DNA, Danger and Daddy
Issues…
In 2006, a
group of twenty RWA
Golden Heart finalists formed a blog group known as The Romance Bandits. They
blogged together for a decade, supervised by the arrogant Golden Rooster and
supported by gladiators, the Goddess Sangria, hockey players, and a dragon. Although they no longer
blog as a group, they always welcome an opportunity to do something together.
Today,
Banditas Caren Crane, Jeanne Adams, and Nancy Northcott join us to talk about
their new, three-novella anthology, Who’s Your Daddy. The anthology was
Caren’s idea, and she coordinated it. She’ll tell us what inspired it and how
she put it together.
Caren: Hi, Dishy folks! I’m fascinated by advances in DNA testing and
how it has been used to solve decades old murders, as well as help people find
family members they never knew about. One night at dinner with author
friends, we talked about how fun it would be to write an anthology of novellas
around the theme of DNA testing. This is a deep, rich vein for stories!
Presenting three tales of secrets revealed and histories uncovered by DNA
testing.
A carpenter discovers his father isn’t actually his father. Coming to
terms with the truth reaffirms his place in his family, but it also leads him
to love with an old friend’s sister and helps him find a path for his life.
A lawyer learns his grandmother had a secret marriage before his father
was born. With the help of a talented genealogist, he tracks down his ancestry.
Will he find the truth about his grandmother’s secret before whoever’s trying
to kill him succeeds?
A burned-out spy goes home for a holiday and re-encounters the woman he
never dated but never forgot. As he and she grow closer, she realizes her
niece, his ex-girlfriend’s child, bears an uncanny resemblance to him. When the
truth comes out, it will alter three lives.
Caren, tell
us about your story.
Caren: In my Cross Springs series, I created a very large family for the
husband in “Baby Steps,” Tim Burns. Tim is the oldest of six kids and his dad
died when they were all very young. For some reason, I had given all the
siblings blond or light brown hair and blue or gray eyes except for one. When I
started thinking about writing my novella, Eric Burns was begging me to center
the story around him and the mystery of where his dark hair and dark eyes came
from.
Jeanne,
yours is the next story in the anthology. What inspired it?
Jeanne: Hi
Everyone! My story is inspired by a couple of things. First is, I’m a
genealogist. I’ve been researching my family tree for decades and loved using
some of that knowledge to write my story in the anthology, Lost in Time. It was
also fun to incorporate the “lost heir” trope too. That allowed me to add a
little suspense, and a little drama to a fun, short love story. Derek and
Alexis were deliciously interesting characters to write too, so I hope Dish
fans fall in love with Who’s Your Daddy.
Nancy, your
story rounds out the collection. Where did you get the idea for it?
Nancy: Hey, everybody! As some
of you know, I love action, so of course I had to incorporate that, which led
me to create an agent who works for my Arachnid spy group. This agent, Jim “Dix”
Dixon, has seen too much ugliness. He’s burned out. When your job is haunting
you, where better to go than home? I grew up in a small town, and this story
seemed ideal for such a setting. Sending Dix home also let me set up one of my
favorite tropes, the “second chance at love” story.
**
You can find
Caren, Jeanne, and Nancy via their websites and social media.
To buy Who’s Your Daddy, click on one of the links below.
Readers, have any of you taken a DNA test?
Were you surprised by the results?
One randomly chosen person who comments before 11:00 PM, July 14, will receive a Kindle copy of Who's Your Daddy.
