1. Yes, all six Kelly brothers will be getting a story eventually. I just didn’t think it was particularly realistic for them all to fall in love one right after the other *g*

2. Yes, I have plans for Steele, Swanny and Rusty (the three most frequent characters I get questions about other than the Kelly brothers)

3. No, I don’t plan to pair Rusty with one of the Kelly brothers or Steele (two most frequent questions I get in regard to Rusty)

I’ll actually be doing a live Facebook chat on June 7th from the Berkley offices where you are free to ask me questions about any of my books or series. I’ll be posting more about it as we get closer to the date and I’ll post the URL for the Facebook page where the chat will take place.

©2012 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

But what happens when the reader’s expectation doesn’t reconcile with the author’s vision/interpretation of character B and C? As a reader do you shrug it off and say okay well these are the author’s characters, he/she knows them better and chalk it up to minor disappointment? Or do you become angrier because as a reader you’ve invested countless hours, you KNOW these characters and what you got wasn’t what you expected?

And who’s right?

I’ve long sided with the author (because hello, I am an author haha) BUT I am a huge reader and I’ve BEEN disappointed when a long awaited character gets a story and it’s not what *I* envisioned. I grumble. I sulk. But at the end of the day, that character is the author’s creation and their worldview and my worldview are going to be vastly different.

Does it mean I break up with the author and swear “never again?”

Usually not. Unless said author breaks my cardinal rules lololol. There are a few things that if an author does, I break up with them forever and ever amen. Killing a major character off will do that. Dissolving a happily ever after that occurred previously in the series. I mean NOOOOO I do not want to read a SECOND book with the hero or heroine from a previous story where I was already invested in the FIRST HEA only to have to reconcile in my head that it didn’t work out and now I’m expected to root for this other person? Is it realistic? Well of course, but realism is NOT why I read fiction. I read because I want to be in my happy place where everything is perfect and everyone stays together and lives happily ever after.

So what say you when an author doesn’t go the way YOU want him/her to go with a story or a set of characters? Is it off with his/her head? Or do you chalk it up to differing visions and move on?

©2012 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

There is amazing generosity in the romance community and I’m so privileged and honored to be a part of that group of awesome, awesome people.

Love,

Maya and the Unleeshed 12U team :)

©2012 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve gotten several emails from wonderfully, generous people who have said that the bidding has gotten out of their price range for several of the items but that they’d still really like to help out with a small donation and asked how to do so. First, I can’t thank all of you enough for your kindness. I am truly wowed and so grateful for all the fantastic people who’ve responded to this fundraiser.

On the Unleeshed blog page http://bunaunleeshed.wordpress.com there is a paypal donate button on the upper right. This same button can be found on the team website, http://www.unleeshed.com and donations can be made directly to the team in ANY dollar amount. Every penny counts toward these girls dream :)

I was also asked for the team address so that a check could be mailed. If anyone has interest in doing this, any correspondence can be directed to

Buna Unleeshed 12U
PO Box 121
Buna, TX 77612

Again, thank YOU ALL for helping to spread the word, for your kind words, your support and your bids and donations to help our girls go to the World Series. They are working hard (As I type, they’re hosting a tournament as another fundraiser so they’ve given up their entire weekend, dawn to midnight to put on and work a tournament) and they appreciate all your support as well.

©2012 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

If you follow me on twitter or read my Facebook or even this blog, you’ve probably heard me talk about Girlie and her softball team many, many times. This year they’re playing as a 12U team and they’re planning to go to the World Series of Softball in Panama City Beach, Florida in July. To help them raise money, I thought it would be awesome for romance authors and readers to play a part in sending a girl power team to Florida for this awesome opportunity to play teams from all over the country. We’re having an auction Mar 1-3 to benefit the team and thanks to the generosity of many authors and publishers we have some TERRIFIC items to auction off. We have signed books, advanced copies of several upcoming releases and we have a few lunches with authors at this year’s RWA conference in Anaheim, CA.

So if you get a chance, go check out the Buna Unleeshed Blog for more details as well as a list of all the items we’re auctioning. (Check back because we still have more items to add!) And you can also check out the Unleeshed website to get to know the girls that you’ll be helping get to the World Series this year.

Much love, and thank you for helping “my” girls! :)

Maya

©2012 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

Robbye #321

Kristina in GA #272

Lisa B #383

Sasha #483

Deborah #69

Anna #1

Lynda the Guppy #93

Myranda #122

Amanda #679

Annie@UTC #304

Imzadi #277

Jacki Tonyan #53

Lee Keeny #448

Hannah Yarger #655

Shawn Baker #151

Brittany #468

Kim #709

Dawn J #95

Jeena #80

Kim Turner #16

Kim Spinbella #101

CaryLory #415

BethAnn Buehler #169

LadyCobra #204

Chandra Hurlbut #229

If you won, PLEASE email me at maya@mayabanks.com and send me your mailing address so the ARC can be mailed out to you. You’ll only have until Thursday morning to claim your prize, so get to emailing!

Congrats everyone!

©2012 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

Normally ARCs go out to reviewers, bloggers, review sites etc ahead of the release date of a book. But I wanted to do something special this time. I wanted to give the readers who don’t normally get a chance to receive these early copies a chance to get their hands on one. So here’s what I’m going to do.

I’m going to give away ARCs of Sweet Addiction. I have 38 left, and I’m going to give them away here and on twitter.

A few details to get out of the way. I’ll give away 20 copies for this specific blog giveaway. I’m going to leave the contest open for an entire week to give as many people as chance to enter as possible. You MUST check back to see if you win. I won’t go looking for you if you don’t email me with your mailing address. You have to claim your prize or else it’ll be given to someone else. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a few days to claim it.

Also, these ARCs will be mailed out at the first of MARCH. I’m doing the giveaway now but it’s because I need names and addresses well ahead of time because my publicist is on vacation for some of February and I want to make sure she has everything she needs so that she can mail the books when she returns. So I’ll post the giveaway now. I’ll leave it open until Saturday or Sunday January 28th or 29th (I’m leaving myself the weekend because I’ll get busy and I’ll totally forget) So start checking back that weekend and I’ll give you a few days into the next week to email me.

There are no conditions for receiving an ARC. You don’t have to be a reviewer or blogger or anything but someone who wants a chance to read the book early :) It’s yours to do with what you want. You can use it to start a fire or you can let your dog chew on it. Totally up to you.

So with all that covered, let’s go win some books! To enter, just comment below and tell me what you’re favorite Sweet book is in the series. DON’T WORRY. If you haven’t read any of the Sweet series, you aren’t going to be penalized. The drawing is totally random lol. If you haven’t read any of the prior Sweet books, then tell me what your favorite erotic romance novel is.

That simple. Have fun, and good luck!

<3 <3 <3

Maya

©2012 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

Now I read fast and the thing is, when I do get some precious time to read I an one grumpy bitch if I get interrupted. I binge read to the exclusion of all else. I’ll stay up an entire night reading one book after another and once I START a book I am absolutely resentful of ANYTHING that interferes with me finishing that book. I HATE having to close a book in the middle of it.

So for the past few months, I’ve continued to buy books, even knowing it might be forever until I got to read them. But there is a certain comfort in having the books on my Kindle for “when I get the time” And if I don’t buy the book I’m interested in RIGHT THEN, I’m likely to forget all about it and never get to go back and get it. I try to preorder as much as possible just so the books are automatically downloaded and I don’t have to worry about missing a great book.

I finally got a chance to do some reading over the weekend. I didn’t really have the time to be honest, but I was at “that point” where my brain was just shutting down. I’m tired. I tend to cram into three months what a normal year’s worth of work is, so I feel like every three months I NEED some sort of vacation. And I can’t just read as soon as I finish up one of those back to back to back deadlines because my brain is seriously so shut down that I can’t even fathom opening a book to read.

Reading is…I can’t even explain it in words. I mean it’s something I’ve loved since I was a child. A very young child. I never owned a television growing up. Books were my EVERYTHING and I do mean everything. Libraries and my local librarians are absolutely why I’m a writer today. They fed my voracious appetite for books because I simply could not have afford to buy 40 every week to read. So I wore out that library card and read every single thing I could get my hands on.

So when I go a long time without reading, I get cranky and the longer I go, the harder it is for me to actually be able to open a book and dive back in. Weird huh? So it always takes me a little bit because I resist all the books I have because I’m just so tired and brain dead and I have this fear that especially since I’m trying a “new” book that it won’t be awesome or that I’ll be disappointed which is WHY I do a LOT of rereading. I have my “comfort” reads and these are the books that I pull out when I’m really dragging the bottom of the barrel and I need my batteries recharged but I don’t want to take a risk on a book I won’t like. So these comfort reads get read over and over. I have print copies and I have kindle copies because I’m one of “those” readers who will absolutely buy both formats.

Anyway to get to my point, not only was I craving some time to read but I really wanted to branch out and try something new and different. Maybe a little out of my comfort zone. I never read in the genre I’m writing in, and I really have no explanation for that one, but I just don’t. I know other authors who are the same way so at least I’m not alone in my neurosis. So the fact that I write so many genres? Well, it limits my options. I’ve only just recently started reading a few erotic romances simply because I’m not writing as many as I used to. I’m very picky about it so I’ve been selectively getting a few to read here and there. Since my other two “main” genres at the moment are romantic suspense ( hate that tag. I really don’t write suspense. I write action adventure) but anyway and I also write historicals so I’m not reading romantic suspense or historicals. Which leaves me with contemporary….and well, paranormal. And I’ll be honest. I don’t read a lot of PNR. And I never ever read Urban Fantasy. I just don’t. Nalini Singh is like my one exception but she’s made of awesome so really, she’s worthy of being an exception!

But several months ago I decided to give Kresley Cole’s IAD series a try. The current blurb intrigued me so I read it. It wasn’t my favorite but I was sufficiently intrigued enough to go read the first in the series. Now. Holy shit. THAT book I loved. Liked seriously had mad love for. So I bought the rest of the series and loved some more than others. Like LOVED some. Was okay with others. But It was definitely enough to make me buy Lothaire and I loved it. Kresley has a very entertaining way of writing that keeps you turning the pages. It’s kind of like crack. So maybe she’s found a way to be spell her books?

And then I emailed a friend because (and I’m still not sure what prompted me) but I was suddenly and inexplicably intrigued by Patricia Briggs. Now I should explain I do not read first person books. DO. NOT. LIKE. So WHY was I contemplating reading her Mercy Thompson series? I have no bloody idea. In fact I once sent a love letter to Nalini Singh THANKING her for writing an Urban Fantasy series in third person because I was like YES, FINALLY someone broke some implied rule that all UF MUST BE first person. Ok I’ll stop now lol.

And then I was told about her Alpha/Omega series which IS in third person so I pounced on that first and very quickly consumed the novella and first two books in the series. And the thing is I love her writing. It’s just very evocative. I can’t even explain how it makes me feel but it’s mesmerizing. (Maybe she and Kresley Cole are onto something with that be spelling thing??)

So then I bit the bullet and bought the Mercy Thompson series and it had the same mesmerizing quality that her writing had for the A/O series (and yes people I do know that Patricia Briggs is a writing team but for my purposes it’s just much easier to say HER instead of him/her at every turn) I’m only up to book 2 so far but obviously I’m not stopping until I get to the present book at which point I will bitch and moan ENDLESSLY over having to wait for another goddamn book in the series. I mean I’m already whining because I have to wait until March for the next A/O book. (Patience is not one of my finer virtues, BELIEVE ME)

So the verdict? I have loved THREE PNR/UF series in the past year, people. That’s huge for me as before I only read like a very, very (count on one hand) PNR authors.

Let’s see what else have I read in my binge? I read two Lisa Marie Rice novellas. They were “snacks” because the thing is I love her full length books so much and it’s kind of frustrating for me to read something so short from her because I just want to say NOOOOOOOO where’s the rest?? But they were good and satisfying and a good follow up to the original novels.

Awhile back I did a shout out on twitter to see if anyone had read Barbara Elsborg and if so what they thought? I didn’t get many response and they were varied but nothing just overnethusiastic. But there were two of her books that I had bought because the blurbs intrigued me. This was a few months ago and I finally decided to take the plunge last night.

Holy fuck, people.

Ok, I get that maybe I might be in the minority. Maybe a lot of people just haven’t read her. But wow did I love the two books I read. They were An Ordinary Girl and Strangers. I really don’t have the words to describe how compelling I found these books. I mean it was like I just couldn’t stop reading. They weren’t easy, “fluffy” reads by any means and I kept reading with this sense of dread KNOWING that the entire world was going to go to shit at ANY minute. I was holding my breath at some points and then was cursing because I was like damn it, this is stressing me out. Strangers was my favorite of the two but they were both just so good. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love me some angst and drama, the more the better and Strangers had it in spades. The ending of that book just had a huge knot in my throat and my chest was tight because I just knew what conclusions the hero had drawn based on how they “met” and that he was going to think she was dead because he couldn’t find her anywhere. And then they find her abandoned car… Ok I’ll stop but wowza, those books just hit all my buttons. They were meaty reads that had me absorbed from beginning to end.

So anyway, that’s my reading report for now. I’ve been on a great self published search and I’ve bought a couple of titles but I’m scouring for more because I know there are some hidden gems out there and I’m always very happy when I find a new to me author who knocks my socks off. So I’ve been hoarding some, buying as I come across them but the search continues :)

And now that I’ve told you all about what I’ve been reading, what about you?? Got any awesome rec’s for me? I may not be able to READ them right away but my one click finger works VERY well hahahaha. I click and then just know it’s there to read later ;)

©2012 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

So here is the official announcement for the 6th book in the series, Shades of Gray, which will release in Jan 2013 :)

Shades of Gray will feature Cole and P.J. two of the KGI team members who you’ve met in the first 4 books and will of course see again in the 5th book as well.

Obviously the series will (hopefully) be longer than six books since obviously there are more of the brothers (Donovan and Joe) to write about but I have plans for some of the team members as well :) (Just in case anyone thought that I would only be writing stories for the six Kelly brothers)

©2012 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

Then in April, Sweet Possession hit the trade NYT bestseller list as well as the USA Today list.

In September, my Harlequin Desire, Enticed by His Forgotten Lover hit the NYT and USA Today bestseller list and then again in November when Wanted By Her Lost Love releases so it was a very exciting year for category romance and the Desire line in particular!

Perhaps most exciting was how well received my Scottish historical trilogy was. Believe me when I saw I was terrified. I love writing historical romance. I’ve always loved it. It holds a very special place in my heart. I was so worried no one would like it and that I wouldn’t be able to continue writing those types of romances. But not only did you guys go out and buy them and talk about them and recommend them but you put all three on the USA Today bestseller lists for 10 combined weeks. You also put two of them on the NYT Bestseller list and Never Love a Highlander swept the lists much in the way Hidden Away did back in March by hitting three NYT bestseller lists, the USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly. Never Love a Highlander also became my highest placement on the USA Today when it hit #32.

You guys have been absolutely amazing to me and I’ll never be able to tell you how much your support means.

Take a look above, because all of that? YOU made possible. Anyone can write a book, but it takes really special, devoted readers to put that book on the bestseller lists.

Thank you for making my year the best year yet.

Love,

Maya

©2012 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.