What I'm reading: Tears of the Moon, by Nora Roberts
First: Yesterday I mentioned hearing Michael Connelly speak at the Adult Literacy League Fundraiser. A local bookstore, Urban Think! recorded his talk and has shared it here.
Friday. Another free food breakfast mixer. I'd decided to play that one by ear, but since I was awake, I wandered down, got in line, and was even early enough for a bag of goodies from The Shadowdwellers. I had my stint in the "Club RT" room after breakfast, where authors get a table to sit at and hand out promo items and chat with anyone who comes by. Most of the traffic is people entering drawings for all the big raffle baskets donated by attendees. I think I chatted more with the cover models than readers, but heck – that wasn't exactly a hardship.
The next session I attended was, "Kill Me!" with Debra Webb, who I 'knew' from her Murder She Writes blog; CJ Lyons, Karen Rose, Andrew Peterson & Tom Lowe. Very interesting discussion when someone asked the men how they dealt with 'romance.' We segued off into 'romance' vs 'sex scenes'. Keep Reading... Not surprisingly, when someone asked the male panelists (who wrote thrillers) how they worked romance into their stories, since this was a 'romance' convention, both spoke that they included sex scenes. How XY of them. One thing I enjoyed about the panels I attended was the opening the discussion to input from the audience rather than sticking to a formal Q&A pattern.
After that, I'd planned to hide in my room for a bit and grab some of my food stash (lesson learned long ago; I always travel with some kind of sustenance), but I bumped into Nancy Cohen who said Harlequin was hosting a "potato martini" luncheon in celebration of its 60th anniversary. Free food. I joined the line. She'd been expecting a sit-down lunch based on the menu description, but in reality it was a bunch of food stations. Having done many conference meal events from the other side, I would definitely have done this one differently, but eventually we got to one of the buffet setups. Too late for the book giveaway, though.
The deal: you get a martini glass. There is a huge vat of mashed potatoes. Scoop the desired amount into your glass. Then there were 3 'toppings' – bbq chicken, some sort of beef (I don't know what 'flavor': I don't eat dead cows), and a faux Creole shrimp dish. Also, for purists, the basic bacon, chives, cheese toppers. Note: next time, go very light on the potatoes and fill the glass with mostly the bbq chicken, which was very good. After lunch, they drew 10 names for special commemorative tote bags (and I won one!),
and then two or three people won Sony readers. After the event, I got together with Sandra McDonald, my first writing mentor, who had driven down from Jacksonville just to scope things out and attend the Saturday book fair. We had a nice visit. Hubby joined us at the hotel for dinner—the Vampire Ball included a full meal, but that wasn't going to be until nine, and I needed something more, given that lunch had been a martini glass of mashed potatoes with a little bbq chicken – oh, and a special commemorative cookie (or two).
I changed for the ball and went back to --- yep, stand in line. But the company was interesting.
I'm not a costume person. I thought I might be out of place, but from the looks of things, I'd say about 30% of the folks showed up in "costumes". Most of the rest just wore some variation on black. We were treated to a theatrical production of a murder. The audience was supposed to figure out who did it and why. Well, the sets and costumes were great, but the skit seemed typically corny for this kind of an event. Until the music started and Heather Graham belted out "House of the Rising Sun" which brought the house down. Shades of Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent. And do you think it's fair that Heather can write AND sing?
Music and dancing commenced after the show. I lasted about another half-hour. I didn't recognize the music, being totally out of touch, and the noise made conversation impossible. As usual, I'm happy curling up with a book.
Saturday was yet another breakfast event. This time I did get another bag o' books and Barry Eisler was signing a copy of Fault Line for everyone as they entered. Note to self: learn how to do a scribbly signature instead of having to be careful with all those loops in the cursive version of Odell – go ahead: write it yourself. It's nothing but tall, short, fat and skinny loops.
After the breakfast, it was time to set up for the book signing. All three of my allotted books were there. Once again, I sat beside Jana Oliver and her stuffed ferret. The person on the other side of me was a no-show, so I kind of encroached on her allotted space and spread out a bit more. I've learned that sitting and waiting for people when you're a relative unknown doesn't do anything for meeting people or making sales, so I tried to talk to passersby. A lot of them did stop when I said my books were mystery-romance, because that's a genre they enjoy. I had chapter books, postcards, magnets and chocolate—more when I started than when it was time to pack up. I met readers and booksellers and figure making contact was well worth the time spent in that huge, crowded, noisy room.
When the signing was over, I packed up and decided I was too drained to hang around long enough for the Cover Model competition. Maybe if I'd been 20 years younger, I'd have had the strength and the inclination – but these guys were almost all younger than my kids. Not that they were hard to look at, mind you, but definitely not the kind of guys I'd fantasize over.
So … that's my first RT. If you want more details, leave a question in the comments.
This was a long post, but I wanted to get the blow-by-blow done to give Homicide - Hussey center stage tomorrow. I'll try to get the PMS (Phony Male Syndrome) notes up on Monday.
Thanks to Jenyfer Matthews for sharing her slice of life yesterday. Now, back to my RT recaps.
Thursday morning, I joined a group of mystery writers in hosting a breakfast mixer. I was also part of a panel with CJ Lyons, Carole Nelson Douglas, Jana Oliver and Lori Avocato as we discussed writing a mystery. My contribution – how to balance the romance and mystery in romantic suspense. I didn't do a formal handout type presentation, because these were informal panels, but I'm always happy to answer questions. And being the only author on the panel whose books are actually shelved in the romance aisle, my comments were very different from the others. Lunch was an opportunistic meeting of someone from Desert Breeze Publishing, a new e-press that was hosting a meet-and-greet in the hotel restaurant. I'm not proud. If there's food, I was there. And they did sound like they understand what it takes to break into the world of e-books. They gave us a CD with excerpts and submission guidelines, which I'll explore when life gets back to normal.
I attended an afternoon session given by Barry Eisler, Rita Herron and Jennifer St. Giles on "Creating the Ultimate Page Turner." Keep Reading...
Eisler (in addition to being very easy on the eyes) knows how to work a group. He realized women were reading his books after their husbands finished them, and set out to reach female readers from the get go. I've been to a lot of conference workshops in my short writing career, and this is the first time the presenter stopped to introduce himself (and give a business card) to each person in the room before the workshop got underway. I doubt anyone in the room didn't know who he was, but it's a good lesson for us lesser-knowns. And for authors, conventions like these, in addition to being fun (Eisler's comment: Where else can you say, "Will I see you at the Faery Ball?") are definitely places to network, and RT is reader-oriented as well, which is another great way to get your books known. When you write for relatively obscure presses, it's vital.
Important writing lesson from the workshop: We are afraid of what hasn't happened yet. As writers, it's important to keep the tension escalating. Although I don't write thrillers, I think this premise translates to my mystery-based stories as well.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to stay for the last session, as I'd promised to help out at a fund-raiser for the Adult Literacy League. Michael Connelly and Bob Morris were speakers, so I was still getting some great information. In addition to a last workshop, I had to miss the "Faery Ball" but I'll bet it won't take too much blog-hopping to get the scoop on that one.
Please come back - I'm breaking up these recap posts rather than throw everything out all at once. Plus, there's Friday for the next Homicide - Hussey story, so RT Recaps might stretch out into next week. I'm still working up my notes from Raz Steel's "Phony Male Syndrome" workshop.
Back from my first Romantic Times conference, and I have to say it was memorable. I'll recap today, and try to share some panel notes over the rest of the week.
Tuesday night, Cerridwen Press had a welcome party for authors (they always call themselves Ellora's Cave, but since I write for their Cerridwen imprint, I will use that terminology). We played a get-acquainted Bingo game where we had to identify authors based on little-known facts we'd provided – tidbits such as who can drive a 64 seater bus, who rode a wagon train across North Dakota, whos' an expert marksman with an M16, etc. (My contributions: I climbed Ayers Rock, and my mantel holds a skull collection.) I found enough answers early enough to get a prize, which include a tomato stress-reducer. I gave it to hubby, and it kept him well amused as he threw it against the wall and watched it flatten and re-forms. Then again, why should that be surprising from a man who likes fish-shaped squirt guns?
The Ellora's Cave cover models were at the party, and those who wanted could have their pictures taken with them. I opted out, but snapped a few pictures. Unfortunately, I only had my cell phone, and they're a bit blurry. Keep Reading...
The next morning, I checked into the hotel, and was pleasantly surprised to find my room was ready well before check-in time. I had enough time to unpack and get ready for the Cerridwen author's luncheon. Although I live very nearby, I opted to get a room for 3 nights so that I could escape if I needed to, and also have a place to drop off all the "stuff" one accumulates at conferences—and when they're a writing conference, that "stuff" includes books. And, thankfully, a nifty tote to carry "stuff" in. The conference hotel is a resort hotel with more than a dozen sprawling buildings. Mine, of course, was just about as far away from the center of activity as it could possible be, so I ended up having to schlep "stuff" anyway. Plus, the paths meandered, so you ended up walking much farther than the map distance. We were lucky that the humidity was low enough so walking back and forth was bearable. Normally, a walk down my driveway to the mailbox is enough outside time.
After lunch, I went to my first workshop, which was "Heroes with PMS: Phony Male Syndrome," given by Raz Steel. I hope to post my notes from this one—it was fascinating.
Next, "Create the Character and the Plot will Follow" given by Denise Swanson. Since I write character driven novels, it's nice to see that I'm not the only one who does a lot of character development before starting the book.
After that, it was time for the e-book Expo where authors of e-books and small-press books met readers and sold their books. Cerridwen authors had gorgeous cover flats made up by the publisher, and people could buy these and get a download code. After the signing, there was just enough time to change for the Jungle Ball and party. The publisher arranged for their cover models to escort each of their authors across the stage to be introduced. By luck of the draw, my escort was Jason Santiago, who just happens to be on the cover of my book, What's in a Name? He was very kind and made sure I didn't trip and fall.
And, as a memento, we were given personalized paw prints.
That's enough for today. Tomorrow, I'll be hosting my normal guest day, and Jenyfer Matthews, and American who's living in Cairo, Egypt will be my guest. Please stop by. More RT recaps starting Wednesday. And Friday, it'll be Homicide – Hussey's turn again.
Right now, in Orlando, about 1000 romance readers, authors and booksellers are gathered for the annual Romantic Times BOOKlovers Convention. It's not a cheap event. But it shows that people despite the economy, people are still reading. Books are cheaper than movies, after all. And last longer.
For more, watch the following clip, from Nightline. And if there's a hint of 'surprise' on the part of the reporters ... well, why? Is it any wonder that when things look bleak, people will turn to avenues of hope, for pathways to escape into a world where there is a happily ever after.
Tomorrow and Friday, come back for another Homicide-Hussey chapter. I'm posting it in two installments. (And hoping the 'auto publish' feature on Blogger works!)
If I have any time at all, I might sneak in some RT highlights. If not, I'll recap next week for sure.
