Kieran Kramer Bandit Booty!

posted by Christine Wells

Thank you to Kieran Kramer for a fun day! The winners of Kieran's fabulous prizes are:

Maureen (ARC of Dukes to the Left of me, Princes to the Right)
Helen (ARC of Dukes to the Left of me, Princes to the Right)
Silygoos (Copy of When Harry Met Molly)

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Please email me your address and Kieran will send you these fabulous prizes:
christine @ christine-wells DOT comSource URL: http://plasticsurgerycelebrities.blogspot.com/search/label/Kieran%20Kramer
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When Kieran Kramer Met the Banditas...

posted by Christine Wells

It's my absolute pleasure to introduce Kieran Kramer, who is taking the romance world by storm with her "Impossible Bachelors" series. It's wonderful to have Kieran with us. I'm thrilled to announce that Kieran is offering some very special prizes to our Bandit Buddies today. So get commenting for a chance to win!

1. Kieran, a warm welcome to the bandit lair and congratulations on your debut! Your Regency historical, WHEN HARRY MET MOLLY is out this month, to be followed closely by DUKES TO THE LEFT OF ME, PRINCES TO THE RIGHT. Can you tell us a bit about the books and your inspiration for writing the series?

Hi! I'm so glad to be here! My four-book series, The Impossible Bachelors, is about four super sexy Regency-era bachelors who are convinced they're not destined for the marriage altar. But of course, they're all wrong!

Don't you just love when Cupid's arrow strikes someone who's running away from love? I know I do. It's diabolical of me, perhaps, but I can't help thinking, "YES!" when they realize they can't live without the women who are driving them crazy. :>)

2. You've worked for the CIA and as a freelance journalist, among other things. What drew you to write Regency historicals rather than, say, thrillers or non-fiction?

I like a lot of things. What drew me to the CIA and to working for a newspaper was my sense of adventure. As for my writing life, I find it more exciting to make up stories. I'm into character way more than plot, and thrillers are very plot-heavy for me. And yes, truth is stranger than fiction, but rather than report on real occurrences, I'd rather spin some tall tales!! That's just more fun for me. Of course, everyone's different. Thank goodness we DO have thriller writers and journalists! Let me write my lighthearted fiction stories, and I'll leave them to their sort of writing.

3. We love hearing call stories in the lair! Would you care to tell us yours?

Oh, I love my call story, so I'll be glad to share! I was riding along a narrow country road, heading to jury duty in the small town next to mine, thinking,"Gosh, I'm bored," and yawning and dreading sitting still like a good girl in the court room… when I got a call from my fabulous agent. She proceeded to tell me the series had sold and blahblahblah--I'm sorry. I have NO idea what she said next. All I remember now is that my hands were super sweaty on the wheel of the car, and I was sort of shaking all over, so I told her I had to hang up before I drove off the road into a corn field. And then I threw the cell phone down, drove with TWO hands, and got to the courthouse, where I had to be super quiet and respectful, when I really wanted to shout and dance. And then, when asked my profession, I stood up and told the judge and the lawyers and the jury pool that I was a professional writer. I know I was I grinning from ear to ear! Somehow, I didn't get selected, and I got to drive a whole half hour home and tell my family and neighbors the unbelievable news and went running around on the streets, because I think we should all do that every chance we get--running around on the streets and yelling about how great life is.

4. What are three things you want readers to know about your stories?

a) I want you to laugh and have fun with them.
b) They reflect my honest belief that love is EVERYTHING and that the good guys are always gonna win in the end!
c) They're always about Girl Power, too. I like my heroines to be brave, to be honest, and to put themselves out there--to risk it all!

5. Tell us 5 quirky things that people might not know about you.

Oh, this'll be fun.

1) My favorite breakfast of the year is the morning after Thanksgiving, where I wake up, and before the sleep is even out of my eyes, I cut myself a large piece of pumpkin pie (smothered in Cool Whip) and a slab of pecan pie (I put a dollop of real whipped cream on that) and dig in. Mmm-mmm!

2) I talk to my pets in a sort of weird baby voice that would make you sick if you heard it.

3) I wear the same khaki skort over and over every day in the summer, and I wonder when it's going to wear out from all the washings and when my neighbors are ever going to approach me and ask me why I can't buy a new skort or shorts or skirt or dress or something!

4) I love Raisinettes so much, you'd better hide them if I come to your house.

5) Whenever I'm with people from foreign countries, I start adopting their accent almost immediately. It's so embarrassing!

LOL, I can identify with a couple of those! Thank you so much for being with us today, Kieran! Now, what would you like to ask our readers?

First of all, I want to say I had so much fun answering your questions! Thanks for having me. I'm going to give away TWO ARCs of Dukes to the Left of Me, Princes to the Right and ONE final copy of When Harry Met Molly.

And the question I'd like to ask your readers is…(drum roll)…

WHAT HAS MADE YOU LAUGH SO HARD THAT IF YOU WERE DRINKING CHOCOLATE MILK, IT WOULD HAVE COME OUT YOUR NOSE? OR MAYBE DID?

I'll start: It happened when my dad tried to lower my brother via a pulley rope slung around a giant tree branch onto the back of a stubborn mule named Jack who wouldn't let anyone NEAR him! (is my family weird, or what?) Jack won. Brother lost. Jack, who was eating a strategically placed pile of delicious mule treats beneath the tree branch, bucked and kicked as soon as my brother got close to straddling him and then ran as fast as his hooves could carry him away from those rude humans!Source URL: http://plasticsurgerycelebrities.blogspot.com/search/label/Kieran%20Kramer
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Coming Attractions for November!

by Anna Campbell

Wow, November is rockin' in the lair! We've shipped in extra cabana boys to cope with the extra strain on the bar!

We've got guests and giveaways galore and not one, but TWO infamous launch parties (yeah, you can see why we need extra staff!).

And don't forget, if you click on any of the covers, you go straight to Amazon!

First cab off the rank (such an elegant cab - clearly a Jaguar!) is fabulous historical romance author Sarah MacLean who will be my guest on Tuesday, 2nd November.

Sarah burst onto the historical romance scene this year with her fantabulous NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE. She's visiting us to talk about her November book TEN WAYS TO BE ADORED WHEN LANDING A LORD. Love the titles, Sarah!

Sarah is a load of fun (and she's doing a giveaway) so don't miss her visit.

On November 3rd, Jessica Andersen returns as the newest installment in the Nightkeepers saga launches. BLOOD SPELLS is Patience and Brandt's story. In their honor, Jessica will discuss "After the HEA" with us. She may also have a Big Surprise for us.



On 4th November, Caridad Pineiro visits the Banditas to celebrate the publication of her 25th release – STRONGER THAN SIN from Grand Central Publishing. This is the second in Caridad's Sin series. We like a bit of sin in the lair so that should be huge fun!














On Friday, 5th November, a dear friend of mine Emily May (who also writes brilliant fantasy romance as Emily Gee) will be here to talk about her latest Regency romance, THE UNMASKING OF A LADY. Emily is coming to the lair all the way from New Zealand and she'll be talking about her two identities and giving away a signed copy of her book.








On 9th November, Nancy will host Julie Kenner/J.K. Beck in the lair. Julie is here to talk about her latest series of vampire romances, WHEN BLOOD CALLS, WHEN PLEASURE RULES and especially her latest release WHEN WICKED CRAVES. Sounds like something the Banditas and their Buddies can get their teeth into! Oh, I do love the chance for a good meaty vampire joke!












On November 11th we have the lovely Donna Grant talking to us about her fabulous, pulse-pounding paranormal Scottish historical Dark Sword series. Her latest release is WICKED HIGHLANDER - ooh, I can see myself being wicked with him!












Aussie contemporary romance author Kandy Shepherd returns to the lair on Tuesday, 16th November, to talk about her wonderful new book HOME IS WHERE THE BARK IS. People who loved LOVE IS A FOUR-LEGGED WORD will adore this story about an FBI agent who gets involved unwillingly in a doggy daycare center. Kandy will be doing a giveaway!







On the 20th November, we have the first of our Bandita launches for the month. RITA winner and one of my favorite authors Beth Andrews lets her latest release A MARINE FOR CHRISTMAS loose in the lair. Swing by for mayhem and margaritas.

Here's the blurb:

It’s a wonderful life…?

Growing up in her perfect sister’s shadow wasn’t easy. Especially because JC Montgomery had been in love with Liz’s boyfriend for as long as she could remember. Brady Sheppard, a a guy who thought of her as only the kid sister. But that all changed when Liz married somebody else and Brady ended up in bed with JC! It was like a dream come true.


Except now JC’s pregnant. And Brady’s a wounded marine, so it’s going to be difficult for him to get down on one knee and tell her she’s his reason for living…But he will. Because she still believes in Santa Claus.

For 21st November we have a delicious treat for all you historical lovers. Delightful debut author Kieran Kramer is chatting with us about her Impossible Bachelor series. WHEN HARRY MET MOLLY, the first instalment in the series, hits the shelves this month.







To finish the month (11/30), we have another fabulous Bandita release to celebrate (oh, my poor aching cabana boys!). Tawny Weber's novella A BABE IN TOYLAND is out from Blaze in an anthology called IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE MISTLETOE... (Yeah, right!).

Here's the blurb:

They’re going to have a hot, hot Christmas...

The weather outside might be frightful—
but the Cole sisters are indulging in
something quite delightful...

Rita Mae Cole and Tyler Ramsey hail from feuding
families. Be together? Impossible. But the incredible
sex between them says otherwise....


After the huge success of my last contest where I gave away a pile of signed books, I'm doing it all again in my latest website contest. The question is really easy. Other than English, please name three languages in which my books are available. You might just find the answer on this page of my website. I'll choose TWO winners at random and those lucky entrants will receive signed copies of:

MY RECKLESS SURRENDER by Anna Campbell
DARK AND DEADLY by Jeanne Adams
NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE by Sarah MacLean
THE WICKED MARQUIS by Miranda Neville
PROOF BY SEDUCTION by Courtney Milan
Either WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON or THE DUKE AND I by Julia Quinn

Good luck! The contest closes 30th November, 2010. Email your answers to anna@annacampbell.info For more information, please visit my contest page.Source URL: http://plasticsurgerycelebrities.blogspot.com/search/label/Kieran%20Kramer
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A Site for Sore Eyes

by Christine Wells

A friend of mine is in the process of revamping her website. I might well do the same very soon, so I've been contemplating my options.

For me, it's no easy thing to decide on a design for my home on the web. I'm much the same with designing the interior of my bricks and mortar home--I couldn't tell you specifically what I want but I have strong opinions on what I like (and don't like) when I see it.

Funnily enough, in the past this has frustrated my web designers. Ah, well, I'm a Libran, what can I say?

So the thing to do when you don't know what you want is to look at other sites to see what they do well, right? Here are some of the things I think about when I'm looking at an author webpage:

*Is the design pleasing to the eye?

*Does the design suit the tone of the writer's work? Flowers and hearts are not usually appropriate for an author who writes dark paranormals.

*Is there a well laid out home page with just enough information on it, but not too much?

When I go to an author home page I want to know what kind of book they write and the latest book they have released, maybe also the book that's 'coming soon' if the latest has been out a while. If the home page is cluttered with a thousand different messages and widgets and covers, my eyes simply glaze over and I don't read any of it.

Actually, I don't doubt some readers love that busy kind of page, especially if they're devoted fans who visit often, but my aim with a home page is to give the casual browser quick access to the information they're most likely to want. If they like bells and whistles, my guess is they'll click on a button called 'extras' or 'fun stuff' to find them.

*Like any reader, I love extra content -- this might be in the form of articles, news, a blog, facebook page, second epilogues, dossiers on characters and so forth. Blogs and social media feeds give the feeling of currency and the extra content means you're getting something special from the website that you can't get from reading the author's books. Those extras give readers a sense of the author's personality and a feeling of connection to the author.

*Book trailers -- If they're done well, they can enhance a website for me, as long as they don't take forever to load.

Here are some sites I like (not counting fabulous Bandita sites, of course!):

We all know Jenny Crusie loves collaging and the header of this site has that eclectic feel to it, along with Jenny's signature cherry. I loved her previous site, too. This has a darker, more magical tone that suits the direction Crusie seems to be taking with her fiction these days.

Susan Holloway Scott. This is simply one of the most gorgeous sites on the web, in my opinion. Everything about it shouts historical opulence and Susan Holloway Scott writes about the mistresses of kings so the tone is just right for her books. I particularly love the botanical drawings on the borders. They're different on each page and add richness and colour as well as a sense of period to the site.

Julie Garwood Usually I wouldn't recommend a home page that takes a while to load, but this one is worth it for sheer novelty value.

Loretta Chase uses an old-fashioned letter with a seal as a background for her website. I like that she gives just enough information to help me decide whether to read further, but not an overwhelming amount. See the great tagline she has next to her latest release?

Kieran Kramer is a debut author who writes fresh, witty historicals and doesn't her website reflect that? I love that she has a nice welcome and salient points about her books with links to other fun stuff, too.

So here are my questions for you, dear readers!

What is your favourite romance author website?

What do you like best about this website?

What do you dislike seeing on an author site?

I'm looking forward to hearing your answers! Thank you in advance for letting me do some important market research:)Source URL: http://plasticsurgerycelebrities.blogspot.com/search/label/Kieran%20Kramer
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