As I mention in my current June newsletter (sent out tonight, hopefully), if you’re not much of the “spa weekend” type, but you love the “girls getaway” concept, (and of course I KNOW you love reading romance) this type of conference is perfect. It’s a weekend of sitting around and chatting with other romance lovers, both authors and readers. It’s very non-intimidating and fun, with great food, silly games and a chance just to be yourself. I enjoyed myself immensely, and was gratified to meet so many Ohio-area readers (and those who traveled even further), who’ve enjoyed my books and wanted to talk about them. I sold out of all the signing copies of Mermaid’s Kiss, Witch’s Beauty and Vampire’s Claim!
Here are a few shots. In this picture, I’m with Jacquelyn Frank (red head) and 
Emma Holly (sitting). I told them I wanted this picture so that I could look like an important author (wink), because of course both of these ladies are NY Times and bestselling authors, as well as great women. At the beginning of the conference, authors chose a table at which to sit (4 authors per 10-person table), so readers would know where to find them. I had the good fortune to sit at Emma’s table, and found someone more shy than myself – while being entirely gracious and not hesitant to provide her insightful views about writing, critiquing, etc. A very talented lady. I’m reading her book Velvet Glove right now, and it is everything I was told it would be. Emotional and hardcore erotic at once.
Jacki Frank flattered the socks off of me some time ago by indicating that Natural Law is one of her favorite books, and that I’m one of her favorite authors. I’ve read the first book in her Nightwalkers series, Jacob, and her visual world building and memorable characters make me even more bowled over to be the recipient of her praise. She’s hosting the Authors After Dark conference in October, which I’ll be attending, and I can’t wait to get to know her better. She also loves cats, which I consider a plus (grin). I have two more of this series, Elijah and Noah, to read, and also intend to read the first in her new Shadowdweller series, Ecstasy. Hopefully the conference will give me an excuse to do this pleasure reading. And I’ve heard such great things about Emma’s books, I know Velvet Glove won’t be my last title of hers to read.
We have Victoria of Two Lips Reviews to thank for bringing us together at this table. She has a knack for rounding up us shy ones and helping us to open up. Which means I was mightily amused when she asked to take her picture with me and said she’d been too intimidated to ask at RT. If ever I go into an intimidating situation, this is the woman I’d want at my side (see below left). She’ll tell you up front she’s from Chicago, with the Untouchables accent and everything, and assure you “she ain’t from no suburb”, either. She’s a wonderful, interesting person – the kind that spawns book heroines. Add to that, she loves books and has an incredible knowl
edge of the romance genre. Now, in case you’re wondering, I’m not blowing all this sunshine just because she’s a book reviewer – Victoria’s the kind of person who’d say my book was crap if it deserved it! I like that about her, too (grin).
The next pic is the two-woman author team of Violet Summers. In this month’s newsletter, I mentioned that I’m reading their book, Daniel’s Surrender, and really enjoying it. As you know, I love to analyze writing, so VJ (lady in red/black) and I had a lot of great discussions about that, with active participation by other 
readers/authors who rotated through our table. We had such a great group there - I can’t remember everyone’s name, but they were all so much fun. Below is a picture of our table and the ballroom in the background – there were 300+ attendees. The girl with the pretty long blonde hair on the far right is author Tracy Ranson. I haven’t had the pleasure of re
ading her work yet, but she has some very intriguing paranormal and medieval romances on her website.
On a particular high note, I finally got to meet Shiloh Walker face to face!! She and I have emailed for some time (I love her story Her Wildest Dreams, which is in her Cops & Cowboys anthology with Lora Leigh), but have never met, so it was wonderful to give her a hug and hang with her and her friends one evening in the bar area for a lot of hilarious travel stories. I’d go into detail, but this is already going to be too long, of course. Let’s just say that having Shiloh, JC Wilder, Crissy Brashear (Samhain Publishing), Rosemary Laurey and a bevy of other witty ladies whose names I dearly wish I could remember (sadly, I wasn’t drinking, I’m just that bad at names – I’ve mentioned that before, right?!), left me with my sides hurting in the morning from laughter.
And then of course there were games. Saturday night was a luau sponsored by Author Island. Very relaxed affair, but they played games, like this hula contest. That’s author Stephanie Burke, aka Flash, doing her thing while Harrison Turner watches – he’s a ten year old author who was signing/promoting his first book, about a duck and a cat, that was a delight – I obtained a copy for my mom, and savvy promoter that he was, he was handing out cute rubber ducks with the book. He later also held his own in the hula competition by masterfully spinning the hoop around his neck. They also played author Jeopardy (Victoria won her round of that), and had volunteer readers match book covers to an author line up.
So in short, good fun for all. I’ve heard great things about Lora Leigh’s Reader Appreciation Weekend (RAW), and had the opportunity to meet her for the first time at this event, so I’ve added that one to next year’s calendar, money permitting. For this year, I’m looking forward to the Authors After Dark and Romanticon Conferences in October. If they’re anything like this one, I think it will be a sheer pleasure to attend.
Okay, closing note, since you deserve a reward for wading through all that detail (laughter). Be sure and pay close attention to the last paragraph of my June newsletter, because starting in July (deadlines permitting), I’m going to start serializing vignettes on the blog. Not sure who the first one will feature, but it’s likely to be Nature of Desire series characters, since you all have had to wait so long for a fix. And you’ve sent me such great ideas for vignettes for them! So stay tuned. You’ll have to put up with my rambling analysis of God-n-Goddess-knows-what for a couple weeks’ more, but then I’ll get started on Part I of the Vignette series (aka the “I’m out of interesting blog topics desperation measure”)!
Tags: Sightings
The vignettes at last. Looking forward to those.
By the way, thanks for the bookmark Joey! Got it like a week or two ago. I’ll be sure not to use it and just place it with your books in my collection display. lol
I wish i could go to one of those conferences. Sigh. Too far away. Oh and with Dante, he is? I didn’t know he was of Native American descent. I love the rugged maleness portrayed by Native American men or is it only in movies?
Shi, it was a wonderful moment for me as well. And oh, guys, I forgot to mention in my always-too-long post, that I got to offer BDSM input to Shi on her new anthology book Chains. She writes a wonderful story without any help at all, so I was flattered to be asked. I can’t wait to read the full thing (I bought my copy at the signing!).
Wendy, yes this was my clever and diabolical way to make sure I write them, rather than always putting them off until “i have time”, which meant they’d never be written, and I’d never be able to indulge that guilty pleasure with you guys. This way, even if it’s 2-3 paragraphs at a time (with the full thing eventually ending up at the fan group site run by Terry), it will get written. And I’ll have the added fun of you guys throwing in suggestions about where I should go next!
Glad you also liked the bookmark. Yep, Dante had a Native American mother (she was a made vampire, of course). I don’t know if the movies enhance it or what, but I can say I found “Wind in His Hair” from Dances with Wolves quite absorbing (grin). I think I was imagining some of his intensity, and his beautiful hair, when I wrote Dante. And the guy who played Daniel Day Lewis’s “brother” in Last of the Mohicans wasn’t anything to sneer at either.
OMG Joey! You met Emma Holly!!!!!! Ever since I read her “Menage” I’ve wanted to be her when I grow up. Fantabulous!
Denise
I have to laugh – when I read that you were attending the “Lori Foster Thingy” (as it will always be known here in MI), and then saw Emma Holly also on the list, I e-mailed Sierra (the other half of Violet Summers) and told her we were going, no arguments. Finding the two of you at the same table was, for me, the ultimate fan-girl moment! (Velvet Glove was my first Holly book, and is still my favorite today – my cat’s, too, as he ate the cover off of my original copy – interesting that I wasn’t the only one with cat eating the covers off books stories. Clearly they have good taste! ::groan::)
I’ve mentioned to more than one person that meeting you felt like re-connecting with an old friend, and the fact that you like the book is like the cherry on top!
Between Joey, Victoria from TwoLips Reviews and the amazing women from Liquid Silver Publishing (LOVE Monett!) it was an amazing weekend. And, yes, RAW is just as much fun! Lora Leigh and Lori O’Claire throw one hell of a party!
Hugs to all!
VJ
VJ/Denise, it was kind of an “OMG” moment for me as well. Victoria of TwoLips had invited me to sit at her table, because she knows how shy I am, and so here I was sitting down, and I look over and see this pleasant looking lady across from me that has sort of the same deer in the headlights look on her face. Then she adjusts her chair and I read “Emma Holly” on the back. I think I blurted out something brilliant like “Emma Holly!”. She looked a bit startled, but handled herself very well (laughter). Seriously, she was so down to earth and kind – it was a treat to meet her.
My cats tend to focus on the bookmarks – you know, the ones that have fringe tassels or other hangy things on them (no obscene jokes here – I know you were all thinking it!), so the books remain relatively safe. And I felt the same about meeting you, VJ – in fact, fair warning, I tend to go overboard when I meet someone I click with. Just ask Denise – I got absorbed in Gift of the Goddess a few years back and she hasn’t been able to block my email ever since! (lol)
We had an interesting exchange on reader/reviewer feedback – I said I’m okay with someone saying bluntly “Your book sucked!”, as long as they tell me WHY, so I have something to go on. She felt that an author should have a sense whether or not the book is working during the editing process, and make that call herself. I think both theories have merit – she’s right, we often feel it when things just aren’t clicking and know we need to change things. But on the same note, when you get buried in deadlines, you can get a little clueless, so that’s when it’s invaluable to get that blunt feedback to help wake you up. Anyhow, just an example of the exchange of ideas/learning that can happen at these events.
I’m about 25 pages from finishing Velvet Glove and have really enjoyed it. Still need to read Menage!
Is it just me, or does it seem like the shy, quiet types write the best, passionate romances? I’ve heard of Emma Holly, but haven’t read any thing of hers yet. Thanks for a couple of titles to try.
Sounds like it was a great conference. Hopefully someday there will be something held in the Kansas City area, and I’ll get a chance to meet some fantastic authors in person.
Terry, that will be excellent. Seems like we’re overdue to have a confernence up in that area! Send an email to Romantic Times magazine (www.romantictimes.com) and tell them about all the wonderful conference venues in Kansas City. Then I’ll have to see if I can pray my way on a plane for it – or enjoy another road trip with mom. We went to Houston together over two days, so I don’t see why we couldn’t do the same for that! As far as the shy, quiet types, it makes a lot of sense to me. We have plenty of time to indulge our imaginations (wink).
Hey, it’s done! Think I should bug ‘em more than once? I want them interested, not annoyed… (grin)
I also think some of the shy, quiet types are more self-confident, so not as much need to hear their own voice, if you know what I mean. And I doubt if it’s all imagination or wishful thinking. There has to be knowledge and/or experience or the words just don’t ring true, or else you’re just a good gambler. LOL.
It seems sometimes that writing erotic romance is a good combination of both. For instance, those who write the most memorable romances (I think) understand the beauty and hardships of love equally, as well as the readers’ desire to visit the “ideal”. They bring those two concepts together so the reader can both relate to the relationship and be swept away by it. I always cite a key scene in Kathleen Woodiwiss’ Ashes in the Wind for this. There’s a part where Alaina finally breaks down about having to dress as a boy to survive the horrors of the Civil War, after seeing her home burned and herself branded as a spy. Every time I read that scene (even right now), I get tears in my eyes, because it’s that moment that many of us have experienced, where some personal tragedy became too much to bear, and we had to have a meltdown about it. Maybe ours was a marital stress or child problem, versus the more “romantic” or “dramatic” issues like Alaina, but when she has that meltdown, we relate to it, we connect with her.
Don’t know about the self-confident thing, but agree with the hear your own voice thing. That’s why I view the online “social networking” promo options with such trepidation (laughter).