The Harlequin Historical Authors’ Tea

On Thursday, we enjoyed a great luncheon with Lisa Kleypas. She gave a great speech, and later that afternoon, I had tea with the Harlequin Historical authors and the Mills & Boon editors. Pictured from left to right are Jenna Kernan, Julia Justiss, and Amanda McCabe. We enjoyed fabulous desserts and ice cream, along with mint lemonade. Mmmmm…. I sat next to Diane Gaston, and not far from Maddie Rowe who is an editorial assistant for the Historical line. We had a fun chat, and I tried to coerce Maddie into telling me about the cover art for Her Warrior King. Sadly, she wouldn’t tell me a thing. Torture, I tell you.

Pictured from left to right are Maddie Rowe, Kate Bridges, Elizabeth Lane, and Meg Sleightholme. It was really nice to meet everyone, and the authors in particular were so helpful to me in sharing their knowledge.

The other attendees on my side of the table (pictured from right to left) were editor Tessa Shapcott, author Kathryn Allbright, and editor Kimberly Young. After the tea, we went back to the hotel, and I stopped by the cocktail reception for a little while. Later that evening I went out to dinner with my agent Carolyn Grayson, author and agent Lois Winston, and a new client Jessica (I am terrible because I’ve completely forgotten her last name. Sorry!). We got back at a quarter to ten, where I went to the Harlequin pajama party.

The PJ party is always great fun, but this year I didn’t actually change into my jammies because I had just returned from dinner. Instead, I joined up with pals Trish Wylie (shown to the right with her leprechaun Sean), Fiona Harper, Jenna Bayley-Burke, and other friends from eharlequin such as Gail and Melissa.

But one of the highlights was when Lindsey showed up in her animal print pajamas, complete with Tarzan shown below on the left with Jane Hoogenberk of eHarlequin on the right. We romance writers know how to have a good time!

The RWA Literacy Reception

Yesterday, I enjoyed two events that I’ve never attended before. First was the Bookseller’s Tea. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I’ve heard rumors that many of the booksellers run and hide from authors trying to accost them. There were certainly more authors there, but they passed out a deck of cards to both booksellers and authors, and we had to find our matching person. I eventually found my bookseller, who was from a Dallas Barnes & Noble, and I gave her one of my books. I met another when I was talking with Sophia Nash, who is absolutely the nicest person. The bookseller was from Another Look Books in Taylor, MI. We had a nice talk, and apparently medieval historicals are doing well in her store.

After that, I attended my very first Literacy Signing where I was on the opposite side of the table. It was a surreal moment walking into a room with 450 other authors and seeing my name and seat waiting. Sadly, Harlequin hadn’t sent any of my books, so I had to bring my own. I felt very fortunate that many of my friends from eharlequin, myspace, and even FanLit stopped by to say hello or to get a signed copy. It’s funny how, as a reader I always felt awkward about approaching an author if I just wanted to say hello. Now, coming from the opposite perspective, it doesn’t bother me if someone comes by. I just love talking with people and visiting.

In the end, it was a successful night for me, in that I sold all of the books I brought with me, and many friends came to show support. So thank you to everyone who came! After my books were gone, I spent my last half hour visiting with favorite authors. I stopped to see Anna Campbell, Melissa McClone, Teresa Medeiros, Julia Quinn, and a new-to-me author JR Ward, who writes amazing books. She looked very cool in her black dress and sunglasses.

The only tough part of the night was getting dinner afterwards because the hotel kitchen staff apparently forgot that 2000 women would all want dinner at the same time. It took over an hour to get a hamburger. We felt bad for the wait staff, and secretly we think that Gordon Ramsey’s staff from Hell’s Kitchen was probably running the place.

Arriving at Nationals

Yesterday I arrived in Dallas, and what made this year fun was running into so many people. I couldn’t walk five feet without seeing someone I knew, which was great fun.

I met up with my friends, Suzanne McMinn and Kacey Pickens, and our first stop was FOOD. We were surprised that there aren’t that many places to eat in the hotel. Luckily we got there early and snagged a table at an Italian restaurant. I have a feeling that tonight we’ll need to scout out some other options because these restaurants barely have seating for 50 people, much less 2000.

We ran into the Writeminded crew at the bar. I know. I’m SHOCKED. Poor Larissa had a terrible flight and got stranded in Houston. I don’t know if she ever made it to the hotel, but it was after midnight if she did. Sharon Long and Stephanie were such fun to talk with. They both are so prolific with their writing, it’s amazing. By the way, most of the pictures of me came out awful. I am blaming pregnancy face swelling.

Today the plan is to register to the conference, drop some things off at the Goodie Room, and relax with friends. Tonight is the Literacy Signing, which will be completely new for me since I actually have a book to…sign. Hopefully I will not be staring off into space with a pitiful expression on my face like a forlorn puppy.

If you could have a signed book by any author, which author would you choose? (And yes, they can be a dead author.)

Family Fun in the Summertime

So, I’m all packed up and I went up to my mom’s to drop my kids off before Nationals. The sugar levels are at an all-time high. On the bright side, we’ve done some fun family activities. I took my son to the Smithsonian Museum, thinking that he would love the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum. While he enjoyed them, his all-time favorite museum was the Air & Space Museum. I took them down to that end, intending to stop there for lunch, but once he saw the rockets and airplanes, he had found his own personal Mecca.

My daughter humored us by tolerating the museums, but at the end of the trip she wanted only one thing: to ride the Merry-Go-Round. I let her, because after all, museums aren’t that much fun for a three-year-old. It was the highlight of her trip.

Today we went berry-picking. My mother and I used to go blackberry picking at a field near our old house in Virginia. Every July we’d bathe ourselves in Deep Woods Off bug spray, gather up baskets, and pick for hours. The wild blackberries aren’t as large as the farm berries, but they were free, and we spent many happy hours talking and picking. Then, of course, we’d bake homemade blackberry pies. I grew up baking pies, and my favorite is probably peach pie. Mmmm…

Anyway, we went to a Pick-Your-Own farm this morning. They had peaches and blackberries in season, so I knew there would be pies in our future. Turned out the peaches weren’t as ripe as we’d thought, but we picked about 10 pounds worth and we’ll just let them ripen over the next few days. My son started out enjoying himself and then the gnats started swarming. At this point, he pulled a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, transforming from a happy five-year-old into a victim from an Alfred Hitchcock movie. He was screaming, clawing at his face, and sobbing. Yes, family quality time indeed. I tried to calm him down and have him walk away from the bugs, but the child was in hysterics and could only be calmed down with a popsicle at the general store. My daughter eyed him as if he were an alien from another planet. Sigh. I still wanted my blackberry pie, so I let him cool off in the store with my mom while I took my daughter out berry picking. We had so much fun. She delighted in finding the lower berries, exclaiming, “Look, Mommy, I FOUND ONE!” After picking six pounds of berries, my son finally joined us with much gnashing of teeth and wailing about the bugs.

Did you ever go berry picking or orchard picking as a child? What experiences do you remember?

Packing for Dallas

I’m in the process of packing for the RWA National conference. I swear, it’s one of the more difficult trips to pack for because there are all different levels of clothing to pack. Shorts and t-shirts for traveling, business attire for meetings, and formal attire for the Rita ceremony. Hey, if I have the chance to dress up in a floor-length gown, albeit with my beer gut pregnant belly, I’m taking that opportunity!

But, I swear, no matter how many lists I make, I ALWAYS forget something. One year it was shampoo. One year it was socks. I’m wondering what I’ve forgotten this year…hopefully nothing critical.

I’m sure I’ve told this story before, but the worst case was when I packed my kids’ suitcase for Grandma’s, and I forgot to pack underwear for my son. Poor kid. But the kids are now dancing on the ceiling because they get to spend an entire week at Grandma’s while I’m off in Dallas. I shudder to think of the amount of sugar that will be consumed.

I do hope to see many of you at the Literacy Signing! I will be the one with the Lonely-First-Time-Author sign stamped on my head.

And just for kicks, I took this photo of my son the other day with his tower of blocks. The boy is a little bit too much like his engineering father. What do you think?

Taming the Introvert

I’m discovering that my son is a lot like me, in many ways. A born introvert. You’re probably shaking your head thinking, introvert? A teacher who speaks in front of large groups all the time?

I used to be the kid who cried at birthday parties when her mom dropped her off because there were people LOOKING at me. Painfully shy, that was me. Thankfully, I learned to cope and adapt. Now, I can turn on the extrovert side when I need to, but being the center of attention isn’t something that I want.

Last Friday my son had his final day of Vacation Bible School. They ended with a special program for parents which involved singing and dancing. My son hid behind a tall third-grade girl. I managed to finally sneak through and get this photo of him. I love the expression on his face. I can practically hear his thoughts: You don’t honestly think you’re going to get a decent picture of me dancing, do you? Future blackmail? Ha. I’ll just hide behind the tall kids again.

My daughter is completely the opposite of my son. She would be front and center, dancing and smiling. I think he’d rather be shot than do choreography. :rotf:

What about you? Would you call yourself an introvert or an extrovert?

Sleeping Beauty

Sometimes it’s hard ruling the world. A girl has to take the day off, now and then.

Happy Fourth of July!

Animal Fun

The other day I took my son to Bluebird Gap Farm, a farm run by volunteers and a place where the kids can see all sorts of animals. Best part? It’s free to the public, and there is an enormous play structure and picnic area. It’s great for a quick family outing.

I took my five-year-old on a little day trip and we packed a picnic lunch to take along. He wasn’t thrilled with the cows, sheep, or goats. His favorite? The deer. Now why did this particular animal attract his fascination?

“He peed on the ground, Mom! Look! Ewww, gross!!”
“Yes, honey. They do that.”
“But why do they have to go to the bathroom on the ground? They need to use the potty.”
“They don’t make them big enough for deer.”
His little face scrunched up. “Oh. I guess you’re right.”

June contest winner, and fun at the beach

The winner of the June contest is…Teresa Warner! Congratulations, Teresa. You’ll be receiving a copy of Her Irish Warrior as well as flip flops, a beach ball, and sunscreen. Hope you enjoy them!

I am getting a little excited because this month I should receive my author copies of The Warrior’s Touch. I really love Connor’s story, and I hope you will too! I’m going to give away an advanced, signed copy for my July contest. The rules are on my For Readers page.

Speaking of the beach, yesterday I took my kidlets to Yorktown Beach. They have really done a nice job renovating the area, and my personal favorite addition is a Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Parlor. We had a picnic lunch, I enjoyed a good Nora Roberts book while my kids built a sand castle, and then my daughter tried to drown herself again.

Now, being all of five months pregnant, I can’t wear a maternity bathing suit yet, and my current bathing suits don’t fit. So I opted to just go for a t-shirt and shorts. My kids were playing in water that was no more than thigh-high, and they could both stand up on the bottom with their chest out of the water. No problem, right? Until Her Royal Highness decided to practice her swimming lessons and realized that yes, I really was telling the truth when I told her she couldn’t swim yet.

While she was floundering in the water, instead of being helpful, her brother was cheering, “Great job! Nice swimming!” while my daughter’s face was bobbing up and down out of the water. It may be that he was hoping she would drown. My first attempt to grab her didn’t work because she ended up dog paddling away from me, so I threw myself at her and this time hauled her up. In the process, I got soaked. My children thought this was hilarious.

My daughter coughed, sputtered, and then later grinned at me and said, “That was funny.” Good to know she wasn’t traumatized for life. And of course, we HAD to stop at Ben & Jerry’s for some therapeutic ice cream.

As I was looking at all the choices, it was a little too hard to narrow it down. My daughter went for the Black Raspberry Sorbet (not because of the flavor–she wanted it because it was bright PINK. Priorities, don’t you know?). My son chose Chocolate Temptation. What about you? What’s your all-time favorite flavor of ice cream? I love Rocky Road.