Whips, Chairs And a Chat With Liz Carlyle

Posted by Caren Crane Jul 22 2008, 4:01 am in Caren Crane, Literacy Autographing, Liz Carlyle, Never Romance a Rake

by Caren Crane

Some of you may have heard me boast about–er, mention–that one of my dear friends is none other than the elusive and seldom-seen-in-cyberspace Liz Carlyle. Liz is the NY Times best-selling author of dark, hot Regency romances. I am thrilled to have Liz guesting with us today. All I had to do to secure this visit was tackle her in the Whole Foods parking lot and hold her organic kumquats hostage until she agreed! *ahem*

Welcome to the Bandits’ Lair, Liz!

Thank you, Banditas! It’s a pleasure to be in the saddle with you today. (Should I have worn a mask? A kerchief over my face? Just wasn’t sure of bandit etiquette here . . . )

Never worry about your attire. Should you require a mask, Donna has extras. For now, we’ll spend time gazing at you adoringly. (gazes adoringly) Such fun to have you here today! Coincidentally, today is the release date of the latest in your Never series, Never Romance a Rake, isn’t it? (blinks innocently)

Yes, Bandita Caren! Coincidentally, it is. Wonder how that happened?

I cannot discuss my powers of Amazon…er, divination. *ahem* Anyway, I gobbled up Never Lie To a Lady and Never Deceive a Duke. The hero of Never Romance a Rake , much to my delight, is Baron Rothewell . I and all your other slavering fans have waited a year for Rothewell’s story. A long year. What can you tell us about his book?

Well, I can tell you that if you think the book was a long time coming out, you should have seen me writing it. (Oops, actually, you pretty much did, didn’t you?) As my dearest friends know–having observed the gnashing of my teeth these many months–this book was hard sledding. Rothewell was such an intriguing character to so many readers and, well, let’s face it–a bit of an asshole. So redeeming him was a challenge, as was writing the sort of book he deserved. Because, you see, an author’s characters are her children, and she knows the good in them, even when others cannot see it. I knew there was a tender heart this dark, hulking, hard-drinking, mean-tempered man–I just had to find it, sober him up, slap him around, then convey him on the page to my readers. Without totally wussifying him, of course.

Inquiring minds simply must know. What sort of woman could possibly tame such a beast as the luscious…er, dark and dangerous Rothewell?

A woman with a whip and a chair? Seriously, this girl is intense and–in her own way–a little ruthless. That, to me, was what it was going to bring the old boy around. I know conventional wisdom tells us opposites attract, but in Camille Marchand, I found myself with a heroine who really could go toe-to-toe with Lord Rothewell. She was not afraid of him. And from the very first, he is taken aback by her, and almost as quickly smitten. She makes him work for it, though. I really thought he needed to be punished for his wicked ways. I wanted him on his knees, and Camille got the job done. Of course that blade cuts both ways . . .

Oh, my! It sounds like the beginning of another stormy, lightning-hot romance. I don’t suppose you are selling tickets to the Rothewell taming? What’s that? I have to read the book? Well, if I must. Camille comes across as an exotic and definitely not British woman. She isn’t alone in that. You have had a number of non-British characters in your novels. What made you decide to include these more exotic characters in your novels?

I like the contrast of two people from slightly different cultures, with different languages. As an author, right off the bat, you’ve got your “fish out of water” element to play with. And there’s nothing sexier than a whispered endearment in a foreign language–especially French or Italian. I think, too, that society was very fluid, even then. There was a good deal of travel between countries (depending upon what war was going on where) and it was a hallmark of an educated mind to have traveled, or at least to have a passing knowledge of another culture, especially French.

Right now I’m working on my next hero who is a little bit Spanish, a little bit Gypsy–maybe a little Sicilian thrown in for good measure. Even he isn’t sure of his heritage–a mongrel, he calls himself–and I must say, I’m having a great time with him so far.

I am certainly looking forward to that hero. (Sorry, my “Gypsy/Sicilian man” picture didn’t look very historical. Oopsie!) I love endearments whispered in foreign languages. (clears throat) So, we have a bad boy hero coming out TODAY and this fascinating hero of unknown origin coming out next year. In the meantime, you will be at the Literacy Autographing in San Francisco at the RWA Conference. Yippee! We are looking forward to that. What are you looking forward to in San Francisco, Liz?

Going home. Yes, as all my friends know, I am the ultimate homebody. You have to blow me out of the house with dynamite.

Ok, seriously. I’m looking forward to hanging out with my pals–especially you, Bandita Caren–and just chilling. I have tried to keep planning to an absolute minimum this year so I can be–gasp!– spontaneous. Also, I really enjoy the literacy signing–I love to meet readers and fellow writers, and it’s for a very good cause.

Spontaneity, you say? I’ll believe it when I see it. (Note to self: pack dynamite to blast Liz out of hotel room.) But, dear readers, any of you in the San Francisco area (or those of you at Conference) should plan to stop by the Literacy Autographing to meet Liz in actual, real live person!

Oh, Liz, before you crawl back into your cave, is there anything you would like to ask our Bandita Buddies today?

Yes, Bandita Caren, I would like to pick the learned brains of your esteemed Banditaship. How do the Banditas like their historicals nowadays? How hot is too hot to be appropriate in today’s historical (non-erotica) market? Does sex play and light bondage seem out of place? I’ve got a difficult hero and heroine on my hands here, and they seem to require some discipline, but I’m not sure I’m ready to play the kinky card yet. I’ll do it only if the characters warrant it, not just to throw in gratuitous kinky-ness. So…think it will be a wallbanger? Will they strip me of my Historical Author Tiara for this?

Let Liz know what you think and you will be entered in a drawing to win an autographed copy of Never Romance a Rake!

98 Comments

Bandit Booty

Posted by Beth Andrews Jul 22 2008, 3:59 am in Uncategorized

Thanks to everyone who commented on my New and Improved post! I had such a hard time picking one answer that I had to draw a number *g* The winner of a signed copy of Stacey Kayne’s latest book, The Gunslinger’s Untamed Bride is… Louisa!! Congrats, Louisa *g* Please send me your snail mail info to: beth@bethandrews.net

4 Comments

Jo Davis Brings The Heat!

Posted by Suzanne Ferrell Jul 21 2008, 4:02 am in firefighters, Jo Davis, margaritas, NAL publishing, Romantic suspense, Suzanne Welsh

by Suzanne WelshHey 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. Nibbling on the Southwestern spring rolls, yet another lunch staple, I fix Jo with a
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202 Comments

New and Improved

Posted by Beth Andrews Jul 20 2008, 4:01 am in Beth Andrews

by Beth Andrews I’m very proud of myself. You see, I wrote a new partial (for those nonwriters, that’s usually the first three chapters and a synopsis). Now, you may ask, why the heck am I so proud – haven’t I written partials before? You bet I have. But all of those stories were romance or romantic suspense stories. This partial is for a young adult book. Written in First Person even. In other words, it’s something I’ve never attempted before. The story may be rough, the tense flip flops back and forth between present and past and I have
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88 Comments

Gwyn Cready in in the Lair

Posted by Christie Kelley Jul 19 2008, 4:01 am in Christie Kelley, Gwyn Cready

by Christie Kelley Today we welcome Gwyn Cready to the lair. I met Gwyn at my first booksigning in Lancaster where I picked up her first book Tumbling Through Time. It was such a funny and wonderful time travel, I just had to invite her into the lair.Hi. Thanks so much for letting me blog in here. I’ve never guest blogged before, so be gentle. Seducing Mr. Darcy is the sexy, funny story of Flip Allison, an ornithologist at the Pittsburgh Aviary who, by way of a massage in which one can imagine oneself in one’s favorite book, finds herself
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72 Comments

IOU Winners!

Posted by crocodesigns Jul 19 2008, 12:33 am in Bandit Booty, Sourcebooks, Winners

First of all I want to say a BIG THANX to everyone who stopped by, commented and made my editor, Deb Werksman’s guest blog a HUGE success! Deb wanted me to pass along her thanks and how much she loved visiting the Lair. She also said that if you did not get your question answered, you are welcome to email her.And now for the WINNERS! Aunty fired up her trusty random number generator and came up with the following:IOU for a copy of Loucinda McGary’s The Wild Sight — catslady! IOU for a copy of Marie Force’s Line of Scrimmage
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10 Comments

Views from the Top

Posted by crocodesigns Jul 18 2008, 4:43 am in Aunty Cindy explains it all for you, travel

posted by Aunty Cindy Yes, any Bandita will verify that yer olde Aunty is a gadabout. I love to travel just about anywhere, though in spite of rumors to the contrary, I have not quite been everywhere… YET! Destination doesn’t matter because I can always find something interesting and worthwhile where ever I go. One of the things I really enjoy is a breath-taking view. I’m not quite sure how or when this started, but in thinking about topics for this post, I realized how many tall buildings and structures (natural and man-made) I have ascended. Whether it was the
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66 Comments

Editor Deb Werksman Is In Da Lair!

Posted by crocodesigns Jul 17 2008, 5:32 am in Aunty Cindy explains it all for you, editor, guest blogger, Sourcebooks

interviewed and posted by Aunty Cindy We are excited and pleased today (and Aunty’s extra tickled) to have Sourcebooks acquiring editor Deb Werksman as our guest in the Lair! Deb is taking time from a very busy day full of meetings so she will be popping in and out to answer your questions in the comments as time allows.AC: Please tell us a little about Sourcebooks Casablanca, your job/workload on a daily basis, and your previous experience in the publishing industry.DW: Sourcebooks Casablanca was started in 1997 with Greg Godek’s 1001 Ways to Be Romantic. I’ve been running it since
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119 Comments

Traveling Booty!

Posted by Guest Jul 17 2008, 3:30 am in Uncategorized

I know, I know, it’s incredibly shallow, but I just love finding new ways to use the word BOOTY!! So, thanks so much to everyone for playing my game and telling me all about the fabulous places where you live. It was truly impossible to choose between all your incredible hometowns and I’d love to visit them all. I’m not sure how my husband and kids (or my bank account) would feel about it, but I’m ready to go! But I had to choose one, and it was…GANNON CARR!! For bringing me back to my (second) favorite place in the
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6 Comments

Bandita Booty – Dolly Mixtures

Posted by Anna Sugden Jul 17 2008, 3:26 am in Anna Sugden, Bandita Booty, dolly mixture

by Anna Sugden Many thanks to everyone who took part so enthusiastically on Dolly Mixture Blog Day! I’m pleased to announce that the random number generator has pulled out three winners. So Congratulations! to: Traveler, Ruth and Anne. If you send your snail mail to me at anna at annsugden dot com, I will pick up some Dolly Mixtures when I’m back home this weekend and pop them in the post to you, when I return. Happy sorting!

2 Comments