Earlier this year, I started a segment here on my blog called the Thursday Three, where I asked fellow authors three random questions. Well, life intruded for awhile, but the Thursday Three is back! And we’re getting back into the groove with my fellow Romance Bandit Loucinda McGary, aka Aunty Cindy.

Q. You love to travel and have been lots of places. Of all the places you’ve been, where would you move in a heartbeat?

A. Key West, Florida

Way back when Aunty had a dreaded day job and two extra sheckles to rub together, the DH and I went to Florida every February for Speed Week. Once the racing ended, we always drove from Daytona down to the Keys for a few days. Key West was so much fun with beautiful weather and a laid-back atmosphere. We even celebrated Mardi Gras there one year. They have a big parade right down the middle of Duvall Street that was a blast. Plus the city has a long and really interesting history.

But I only want to live there in the winter. Summers in Florida are too hot for me! I’d rather be some place nice and cool like San Francisco in the summer, though I really hate the traffic there. I prefer a little further down the California coast in San Luis Obispo.

Q. If you were to go back to age 20, what would you do differently the second time around?

A. Just about everything! No really, you know how they say hindsight is 20/20? Well, knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t have to bumble around and make all those mistakes. I wouldn’t worry so much about whether or not I could ‘afford’ to do something. Instead, I’d just do it! And I really wouldn’t care what anyone thought of me.

But seriously, with regard to my writing, I wouldn’t wait so long to make a real commitment to getting my work published. I wouldn’t worry so much about whether or not I had that magical ‘talent’ because I’d know that dogged persistence is far more important. I’d trust my writing process and not be so afraid to keep submitting and writing. I’m still working on this last issue, by the way.

Q. Tell us about your newest release, The Treasures of Venice. How did it come about?

A. The Treasures of Venice is actually the first romantic suspense manuscript I ever wrote. It finaled in the 2006 Golden Heart (under a different title) and collected a whole slew of rejections from editors and agents, including a generic “not right of us at this time” from the editor who eventually bought it! This was in early 2007, and in September 2007, Sourcebooks bought and published my book The Wild Sight.

Several months later, as I was preparing to submit a proposal to my editor, I asked her if there were revisions I could do on my Golden Heart story to make it publishable. She asked me to send it to her again because she’d forgotten why she rejected it the first time around. So I sent her the full manuscript along with my proposal and about six weeks later she e-mailed me and said she wanted to buy both books!

Needless to say, I was thrilled because I loved the story, and I knew readers would too. Thus far, I’ve been correct. The Treasures of Venice has received many positive reviews including four stars from Romantic Times Book Reviews Magazine. I’ve also received numerous wonderful pieces of fan mail, including this from a reader: “An Irish man, an American woman searching for lost treasure in Venice – What a fantastic story!”

Here’s the back cover blurb:

He’s a charming Irish rogue who never met a lock he couldn’t pick…

Keirnan Fitzgerald is desperate to locate the missing Jewels of the Madonna. With danger at every corner and time running out, he must use whatever means possible to uncover the stolen jewels in time to save his sister’s life…

She’s simply in Venice to relax and heal her broken heart…

Samantha Lewis is shocked when a dashing stranger approaches her in a Venetian cafe pretending to know her. She’s ready for something new and exciting in her life, so she throws caution to the wind and accompanies the Irish charmer into his dangerous world of intrigue, theft, and betrayal…

As the centuries-old story behind the Jewels’ disappearance is revealed, Samantha must decide whether the man she’s so compellingly drawn to is her soul mate from a previous life or if they are merely pawns in a relentless quest for a priceless treasures…

Since I have an extra copy of Cindy’s book, I’m giving it away today to some lucky commenter. 

The following contains spoilers, so if you haven’t seen last night’s premiere of V and want to see it without spoilers, go watch it then come back to discuss.

When I was 13 or so, the original TV version of V came out and I remember really liking it. So when I heard they were doing a remake, I was intrigued. With the advancements in technology, graphics, special effects, etc., since then, it should be visually much better and hopefully less cheesy. Of course, when I’m 60 I might look back on this new incarnation as cheesy. That’s the way technological advancements work.

I wasn’t able to watch last night’s premiere until this morning because our local affiliate ran it delayed after midnight. It is visually impressive, and Morena Baccarin portrays Anna, the leader of the Visitors with a classy cool that is peace and love on the outside but with hints of something sinister beneath. It’s odd seeing Morena play one of the bad guys since I so loved her portrayal of Inara on Firefly. I am excited, however, that more people will hopefully get to see her performances now.

In fact, it must have been “let’s make Firefly alums bad guys” night. When I first saw Alan Tudyk (Wash on Firefly), I let go a little squee. He was cast as the FBI partner of LOST alum Elizabeth Mitchell’s character, Erica. I was so excited that I’d get a weekly dose of two of my faves. Alas, Alan is playing a bad alien. Still, I think he’ll show up some more based on the “rest of the season” previews they did at the end of the episode. Still, it’d be nice to see him back in a good-guy role where he can show his funny sense of humor.

I thought it was interesting, and a good tie-in with current, real-world fears, that there had been Visitors on Earth for awhile working as an alien sleeper cell. Thus, Erica’s FBI world and the larger world issue of the Visitors crashed into each other.

I’ve already manually set my TiVo to capture next week’s delayed broadcast. So, what did you all think of the debut? Were you a fan of the original?

Now that I have that Bangles tune stuck in your heads…

The ghosts and goblins have put away their costumes for another year, and November has arrived with the end to Daylight Saving Time. I always hate that because it makes the nights seem sooooo long. But, hey, good news, I think there’s only 4 or 5 pieces of leftover candy still hanging around to taught me. We only had two trick-or-treaters. I don’t kids go house to house much anymore. Rather, they go to parties or trunk-or-treat events at churches. I think next year I won’t buy any candy and just keep the porch light off. I just end up eating the candy I don’t need anyway.

So, tomorrow night is the long-awaited premiere of the V remake. Alas, I won’t get to see it until Wednesday because our local ABC affiliate is running it delayed at midnight because the normal time is filled with the Titans show with Coach Jeff Fisher. While I was online today trying to figure out when it would be running so I could manually set my TiVo to record it (man, I hope it works or I’m going to be so irritated), I came across several forums where viewers were NOT happy about the scheduling change. But this is football country, so it’s not really a surprise when I think about it. Still, seems odd when ABC has been promoting this show for months. I remember loving the original when I was a kid, even though when I caught a snippet of it on SyFy this week it looked pretty cheesy. But I like science fiction and am a fan of Morena Baccarin (from Firefly) who plays the head alien this time around.

Anyone else planning to watch?