Cowboy Dreams!

I've had a very tough job this past week, as I worked with the cover artist who is designing the artwork for my re-release of Beneath a Silver Moon, my first Western romance. I managed to get the rights back from Dorchester Publishing, and will be releasing it as a digital book for the first time.

Editing the book was tough enough, because I had to work from the original Word file, the changes my editor Kate Seaver made were all on paper. (Now my editors make changes and correction as digital files and we send them back and forth).

But the cover... that was something else. I was very lucky to see Shane Rice at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention when he was named runner up to the Mr. Romance title. Even better was his "costume" for the posing segment, (I know it sounds hilarious, but if you had a chance to be there, it was awesome!) He was Wyatt Earp. And I knew I'd found my hero.

I was also lucky to have a friend who is a graphic designer and wanted to try creating a cover. She does costume and graphic design for the HBO series, True Blood, and I've worked with her on other projects.

I contacted Shane, gave him some ideas of what I wanted, and his agent set up a photo shoot.
Then I was sent a link to choose some photos. This is where the process paused for a while. Choosing a good image from over a hundred amazing shots was really difficult. I finally narrowed it down to a couple. This is one we didn't end up using but I'm saving it for something else. Maybe a trading card.

And this one, well I bought it for promotion... and it might end up in a book trailer video.




If you are interested in seeing more images of Shane, you can contact his agent JD Dewitt at www.theviewtalent.com



I'm participating in the Long and Short Reviews Anniversary Celebration! You have found the right button!

Romantic Times Convention - April 2011

It's been a few years since I attended this convention, and I really looked forward to all the fun and parties. I was a finalist in the first Romantic Times (RT) "New Voice" contest with Dorchester publishing, and I sold my first book in Orlando on the dance floor at one of the parties. I have very good memories of all the RT's I've attended.

This year I was attending as both a library employee and an author, so I often felt like I was pulled in two directions. My co-worker Jerene came with me along with my good friend and critique partner, Sheryl. Jerene was an RT "virgin" and I knew she was in for a few surprises.

I was so happy that RT was in LA, because it meant a very short trip compared to Florida or Kansas, where I've traveled before.

After flying, arriving, checking in and getting settled, Jerene and I headed for the bar... to wait for Sheryl to arrive. We met some nice ladies, nodded... and one looked at my name a bit closer.
She then introduced herself, and it turns out she's my editor for Promise Me, my latest book release. I'd never met Helen before, we just had a "cyber" relationship. She was so young! (She just edits old), and it was delightful to actually get to talk to her.



RT is all serious writing/publishing during the day and party fun at night. The first evening party was hosted by Ellora's Cave, and we were invited to the exotic world of Bollywood! The decorations were fabulous, and the dancers who entertained us made me feel like I'd stepped into one of my favorite Bollywood features.













Because I was presenting a workshop on creating author events on Thursday, I didn't get to attend any of the writing workshops that day, but Sheryl attended a workshop, "Self-Publishing: The Seven Secrets to E-Book Self-Publishing Success" with Mike Coker, founder of Smashwords. She was so enthusiastic, I asked her to write a blog about it.

I did get to attend the Samhain Steampunk Tea and grabbed some cool steampunk swag, enjoyed refreshments and discovered that Samhain is planning a lot steampunk releases. My e-reader will be, um... steaming HOT!

Thursday night was the Venetian Masquerade Faery Ball,with a Faery Court, a dinner, beautiful costumes and lots of fun.







On Friday, I had to help get things organized for the Steampunk social that Cindy Holby, Suzanne Lazear, Kathryn Smith and I were sponsoring. Since this was so much fun, I'm going to blog about it in a separate post! (There are a lot of great costume photos).

The highlight of Friday was seeing author Dean Koontz. Sheryl and I managed to get two of the very limited tickets they gave out for this program, and the biggest surprise of all, Dean Koontz is funny, no -- Dean Koontz is HILAROUS. His stories of being a "big, whoopee-de-do" author had the crowd in stitches, and needless to say, made those of us in the lower selling ranks feel good. You can be major best-selling author, but that can still mean you don't get dinner on the road. The crowd was a bit restless when it came time to get books signed, but I know what they were feeling -- since he doesn't fly and really doesn't like doing booksignings, this was a rare sighting of an elusive author.




Friday night was the Vampire Ball, featuring Zombie Dancers from Planet 9, the show that Heather Graham and her co-horts create especially for this event. There was a great song at the end that my roomies and I kept repeating, the chorus is: "Bitch, Whore, Tramp, Slut" and as we sat around the room drinking wine, we considered all the times that phrase would just encapsulate all the emotions you are feeling!

Costa Rica -- Baby!

I just got back from another trip to Costa Rica, and I have to say -- even though I've been there four times, I just never get tired of visiting.

We visited two places this time, both on the Pacific side. We flew into the Liberia airport, spent the night in a small hotel and then picked up our rental car the next morning. Last year we flew into San Jose, and I really prefer this smaller airport. Everything seems easier and more manageable. We keep hoping that the "new" airport here will be finished soon, (we've been coming since 2007, and it's still under construction). This time the cab driver told us there are "Americanos" working on it, so maybe it will go faster.

Our drive to Nosara took us through some beautiful farm country, with lots of cattle ranches. The Costa Rican cowboys were out on their horses -- mending fences, herding their cattle. It was a lovely drive.

When we turned off the road for Nosara, we hit dirt. Really -- dirt road to the town. Our first stop to call the agent who would take us to our house was at the Cafe de Paris. A real French bakery in the middle of Costa Rica. We stopped there every day for bread, rolls and pastries.




Our little house was great, and we enjoyed the location within walking distance to Guiones Beach.








There were lots of surfers out and we found some beautiful shells. Watching the sunset on an ocean beach is always a treat for me!










We did an amazing number of things in our week in Nosara, including a fishing trip (my husband caught a Blue Marlin), ziplining high in the canopy, kayaking and swimming every day. And we had our quiet days too, with long walks on the beach, relaxing in the sun and enjoying our private pool.





If you are headed to Costa Rica, I recommend renting a house. We've found great places on homeaway.com, always had a wonderful time, swam at gorgeous, uncrowded beaches and seen howler monkeys, iguanas, tropical birds, pizotes, porpoises, sea turtles and even had a strange encounter with a gorilla.