RT Wrap Up

Well, it's Monday and I'm having RT withdrawal. The conference was so informative and so much fun. Great conferences always send me home with renewed enthusiasm for writing, all sorts of new ideas and ways to improve my works in progress.
I enjoyed the book signing, especially because I was seated between Barry Eisler, who drew a big crowd, and Cynthia Eden, who also was a draw and is such a sweet person. I bought one of her books and can't wait to read it. Speaking of books, I came home with about a dozen of them - most of which were free. I'm halfway through Angela Knight's Passionate Ink, a craft book for penning erotic romance. If you've ever read anything by Angela, you'll be blown away by her sex scenes, as well as her amazing prose.
The pictures above are courtesy of Nancy J. Cohen. Top one is from the Book Fair and the bottom was taken at lunch on Wednesday. From left: Roxanne St. Claire, me, Nancy J. Cohen, Allison Chase and Karen Kendall.

What about you? Were you at RT this year? If not, what was your favorite conference?

More Fun at RT

Well, the week is winding down at the convention. Tomorrow is the Giant Book Fair, which I'm looking forward to (11 am to 2 pm at the Wyndham on International Drive and Sandlake Road in Orlando). Yesterday I pitched to a story to a publisher and two others to agents. Red Sage hosted a poolside afternoon party featuring free books, a tropical theme and the Mr. Romance contestants - yummy! I attended a couple workshops, one a panel discussion on YA romance with 6 up and coming YA authors. All I have to say is, I'm now convinced I'm too old to write YA. Most of these women were in their twenties and obviously very bright and tuned in to the whole teen experience. Hasn't been that long for them!
Today I attended a couple publisher spotlights, an agent panel and an editor panel - very interesting stuff. Here's a few snippets from the editor's event:

Romance genres doing well: Dark paranormals and sweet, family sagas. All publishers say they are still buying from new authors. Dorchester is looking for cross-genre romance; Tor is searching for urban fantasy and YA; Samhain wants all romance genres except YA, women's fiction and ChickLit; St. Martin's, Harlequin, Grand Central, Sourcebooks, Red Sage and Avon are open to all genres.

I am posting some pictures of friends. From the top they are 1. Two sweet ladies I met at the convention, Michelle and Christina 2. Author Karen Kendall 3. Author Allison Chase 4. Authors Terry Odell and Nancy J. Cohen 5. Author Cynthia Eden and Liquid Silver Publisher Tina Burns

Great Day at RT Convention

Wow - what a long, busy, fun day today! I started out by volunteering at the registration desk for an hour. Then a great panel discussion on combining suspense with romance with speakers Lucienne Diver, Gennita Low, Roxanne St. Claire and Cindy Dees. After, a few minutes outside speaking with Lucienne, who is very nice, very helpful.
Next had lunch with Roxanne (Rocki), Karen Kendall, Allison Chase and Nancy J. Cohen. Good conversation. It was nice to visit with these ladies, whom I haven't chatted with in a while. After, bounced pitch off Rocki.
Next I went to another panel discussion featuring several erotica authors, including the amazing Angela Knight. Angela gave out some free books and I scored one - yeah! She autographed her book on writing erotic romance, Passionate Ink for me. Can't wait to break into it! After one more workshop, I met up with several authors, including Karen Kendall, Nancy J. Cohen and Allison Chase for an overpriced drink at the pool bar, which was so far from the main hotel I felt like leaving a trail of bread crumbs as we walked;-) After returning to the lobby, I ran into friends Leeann Burroughs, Traci Hall, Aleka Nakis and Eileen Ann Brennan.
The publisher of Red Sage Publishing then took a group of her authors out for a sumptuous dinner. Sat with Angela Knight, Liane Gentry Skye and Alexandria Kendall (publisher) as well as Brenda Williamson, Cynthia Eden and others. Awesome dinner, even better conversation - stayed several hours. Alexandria picked up entire tab. What a fun, generous lady - love her. I love being associated with Red Sage. She also could be the long lost twin of one of my oldest friends, Beverly Kelber - weird.
Got home about 10:00 pm and thought I was exhausted, although DH says I was totally wired. Guess he was right since it's 2:30 in the morning and I can't sleep! Another long day tomorrow - hope I get some sleep.

Romantic Times Convention Tracker

Tomorrow is the official opening of the Romantic Times Convention here in Orlando, but I spent today volunteering. I stuffed goody bags, registered people and met some very nice folks. A bonus for me - I learned the lay of the land at the sprawling hotel. I also learned parking spots are few and usually hell and gone from where I want to be. Those familiar with Orlando many years ago recognize the new Wyndham Hotel as the former Marriott Hotel. I had a friend who worked at the Marriott many many moons ago and low and behold - parking spots were few and far between way back then. Apparently when they remodeled the place, they forgot that minor issue. Saturday, April 25 is the Giant Book Fair with Mr. Romance models roaming the floor and hundreds of authors signing their books. The event runs from 11 - 2. Come by and say hi!

And the Winner is...

I've drawn a name to win the book ... Drum roll, please. Okay - it's Julie Robinson. Please email me, Julie at ddedmon88 @ yahoo and I'll get the book out to you. Thanks to everyone who commented on yesterday's post. Have a great day!

Addicted to Email

Is there a recovery group for those of us hooked on email? A twelve-step program for the electronically dependent? I know there's a chatroom somewhere or a Yahoo group where a bunch of people with similar issues are waiting for me to step up to the virtual podium and admit I have a problem.

I'm comforted in knowing I won't be arrested if I get caught. Nor will my marriage fall apart if DH finds out, although I suspect he knows since I always check the computer within half an hour of waking. But I have experienced withdrawal symptoms. We were on vacation last year, staying at friend's beachfront condo and I started growing antsy. My palms got sweaty and my heart pounded -- until I noticed the friend's laptop. I allowed myself a fix. Then another. I'd been incommunicado for two days and I had more than 300 emails. Yikes - it was like an electronic feeding frenzy!

Normally, email is my reward for reaching a certain percentage of my daily writing goal. So what's the harm? Well, I've noticed I now avoid phone conversations. Email is so much faster and easier. What it comes down to for me is control. It can be tough to control how long someone keeps me on the phone, but I can read their email when I feel like it.

So what about you? Are you an email junkie?