June Has Something For YOU!!

by Caren Crane

Dearest Banditas, Buddies and friends we've just met, June promises to be all white knights, chocolates, white weddings, love songs and forget-me-nots around the Lair! Okay, maybe not that, but we do have a ton of happenings, contests and surprises to rave about so here goes:




June 2 - Popular Lair visitor Tiffany Clare is back to tell us about her third historical romance, The Secret Desires Of a Governess. Tiff is very generously giving away three copies of her latest book to people who comment. [I am all atwitter at the shades of Jane Eyre!]






June 3 - RITA winner Terri Garey returns to the lair to talk about her new “Devil’s Bargain” series, and the lure of “books that go bump in the night”! (Check out those abs on her cover!)






June 4 - It's going to be hot, HOT, HOT when Christie Kelley throws a release party for her steaming new Regency One Night Scandal! This is a party you won't want to miss. [I hope I can find a virtual designated driver!]







June 6 - Stefanie Sloane will be talking about the Young Corinthians and her second novel The Angel In Her Arms. [There is a book trailer on her website. Oh, my!]








June 7 - Jessica Andersen returns to the lair as Nancy's guest. June is the most popular wedding month, and Jessica will chat about favorite fictional weddings and the newest Nightkeepers novel, Storm Kissed. [Those lovely tattooed arms make me feel all stormy inside! *sigh*]





June 10 - Anna Campbell hosts debut historical romance author and regular lair visitor Karyn Gerrard. Karyn will be talking about her new book Timeless Heart and spreading the lurve with some giveaways. [We love new authors, especially when they are old friends!]





June 16 - Susan Gee Heino will return to the lair to talk about her July release Temptress In Training. [And wait until you find out who she is tempting...]






June 19 - Mega basketball fan Patricia Sargeant will join us as Regina Hart to tell us about her June release Fast Break, love 'n hoops and her fabulous Brooklyn Monarchs. [I can't wait for the hunky basketball heroes!]


BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!


Every week in June, Christie Kelley will be giving away a signed copy of one of her five releases, including One Night Scandal. Just visit her website for more details and your chance to win!


Anna Campbell is holding a Hardback Heaven at Midnight Contest, open until 30th June. She’s giving away three signed copies of the beautiful hardcover Rhapsody Book Club edition of Midnight's Wild Passion. To enter, just email Anna on anna@annacampbell.info and tell her the name of the hero and heroine of Midnight's Wild Passion. For more information on the contest, please visit her website.


Be sure not to miss any of the fun. We promise to be here every day with something Wildly Interesting (or at least Moderately Stimulating, if not Downright Exciting) for you!Source URL: http://plasticsurgerycelebrities.blogspot.com/2011/05/
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Matisyahu Minnesota Zoo Amphitheatre Tickets

Matisyahu is an American Hasidic Jewish reggae musician that is known for blending traditional Jewish themes with Reggae, rock and hip-hop beat-boxing sounds together. In 2004, Matisyahu signed with JDUB Records and released his debut album, Shake Off The Dust...Arise. Since then, he has released a total of three studio albums and three live albums. He has received positive reviews from both rock and reggae outlets and was even named the Top Reggae Artist by Billboard in 2006. If you're even the slightest fan of reggae music, I highly suggest you check him out! He will be performing here at the Minnesota Zoo Amphitheatre on Thursday, June 30th at 7:30pm.  If you don't have your Matisyahu tickets yet, don't worry - Ticket King currently has them at just $98 a piece for excellent seats! Check out our inventory and get yours now before they're gone!Source URL: http://plasticsurgerycelebrities.blogspot.com/2011/05/
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Tedeschi Trucks Band Minnesota Zoo Amphitheatre Tickets Now Available!

The Tedeschi Trucks Band is a supergroup based in Jacksonville, FL and formed by guitar wizard Derek Trucks and his wife, singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi.  The couple formed the group last year and have put their individual careers on hold  for this project.  They are scheduled to release a debut album, "Revelator," on June 7th, which Tedeschi says is all about storytelling through songs.  If you would like a chance to see Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks perform LIVE together at the Minnesota Zoo Amphitheatre this summer, check out our supply of Tedeschi Trucks Band tickets and get yours while it's still early! The show will be on Fri. August 26 at 7:30pm.  We currently have  tickets in the center section starting as low as $129 a piece. Don't wait until it's too late - get your tickets while our selection is at it's best!Source URL: http://plasticsurgerycelebrities.blogspot.com/2011/05/
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Psychic Secrets

posted by Nancy
Best-selling author Anna DeStefano returns to the Lair today. She writes classic contemporary romance and contemporary psychic fantasy for Dorchester Publishing. She's won and finalled in numerous national contests, including twice winning RTBook Review's Reviewers Choice Award.

Today we'll talk about her newest release, Secret Legacy.

Welcome, Anna!

Who is the heroine of Secret Legacy, and what's her background?

Sarah Temple and her identical psychic twin share a powerful, supernatural legacy that warring factions are fighting to control--a center of government scientists who want to harness their gifts to weaponize daydreams, and a brotherhood of psychic warriors who have sworn to protect the Psychic Realm and its secrets at all costs.

Sarah's barely escaped with her sanity the Center's attempts (in Book 1, Dark Legacy) to highjack her sister's gifts (by using Sarah' comatose mind to program and control Maddie Temple's dreams). Now the Dream Weaver program they thought they'd defeated is still going strong, only this time it's Sarah's sleeping mind the government is haunting--using her mysterious psychic connection with a lost child no one else believes exists. The only way for Sarah to protect the little girl and her legacy from being manipulated into a long-range, direct strike weapon is to trust her gifts and the warrior who's already betrayed her once.

What's her biggest problem in this book?

Sarah, like many of us, can't see the promise of who she and her twin are destined to be, because the damage and mistakes and potential evil that she so far hasn't been able to keep her legacy from becoming. She doesn't trust her potential to be a warrior for good, capable of protecting not only those she loves, but other legacy families within the psychic realm, too, from suffering at the hands of those who only seek power and profit as they hunt the metaphysically gifted. At it's core, Secret Legacy reflects the same journey of discovery and acceptance we all face, as we search for who we are and what we're meant to become. It's a celebration, when Sarah not only claims be destiny, but valiantly fights to make the same magical promise possible for generations to come.

Your website refers to a psychic warrior who broke the heroine's heart. How do they meet again, and what issues lie between them?

Secret Legacy begins only a month after Dark Legacy's cliff hanger ending that left so many readers panting for more ;0) Dr. Richard Metting was initially one of the "villains" of Dark Legacy. One of the government scientists, we thought, who were weaponizing daydreams by hijacking the mysteries within Temple twins' minds. Except Richard turned out to be the lead watcher for a brotherhood of psychic warriors whose mission is to shut down the Center's Dream Weaver program at all costs--even if it means sacrificing Sarah and her twin's sanity.

Richard breaks from the Brotherhood's mission, though, to protect the Temple Legacy, and in the process becomes deeply attached to Sarah and her fight for survival. We find him at the beginning of Secret Legacy, now within the protection of the Brotherhood's bunker, battling to regain Sarah's trust and to help her control her disintegrating gifts before he loses her for good.

Can we have a peek inside the book?

Sure! The prologue and first chapter are up on my website:

http://issuu.com/annawrites/docs/secret_legacy-excerpt?mode=a_p onclick=

Here's an author interview and book trailer for the Legacy Series:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4OdHP-WPA4&feature=channel_video_title

And a Blog Talk Radio interview that delves deeper into the dream theory and parapsychology behind my Psychic Realm:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/circle-of-seven/2011/05/19/readers-entertainment-radio

This book ties in with an earlier one, Dark Legacy. What's the connection?

That cliff hanger I mentioned above... At the very end of Dark Legacy, a secret child is discovered who holds the key to the heart and future (either good or evil) of the Temple Legacy. No one knew she existed. Secret Legacy begins as no one within the Brotherhood believes the child is real--except Sarah, who hears the little girl in her nightmares, crying for help. Sarah's convinced the Center is experimenting on the innocent child the way they once did Sarah, and she'll stop at nothing until she finds her--putting her family, her legacy and the Psychic Realm at even more risk than ever.

Secret Legacy is a thrilling race in and out of nightmare and deadly psychic visions, to stop the Center and the magical child they've brainwashed from fulfilling the darker promise of the Temple Legacy.

What's next for you?

I'm in love already with the next three books I’m creating for the Legacy Series. Working on that new proposal I a top priority. As is blogging weekly about the Dream Theory, parapsychology, and metaphysics I research to create my Psychic Realm.

I've also submitted a new family drama proposal to Harlequin, so hopefully I'll have something new on the way soon for my contemporary romance fans.

And I'm travelling again, teaching writing craft where folks ask me to ;o) I'll be with the Carolina Romance Writers in June, then at Romance Writers of America's National Conference and ThrillerFest in July. I'm also weekly talking about How We Write and how Publishing Isn't For Sissies on my blog.

It's a lovely life ;o)

For more about Anna and her books, check out her website.

Dark Legacy, Book 1 in the series, is a 2.99 cent download on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc, and starting June 6th Secret Legacy will be a .99 cent download. One commenter today, however, will receive a free electronic download of Secret Legacy.

So tell us, if you could have any paranormal power, what would it be, and why? What's your favorite story of past lovers reunited? What's your favorite movie involving paranormal powers?Source URL: http://plasticsurgerycelebrities.blogspot.com/2011/05/
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GOING HOME

by Jo Robertson

About ten years ago on Fathers Day our seven children picked out individual rose bushes and planted them in a row by the fence in our back yard. At the time my youngest son had distanced himself from the family so the spot for his bush remained empty, a sad reminder that one of the seven was missing.


Recently that son returned, bought a lovely white rose bush with a blush of pink on the petals, dug a hole and planted the flowers near the other six.





Thomas Wolfe said, "You can't go home again," but I'm not sure that's true. I think, as Robert Frost claimed, "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."






We live in a complicated world where daily stress and dangerous lures trap many people. It seems fitting on this U.S. Memorial Day, when we traditionally honor those who've died in the service of country, that we also honor those who've traveled hard roads, made difficult journeys, and have returned to their haven of safety.



















Whether from war, a troubled marriage, college, incarceration or disenfranchisement, let's welcome home all those who are "going home."




If you could memorialize one person, someone who's meant a lot to you, given you something precious, or influenced your life in some way, who would you choose and why?

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Cat Schield Meddles with Millionaires

hosted by Susan Sey

Hey, everybody, say hello to my good friend Cat Schield! Some of you may recognize her from her Golden Heart win in Orlando last summer for A Case of Meddling, now titled Meddling With A Millionaire. She's a chapter mate of mine up here in the Frozen Wilds Where Spring Dare Not Bloom (otherwise known as Minnesota) and I'm delighted to have her with us today to talk about her debut Harlequin Desire, Meddling With A Millionaire.


Without any further ado, I give you Cat:

Thanks so much to the tony margareth for inviting me to join them today.

When people in my life find out I'm a writer, I'm often asked where I get my ideas. I tell them I borrow a lot from television, movies and songs. Something I see or hear will trigger an idea and I'm off and running.

In my debut book, I saw my hero as a throwback to those wonderful movies from the fifties. Tuxedo wearing, suave and sophisticated, but with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, Nathan Case is a cross between Carry Grant and Errol Flynn. Because his mother loved Frank Sinatra, I gave Nathan a great voice and opportunities to use it. I wasn't sure if my heroine was all that impressed with his dashing charm, but it sure made me fall in love with him.

To celebrate the release of Meddling With A Millionaire, I decided to write a novella tie in called Her Secret Millionaire. (Available as a free read on my website. www.catschield.com.)

The story is about Nathan's best friend, Cody, and his journey to happily ever after. For this story, I was inspired by Glee. The opening scene of Her Secret Millionaire is a take on Baby It's Cold Outside, sung on the Christmas show by Kurt and Blaine. I've always been a huge fan of this song. The playfulness of the seduction hints at more serious undertones and provides great sexual tension.

Another Glee inspired scene comes courtesy of Will Schuster. In an episode that focused on teen drinking, he gets intoxicated and calls Emma, pouring his heart out to her. Although I was cringing in sympathy through the entire scene, I knew exactly where something like that would fit in the novella.


So where do you get your inspiration? Don't be shy! One lucky commenter will receive a copy of Cat's debut novel Meddling with a Millionaire!



Cat Schield lives in Minnesota with her daughter and their Burmese cat. Winner of the Romance Writers of America 2010 Golden Heart® for series contemporary romance, when she’s not writing sexy, romantic stories for Harlequin Desire, she can be found sailing with friends on the St. Croix River or more exotic locales like the Caribbean and Europe.

You can find her on Twitter and on Facebook, as well as on her website where you can read both her novella Her Secret Millionaire and a blurb of her debut novel Meddling With A Millionaire.

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Prize Hunting in Dixie!

by Anna Campbell

Thanks, everyone, for a fabulous day in the lair yesterday. You certainly gave Lexi and her debut book a great Southern welcome.

Lexi very generously offered our commenters TWO copies of DEMON HUNTING IN DIXIE. The winners are:

MODOKKER

DONNAS

Congratulations, girls. Please email Lexi on lexigeorge56 @ gmail.com (no spaces) with your snail mail details and she'll get your prize off to you. Happy reading!Source URL: http://plasticsurgerycelebrities.blogspot.com/2011/05/
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Free Reads

by Suzanne

We've had a new addition to our family. A brand new baby boy! He's as cute as his mother and father, and as bald as his grandfather! (That's him over there--->)

Needless to say, I had to put blogging, writing and reading on hold for a bit. Since I have what my husband calls, "the ultimate Grandma job".

And he's right.

I'm lucky in that I have the ability to chose my daughters' doctors, hospitals, nurses AND I get to be in the delivery room for the birth of everyone of my grandchildren. Now, before you think I get all bossy in there, my coworkers will tell you, I play the role of mom/grandmother and not nurse. I don't get in their way and I don't tell them how to do their jobs. Uhm, I shouldn't have to, I trained all but two of them! :)

So now life is getting a bit more back to normal. I have time to read and visit some of my favorite blogs, like our own Bandit Lair, The Romance Dish, The Romance Writers Revenge, etc...

I've managed to start a new project in my writing. Besides working on my next erotica, revising my western historical mail-order bride story for possible publication, I've started writing some "extras" for my website for people to read. (I had hoped to have them up by now...but that baby came four weeks early!! Impatient boy!) But let me tell you a little about these "extras".



If you've read The Surrender of Lacy Morgan, then you know there are five adopted sons who grew to adulthood on Los Hombres ranch under the guiding hand of their mentor, Anson "Cap" McCarthy. Some tragedy or tragic occurrence left these boys on their own when Cap found them.

So.....I thought it might be fun for my readers to hear each of the boys' stories about how they met Cap. The first three are up today...Quinn, Dakota and Will, with Nico and Ian's stories to follow shortly after. I'd love for y'all to take a look at them, let me know your opinion. You can read them now @ www.suzanneferrell.com


And for those of you who haunt websites, have you found any with extras or free reads you like? What did you like about them? Did they make you want to read the back list of the authors? Did they make you crave more of their series or characters?
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Demon Hunting in the Lair!

by Anna Campbell

We love debut authors here in the lair and I'm delighted to introduce a very talented new author who I met for an uproarious lunch a couple of RWAs ago (she's a friend of Louisa's - should be recommendation enough, huh?). Lexi's huge fun in person so I wasn't remotely surprised when I heard she'd translated that funny, snarky humor into a three-book deal with Kensington Brava.

You can find out more about Lexi at her website: www.lexigeorge.com

Here's the blurb for DEMON HUNTING IN DIXIE which is out this month:

A warrior, a demon, and the girl next door…

Looking For Trouble...

Addy Corwin is a florist with an attitude. A bad attitude, or so her mama says, ‘cause she’s not looking for a man. Mama’s wrong. Addy has looked. There’s just not much to choose from in Hannah, her small Alabama hometown. Until Brand Dalvahni shows up, a supernaturally sexy, breathtakingly well-built hunk of a warrior from—well, not from around here, that’s for sure. Mama thinks he might be European or maybe even a Yankee. Brand says he’s from another dimension.

Addy couldn’t care less where he’s from. He’s gorgeous. Serious muscles. Disturbing green eyes. Brand really gets her going. Too bad he’s a whack job. Says he’s come to rescue her from a demon. Puh-lease. But right after Brand shows up, strange things start to happen. Dogs talk and reanimated corpses stalk the quite streets of Hannah. Her mortal enemy Meredith, otherwise known as the Death Starr, breaks out in a severe and inexplicable case of butt boils. Addy might not know what’s going on, but she definitely wants a certain sexy demon hunter by her side when it all goes down…

So without more ado, here's Lexi!

Lexi, welcome to the Bandits and huge congratulations on the release of your debut paranormal romance DEMON HUNTING IN DIXIE. Can you tell us about this story?

Small town florist Addy Corwin is out running with her dog one night when she is attacked and left for dead. She is saved by Brand Dalvahni, six-foot-four inches of hard-muscled yummy. Opposites attract and, from the start, Addy is irresistibly drawn to Brand. Says he’s an immortal demon hunter and that he’s come to rescue Addy from the rogue demon that marked her.

Demons and demon hunters in boring little Hannah, Alabama? Pul-leeze!

But right after Brand shows up, strange things start to happen. Dogs talk and reanimated corpses stalk the quiet streets of Hannah. Woo woo is one thing, but what really has Addy rattled is her reaction to Brand. She goes into hormonal meltdown every time the handsome warrior comes near. And that’s not her only problem. Addy's encounter with the demon has changed her, giving her powers of her own, not to mention a startling new hair-do.

Her cosmetological troubles are nothing compared to the extreme make-over Brand gets when he meets Addy, the one female in ten thousand years who can make him forget that he’s a warrior and remember he’s a man. While Brand struggles to protect Addy from the evil creature on her trail, a demon of a different sort stalks the unsuspecting warrior: Addy’s matchmaking mama.

Here’s an excerpt from the first chapter of DEMON HUNTING IN DIXIE. The scene opens in Addy’s living room where she awakes, dizzy and confused, on her couch after being attacked by a demon. Surely she imagined the whole thing? To her surprise and astonishment, the supernaturally gorgeous guy from the woods is real. And he’s in her house! She tells him to leave and he refuses. Says he’s there to protect her from the djegrali—his word for 'demon'. Addy thinks he’s a total babe. Too bad he’s a whack job.

Addy stepped away from the couch and her knees buckled.

One moment Brand was across the room, his shoulder against the wall, the picture of aloof boredom, and the next she was in his arms. She closed her eyes and swallowed a sigh as she was lifted against his hard chest. The man sure had muscles, she’d give him that.

“You will recline, at once.” His tone was stern.

Okay, muscles and a few control issues.

She opened her eyes as he lowered her to the couch, and saw a grimace of pain flash across his features. It was the first expression of any kind she’d seen on his face, unless you counted the lip twitch thing. The man could give a marble statue lessons in being stoic.

She caught his arm as he started to rise. “That thing hurt you!”

He stilled, his gaze on her fingers wrapped around his wrist. “You are mistaken. The djegrali did not injure me. It is your touch that disturbs me.”

Addy stiffened and drew back.“Well, excuse the hell out of me.”

He caught her by the hand. “You misunderstand. You do not repulse me.”

He knelt down beside her. He put his fingers under her chin and tilted her face with gentle fingers. Addy stifled a gasp. Who was this guy? The merest touch from him and her breasts tingled and she felt all hot and wobbly inside. What was the matter with her?

“Look at me,” he commanded.

Sweet Sister Ruth, he had a voice was like whiskey and smoke. She shivered and raised her eyes to his. He stroked her cheek with his thumb, a rapt expression on his face. His thumb drifted lower to brush her bottom lip. “You must be patient with me, Adara Jean Corwin. The Dalvahni do not experience emotion. It would be superfluous. We exist for one purpose and one purpose alone: to hunt the djegrali. For ten thousand years, that has been my objective, until now.”

“Ten thousand years, huh?” With an effort, she squelched the sudden urge to scrape the pad of his thumb with her teeth. No doubt about it, she was in hormonal meltdown. “Sounds boring. You need to get a new hobby, expand your horizons.”

“Earth is but one of the realms where the Dalvahni hunt the djegrali.”

Oh, brother, too bad. He was paying a visit to schizoid-land again.

Then the impact of his words percolated through the fog of lust that set her brain and her body on fire.

“Hey, wait a minute, I didn’t tell you my name!”

“The animal you call Dooley informed me of many things, including how to find this dwelling.”

“You don’t say? Funny, she’s never said a thing to me in four years.”

He put his hand on her shoulder as she tried to sit up.“You will not rise,” he said with annoying calm.

“Oh, yeah? That’s what you think, bub.”

She pushed at his arm, an exercise in futility. The man was built like the proverbial brick outhouse.

His hand slid over her abdomen and down her running shorts to her legs.His hand felt hot against her bare skin.

“Dooley, come here,” he said.

The dog rose and trotted over to the couch.

Brand traced an intricate pattern with his fingers along the skin of her inner thigh. Addy began to shake. What was happening to her? This was so unlike her. All her life she’d struggled to rein in her reckless nature, the wild streak that made her mama wring her hands in despair. Self-control was her hard-earned mantra. Think first and feel later. But this guy . . . this guy really got her going, made her want to throw caution to the wind. She wanted to arch her hips against his hand, a stranger’s hand.

“Speak, Dooley,” Brand said with his gaze on Addy’s face.

“DOOLEY LOVE ADDY. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE,” the Lab said in the growly voice of a three-pack-a-day smoker. Flinging up a back paw, she scratched her ear. “CAN DOOLEY HAVE CHICKEN LEG IN COLD BOX? CAN DOOLEY?” Her head snapped around. "OH, LOOK, A BUG!"

There was a long moment of silence as Addy gaped at her dog in shock. Slowly, she raised her eyes to Brand’s.

“Who are you?”

A slight crease appeared between Brand’s brows. The expression in his eyes grew puzzled.
“Until tonight, I thought I knew.”

Lowering his dark head, he kissed her.

Whiskey and smoke, huh? Works for me! You’ve got a novella, “The Bride Wore Demon Dust”, in what looks like a really fun anthology called SO I MARRIED A DEMON SLAYER that comes out in August. Please give us the lowdown on this story.

"The Bride Wore Demon Dust” is the story of a runaway bride. Bunny Raines is the librarian in the small town of Hannah—the town that is the setting of the first book. The story opens at a quaint church on a river. It is Bunny’s wedding day and she is blissfully happy to be marrying the man of her dreams—Rafe Dalvahni, six foot four inches of hard muscled, masculine yummy. To Bunny’s horror and dismay, she discovers—after she’s married!—that her boring little hometown is infested with demons, and her husband is an immortal demon slayer. The ‘mugger’ he saved her from the night they met was a demon, and Rafe saved her from certain death by giving her part of his essence.

Not only is she married to a total stranger, she’s changed species! Worse, she’s pregnant . . . although she hasn’t told Rafe about the baby yet.

Distraught and confused, Bunny flees the wedding and Rafe goes after her. Unfortunately, so does the demon that tried to kill her. Having marked her, the demon is irresistibly drawn to her, especially now that she’s a powerful Dalvahni and a worthy receptacle for the demon.

Sounds great! Here in the lair, we love call stories. Will you please share yours?

I’ve been writing for more than 16 years. My first two books were part of a romantic fantasy series. I knew nothing about fiction writing. Never took a class or read a book on writing, just started writing and loved it. So, I’m self-taught. I joined a writer’s group about five years ago and that was a tremendous help. Getting feed-back and constructive criticism is essential, in my opinion. You can’t write in a vacuum, not if you want to get published. There are rules and you have to learn about them before you can break them.

Around the same time that I joined the writer’s group, I started the querying rounds on the first book of the romantic fantasy that I’d been working on for more than ten years. I got rejected. Big time. Something like a hundred ‘no thanks.’ Discouraged, I decided to try my hand at a paranormal romance. The book took a year to write and the result was DEMON HUNTING IN DIXIE, my debut book with Kensington. The book was a total surprise. When I started writing it, I thought it was going to be dark. But it quickly morphed into something else. This snarky voice came out of me that I never knew existed. It was amazing and liberating.

I had done well on the contest circuit while writing the book and I was jazzed. This is it, I thought. This is the one that will make it! In January 2010, I started querying and received a flurry of requests for partials and fulls from agents. I was excited and hopeful . . . and then the rejections started pouring in. Light paranormal doesn’t sell, was the consensus. I was devastated. Another series dead in the water.

I went on my romance writer’s loop and whined and a woman I barely knew at the time sent me an email. There was an interview of Megan Records on line that I needed to check out, she said, and then I needed to query her. I had never thought about querying an editor—too focused on getting an agent. I read the interview and Megan said she saw a lot of dark paranormal. No surprise there, that’s what the agents had said was selling. But then Megan said something that made me sit up and take notice. I don’t see much funny anymore, but I’d like to.

I sent Megan a query letter, referencing her interview and said, I write funny! She sent me back an email and asked for the full. This was in February of 2010.

On March 11, 2010, I was on my way to the doctor for a recheck because I had broken by foot in two places in February. I fell off my shoe. It’s a talent, I know. Anyway, a friend was driving me and my sad, casted foot to the doctor when my cell phone rang. I almost didn’t answer it, because it was an out-of-state call. I figured it was a wrong number or one of those Nigerian bank schemes. I answered the phone and, boy, am I ever glad I did! It was Megan Records calling to offer me a three-book deal! Good thing I wasn’t driving. I would have wrecked the car!

Great story! What’s next for Lexi George?

I am hard at work on book two of the demon hunter series, tentatively entitled DEMON HUNTING IN THE DEEP SOUTH. The deadline on book two is in June and it will be out next year. After that, it’s on to book three, DEMON HUNTING IN A DIVE BAR.

If the series does well, I have three more demon hunter books in mind.

Because my spies have been following you for years, I know you’re an enthusiastic amateur thespian. How do you think your acting experience feeds into your writing?

I think anything creative, whether it be dancing, painting, acting, quilting, etc., gets your juices flowing. I started out writing poetry in elementary, but the words dried up when I went to law school. The thing that freed my inner muse was scrap booking! I started scrap booking when my kids were little. Tapping into my creative side opened me up to other possibilities within myself and, from there, I turned to writing. Acting does the same thing. Being creative fills you with joy, connects you to the divine, and spills over to other things in a positive way.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?


Read, read, read, and WRITE! Writing is a craft and it’s a muscle that gets stronger with exercise. Try to write something every day, whether it’s a letter, blog, a short story, an essay, poetry—whatever. Check out some of the wonderful craft books on writing out there. Stephen King’s ON WRITING is an excellent one. Take advantage of the internet. There is a wealth of knowledge available at your fingertips on everything from structure and plot to POV and dialogue tags. Join a writer’s group or start one of your own. Even if you don’t all write the same thing, it is exciting to be around other writers, and you will learn from one another. Brain storming with other writers is great. A writers' group will also teach you to give and accept constructive criticism.

Also, be ready to face rejection. It is part of the process. It sucks. It stings. It hurts. It knocks your feet out from under you and throws you into a spiral of self doubt. Give yourself a day to pout and sing the “I Suck” song, then shake it off and get back on the horse. Remember that writing is subjective. You cannot write a book that will please everyone. Write the book you want to read. Name an author, classic or otherwise, that everybody loves universally. You can’t, because people have different tastes. You are going to be rejected on the road to being published. After you get published, guess what? You face rejection again! There will be reviewers that love you and those that hate you, as I am already finding out. You will work with editors who want you to revise your manuscript. You may submit a proposal on your next fabulous series idea and get rejected on that too. But, don’t give up. If you give up, you will lose. Believe in yourself and persevere.Writing is not for wimps.

Lexi, do you have a question for the Bandits and Bandit Buddies?

I’d really love to hear about YOUR creative outlet. Writing, scrap booking, painting, sculpting, photography, cooking? What gets you inner muse going?

Lexi is very generously giving away TWO copies of DEMON HUNTING IN DIXIE today to commenters so good luck, people!Source URL: http://plasticsurgerycelebrities.blogspot.com/2011/05/
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