Some days I have simply nothing to say on my blog ( I know, hard to believe!) so I’m just going to say this for now:
Every day is a gift.
We’re not promised anything in this life – good, bad or other,
So begin each day as if it was the first day of your life and make it count; make it special; make it mean something…to you as well as others.
Be kind even in the face of cruelty,
Be loving even when dealing with hate,
Be quiet when all around you is raging
and
Be the person others think of when they talk about goodness.
Leading by example IS the best way to bring about change for the better.
I believe this and I live this.
Category Archives: Author
Thoughts…
Evolving Romance reader….
When I was a teenager ( 175 years ago!), my taste in, and selection of, romance books was a tad different from what it is today. Kathleen E. Woodiwiss and Rosemary Rogers were my top reads back in the day and this little sheltered Catholic girl learned a whole lot about love, sex, and romance ( you thought I was gonna say Rock and Roll, admit it!) from those talented writers. In a world before the Internet, cell phones, reality TV and fame for fame’s sake, these books educated me in the ways of seduction, foreplay, and the real difference between men and women. Being transported back to the times when manners mattered, words could be used to seduce or slay, and women came to a marriage bed untouched and unknowing was fun to read.
Flash forward to the present day and I’m invested in, and now read a, different kind of romance story. While Regency tales of naughty noblemen and lascivious Lords are still fun for me to loose myself in, I know all about sex now, firsthand (!) so my eyes don’t need to be opened from reading about it, and I have a different perspective on what I want to read in today’s romance book.
Contemporary romantic fiction runs the gamut from sweet (no sex) tales of Amish women finding their true loves, to mild ( some sex, bedroom door closed) stories of women embarking on new life challenges; from sensual (sex with bedroom door wide open) stories of women discovering the meaning of their lives, to spicy (LOTS of sex in every place imaginable!) tales of women who are discovering their sexual – and personal – identities.
The common denominator in all the books I like to read now? The word contemporary.
I lovelovelove reading about present day women of any age who are struggling, trying to make a better life, wondering if they will ever find their own happily ever after. Contemporary women in the here and now are my tribe. They live their lives with passion, fight for the ideas they believe in, aren’t afraid to speak their minds, and would do anything for, and sacrifice everything for, the people they love. The men they let into their hearts may not always be deserving of such a place of honor in the beginning of the tale, but by the end of it, my contemporary girls have brought about a profound change in them – and in herself – that it facilitates their lifetime love. Their own happily ever after.
The contemporary romances I read – I will freely admit – run from sensual to spicy. Unlike when I was growing up, women can have sex freely these days without the dread of being burned at the stake ( don’t laugh – it happened), without fear of being abandoned by family and society, and without worry about getting pregnant – although this last one is a popular romantic trope to this day ( the unplanned OOPS baby). They can engage in behavior that at one time would have lead to their banishment from society, their public censure, and their economic downfall. And they can have fun doing it now. Some of my favorite books to read are romantic comedies where the laughs equal the sexy parts, measure for measure.
In my youth, the heroines I read fell into a very small category: ladies of noble birth or not. No in between. No shopkeepers, governesses, scullery maids.
Today, the heroines I read about are brilliant doctors, powerful lawyers, CEO’s of their own companies, tech executives. They are nurses, teachers, veterinary techs, bus drivers, race car enthusiasts, television producers. And they are stay-at-home moms, policewomen. writers. They are all the women I know.
So, in the past several decades I can truly say I have evolved as a romance reader.
But I have to admit I still love a Regency rake!
Since I love contemporary romances, here’s where you can find the ones I write – stories about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them. Amazon author page
My most recent book, THE VOICES OF ANGELS.
Blurb:
Love is the last thing Carly Lennox is looking for when she sets out on her new book tour. The independent, widowed author is content with a life spent writing and in raising her daughter. When newscaster Mike Woodard suggests they work on a television magazine profile based on her book, Carly’s thrilled, but guarded. His obvious desire to turn their relationship into something other than just a working one is more than she bargained for.
Mike Woodard is ambitious, and not only in his chosen profession. He wants Carly, maybe more than he’s ever wanted anything or anyone else. As he tells her, he’s a patient man. But the more they’re together, Mike realizes it isn’t simply desire beating within him. Carly Lennox is the missing piece in his life. Getting her to accept it-and him-may just be the toughest assignment he’s ever taken on.
Buy Links: Amazon /// TWRP /// Kobo /// Nook
If you need to find me, you can: Tweet Me// Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//
Serendipity? You betcha!
Take a look at these 2 photos:
The one on the left is hanging on my bedroom wall. I bought it right before I got married 175 years(!) ago in a little shop in NYC. I loved the whole Victoria/Regency aspect of it. I believe it’s called Signing the Registry. The one on the right I took as a screenshot when I was recently on the treadmill – you can see my slow progress in the numbers above the photo. This picture I grabbed out of a scene from LOVE BENEATH THE COVERS a documentary about the Romance Publishing business. It was shown at the #RWA16 conference last week in San Diego, but I couldn’t attend due to a prior engagement, so I rented it on i-Tunes for my daily treadmill tortur…um…exercise. You will notice they are one and the same picture of an 18th century marriage license signing ceremony.
Why is this significant, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you.
Every now and again my Guardian angels/karma/the universe ( call it what you like) deems it proper to remind me that I made the appropriate choice to retire early and devote myself to full time writing. Seeing this picture which I have always loved and always will, displayed not only in my home, but in a film about the romance writing industry, proves to me I’ve made the correct choices for my career path these past 2 years.
So…serendipity, much? You betcha!!
My most recent book, THE VOICES OF ANGELS.
Blurb:
Love is the last thing Carly Lennox is looking for when she sets out on her new book tour. The independent, widowed author is content with a life spent writing and in raising her daughter. When newscaster Mike Woodard suggests they work on a television magazine profile based on her book, Carly’s thrilled, but guarded. His obvious desire to turn their relationship into something other than just a working one is more than she bargained for.
Mike Woodard is ambitious, and not only in his chosen profession. He wants Carly, maybe more than he’s ever wanted anything or anyone else. As he tells her, he’s a patient man. But the more they’re together, Mike realizes it isn’t simply desire beating within him. Carly Lennox is the missing piece in his life. Getting her to accept it-and him-may just be the toughest assignment he’s ever taken on.
Buy Links: Amazon /// TWRP /// Kobo /// Nook
If you need to find me, you can: Tweet Me// Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//
Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop
Growing up, I was a latch-key kid, a term almost extinct nowadays. Long before after school programs became the norm for most children of working parents, I would be discharged from school at 3 pm and be on my own until my parents came home at 7pm, every day from third grade until I was a teenager and got an after school job. This was my life. During the summer, though, I really couldn’t be left alone for up to 12 hours every day safely, so from the time I was in kindergarten until I turned 14, I was sent away every summer with my Grandmother.
My grandmother was a very hard, no-nonsense Irish immigrant who brokered no fools and ruled with that proverbial iron fist. I would accompany her every July and August to an upstate New York retreat owned by a good friend of hers. I learned to swim in the creek abutting the cabin we’d stay in, helped make breakfast, lunch and dinner for the guests staying at the main house, and generally spent the majority of the day on my own as my grandmother visited with her friends, played cards, and drank.
For an only child and loner who loved solitary pursuits like reading, this was nirvana.
This was the time before handheld technology ruled the world.
No cell phones, no Kindles, no iPads or iPods. We listened to music on the radio, put coins into a pay phone to call people, and read actual books with pages you had to manually turn. And this was the time I learned to love romantic fiction. I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time during my 11th summer, sitting by a cool, bubbling creek, a canopy of trees above me. Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Rosemary Rogers, Victoria Holt, just to name a few, became my constant companions during those long lonely summers. I learned a lot about writing, about romance, and about sex. Much more than my compadres at the time, at least.
I was hooked. Romantic fiction, and all genres of romance, became my summer companions. I’d take out 20 or more books from the library at one time, put them in a separate travel bag, and work my way through them during those 2 months away from home. It made the separation from my mother less painful and, having to deal with an alcoholic grandmother, much easier. I could drift away to the times of knights and ladies, lords and wenches. I learned about strict, moral codes of times gone by, and that no matter what the chronological time period, love always won in the end. Every book had a happily ever after, something my life did not. But I could hope…and I did.
Those long, drowsy, warm summer days and nights with a book in my hands remain my favorite summer memories to this day. I grew up reading about love, hoping for it to come into my own life when I was grown.
And it did….
For other Authors Participating in the Wild Rose Blog Hop, click here:
1.
Sorchias Wild Rose Summer Treats Post | Visit blog
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2.
RV Memory | Visit blog
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3.
Tricia Schneider | Visit blog
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4.
Anna Durands Spunk & Hunks | Visit blog
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5.
Judy Ann Davis Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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6.
Spicy Summer Treats with Mia Downing | Visit blog
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7.
Linda Nightingale. . . Wordsmith | Visit blog
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8.
Jana Richards – Journeys with Jana | Visit blog
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9.
Summer Memories of books well read @ Peggy jaeger. com | Visit blog
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10.
Summer on Cape Cod ~ Kathryn Knight books | Visit blog
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11.
Summer Fun at the Beach, with Katie OSullivan | Visit blog
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12.
I Believe Ill Go Canoeing – C. B. Clark | Visit blog
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13.
Summertime Love is Sweeter with. . . Frozen Mango? @ Kimberly Keyes blog |Visit blog
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14.
Wild Rose Summer Treats Blog Hop @ Brendas Blog | Visit blog
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15.
Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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16.
Midsummer Magic on the Isle of Skye! | Visit blog
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17.
My Guilty Summer Treats from Lori Sizemore | Visit blog
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18.
Wild Rose Press Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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19.
Hywela Lyns post for the WRP Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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20.
Wild Rose Press Summer Treats & Reads | Visit blog
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21.
Camping is a Recipe for Summer Treats and Reads | Visit blog
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22.
The Snarkology | Visit blog
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23.
Summer Survival Tips @ Nitty Gritty Romance | Visit blog
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24.
Wild Rose Press Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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25.
Nell Castle – Summer of the Sweat Lodge | Visit blog
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26.
Myth, Magic & Wonder Susan Edwards, Breathing Life into the Past | Visit blog
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27.
Romance with Spice, Sydney St. Claire | Visit blog
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28.
Author Kat de Falla | Visit blog
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29.
Anni Fife. Exciting new author of Steamy Romance with Irresistible Heroes | Visit blog
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30.
Summer Vacation, Victorian-Style, AND a Giveaway | Visit blog
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31.
Wildfires, Monsoons, and Mojitos – Author Susabelle Kelmer shares how she keeps cool in a climate that is on fire! | Visit blog
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32.
Casi McLeans recipe for Hot Reads and Cool Treats | Visit blog
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33.
Cool Summer Reads: Jeannie Halls Romantic Suspense Blog – Where Hearts Tremble From More Than Attraction | Visit blog
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34.
Summer treat – Adult Slushie | Visit blog
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35.
How to Rediscover the Magic of Bicycling | Visit blog
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36.
Charlottes Tips on How to Stay Cool in HOT New York City | Visit blog
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37.
Caryn McGill | Visit blog
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38.
Hywela Lyns Inrerplanetary Summer | Visit blog
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My most recent book, THE VOICES OF ANGELS.
Blurb:
Love is the last thing Carly Lennox is looking for when she sets out on her new book tour. The independent, widowed author is content with a life spent writing and in raising her daughter. When newscaster Mike Woodard suggests they work on a television magazine profile based on her book, Carly’s thrilled, but guarded. His obvious desire to turn their relationship into something other than just a working one is more than she bargained for.
Mike Woodard is ambitious, and not only in his chosen profession. He wants Carly, maybe more than he’s ever wanted anything or anyone else. As he tells her, he’s a patient man. But the more they’re together, Mike realizes it isn’t simply desire beating within him. Carly Lennox is the missing piece in his life. Getting her to accept it-and him-may just be the toughest assignment he’s ever taken on.
Buy Links: Amazon /// TWRP /// Kobo /// Nook
If you need to find me, you can: Tweet Me// Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//
Filed under 3 Wishes, Author, Candy Hearts, Contemporary Romance, Family Saga, female friends, First Impressions, Life challenges, Literary characters, MacQuire Women, Romance, Romance Books, Skater's Waltz, Strong Women, The Voices of Angels, The Wild Rose Press, There's No Place Like Home, WIld Rose Press AUthor
#RWA16 the final day….Whew!
So I’m sitting right now at the San Diego airport waiting for my flight. it’s 4 am PCT and I am TIRED with a capital T! Yesterday was a whirlwind, but I’ll try to hit the highlights.
It started with another book signing. The total now is 72.( this picture isn’t all of them!)
And I did break down and ship some of them home today. I just didn’t want to be bothered having to lug them all in my suitcase and then back home. Then off to Elizabeth Hoyt’s Emotion workshop. If you don’t know Hoyt, you don’t know historical romance. Her heat level is lava worthy. Her male characters are each and every one the type of man I could so see myself with IF I lived in Regency times. She gave an in-depth workshop on exactly what is needed to give your characters emotional depth and substance. And she should know – she’s an award-winning writing chicita with the writing chops to go with it.
A quick lunch of Diet Mountain Dew and a mounds bar – honestly there is never enough time to actually sit down and eat something nutritious for lunch!! and then it was on to a talk with Kristan Higgins, Elizabeth Hoyt and Alyssa Day titled Sex with the terrible trio… This class was a no holds barred laugh fest about how to write sex for any heat level from sweet, to close the door, to down and dirty and hothothot. I haven’t laughed so much nor learned so much from a lecture since I took anatomy class in nursing school and saw my very first ( dead, as in, cadaver) penis. Truly, these three would be a hoot to just hang out and have drinks with.
My last workshop of the day concerned the DARK MOMENT on your story, and I’m not referring to Voldemort’s tattoo! Lisa Kessler gave numerous examples in film and fiction of that moment in the story when all seems lost and hopeless, the h/h will never get their chance at a happily ever after and your heart is pounding. Excellent discussion on how to up the stakes on your story to make that dark moment the one people remember..
Alas, I did not actually get to attend the RITA awards live because my shuttle bus was coming for me at oh0threehundred-dark for my flight. But I did get to watch up until Robyn Carr’s acceptance speech on my computer from the webcam streaming, so I feel like I hit the high points.
Now, as I sit here – tired, hungry, and yet elated, I am thankful to go home because really, you can eat only so much bad food for a week, and I miss my bed. And my husband – I need to say that! But I take away from this conference so many first’s as memories: My first RWA literacy signing, the first time I volunteered at RWA, the first time I moderated worskhops. The first time I really got up my gumption and talked TALKED with uberfamous and wonderful authors like Jill Shalvis ( fan girl sigh) Kristan Higgins, and Elizabeth Hoyt. My first publishing party at my new home, Kensington/Lyrical.
My fan girl moments in the hallways included a quick chat with Jayne Ann Krentz, who was walking along with all the romance rabble ( like me!) like she was just another gal getting to an elevator. I saw Nora Roberts twice – I almost wet my pants both times!! Sylvia Day, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, the amazing Brenda Novak…. so many faces for the writers I love and worship.
In the next few days I will come down off this high and get back to the work of actually writing – I have deadlines now!!- but I will remember for years to come how wonderful, how supported, how inspired I was by everyone and everything RWA related.
Until next time…..be well, find your joy, and write your little hearts out.
#RWA16..more,more,more…
Honestly, there’s so much to tell you all that I need to blog SEVERAL times per day but I am just too bushed come evening.
So, let’s go back to yesterday. I had a great breakfast and met some dynamite authors. Then on to t he AVON book signing, where I met these lovely ladies :
Kristan Higgans, RaeAnn Thayne, and Robyn Carr. Gracious, lovely, funny, and sweet, every one of them. Oh, and of course, Jill Shalvis again!
After that bit of wonderfullness, it was on to my second moderating job, Character Excavation, only I was nervous and called it Character Evacuation ( Lol!!) with Kristan Higgans, Farrah Rochon and Damon Suede. This was a masterclass, people, and should have been at least 2 hours. There was so much outstanding information on how to get to know your characters, who they are, what they want, why they want it, and how they get it, that my head was spinning. It needed to be at least 2 hours – maybe more!! Each presenter was an expert in the way they approach characterization. I’m so glad I went to this class.
In the afternoon I attended a workshop by social media guru Rachel Hollis and learned a bunch of new tricks about promoting your work I never knew. I will be putting these into implementation asap!
The last class of my day ( really, by now I was wrung out!! mentally and physically) was on how to build a powerful author brand with Angela James, Laura Bradford, Erin Galloway, and Michelle Renaud. I was so happy to hear every thing they said, I’ve already implemented – like tag line, branding, promoting it across social media sites for consistency. Yeah me and yeah them!
After that it was time for dinner. Now, I’m by myself at this conference and it’s always a little sad to see a single woman at a restaurant table eating along, but I said “F**K it! I’m hungry.” So I went down to the hotel resturant, ordered an adult beverage 
and lobster roll for dinner. Yumolicious.
After that I wanted to walk a little so I filmed some of the marina ( check out my FB page for the video ) and then ambled over to Ben and Jerry’s. I asked the girl for a small waffle cone with vanilla icecream. I gave her $10.00 and she gaveme back $1.10 in change. You do the math. Question: Does this look worth $ 8.90?
While I’m in San Diego, here’s where you can reach me: Tweet Me// Read Me//Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//
#RWA16 Day 3…Can I get an “Amen?”
I will admit this freely ….I’m starting to fade!! There is sosososososos much going on at this conference that I have truly had to choose wisely and miss out on some things just so I could attend others.
The first year I attended RWA I was OVERWHELMED. I wish someone had told me to just take it all in, don’t try to do everything and be everywhere at the same time. Just breath and enjoy the moment. I did try to do everything and because of that I forgot half the stuff I learned about industry and the craft of writing. I left the hotel 1 time and that was to have a meal with my chapter mates. I spent 5 days in a hotel and it nearly broke me!
Last year I knew better and when you know better you do better. I went to a lot of worshops, but took time to enjoy other things likes the publishing spotlights. Since were in NYC I also got out 2-3 times per day, saw my lovely New Yorker daughter several times, and basically had some fun.
This year, there is so much to do, I haven’t even done a 10th of what I wanted to do. But that’s okay. I’ve taken a daily walk outside the hotel ( you can see my video updates on my fb page of my little jaunts around the San Diego marina,) and I’ve spent more time meeting people and chatting them up than I ever have before. Maybe this is because no one from my chapter is here and I miss my lovely chapter mates. Maybe it’s because I realize I need to learn to network and get my name out there. Maybe it’s just because I’m lonely. Whatever the reason, I’m doing okay. I’m bone weary tired, but doing okay.
Yesterday I attended the Kensington book signing ( my new publishing home!!) and this was the haul from just that 30 minutes:
This is my book haul so far, overall at the conference:
I’m so glad I brought a spare suitcase!!
And I do want to add a correction. Yesterday I said I skipped the luncheon and that Beverly Johnson was the speaker. it was BEVERLY JENKINS!!!!! This is what you get for relying on stupid spell check!
While I’m in San Diego, here’s where you can reach me: Tweet Me// Read Me//Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//
#RWA16, Day 2 wrapup…kinda
I’m literally dropping in my heels. What a busy day, but what an exciting one, too!
First things first, I attended the RWA Leadership meeting. Very informative.
I volunteered at my very first workshop today as a moderator. I really wanted to get the experience – the whole RWA – and volunteering seemed like the best way. The one thing I forgot is that I hate the sound of my voice and I had to ANNOUNCE things over a microphone. Not fun. But… the speakers were Jill Shalvis (fangirl moment to the max!), SarahMorgan, and RaeAnn Thayne. They were sweet, funny and kind and made the whole experience great.
Then it was on to the Kensington Publishers book signing, where I took the lovely pic of Jill ( above) and another gracious writer, Sylvia Day – whose line was out the door. Literally!
This was my book haul just from Kensington:
I’m so glad I brought a spare suitcase this year!
I stopped by the general meeting to hear what’s going on with the organization and then time for a quick freshening up and outfit change before the Kensington Authors Reception at the San Diego Wine and Culinary Center. Since I am a new author with this wonderful group I wanted to meet and greet a few of my fellow writers and get to know the publishers. The food was amazeballs and the owner, Steven Zacharius, is a funny, lovely, and supportive man. I am so glad I have found a new publishing family.
Off to bed with me now..oh, I did want to share one more thing. Yesterday was the first official RWA luncheon with speaker Beverly Johnson. I didn’t go because I don’t do well in crowds, so I wandered around the bay area for a while. This was my lunch:
I love that you can find a little taste of home wherever you go!!
While I’m in San Diego, here’s where you can reach me: Tweet Me// Read Me//Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//
Filed under #RWA16, Author, Contemporary Romance, Kensington Publishers, love, Lyrical Author, NHRWA, Romance, Romance Books, RWA, WIld Rose Press AUthor
Day 2…Book signings, class moderating, networking…
So, I’m still a little giddy and emotionally high after the Nora Roberts Literacy book signing last evening. There were over 400 authors present – big names and not so big( like moi!) – and the horde of fans who came to purchase books was immense! Romance fans are truly the best in the world. I was sitting next to Julie James and I swear, some of her fans squealed when they came up to her and met her!! It was amazeballs cute. I was over the moon at the amount of books I sold, but even if I hadn’t sold one, I’d have had a great time seeing all my fav authors and making some new friends.
So, today is official day 2 ( but really day 1 for all the workshops and meetings).
I have a Leadership breakfast to attend in my role as NHRWA Secretary, then a Kensington Spotlight to hear Steve Zacharious’ “news.” I’m taking two workshops and then moderating one this afternoon with the fabulous Jill Shalvis, Sarah Morgan and RaeAnn Thayne as the speakers. Can you just say, “PINCH ME, NOW?” I know!!!
These evening I am attending a cocktail party courtesy of Kenisington Publishers where I hope to meet many of my new fellow authors.
Lots to do…lots to talk about…..later, peeps.
While I’m in San Diego, here’s where you can reach me: Tweet Me// Read Me//Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//
Filed under #RWA16, Author, Contemporary Romance, love, Romance, Romance Books, RWA, WIld Rose Press AUthor
#RWA16..day 1, fo’real!
Day 1 fangirl sightings: Jayne Ann Krentz, Nalini Singh, Kristan Higgins, Shirly Jump, Catherine ByBee, Barbara Wallace., Robyn Carr, and Jill Shalvis. This was all before the Literacy signing!!!
Day 1 goodies and Swag: 18 books, 2 beach towels, 4 canvas bags, a selfie stick, a BPA water bottle, various notebooks, pens, candy.
Day 1 OMG Moment? This:
So, I’m going to go get dressed and prettyfied for the book signing. Please, Jesus, let someone buy a book!!!! More about that later….
While I’m in San Diego, here’s where you can reach me: Tweet Me// Read Me//Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//
Filed under #RWA16, Author, Contemporary Romance, love, NHRWA, Romance, Romance Books, RWA, WIld Rose Press AUthor
Peggy Jaeger, Author 