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.

Emerald City - Days 1 and 2

October 1-3 was the Emerald City Romance Writers Conference, which is one of the biggest writing conferences on the West Coast. With 250 attendees and a ton of published authors, it's a great opportunity to attend workshops, meet other writers, chat with published authors and pitch to agents and editors.

My weekend began early though -- as I host an event for authors and regional library staff that I've cheekily titled, "Read-Dating with Romance Authors". Librarians and other staff members have the opportunity to sit down and talk with the "pros" about the various sub-genres, their work and trends in romance. Every fifteen minutes the librarians move to a different table.






























There were gift bags, swag (promotional items), great fabric bags and books from Harlequin, magazines from Romantic Times Book Reviews, Romance Sells and giveaways from Romance Writer's of America. The authors attending donated books, snacks and other great stuff.























Barbara Vey of Publisher's Weekly, (Beyond Her Book) visited with us and even wrote about it on her blog the next day.

It was a great event, and I couldn't do it without all the fabulous authors and my special helpers, Mary Buckham and Pat White!



At the conference, Alyssa Day gave a wonderful keynote speech on Friday night. She brought the crowd from laughter to tears. Her analogy to "Cinderella" was priceless.

Cherry Adair awarded the participants in the "Write the Damned Book" challenge. It was wonderful to see so many women lined up. Cherry motivates a lot of writers with the challenge every year.

Then we heard from the editors and agents about what they were looking for, what excites them and where they see the market going.

Market Report: Contemporary romance is back, and pretty much everyone is looking for it.
Paranormal continues to be hot, but those present were looking for something different from vampires and werewolves, such as witches and different types of creatures. None of the editors were looking for Steampunk, but all of the agents were interested in finding out more. (Great news for me!) At least two people mentioned fantasy romance and Meredith Bernstein thinks it's time time for some type of story that involves the degradation of the planet, climate change and ecology.

Agents present:
Meredith Bernstein, looking for mainstream women's fiction, (Eat, Pray, Love), thrillers, suspense, literary fiction, Young Adult and romance with a twist. Came to the conference hoping to meet the next NY Times bestselling author.

Michelle Grajkowski (Three Seas), all of the same types of books that Meredith mentioned.

Emmanuelle Morgen (Judith Ehrlich Literary Agency), high concept women's fiction, paranormal thrillers, historical fiction, urban fantasy, all types of romance, Young Adult, esp. would like to see a contemporary romance set in a small town.

Marcy Posner (Folio Literary Agency), middle grade and young adult fiction, women's fiction, paranormal romance, historical fiction, mystery.
Editors present: Rose Hilliard, St. Martin's Press, all sub-genres of romance, (except Steampunk), women's fiction, Young Adult and humor.

Alex Logan (Grand Central), thrillers and women's fiction, contemporary romance.

Tessa Woodward (Harper Collins), dark paranormals, sexy historicals, fun contemporaries. Definitely not Westerns!

Since none of the editors present were especially interested in Steampunk, when I traded my appointment cards, (I had conflicts with programs I was going to present) I only took agent appointments. I really would love to sign with an agent, so I can focus on the writing and promotion and leave the selling to someone else.

I've learned not to put a lot of emotion into this pitching experience. I've had too many requests and too many rejections that say, "just not right for me"... so if I find someone I'd like to work with and they ask for a submission, I'll send the Steampunk partial to them.

And then I'll continue to write, because really -- that's the important thing.

Cowboys in Winthrop Washington

One of my favorite places to visit is Winthrop, which is on the other side of the Cascade Mountains from where I live. Not only is it a lovely drive but once you get there, the mountains and scenic areas are breathtaking.

We stayed at the Sun Mountain Lodge, which is located above the Methow Valley. There's lots to do there, swimming, boating, fishing, hiking, horseback riding. I even visited the spa and had a relaxing massage and body scrub. And just lazing around the pool is great in this warm sunshine.

But one of the reasons we love Winthrop so much is because it's a real Western town. They've renovated it to be as origional as possible. The main street is fun, because it's not a ghost town, it's a living town with a real Western theme.

We also discovered a wonderful local museum. My family knows when I travel -- the only thing I love more than visiting a library is visiting a museum. My husband indulged me and this visit was as good as several weeks of reading research books. I took a lot of photos, because when you have such great reference material it often helps to set a scene when writing.



This office has already "shown up" in my
Novella. And I'm sure this cabin will be
a perfect setting for a story.











But of course a vacation can't be all studying and research. Sometimes you just have to sit back and enjoy the sunset.

First Lady Fashions

In June, I was asked to participate in a panel at the American Library Association Conference.
This is sort of a big deal in the Library world, and I was excited about being on the panel... and having the chance to visit Washington, D.C. again. With my friend and co-worker, Chapple... again. So back to the East coast, and of course --

It was stinkin' hot. Walking down the street and the sweat drips down your back hot. My hair curls all by itself hot. Well, that was one advantage, I never had to break out the curling iron.

Since I'd been in DC last year for the RWA Conference, (where I was named Librarian of the Year, just in case I need to remind you,) I decided to target a few things to see on this trip. Especially since when you're attending a conference, you don't always get to see as much as you'd like. There's that pesky conference thing always interfering with your free time.

So, I decided to visit the American History Museum, (part of the Smithsonian). After dropping my suitcases off at the hotel, I got directions and discovered I wouldn't even need to use my Metro card. The museum was just down the street.

I love museums as much as I love libraries, and if you know me -- that's saying a lot because I have BIG LOVE for libraries. When you give a former American History teacher a museum filled with very cool stuff from the history of these good old United States, I'm one happy camper.

And the very first exhibit I head toward is "Inauguration Gowns of the First Ladies" -- because if there's fashion, I want to be around it! This exhibit was pretty crowded, but if you moved along in the line, you had the chance to see a fashion history of the US.

This dress was worn my Mary Todd Lincoln, and everyone exclaimed over her tiny waist. Hello people -- women were tiny then and the wore CORSETS, rearranging their insides so their outside would be fashionable.

This Victorian beauty wanted her butt to look really big, so she wore a bustle. Of all the fashions throughout the ages, this is the one that really makes me shake my head. Maybe because the Victorians were all button-ed up from head to toe, this was their version of sexy.


This is Mamie Eisenhower's dress, and who knew she was such a hot number, wearing red and all? I love this fifties style, and I have a red dress I wear once in a while for costume events that's very similar to this.








Then there's our newest First Lady, who has changed the way we wear sweater sets and slim skirts. Michele Obama was one hot Mama is this gown dripping crystals.





There was one other dress in the museum that caught my eye. Many of you will recognize as being worn by a woman I consider the first lady of comedy. I actually remember the night Carol Burnett wore this dress as Scarlett O'Hara in what is a classic funny skit from her show.



I'll post about the fabulous machine room, (including STEAM machines - to the delight of my Steampunk lovin' heart) next week. So come on back and see some photos, including a machine actually designed by Tesla.

Driving Mr. de Lint

One of the best benefits of my job is the opportunity to meet amazing authors. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to be the escort, (sounds racy, huh?) for author Charles de Lint and his wife, Mary Ann Harris.

This is the second time they've visited the library system to do programs, so I was really looking forward to this opportunity. When I drive people around, it gives me a chance to talk about writing, the book business, publishing, etc. And in the case of Mary Ann and Charles - the conversation expands to discuss Steampunk, vintage clothes, (Mary Ann has a business buying and selling) and fantasy books.

At the school program, they delighted their audience of middleschoolers when they showed up with guitar, mandolin and harmonica. Charles and Mary Ann are also musicians, and they talk about writing, the characters in Charle's books, and they sing about the things that motivate them. Things like the drive to their camp in Ontario, Canada and all the interesting small towns and people along the way.





Charles also presented a writing workshop, and that's another great benefit to my job. All the amazing authors I get to hear talk about their process. Here are a few hints from Charles de Lint.

• Start the story right away in the first chapter. Don't waste time trying to "catch" the reader up and give all the character background at once.
• Consider if you are using telling verbs - thought, decided, felt, wondered - instead of showing the action
• Don't name the emotion, show it on the page
• Voice - it's the language of your characters
• Try to find your voice by "becoming" your character, stepping into their shoes like a method actor
• Magic has a cause and effect. Every magical element should have a cost, and there should be an "antidote" or dangerous element to the magic. Think kryptonite for Superman
• Beware of too much magic, where the story and characters get lost because of the magical elements

I think one of the best ways to become a better writer is to read really good writing. Not so you can "copy" the way the writer works, but so you can see the many different ways a writer can express a story. Every story will be different depending upon the person telling it, but we can learn so much from prolific, amazing authors like Charles.

Why Can't My Characters Behave?

At my last GSRWA (Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America) meeting our presenter, Ellis Flynn, was talking about Science Fiction, Fantasy and Urban Fantasy. Of course, because I was there we talked about Steampunk.Then, the Steamed blog started this fabulous month of special events to celebrate their one year anniversary! And one of the things we can do to win a $150.00 shopping spree is to create a costume for a character using the cool stuff at Clockwork Couture. Well, you KNOW how I am about clothes, so of course I had to try this. This is what I finally came up with.





My character, Jezebel Fremont, is a privateer for the US Air Corps. and her ship, The Liberty Belle, is charged with intercepting and commandeering weapons and supplies from the Confederate States of America. (That's where she got the cool gun).

She's supposed to be a supporting character in my Steam-punk book, but Jezebel is never happy about being a supporting anything, and I think she's demanding her own book.

At least she has a great uniform. And you should see her "dress-up" clothes. Let's just say, Jezebel cleans up nicely. Just ask Harrison Kellogg.

And one final confession, I bought the hat at the top of the page. I really, really wanted that hat after I seen it Alice in Wonderland. So -- now I have it. Where can I order Johnny Depp?


*Airship Pirate Image from http://homarusrex.deviantart.com/