the world is more like an alternate reality where vampires, werewolves or what have you actually exist in our modern world.<br /><br />It's difficult though because there are exceptions to both these answers. Urban fantasy is really such a blending of genres that there aren't a lot of hard and fast rules or formulas--just generalities.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">Suz:</span></strong> What sparked your interest in Urban Fantasies?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><strong>Jaye:</strong></span> There's a swagger to Urban Fantasy, a bit of rebelliousness that appeals to me. I love the blending of genres and the challenge of world building and the sense that I'm going on a journey with the characters.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Suz (reaching for the wine bottle and topping off both glasses):</span></strong> I had the pleasure of reading a copy of <strong><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">RED-HEADED STEPCHILD</span>.</strong> In it, your heroine, Sabina Kane, is an assassin for the Vampire race. That's not a typical career choice for heroines. How did you make her sympathetic to the readers and did you find that hard to do?<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316037761?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0316037761"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308238121903865650" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; width: 242px; height: 400px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJxXHWhIhoHaeEC_YgfYspKURrb-jvJJRZuFG4q1AxpvRoNeVCUhX4wAE9KPkeMJQz6lLtEjL5QiXX_iey4CvUklFRGgJx50ipMsqmhgC8H_sW5mzoJaW02SImHK1ePHZQJ3w6J1mxoAs/s400/Red-Headed+Stepchild.jpg" border="0" /></a><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0316037761" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Jaye:</span></strong> That's a good question. Honestly, some readers won't find Sabina sympathetic. She's foul-mouthed, has anger issues and is really good at self-deception. She's also got no qualms about violence. With a character like that, the goal isn't sympathy--it's empathy. You aren't supposed to feel sorry for Sabina, but you do need to understand why she does what she does. And that is achieved by showing her motivations and how her situation affects the choices available to her.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">Suz:</span></strong> You did some "other world" building in <strong><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">RED-HEADED STEPCHILD</span></strong>. Can you tell us about the world you created? Was it difficult coming up with unique characters for all the worlds?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Jaye:</span></strong> When I sat down to create Sabina's world, it was important for me to understand where the dark races came from. So I started at the very beginning--literally. The dark races--vampires, mages, etc.--all started with one important event. According to some Jewish traditions, Eve wasn't Adam's first wife. Instead, a female named Lilith was created from dust just like Adam. When she demanded Adam let her be on top during sex, she left him and went to go consort with demons at the Red Sea.<br /><br />I basically took this folklore and reworked it so the affairs Lilith had after she left Adam resulted in the creation of the dark races. Everything else just kind of came together from that, including the changes I made to the vampire mythos. For example, there's a direct connection between the fact Lilith left the Garden of Eden before the fateful forbidden fruit incident, and the fact apples can rob vampires of their mortality.<br /><br />Coming up with main characters was pretty easy. Some of it comes from instinct based on the needs of the story, and other times they just pop up while I'm working. Vinca, who is Sabina's nymph roommate in the book, is an example of a character who just appeared. She ended up being one of my favorite characters.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Suz:</span></strong> Without giving anything away, you have a romantic interest in the book for Sabina. Do you want to tell us about him and will he continue to play an important role in the other books?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Jaye:</span></strong> Adam is a mage who initially causes a lot of trouble for Sabina. But he ends up being an ally and mentor of sorts, who helps Sabina get in touch with her magical side. Yes, there's also some sexual tension, but their relationship is far from a romance at this point. He will continue to play an important role in the overall story, but whether he and Sabina will end up together? Well, I'll just say there's a lot of story left to tell and you never know what might happen.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Suz:</span></strong> Are you planning more stories for Sabina?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Jaye:</span></strong> Absolutely. Right now I'm contracted for three book in the series. The second book, <strong><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">MAGE IN BLACK</span></strong>, is scheduled for release in January 2010. Plus, short story prequel of sorts will appear in the Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance, vol. 2 this winter.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Question for the readers: If you were a character in an Urban Fantasy novel, would you rather be a mage or a vampire?<br /><br />Jaye is giving away an autographed copy of</span> <strong><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">RED-HEADED STEPCHILD</span></strong> <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">to one lucky commentor. </span>Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-88697468121535341222008-12-29T12:10:00.000-08:002008-12-31T18:54:36.221-08:00Kay Thomas guest blog<span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0);font-size:85%;" >by Suzanne Welsh<br /></span><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1m-fo4F4LAqZ-sURZOLUnXXPaUB81M8cy-R3abLfQsgvh8lVWvD8w-F4EPwA3YXeG_DHqywz4F2l3Wg_synKSCARpOa26ChAWoiefjemv8lT7bTIWtMNAPab5pKmYTDXjlezvAaB3Q34/s1600-h/Kay_Thomas.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285293036391744066" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 220px; HEIGHT: 220px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1m-fo4F4LAqZ-sURZOLUnXXPaUB81M8cy-R3abLfQsgvh8lVWvD8w-F4EPwA3YXeG_DHqywz4F2l3Wg_synKSCARpOa26ChAWoiefjemv8lT7bTIWtMNAPab5pKmYTDXjlezvAaB3Q34/s320/Kay_Thomas.jpg" border="0" /></a>Today is champagne day in the Lair. Why? Because I get to welcome one of my closest and sweetest friends, Kay Thomas, to the Lair. I'm also celebrating with Kay and all of you the release of Kay's very first book, BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF!<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0)">Suz:</span> Welcome to the Bandit Lair, Kay. Here's your champagne and please have a seat. First, the Bandits love call stories. Care to share yours with us?<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)">Kay:</span> Last year in mid-January, I was packing my family to get ready for a trip to visit my Dad for his 81st birthday. The phone rang and it was my wonderful agent Helen Breitwieser. She usually emails so I knew this was momentous news. She said Harlequin Intrigue really liked my story but it was too long for their line and would I be willing to cut my single title story to a category length. (This meant cutting about 80 pages of the manuscript.)<br /><br /><strong>Was I willing to do that?</strong><br /><br />"Of course I can."<br /></div><br /><br /><div>"Okay, let me call them back. I'll email you, it will probably be tomorrow before we hear anything."<br /><br />Well, after that awesome call I had to get in the car and drive 8 hours to my parents' house. And let me tell you, it was a good thing we were almost packed because I don't think I could have remembered to pack underwear or shoes or anything, I was so excited.<br /><br />We didn't really have a deal yet. Just a "Gee, we're interested." And I didn't know if they'd want me to do all that cutting first and see it before they made the offer or after. And I had a long drive to think about that, too. A very long drive.<br /><br />When we got to my parent's house it was 2 am, and everyone was wiped out from the drive, so I didn't want to get into the news just yet. But my Dad has always been such a cheerleader for my writing. Growing up he always told me I could do whatever I set my mind to. When I went to tell my parents good night after the kids were finally in bed, I just had to tell my folks that I thought I "might" be about to sell my book. The looks on their faces were priceless.<br /><br />I couldn't sleep after all that and I had to go online to see if there was any news. I really wasn't expecting any until much later that day. It was now about 3:30 in the morning and everyone was fast asleep but yes, there was the email from Helen! Harlequin had made an offer. I was shouting on the inside but I couldn't go wake anyone up to say it was finally real.<br /><br />They'd all just gotten to sleep. But oh, that evening we got to celebrate my Dad's birthday with the rest of my extended family and my book sale. I don't think I could have given my Dad a greater birthday gift than telling him about my dream come true in person.<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0)">Suz:</span> BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF is your debut novel being released later this month. Could you tell us the premise behind the story?<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0373693796?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0373693796"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286073991021791810" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 203px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyn4lQcmRYl9-GtCJWc-C0BewgnOjm4VSPoyDQ3h-kyxi39OCgW_iOTIvN729kfiXbi7nfYoPVxu3xMMQ4i7XnHPhF7Um72LzB4xtr-X4CdcRKSKYZnDS7VIbiwla36AoyQMQj36-yZnY/s320/Better+Than+Bulletproof+cover.jpg" border="0" /></a><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="1" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0373693796" width="1" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)">Kay:</span> Sure, BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF is about a woman who gets caught up in the vaccine autism controversy when her sister disappears and leaves behind her autistic son. Gina Rodgers is an ad executive with no idea how to care for her nephew Adam and his overwhelming needs. She finds an unlikely ally in Adam's play therapist, Harlan Jeffries. He's a former Marine sniper looking for redemption in working with special needs children.<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0)">Suz:</span> Your hero in BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF is Harlan Jeffries. He's my favorite kind of hero-big, strong, buff, with both a tender heart and a secret. Can you tell us more about what makes him tick?<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)">Kay:</span> Harlan is yummy, isn’t he? I had great time creating him. He is a Marine home on medical leave after being injured in Iraq. Haunted by all he’s seen and done there, he’s also trying to figure out what he’s going to do with his life now. While he’s working through all this, he’s working with Adam doing floortime. A type of play therapy for autistic kids that lay people can do. (Not a lot of special training required. You just have to like to play!) Yes, he does have a secret, but I hate to give that away here today.<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0)">Suz:</span> What did you like best about Harlan? What drove you crazy about him?<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)">Kay:</span> Oooh, there were lots of things I like about him. He isn't perfect and even though he's very alpha, he doesn't necessarily have a big ego. In fact he's struggling with figuring out if he makes a difference anymore. He's sustained a terrible back injury and doesn't feel like a hero at all. He loves kids and he's very driven to help people. And of course, Gina doesn't want to be helped or saved in any way.<br /><br />I really enjoyed showing him how much of a difference he could make in Gina's and Adam's lives just by being present, not necessarily by doing the physical things that he would normally consider heroic. Gina and Adam are the perfect people to show Harlan that he doesn't have to do anything special to make himself a hero. That whole idea of being loved for who you are, not for what you can do for someone.<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0)">Suz:</span> Gina Rodgers, the heroine in BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF sees herself as a "screwup". How do you see her?<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)">Kay:</span> I see Gina as a woman who has struggled in the past to become independent from her family. She's now a competent and successful businesswoman, but thrown into the difficult situation of caring for an autistic five-year-old. While dealing with the emotional ramifications of that and looking for her missing sister, Gina feels all her old insecurities rising again. She has no idea how to care for her nephew. She needs help and she hates that she has to rely on Harlan for it.<br /><br />She's also falling hard for Harlan whom she's not entirely sure she can trust. But she has to trust him because he's the only one who can help her when bullets start flying and it's obvious someone is after her and Adam. The situation pushes all her 'competency buttons' simultaneously so that she feels like she's losing control on every level.<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0)">Suz:</span> Gina's nephew in BETTER THAN BULLTETPROOF has autism. It's a condition you are intimately associated with. Would you care to fill our readers in on that?<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)">Kay:</span> Yes, as you can probably tell from my answers above I'm rather passionate about this. Eight years ago my son was diagnosed with autism and we immediately dove into an intensive array of biomedical and traditional therapies for him. He worked hard and responded amazingly well. I will be forever grateful to a multitude of people that I can never repay for giving me back my son. People who worked with him, played with him, prayed for him and for my family. Incredibly generous parents I've met through autism groups online but never met in person who shared their hard won knowledge and advice when we got stuck in various stages of treatment. Doctors, teachers, therapists, and friends who gave so much over the years. It's a very long list.<br /><br />Even with exceptional treatment, you don't always get the kind of results we did. It's been an extraordinarily humbling and overwhelming experience. Today I look at my son when he's yakking away (a miracle in itself), and I think about where we were 9 years ago. I'm completely awed.<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0)">Suz:</span> If someone wanted to learn more about autism or become involved in helping where would recommend they start?<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)">Kay:</span> I'm so glad you asked. There are many great autism resources on the Internet now.<br /><br />My favorite is <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)">www.nationalautismassociation.org</span><br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0)">1-877-NAA-AUTISM</span><br /><br />Their motto is "Think Autism. Think Cure."<br /><br />They have fabulous resources for treatment options, conferences, and the latest news in the autism world. Practically every reputable autism site on the web is listed at NAA--Autism Research Institute, Talk About Curing Autism, Generation Rescue, Autism One. Please check them out.<br /><br />And if you lose the address or can't remember it when you're chatting with someone, I have a list of autism resources on my website under links. NAA is at the top of the list.<br />Here's an article for more information:<br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/childrens-health/2008/12/11/a-parents-guide-to-managing-vaccinations.html</span><br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0)">Suz</span>: Was there any special reason you wanted to write BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF?<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)">Kay</span>: BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF is very much the “book of my heart” because the subject matter is so steeped in autism and treatment. I struggled not to “tell too much” as I wrote and to stay focused on the characters—not getting too carried away on a topic which is so close to home. It’s my greatest hope that readers can enjoy Harlan and Gina’s story and be entertained by it as well as learn a bit about autism—an epidemic that is sweeping the country and stealing away some of the brightest children of a generation.<br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0)"></span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0)">Suz:</span> This is your first book for Harlequin INTRIGUE. Do you have any other up and coming books with them?<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)">Kay:</span> Yes! I have an April Intrigue titled BULLETPROOF TEXAS. The release date is April 14, 2009 and I had a blast writing it. BULLETPROOF TEXAS pulls in some of the characters from BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF.<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(153,0,0)">Suz:</span> Oooo, I love series books where secondary characters get to pop again! Can you give us a hint about it? When will it be released?<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)">Kay:</span> It's a romantic suspense thriller about a pharmaceutical research scientist and a brooding caving guide who are forced to work together extracting a cancer-eating bacteria from a flooding Texas Hill Country cave. As the sparks fly and the sexual tension increases, so do the dangers when a competitor decides this potential cure shouldn't see the light of day--and is willing to kill anyone who gets in the way. </div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_SI9_eNekQStjBOu2HbFeFk9jy6m0G4b4rLpGLVK8tpPn5EZiIUJ6tbBWLWtICcNzcXcmw6kXz6_cBFF1eHBBaFLYYxu0xOZjmVi5lmKBG6ZdO7qDS_NXCkSfWC7Nnr5t_QqXRpwbtSo/s1600-h/boston+champagne+1000.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286075549105462082" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_SI9_eNekQStjBOu2HbFeFk9jy6m0G4b4rLpGLVK8tpPn5EZiIUJ6tbBWLWtICcNzcXcmw6kXz6_cBFF1eHBBaFLYYxu0xOZjmVi5lmKBG6ZdO7qDS_NXCkSfWC7Nnr5t_QqXRpwbtSo/s320/boston+champagne+1000.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,153)">Kay</span>:Suz, thanks so much for having me here in the lair today. 2008 was a remarkable and exciting year for me. I can hardly wait to see what happens in 2009. I was wondering what you and your readers are most looking forward to in the New Year? What is it about January and new beginnings that you most enjoy?<br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,102,0)">Kay is giving away an autographed copy of BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF to one commentor today.</span></div><br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">(By the way, Kay loves boston terriors, so this one came to drink champagne with us today! Isn't he cute?)<br /></span>Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-68443627732662562652008-12-26T09:08:00.001-08:002008-12-26T09:08:57.970-08:00<span style="font-size:85%;color:#990000;">by Suzanne Welsh</span><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282289287283880498" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 319px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDT3RwolmYIVfZ-KiWACBe2tNC7VB5swH7139pAj6w0q1338OAY6NaeG0ZOo5YgbWqWWK7Df-cmclsvUO6TFuAIs63hI02hMDjhi4pwfA9XvqsynxqvMLtAFkRL9LNPsXex4KbhL21mU/s320/LorraineHeathPhoto.jpg" border="0" />One of our favorite guests is back in the Bandit Lair with us today, NYT Bestselling author, Lorraine Heath. Lorraine, pull up a barstool and let's talk about your newest release. (By the way there's Tim Tam's in the Lair today!)<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND DESIRE is the second in the Scoundrels of St. James series. Can you tell us about the story?<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Lorraine, nibbling on a TimTam while giving a quick wave to the Bandits:</span> The story involves Jack Dodger, the owner of a notorious gentleman's club. One of his patrons-the Duke of Lovingdon-bequeaths Jack his London residence in exchange for which Jack is to serve as guardian of the duke's 5-year-old son. Needless to say, the young widow is outraged that this scoundrel is charged with leading her son into manhood. And Jack, who trusts no good fortune, is working hard to discover why the duke would want him to be guardian. Yet, he can't deny that he's intrigued by the young widow.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz, eyes twinkling:</span> Mmmm, we met Jack Dodger in your last book, IN BED WITH THE DEVIL. Jack's a scoundrel of the first order and quite happy in that state. What made you want to bring him change? And how did you achieve that?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006135564X?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=006135564X"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284140864591201474" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 196px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuoC3xTrzeSvQxUxRfC0udR__80p-9UUNAP26fU6o2edJKQbeoikceYEgU05ODa2qqh9dCKwTQu3Ajlb-ToNnTUnOerIaWIPXyuMpqRS9eyv3ZwekleVJVHEMCQIZFJ5KMy99NnwUjXDU/s320/btd&d-front.jpg" border="0" /></a><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="1" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=006135564X" width="1" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Lorraine:</span> Jack has had a very rough life. All of his role models have been the dregs of society, quite honestly, and yet there is a core element of goodness in him that he doesn't want to acknowledge and that few see. He's had to fight to survive and on the surface he always puts himself first. In IN BED WITH THE DEVIL, Jim tells Luke that he would follow him into hell without ever asking him why they were going. None of the scoundrels would do that for Jack because they'd think he was going for his own gain. Yet, in truth, there isn't anything that he wouldn't do for them. He might grumble about it, be unhappy about it, but he'd do it.<br /><br />So in BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND DESIRE I matched Jack against a woman who has never even fantasized about doing anything improper. I put him in a situation where he has to behave. Suddenly a 5-year-old boy is looking to him for guidance, and all Jack knows is how to be a scoundrel. He doesn't want this lad to grow up to be like him and he has to change his ways in order to be what the boy-and eventually his mother-deserve.<br /><br />There is nothing Jack won't do to earn a coin. To earn what Lovingdon has left, he must change. And in the changing, he acquires more than he ever thought possible.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> What is it about the heroine, Olivia, the Duchess of Lovingdon, that intrigues Jack the most in your mind?<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Lorraine:</span> Good question. What intrigues him the most, I think, is the very thing that irritates him the most: she's so blasted proper. She believes in following rules, honoring duty, and never straying from the righteous path. She represents everything he abhors, but her conviction in what she believes to be right fascinates him.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHi7BgtjUGx8hwqrydTk-cnhymjuIpAD0K8Lfu4fHA9Mt0vMNKqePpoAg6FXG14yYOApsaegmISiyW1Y0EP2Huxcnws3lbVK4kkrmjpDexl4phZErnr5PIRRPQQbewCK7WLGFaRyOSzL0/s1600-h/devil.jpg"><span style="color:#990000;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282289744180036642" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 199px; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHi7BgtjUGx8hwqrydTk-cnhymjuIpAD0K8Lfu4fHA9Mt0vMNKqePpoAg6FXG14yYOApsaegmISiyW1Y0EP2Huxcnws3lbVK4kkrmjpDexl4phZErnr5PIRRPQQbewCK7WLGFaRyOSzL0/s320/devil.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> There are at least three more members of Feagan's kids who have been featured in the first two books in this series. Any plans for them?<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Lorraine:</span> Oh, yes. Frannie's book, Surrender to the Devil, will be released in July 2009. The one thing Frannie never wanted was to be part of the aristocracy so, naturally, there is a duke in her future. Jim's story, Midnight Pleasures with a Scoundrel, will be released January 2010. Jim's story has been the most challenging to write so far.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz, leaning in to whisper:</span> Which of the scoundrels do you like the best?<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Lorraine, laughs:</span> Whichever one I'm writing a story about. I like them all for different reasons. Luke was so tormented; Jack is such a scamp; Frannie is the glue that holds them all together; Jim is the one who truly loved Frannie; and Bill . . . well, he's a bit of a mystery.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> I'm not sure if our readers are all aware, but you also write YA under two different names, Rachel Hawthorne and Jade Parker. Care to tell us what's going on in that world?<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Lorraine:</span> After 3 consecutive months of releases in the summer of 2008, Making a Splash: Rob<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061688061?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061688061"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282290768092268242" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 151px; HEIGHT: 245px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzTx4zDzy9orLqVyhgMuFPULSZPU2zRjPR6rG6TMjoM1k84hoV14P0YlcXLXqPLlqFF2g4sp_DMqLED892G-gpQ1EnSP7M-hRF-AQL6fRnME51k5hpkfSY223zinyz1Ky0TJu5NhXgGo/s320/Suite%2520Dreams-final.jpg" border="0" /></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061688061" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br />yn; Making a Splash: Caitlin; Making a Splash: Whitney; Jade doesn't have anything on the horizon. Rachel, however, has been a very busy girl. Suite Dreams hit the bookstores Dec. 23. It's the story of an Aussie who comes to the States for holiday and ends up sleeping on the couch in the heroine's dorm room and sweet dreams ensue. Bandit Anna Campbell (hi, Anna!) was a tremendous help with the story, helping me to create a character who didn't sound quite so American. It was a lot of fun having Anna answer my questions, because she has such a lovely accent even when she's writing. (And I can't wait to get my little fingers on Tempt the Devil. You, Bandits, are all on my "to read" list-you are quite a talented group.)<br /><br />Then beginning in March, the Dark Guardian series-which involves werewolves who live among us, unknown to us-will begin hitting the stores. Moonlight in March, Full Moon in May, Dark of the Moon in July. They were very different from anything I've written before. A little darker, and just a bit sexier (how can shapeshifters not be sexy?) than the beach and winter reads I've written for teens up until now. Each story involves a different girl striving to find her place within the pack and with her destined mate while their existence is threatened by a research company who wants to discover what makes them a unique species (and somehow market it). My personal tagline for the series is-Each girl will be asked: What price will you pay for love?<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;">Lorraine: And while that would be a great question to leave you with-what price would you pay-we're so close to New Year's Eve and since my New Year's resolution is to read more in 2009 what reads do you recommend?</span><br /><br /><p><span style="color:#cc0000;">Lorraine will be giving away a gift card to the one lucky winner's choice of Borders, Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com!!</span><br /></p>Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-27996613800627955472008-10-22T10:39:00.000-07:002008-10-24T22:39:19.298-07:00Tracy Garrett: Spurs, Boots and Good Men<span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;">by Suzanne Welsh<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwvgforWk4yfx86Y3Us-cywLup7DTYoow3g43KBYKY9KN0MEA1easaBTEEJpCLnJ0EUbpfExplxi2l1q_MYLRyn1b-9UONxiViCZTzgIq6AASn1Iqdq9GbBoo0ys0vqBHe5ZBmIfCIVFo/s1600-h/garrett_tracy.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259874661243317650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwvgforWk4yfx86Y3Us-cywLup7DTYoow3g43KBYKY9KN0MEA1easaBTEEJpCLnJ0EUbpfExplxi2l1q_MYLRyn1b-9UONxiViCZTzgIq6AASn1Iqdq9GbBoo0ys0vqBHe5ZBmIfCIVFo/s320/garrett_tracy.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="color:#990000;">Tracy Garrett loves a good man, especially one wearing boots and spurs. In fact, she loves those strong heroes so much, she writes about them in her historical western romances. So naturally while sitting on her balcony overlooking the atumn changes around The Lake of the Ozarks, our conversation turns to her newest book, TOUCHED BY LOVE.<br /></span><div><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Tracy, TOUCHED BY LOVE is your second Historical Western romance. Can you tell us a little bit about it?<br /></span><br />I'll let the back cover blurb do the talking:<br /><br />A TEXAS PROMISE?<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1420101013?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1420101013"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260032167416846498" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtl-JyLivExKgepfCaCX_Lgnw8DAs2Hs7oaQ725BCtAHXGNUt2VsF6ElYdL6dIAYL_jR1RE-59oqcJh9HHapvt4fggzq1QRJZ0LNvxWe2wsT6nPR9gytYMozyLv5z1GOWm9Rb5DQuZ80/s320/TBL.jpg" border="0" /></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1420101013" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br />Jaret Walker is a loner, a gun for hire with a heart of ice. He's never had anyone to call his own, and he likes it that way. But when a promise made to a friend leads him on a ride through the desert and to remote Two Roses Ranch where he meets Isabel Bennett, the woman he's supposed to protect, all he can think of is making her his. She's the kind of woman a rough-riding cowboy like him can never have. But her hot gaze tempts him like no other woman has before...<br /><br />A SCORCHING DESIRE?<br />The moment Isabel Bennett lays eyes on Jaret Walker, she remembers the dreams she's denied for so long. She's sworn never to marry. It's the only way to protect her ranch. But when Walker rides into her life, she decides to let herself taste what she's giving up-a passion that burns through her with each kiss-and a desire that won't be denied...<br /><br />Touched by Love, coming November 4, 2008, from Zebra Historical Romance.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">In the beginning of TOUCHED BY LOVE there's an interesting opening scene centered around a Mexican prison. Was this a real place?<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6YxNjgNgy5o0xTtZ-xEtYsZ7-DxkYS5153axWcooDc5h3E23doUTMPmhX1ki37up8BF0tv29V4DFrvfFEF_D7zmidcSiRMSwoqVFkNAR5YT0DYT83Xhxd3uoS8MxL-0sQ7H-uoDSwuUo/s1600-h/images.jpeg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257807393968673490" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 123px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 78px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6YxNjgNgy5o0xTtZ-xEtYsZ7-DxkYS5153axWcooDc5h3E23doUTMPmhX1ki37up8BF0tv29V4DFrvfFEF_D7zmidcSiRMSwoqVFkNAR5YT0DYT83Xhxd3uoS8MxL-0sQ7H-uoDSwuUo/s320/images.jpeg" border="0" /></a>Perote Prison was a real place. Originally a castle, it was built by the Viceroy of Mexico in the late 1700s 7000 feet up the mountains overlooking the port of Vera Cruz. It was intended as an ammunition storage facility and a military training school, and as a second line of defense for Vera Cruz. The Mexican Army used the huge fortress to keep both military and political prisoners. Texans captured during three disastrous expeditions against Mexico were incarcerated and died within its walls. The shell of the building still remains, but photos are allowed only by special permit. [Photo by J. J. McGrath & Walace Hawkins, "Perote Fort- Where Texans Were Imprisoned", Volume 48, Number 3, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online]<br /><br />When I needed a place for Isabel's brother to be taken, I began searching for prisons in Mexico and found this place. The location was ideal-and it has two macabre stone figures guarding the bridge.<br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257808137084098386" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM5wOHi5GS_CTLoSaASJFBD1YX6_cxiHFfRHmC7-QvHEClnoKLBPWC00JUdonJeAniFqIxYX8VnLZNIlJHZP-Uc7fejhV5ozVJh5-rgnyqOLK3p1QYV7yq4C0OGWdvwKsPKQKtbxP_lFo/s320/JW.jpeg" border="0" /><span style="color:#990000;">Jaret Walker (big sigh!) is my idea of a cowboy hero. In fact I envisioned the ear</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeB-I4AuOEptPxug1kK67t2P0U5ZpGAz-RHfyPEAk5uZ0qrQUJHI42mtF5If_4kKNCOzGVF-89DDnLbe5eI7bYhSyKVLo05NUZGiYBi-OfTZjBp3kFLW5iW96JfijZEztXIH3cfXkvQyQ/s1600-h/Clint.jpg"><span style="color:#990000;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259872232251217650" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeB-I4AuOEptPxug1kK67t2P0U5ZpGAz-RHfyPEAk5uZ0qrQUJHI42mtF5If_4kKNCOzGVF-89DDnLbe5eI7bYhSyKVLo05NUZGiYBi-OfTZjBp3kFLW5iW96JfijZEztXIH3cfXkvQyQ/s320/Clint.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="color:#990000;">ly John Wayne character while reading this. Was there anyone you had in mind as you wrote it?</span><br /><br />I never have a specific actor in mind when I write, but Jaret has a lot of the stubborn honor that John Wayne's characters always showed, with a liberal dose of Clint Eastwood tough-guy thrown in. Mmmm...Clint....<br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">The women who helped settle the American West were made of strong stuff and in TOUCHED BY LOVE, Isabel is the backbone of her ranch. What made her so determined to hold on to it?<br /></span><br />Isabel takes the legacy of the ranch very seriously. The land has been passed from mother to daughter through several generations, and she believes it is her responsibility to maintain it for the next generation. Besides, she loves the rough, harsh land-it's a part of her soul.<br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Even though western historical romances have been quiet for a few years, they're starting to make a comeback in the market place. What about the western do you think appeals to romance readers?<br /></span><br />There<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqm5SytopAsMnkSdI60NtdqRUYX1zRohEAVK3ixJxrKe3lf8HZ8uIjXLIKs-mOpyPaal9hBcZ2zrgSycEc00ui2hYP_O0-cCFIazscfW3P1DayjUf8AsctzWAK_0pFy8K0tvM4QrzbPQ/s1600-h/appaloosa20.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257811598628161394" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqm5SytopAsMnkSdI60NtdqRUYX1zRohEAVK3ixJxrKe3lf8HZ8uIjXLIKs-mOpyPaal9hBcZ2zrgSycEc00ui2hYP_O0-cCFIazscfW3P1DayjUf8AsctzWAK_0pFy8K0tvM4QrzbPQ/s320/appaloosa20.jpg" border="0" /></a> is something about a loner-a man who lives and works alone for weeks or months at a time-that seems to tug at our protective instincts. A cowboy, lawman, gunslinger-it doesn't seem to matter what they do, we love the dark, handsome heroes. The resurgence of westerns at the movies and on TV is evidence. Deadwood, 3:10 to Yuma, Seraphim Falls, Tombstone, Missing. I've seen the trailers for Appaloosa and it's on my must-see-soon list! Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen in boots and spurs? Be still my heart.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Do you think these heroes translate in to contemporary characters? How?</span><br /><br />Absolutely, whether the setting is "western" or not. I think the qualities of honor, duty and good-guys-win are timeless. The romance hero always has a strong sense of right & wrong, does what is necessary despite personal insult or injury, and looks darn good in a cowboy hat. lol<br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Before we head out on the boat to tour the Lake, I have one more question. Is there another western in your future?</span><br /><br />I certainly hope so! I'm in the middle of writing Wolf's story [he was the tracker in Touch of Texas who was searching for his kidnapped children]. And I have several other characters standing around in my office waiting for a turn to tell their stories. </div><div></div><div></div>Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-91734398906513936862008-07-20T07:37:00.000-07:002008-07-20T07:42:36.552-07:00<span style="font-size:85%;color:#990000;">by Suzanne Welsh<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3QEMhYfEraqcmdHtvtt8b6SKoiXsCKMs5jjh2CWeZ0nQZBo0JYHJN79cPEGKGcJwyHRYoiogCMJkJ_0TTz1fitA07L_K2Sg5p5eDS5GvbCRd0VqNNQ_mCkJ-24wECEdaGy7PT1rsdhvY/s1600-h/Jo.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224020445460027986" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3QEMhYfEraqcmdHtvtt8b6SKoiXsCKMs5jjh2CWeZ0nQZBo0JYHJN79cPEGKGcJwyHRYoiogCMJkJ_0TTz1fitA07L_K2Sg5p5eDS5GvbCRd0VqNNQ_mCkJ-24wECEdaGy7PT1rsdhvY/s320/Jo.jpg" border="0" /></a>Hey readers, I’m out to lunch today with my dear friend and critique partner, Jo Davis. Jo is a 2004 Golden Heart finalist who left teaching to successfully launch her career as a romance author. We’ve been planning our trip to San Francisco next week over margaritas, (the beverage of choice at our monthly lunches) and getting ready for the debut of Jo’s Firefighters of Station Five series with her first book, TRIAL BY FIRE, which releases from Signet Eclipse on August 5.<br /><br />Nibbling on the Southwestern spring rolls, yet another lunch staple, I fix Jo with a twinkle in my eyes.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> So tell me again how you came up with the idea for this series of sexy firefighters?<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451224779?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0451224779"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192476196759689954" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKTVlnuwShkin-4HJLiQJBMCXq2_UtFPFEnWR68agvHAXVG_hmzqyuRjxrcIsGX6ECjU4Ji55iAQXSkveR2IBBQTejQstRWYohhPHw8uqeeTwKNUmbU896lVzZAgIYVo9XJIaEtdKfwQw/s200/trialbyfire200.jpg" border="0" /></a><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none" height="1" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0451224779" width="1" border="0" /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo [taking a sip of her margarita]:</span> The idea was born from two factors, the first being simple necessity. I needed a big, hero-driven series concept nobody else was writing about. Cops, FBI agents, and Navy SEALS? Forget it. Done, done, and done. The second factor was that the series must be exciting for me to write. One day in the spring of 2006, I was sitting in my office, frustrated, mulling over these two factors. I looked around at the scores of romance novels sitting on my shelves and forced myself to categorize the romantic suspense books objectively. What was I seeing? Um, cops, FBI, and Navy SEALS. More importantly, what was I NOT seeing? The answer smacked me in the head like a baseball bat—FIREFIGHTERS! Hot damn!! My God, they are the poster boys for the American Hero! Who doesn’t love a man who’ll rush into a burning building or pry apart the twisted metal of a mangled car to rescue you and me?<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz [smiling and nodding in agreement]:</span> Very true! So, did the series sell right away?<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo:</span> No, nothing happens fast in the publishing industry. First, I had to research firefighters. I had to make contacts, learn about their jobs, the equipment, the dangers. I did months of study before I could even write the series proposal. When I finally sent the proposal to my agent, I told her, “This is the one!” The series sold to NAL nine months later.<br /><br />The waiter returns and takes our orders for salads, (I did say we were going to conference next week, didn’t I?) As the waiter leaves, a commotion starts near the restaurant’s entrance. A group of firefighters, complete with jump pants and boots approaches.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-_gQGrVqBwYQPNBzvvEQmvHOxgRdSssFUz0nSNgn2198XrlN2UHt_PLYzbvesZty1TiUG_GnPPdU5kfVKPMWlrF3r7R96ySzC_OBy-0-IIXKgpu0UA4lSBA7XuGG1iieW3gniQ0ZjWxY/s1600-h/FF%231.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224021656625061010" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-_gQGrVqBwYQPNBzvvEQmvHOxgRdSssFUz0nSNgn2198XrlN2UHt_PLYzbvesZty1TiUG_GnPPdU5kfVKPMWlrF3r7R96ySzC_OBy-0-IIXKgpu0UA4lSBA7XuGG1iieW3gniQ0ZjWxY/s400/FF%231.jpg" border="0" /></a>Their leader is six feet six inches of pure muscle and short brown spiky hair, bleached blond on the tips. Watching his confident swagger, I feel like I’m on fire and quickly down half my margarita.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz [drooling]:</span> Oh, my! Who is that?!<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo [waving a spring roll at the hunk]:</span> That, dear friend, is Lieutenant Howard “Six-Pack” Paxton, the hero of TRIAL BY FIRE. Scrumptious, isn’t he?<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> And, look! He brought all of his friends!<br /><br />Following Six-Pack is a beautiful black woman who’s whipcord lean and looks like she can handle her own in a fire or against any one of these guys. She’s laughing with the sexiest dark haired geek I think I’ve ever seen. Behind those glasses lurks the heart and soul of a lover, I’m just sure of it.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo:</span> That’s Eve Marshall and Zack Knight, her best friend on A-shift. Zack is the FAO—the fire apparatus operator or engine driver—and he’s the hero of UNDER FIRE, which releases in May 2009. Behind them are Tommy Skyler, the youngest guy on A-shift, and Julian Salvatore, the team’s horn dog and all-around pain in the butt.<br /><br />Staring at Tommy, my jaw is hanging open. With blond hair and pale blue eyes, he has to be the most unnaturally beautiful young man I’ve ever seen. Like Brad Pitt ten years ago, only way better! And bringing up the rear is the epitome of a sexy Latino lover and he knows it. Julian catches my eye with a smile and a wink. Yep, there goes the last of my margarita!<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo [frowning]:</span> There’s one missing—<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> They’re coming straight over here! Did you invite them?<br /><br />Jo stops searching for the missing team member and grins at me. Why, that stinker set me up!<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo:</span> Surprise!<br /><br />Quickly, I brush at stray crumbs of spring roll and give the guys and Eve a welcoming smile. They invade our table like a category five hurricane, laughing and poking each other, pulling over extra chairs, and generally causing a ruckus as other diners stare at the spectacle.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYspY8nW7c8S-PMbsOyiRaMmftXyCFtAn-HXbW1EBLnLz3_WDP8mZvl_ES4yZuLs_7xyW183U4aGD2LHWPZJGfBV3HTlK5u5h1F3K6SXRcXxoeBQaPYN6lOqHWONuTzNPzF14SK_Ubo0/s1600-h/FF%232.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224022195144249186" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYspY8nW7c8S-PMbsOyiRaMmftXyCFtAn-HXbW1EBLnLz3_WDP8mZvl_ES4yZuLs_7xyW183U4aGD2LHWPZJGfBV3HTlK5u5h1F3K6SXRcXxoeBQaPYN6lOqHWONuTzNPzF14SK_Ubo0/s200/FF%232.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Julian [to Zack, wedging a chair between Suz and Jo]: Move over, geek. I’ve got ladies to satisfy.<br /><br />Zack [rolling his eyes]: Actually, what you’ve got requires a good therapist.<br /><br />Tommy [snatching the last spring roll]: Oh, dude, I love these things! Can we order more?<br /><br />Eve [slapping the munchie out his hand]: Those aren’t yours.<br /><br />Tommy: Ow! Hey, it was just sitting there…<br /><br />Eve and Tommy start arguing loudly over the food while Julian starts whispering sweet Spanish nothings in my ear, making me giggle. He’s certainly earned his reputation, for heaven’s sake! Six-Pack pops Julian on the back of the head, then slaps a hand on the table to get everyone’s attention. Just as I thought, this big man is clearly the leader of the group.<br /><br />Six-Pack [setting his hand-held radio unit on the table]: Knock it off! Jo invited us to meet Suz and you nimrods are gonna get us kicked out. Sorry, ladies. Suz, it’s nice to meet you.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz [blushing]:</span> Well, it’s great to meet you all! Are you on break?<br /><br />Zack: In between calls. We just worked a messy traffic accident, but the victims are okay. Before that, we had an accident in the home and a man who forgot to take his insulin. Busy day.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> What about fires? Don’t you get a lot of calls to those?<br /><br />Eve [glancing at Six-Pack in concern]: No. Well, not normally. Thanks to fire prevention awareness programs, only about 3% of our calls relate to fires. The rest consist mostly of home and traffic accidents, and an odd assortment of emergencies.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> What do you mean, not normally?<br /><br />Six-Pack [looking away, mouth tight]: We’re having a problem with an arsonist/murderer torching victims in our sector. It’s getting personal.<br /><br />Tommy: But the cops are gonna catch this sicko, dude. Not to worry.<br /><br />Eve [making an obvious attempt to divert the topic]: Stop saying dude or I’ll smack you again, kid.<br /><br />Tommy [arching a blond brow]: Baby, I’ve got your kid right he—<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo:</span> Watch it, Skyler. This is a family audience. [Tommy looks contrite] Six-Pack, where’s Sean Tanner?<br /><br />Everyone looks to Six-Pack. He’s their rock, and the respect this team has for him is plain. The lieutenant chooses his words very carefully.<br /><br />Six-Pack [brown eyes sad]: The captain called in sick today. Twenty-four hour bug or something.<br /><br />Jo and I exchange knowing looks while everyone else squirms uncomfortably. We all know Six-Pack’s best friend doesn’t have an illness you can treat with medicine, and that it’s going to take a lot more than one shift off to heal Sean’s grief from his tragic loss. True to form, the oh-so-scrumptious Julian provides a distraction, putting each of his arms around me and Jo and grinning like the rogue he is.<br /><br />Julian: So, queridas, I’m off tomorrow night. What do you say, want burn up the town with me?<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz [laughing]:</span> Hate to break it to you, but we’re taken. Sorry!<br /><br />Julian [pouting]: I’m wounded. Alas, I may never recover from the rejection.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo [dryly]:</span> Oh, I’m sure you’ll find solace somewhere.<br /><br />Eve: Where doesn’t he find solace? Ah, the teaming masses of femininity—<br /><br />Six-Pack’s radio squawks an interruption—a call to assist a child who’s head is stuck through a…toilet seat? A couple of the guys snicker and Six-Pack shakes his head with a killer half-smile as they all push out of their chairs.<br /><br />Six-Pack: Another day in the jungle. Sorry, ladies, we’ve gotta run but we’ll see you around, huh?<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo [winking]:</span> Not if I see you first.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> This was such a cool surprise! Thanks for stopping by, and take care.<br /><br />Jo and I watch them leave with a sigh of appreciation. There’s nothing finer than seeing a firefighter in action, rushing to the rescue!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiplLr7n8izDNSyMeKf5opYywTMOt8qrvVACmZpQDTQICr_b3VI-LY0YvQD1vXKn1xAPVwCkWLxp-vSx3htsB5RqeWD-S4MjmO0QNwccd8VJ5fUJeszdbfhvGe4pXu4Qb8vABXlq0ftOhM/s1600-h/FF%233.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224022715131349122" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiplLr7n8izDNSyMeKf5opYywTMOt8qrvVACmZpQDTQICr_b3VI-LY0YvQD1vXKn1xAPVwCkWLxp-vSx3htsB5RqeWD-S4MjmO0QNwccd8VJ5fUJeszdbfhvGe4pXu4Qb8vABXlq0ftOhM/s320/FF%233.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> I can see why you love those guys so much! They’re adorable.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo [finishing her margarita]:</span> Aren’t they? And I get to spend every single day with them.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> Oh, hush! So, tell me what’s next? Do you have any other books coming out besides the firefighter series?<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo:</span> Yes, I do. I have two erotic suspense/thrillers coming from NAL HEAT. The first one is titled WHEN ALEX WAS BAD and will be released in August 2009. It’s about a wife who grants her lonely husband seven occasions of sinful pleasure with any lover he chooses, provided he confesses to each liaison in detail and agrees to accept whatever punishment she doles out. Too bad the bargain comes with a deadly price…<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> Ooh, that sounds fantastic! Now that you mention the story, I’ve heard a whisper through the grapevine of something exciting on the horizon involving ALEX. Do tell!<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo [blinking innocently]:</span> Why, I can’t imagine what you mean. How about another margarita?<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> Uh-huh. Nice diversion.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo:</span> I’m so glad we did this today! I had fun.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz [signaling the waiter for another margarita]:</span> Me, too! And thanks for bringing the whole gang by today. When I read their story in TRIAL BY FIRE, it felt as if they were the coolest group of close-knit firefighter-heroes I'd want to spend more time with. By the way...uhm...tell your readers what kind of heroine Six-pack falls for? Perhaps a cute brunette OB nurse? [hint, hint]<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo:</span> Patience, dear. You already know you’ll have to wait for Zack’s story, UNDER FIRE, for your nurse heroine! Kat McKenna is a spunky, curvaceous first grade teacher who literally falls into Six-Packs arms at the scene of a fire.<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> Ooh, I can’t wait for TRIAL BY FIRE hit the shelves—only two more weeks!<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">Jo:</span> It’s been a long time coming, girlfriend. I’ll drink to that!<br /><br /><span style="color:#990000;">Suz:</span> <span style="color:#009900;">So dear reader we have a question for you. Have you ever been up close and personal with a firefighter, as in had one come to your rescue? Tell us all about it and Jo will have an autographed copy of TRIAL BY FIRE for one poster. Trust me when I tell you this is one HOT read!! You can watch the trailer at Jo's website @ www.jodavis.net. And if you wish to order a copy from Amazon, just click on the book in this blog.</span>Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-1956901569176615162008-06-14T08:33:00.000-07:002008-06-14T08:34:17.324-07:00<span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:85%;" >by Suzanne Welsh</span><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK5rHRaPPnS7PxEL0x6e1um-SHOOA1eBIgm1lJ8HfZB5ejfTKVcIQO9aUQipAd8h6mGdCi1X4Gd3PN-wGkiEr-V4GjXlU6rC3WKb02qXZ8RX1RUUDjYkCoW4T0fxqcIWauBKVYd0w5pKA/s1600-h/LorraineHeathPhoto.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210886563207794802" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK5rHRaPPnS7PxEL0x6e1um-SHOOA1eBIgm1lJ8HfZB5ejfTKVcIQO9aUQipAd8h6mGdCi1X4Gd3PN-wGkiEr-V4GjXlU6rC3WKb02qXZ8RX1RUUDjYkCoW4T0fxqcIWauBKVYd0w5pKA/s200/LorraineHeathPhoto.jpg" border="0" /></a>I first met Lorraine Heath through her book <span style="font-weight: bold;">TEXAS DESTINY.</span> The story of Houston and Amelia won my heart and had me looking for anything and everything by Ms. Heath. When I moved to Texas, imagine my surprise to discover she was a member of my local chapter. Over the years we've become friends, and I've gotten to enjoy more and more of her wonderful books.<br /><br />Lorraine, welcome back to the Lair. We're always delighted when you come visit us. Pull up a chair and tell us about your newest book, <strong>IN BED WITH THE DEVIL</strong>, book one of The Scoundrels of St. James series.<br /><br />Thanks so much. I'm thrilled to be here again. Love you Bandits.<br /><br />"The Devil Earl", as Lucian Langdon is known, came into his title in a rather odd manner. Can you give us some details?<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZEibakxV5kaHRuMMLIkPuoApgNGdvuWE-S0n9oq9rYeiv1tnQC7iURLs8laxkxUYNlVgL6Eh0dwQUp7QP-5XHcg-J9QROxvWxDS3mnZzXC3lbTzycfwrBMZd1iCKTxxQ5gvnr9NoB_w/s1600-h/devil.jpg"></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061355577?ie=UTF8&tag=romanbandi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061355577%3C/a"><img style="border: medium none ; margin: 0px;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=romanbandi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061355577" border="0" height="1" width="1" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210876466539656018" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZEibakxV5kaHRuMMLIkPuoApgNGdvuWE-S0n9oq9rYeiv1tnQC7iURLs8laxkxUYNlVgL6Eh0dwQUp7QP-5XHcg-J9QROxvWxDS3mnZzXC3lbTzycfwrBMZd1iCKTxxQ5gvnr9NoB_w/s200/devil.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />I'm not sure I can explain it better than Lucian does himself.<br /><br />"They say my parents were murdered in the London streets by a gang of ruffians. I have no memory of it, yet it has always seemed to me that I should. After all, I was supposedly there, but only if I truly am who the world recognizes me to be. The Earl of Claybourne.<br /><br />It's my eyes that convinced the old gent who called himself my grandfather that I was indeed his grandson. "You've got the Claybourne eyes," he'd said with conviction.<br /><br />And I readily admit that looking into his was very much like looking into a mirror at my own, but still it seemed a rather trite thing upon which to base so grand a decision. I was fourteen at the time. Awaiting trial for committing murder. I must confess it was a rather fortuitous moment to be declared a future lord of the realm, as the judicial system was not opposed to hanging young lads who were considered troublesome."<br /><br />Lucian is released into the old gent's care and his life changes dramatically, even though he doesn't believe he's the true heir.<br /><br />You know I love gutsy heroines and Lady Catherine Mabry was such a strong foil against Lucian. She approaches Lucian with an unusual request. How does this surprise him, and how does he respond?<br /><br />She is the only lady among the aristocracy who ever had the courage to hold his gaze, so when she shows up in his library, he's convinced she's come to seduce him. When he discovers she wants him to do away with someone, he's angry. He's spent years struggling with what he did at 14, and her request brings all his self-loathing to the forefront. He tells her, "Nothing that would cause me to kill a man simply because you wish him dead." Of course, when he discovers he needs help acquiring the one thing he wants most-Frannie Darling's hand in marriage-and Catherine can help him acquire it, a bargain is struck and Lady Catherine finds herself in bed with the devil on several levels. It's the reason I loved the title for this book. It works on different levels. </div><br /><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHJhHJnrTBovWxhFGhZoZBaW_kQ1ab5jV5QXc4h9PZR2epKcWemmPZfUFZSsF3wbUnWucXxb8gNmatj7tiBsJirXWOeedVSbe4Ttrm1v_6FyRxzSaRAc5SwZiEnCNpeJRXg9BHejOsMI/s1600-h/rookery.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211622732604464066" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHJhHJnrTBovWxhFGhZoZBaW_kQ1ab5jV5QXc4h9PZR2epKcWemmPZfUFZSsF3wbUnWucXxb8gNmatj7tiBsJirXWOeedVSbe4Ttrm1v_6FyRxzSaRAc5SwZiEnCNpeJRXg9BHejOsMI/s200/rookery.jpg" border="0" /></a>This book had many unique secondary characters, some of which may be familiar to readers from the Dickens novel, OLIVER TWIST. What made you decide to base <span style="font-weight: bold;">IN BED WITH THE DEVIL</span> on this classic?<br /><br />I woke up one morning at 4 with these street scamps in my head wanting me to tell their stories. I went to my computer and wrote the prologue, very little of which has changed from the initial writing. As I began researching children and crime, I discovered that Charles Dickens lived near the rookeries and is believed to have spied on a Fagan-type character and his child thieves. I thought it would be fun to make my characters the ones upon whom Oliver Twist was based. I did a timeline to put them in the rookeries at the time that Dickens was working on Oliver Twist. His work is an incredible documentary of the rookery and criminal life.<br /><br />Don't you just hate it when characters disturb a good night's sleep? (grinning) Are there plans to show more of these characters' stories to your readers?<br /><br />Oh absolutely. <span style="font-weight: bold;">BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND DESIRE</span>, the second in The Scoundrels of St. James series, which will hit the stores in late December, is Jack Dodger's story. And Jack, of course, would be the Artful Dodger. During this time period, it was very easy to change identities. If you were caught for a crime, you just moved over to the next neighborhood and changed your name, so I had fun naming my characters. Jack's story is an Oliver Twist/Great Expectations combo in that he has an anonymous benefactor who is largely responsible for his success. The story I'm writing now is Frannie Darling's.<br /><br />I'll be watching for <span style="font-weight: bold;">BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND DESIRE.</span> (Must remind kids to stuff my stocking with gift cards!) Jack will be a difficult hero to redeem, but as a good friend pointed out to me, if anyone can redeem the unredeemable, it's you. Was it difficult to find a heroine for him?<br /><br />Bless your good friend! It was hard to find the right heroine for Jack. His story actually went through about three phases. Originally I thought the woman for him was someone down on her luck who came to his Gentlemen's Club willing to sell herself-and I saw him teaching her the ways of men and falling in love with her, determined to keep her for himself. Then I saw her as a reformer set on exposing his establishment and him for his wicked ways. But then as things go, I started writing his prologue-and when I got to the end of it, I realized money motivates Jack and he will do anything to acquire it. And the proper lady for him has never sinned in her life-but when fate has him moving into her house much to her objection, she'll discover that between the devil and desire the only choice is surrender.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUmUP87O4s5JyGQhhwPMYu99zPSjCykilbG4E4NON63F2lXrlYnkOFX3WH8-Q9cLOwBO__g395Ejqyy0wUW36eDlKgtwNFrrAoJO5Tu7yniG3SqyYA-92Ba3wNgtrCfhGYkGs2ILhrUQ/s1600-h/dickens.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211623082884431778" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUmUP87O4s5JyGQhhwPMYu99zPSjCykilbG4E4NON63F2lXrlYnkOFX3WH8-Q9cLOwBO__g395Ejqyy0wUW36eDlKgtwNFrrAoJO5Tu7yniG3SqyYA-92Ba3wNgtrCfhGYkGs2ILhrUQ/s200/dickens.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />You mentioned Dickens and his affinity for accurately displaying the rookeries and crime element in his writing. (lifting eyebrows in a questioning manner) Will he make an appearance in one of these books?<br /><br />I won't promise, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised. ?<br /><br />You also write young adult and have a new release hitting the stores June 10. Can you tell us about it?<br /><br />Under the name <span style="font-weight: bold;">Rachel Hawthorne,</span> I write romances for young adults. <span style="font-weight: bold;">LABOR OF LOVE</span> is the story of some teenagers who go to New Orleans to help with the rebuilding efforts. Our heroine, Dawn, had her heart broken by her cheating boyfriend and she wants a summer without boys. She and her friends go to see a psychic and her reading is: </div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV4q94_Gc1eomnvxWFsrkXENuuzXwkj9sLWrRNnXJ499aQsuDoVoUgHclBTgrfN70PqrGKkiyMZWQ5ZOOzvFNJQ9u2cNEsAii4wYQoycQ590ev3ksWkZ2bns4JQ1NSxdEHvNpx11ulb4E/s1600-h/Labor+of+Love.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211625422192723058" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV4q94_Gc1eomnvxWFsrkXENuuzXwkj9sLWrRNnXJ499aQsuDoVoUgHclBTgrfN70PqrGKkiyMZWQ5ZOOzvFNJQ9u2cNEsAii4wYQoycQ590ev3ksWkZ2bns4JQ1NSxdEHvNpx11ulb4E/s320/Labor+of+Love.jpg" border="0" /></a>"I hear hammering. You're trying to rebuild something. But be careful with the tools. You might get distracted and hurt yourself-more than hitting your thumb with a hammer. You could get very badly hurt. And worse, you could hurt others. Lots of people are around. It's hot and dirty. There's a guy . . . a red and white baseball cap. The cap has a logo on it. Chiefs. Kansas City Chiefs. I don't get a name, but he has a nice smile."<br /><br />Of interest about this reading is that I was struggling with the story, thought it was boring, it wasn't going anywhere. I contacted my friend Nancy Haddock, author of La Vida Vampire, and said, "I'm thinking of sending my character to a psychic. How would a psychic reading go?" And Nancy said, "Just snatches of images, something like this," and she gave me the above. Suddenly everything fell into place. I chunked the whole story, opened it with the psychic reading and it pretty much wrote itself. It's wonderful to have friends who are writers and don't think any question is too odd to ask. But I also realized that it's important for writers to experience as much as possible. The past couple of years, I've thought more than once about getting a psychic reading, just for the fun of it. Who knew I'd ever want to use it in a book?<br /><br />Oh, that sounds intriguing. Those glimpses can be interpreted in more than one way. Does your heroine end up questioning her actions throughout the story?<br /><br />Absolutely. Her two friends also got a psychic reading and as things happen in the story, they're trying to determine if that was what the cryptic messages meant. And when things happen, it's like "Oh, no! That's what the psychic predicted." It was just fun to write.<br /><br />Okay, this question is purely for my own nosiness. You write fairly different genres under different names, and have contracts with tight deadlines. Do you <span style="font-style: italic;">ever</span> sleep? (I know you're often awake at the same middle-of-the-night hours I am.)<br /><br />Sleep? What is this thing you call sleep? Seriously, butt in chair. If I write at least 10 pages a day, I can make my deadlines. Also, the boys are no longer at home; hubby works long hours plus he takes care of the cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping (amazing how the hint of possible early retirement will motivate a man). Besides, right now there isn't anything I'd rather be doing. When I get into the story I get a little obsessed with finishing it. </div>Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-76333877383439061862008-05-29T23:16:00.001-07:002008-05-30T06:25:28.456-07:00Jane Graves is in the house!Jane's Tall Tales blog<br /><br />Jane, welcome back to the Bandit Lair, pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable. As you can see we've done a bit of remodeling since your last visit. Over there is the Golden Rooster's nest, and those gentleman bearing trays of drinks and decadant chocolate deserts are our Vri-anna's hockey hunks and Joanie T's Roman gladiators, aka the cabana boys. <br /><br />Thanks for the welcome. Nice remodeling job. Send one of those cabana boys my way.<br /><br />Your newest book, Tall Tales And Wedding Veils, was just released on May 27th. It's your second contemporary romance for Grand Central Publishing. Can you tell us a little bit about this story?<br /><br />Heather's a straight-laced woman who never met a detail she didn't like. Tony's a sexy charmer who never met a woman he couldn't seduce. After a chance meeting in Vegas, she ends up helping him win the $20,000 he needs to buy the business of his dreams. They wake up the next morning with hangovers from hell and their names together on a marriage license. <br /><br />Through a crazy turn of events, they're forced to stay married for a month pretending to be happy newlyweds when nothing could be further from the truth. But it isn't long before the playboy and the plain-Jane begin to see each other in an entirely new light!<br /><br />We first met the hero, Tony McCaffrey, as the skirt-chasing lethario of the repo shop in Hot Wheels And High Heels. How has his life changed since we last saw him?<br /><br />He's decided to go into business for himself by buying a bar & grill. He figures it's a helluva deal. He can do what he's best at-drinking, chasing women, and being the life of the party-and get paid for it at the same time. But he's going to figure out really fast that there's a big difference between sitting on a stool in front of a bar and working behind it.<br /><br />The heroine of Tall Tales And Wedding Veils is an accountant, Heather Montgomery. She doesn't seem like the kind of woman Tony would be attracted to. Why did you choose to match her with him?<br /><br />Simple answer. Conflict. That's what you read for, isn't it? You don't want a story about a hero and heroine being nicey-nice to each other. That's a bore. And as an author, the easiest way to shake things up is to put two vastly different people on the page together and watch the fireworks.<br /><br />But the thing is, when you have two people so incredibly mismatched, the challenge is to come up with a way to keep them together long enough for each of them to see the value in the other and ultimately to fall in love. In Tall Tales, it begins with the "oops" wedding in Vegas and goes from there. <br /><br />Tall Tales and Wedding Veils is a fun romantic romp. One of your reviews for it compared it to a Jennifer Cruise book. Do you think romantic comedies are making a comeback in the market?<br /><br />If they are, it's not nearly fast enough for me. Doesn't anybody want to LAUGH anymore?<br /><br />Seriously, I'm not sure. There was a time in the late 1990s that romantic comedy was king. But these days, those of us who write comedy are getting nudged aside in favor of romantic suspense and paranormal authors. Why is the market saturated right now with dark and dangerous stories instead of light and fun ones? If anybody has an opinion, I'd love to hear it!<br /><br />Since you were last in the Bandit Lair you've taken on a new PR project. Care to give us any hints about it?<br /><br />Sure. My daughter and are are starting an online promotion business, part of which will include author promotion. We're making widgets.<br /><br />Exactly what is a widget?<br /><br />Our widgets are small, portable, multimedia presentations packed with information that can be picked up and put anywhere on the web. Because a widget streams from a single source to multiple sites (like a television signal streams from a single source to multiple sites) it means a widget isn't stuck at one web address. Instead, it can be in hundreds or even thousands of places at once.<br /><br />And here's the good part. With only a few clicks, anyone can add an author's widget to their website, blog, or social networking site, or email it to anyone they choose, which gives a widget the kind of viral capacity authors have only dreamed of up to now. Click "get or share" on my Tall Tales widgets below and email it to a friend to see just how easy it is to share:<br /><br />http://www.clearspring.com/widgets/480371302b3669c0<br /><br />And be sure to keep an eye on those widgets. They're alive! If you're a reader who has embedded one of our author's widgets, whenever they have a new book out or the content of the widget changes in any way, your copy of the widget changes, too, and you don't have to do a thing. <br /><br />As cool as they are, widgets are only a part of what we have planned for author promotion. If you're an author and you want to get in on the ground floor of the hottest trend ever in Internet marketing and drastically increase your presence on the web, send me an email at jane@janegraves.com and we'll let you know when we're open for business. <br /><br />Another project you've been involved in for the past three years is the annual Richardson, Texas "Buns And Roses Tea". This is your second year as chairman for the tea. Can you fill our readers in on details for this year's tea and what the proceeds support?<br /><br />Buns & Roses is back, bigger and better than ever! We're thrilled that Sherrilyn Kenyon is joining us as keynote speaker, as well as thirty three fabulous romance authors as table hosts. <br /><br />Widgets aren't just for author promotion. They're for event promotion, too, or for anything else you need to get the word out about! Here's one we just launched that tells you everything you need to know about Buns & Roses:<br /><br />http://www.clearspring.com/widgets/4819bb29685ab46c<br /><br />Thanks so much for inviting me into the lair. As always, it's been a blast!Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-86810229580829924512007-05-13T12:17:00.000-07:002007-05-13T12:19:49.035-07:00Work Appreciation GiftsA couple of friends and I were having lunch the other day. During the conversation one friend mentioned she'd started a war among the PTO parents for her local school. The board members wanted to give "Teacher Appreciation" gifts to the teachers consisting of gift certificates to a place where they could buy supplies for their classes for next year.<br><br>Seems a rather self-serving gift to me.<br><br>That got me thinking about the Nurse Week appreciation gifts I usually receive. First let me point out a fact that most patients, visitors and hospital administrators don't actually understand. Nurses are the backbone of a hospital. Those core people you can't dispense with and still run a safe hospital.<br><br>So what have I received lately as a nurse appreciation gift? A sweatshirt...with my hospital's logo on it, a long sleeve tee-shirt (which isn't cut to fit women right)...with my hospital's logo on it, and this year? A scrub jacket with....you guessed it...the hospital's logo on it.<br><br>Now, this might not seem too bad to you, but think about it. Nurses's spend weekends and holidays away from their families. Sometimes they miss soccer games or ballet recitals. They reschedule holiday dinners to eat real early or real late because of thier jobs. <br><br>Nurses spend their days taking care of strangers. Putting people on and off bedpans, wiping bottoms, giving shots, starting IV's, giving medicines and listening to complaints of people who don't feel well. Duh, I know that's part of the job. And we realize this, plaster our most compasionate smile on our faces and deal with it.....all.<br><br>Nurses train long and hard every year to recognize subtle changes in patients' conditions that mark a turn for the worse. We act on those changes to keep the pt. alive and the doctor well informed so he/she can make appropriate decisions regarding the care of the patient. We're under tremendous stress by our administrators to do all this in the most efficient manner, with the least amount of supplies necessary and to document everything to a lawyer's standards.<br><br>NOW...which do you think shows a nurse you appreciate her more...a self-serving gift that makes her/him feel like a marketing tool? Or perhaps a gift card for a free foot massage? Or a gift certificate for a whole day at the spa?<br><br>So what's your best appreciation gift? Your worst?Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-27918887818040157262007-05-07T11:33:00.000-07:002007-05-07T11:42:00.349-07:00Humor and Romances<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Well I've had a pretty busy week last week. Went on a job interview and was offered a nice new job with a bit of a pay raise. So that put me in a pretty happy mood! Got to thinking about books and how some of them make me laugh. For me, it's not about slap-stick humor. (I leave that to my kids and DH).</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I prefer the humor that comes in stories where the male doesn't understand the thinking of the female. How frustrated and bewildered he gets at her actions. But of course as the reader I understand her reasoning, even accept it as logical.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I've been known to laugh out loud, or laugh so hard silently that the book I'm holding is shaking. Which of course, has anyone sitting near me furrow their brows and ask, "What's so funny?"</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">To try to explain to them what took the writer nearly half the book or more to lead up to is virtually impossible. I simply smile and say, "oh this is a very funny book." I think I've hooked more new romance readers with that line.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Some of my favorite authors do this so well. In </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Amanda Quick's MISTRESS </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">the heroine believes she's killed the hero with the loss of her virginity! too funny. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Julie Garwood's THE WEDDING</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> had me laughing so hard on an airplane, the lady next to me asked if she could have the book when I was done with it!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Two of my friends do this so well. In </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">A THIEF IN A KILT, Sandy Blair</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> has one surprise after another for her hero Ian MacKay, most of which have to do with the heroine escaping him as she leads him a merry romp through most of Scotland.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Jane Graves</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> has a new book coming out the first of July titled </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Hot Wheels and High Heels</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">. Jane always has unique ideas for books and a quick wit when it comes to dialogue. In this one, her heroine loses everything but her Mercedes to an unscrupulous husband. Enter the hunky repo man to haul off her Mercedes. Does this send her cowering into a corner? Not our girl, no she convinces him to teach her how to be a repo woman! Ack can anything get better than that for a romance? Can't wait til this one comes out. I plan to set aside a whole afternoon to read it!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);">So who do you think writes good humor? Any books I should rush out and buy?</span>Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7406961934106859437.post-34204962410540601102007-03-03T01:08:00.000-08:002007-03-03T01:15:37.154-08:00I, the writer!1) When did You start writing?<br /><br />The year was 1993. We'd just purchased our first PC. I was working nights, and often in the middle of the night nothing is going on at the hospital. I'd finished the book I'd been reading. Since I don't drink coffee I read to stay awake. So I decided to write a scene for a book. For years I'd been toying with the idea of writing a romance novel and had several discarded pieces.<br /><br />This scene just seemed to fly onto the paper. A mail order bride, 8 months pregnant flees the clutches of a killer by riding up into the Colorado Mountains. Good story! So I took the pages home the next morning, typed them into the computer, and OMG! I had an entire 10 page chapter. Problem was, the scene was in the middle of the book! Needless to say, I was hooked.<br /><br />2) What books/authors have influenced you? <br /><br />By far, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Johanna Lindsey, Julie Garwood (my all time favorite!), Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy, Iris Johansen, Lorraine Heath, Jodi Thomas, Linda Howard, Sandy Blair.<br /><br />3) Describe your writing process.<br /><br />Complete pantser! Usually I can visualize a scene in my head, hear what the characters are saying, and then "we're off!". Sometimes it's like a day at the races, and other times it's like an archeological dig. Often their are things that get tweaked throughout the story and I'm not afraid of rewrites, but in the end, when the hero and heroine get their emotionally satisfying ending, I'm thrilled with the end product.<br /><br />A friend always tells me she "sees the book like a movie reel". I don't. The funny thing is, I "hear" the cadence of the story, the rhythm, the dialogue, each character's unique story line. Weird, isn't it?<br /><br />4) Tell us about your current Work In Progress and what is next for you?<br /><br />Which one? I kid you not, I'm not happy unless I have two or more projects in the works. <br />WIP "A"--206 pages into a small town romance with a sexy reluctant sheriff hero, a novice teacher-turned-PI heroine, a town-full of well-meaning crazies, and oh yeah at least one murderer on the lose.<br /><br />WIP "B"--60 pages into the third in a romantic suspense trilogy about the Edgars family. KIDNAPPED, my 06GH finalist is the first in the series and features Sami Edgars and Jake Carlisle. HUNTED, also an 06GH finalist is the second in the series featuring Matt Edgars and Katie Myers. The third book, MISSING, features the youngest brother and charmer, Luke Edgars, and a six foot tall computer-geek desk agent, Abby Whitson.<br /><br />WIP "C" 20 pages into a Regency-era historical about a wounded soldier who returns to England a war-hero only to find himself the guardian of two school-room age sisters and their independent minded governess.<br /><br />*see all too tempting not to work on!*<br /><br />5) Any advice for others or personal observations?<br /><br />If you look at a blank page and have the urge to fill it with words, want to describe the interaction of characters and tell their stories, then you are a writer. This isn't for the faint of heart. Rejections come quickly and acceptance is rare, but once the bug bites you, beware, you can do nothing but write to make you happy!Suzanne Ferrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05761579189372602292noreply@blogger.com0