I’m back from the Utah RWA’s Mystery of Suspense conference. It was quite good–I filled an entire notepad with notes I took during the classes. The conference started on Friday. Registration was first, and there I received a bag with four or five books and dozens of bookmarks and other author promo items. Getting the goodie bag is always one of my favorite parts.

Next came a luncheon, and it was nice to chat with people. I sat by Ravyn Wilde, and we caught up a little. I hadn’t seen her in several months.

I quickly realized that the conference rooms were going to be cold, so I went out to buy a jacket since I hadn’t brought a sweater. It ended up being my best purchase.

After lunch, I went to the afternoon classes. There were two classes at each time, so I had to choose. I decided to go to the presentations by a probation officer, DEA agent, ATF agent, and medical examiner. I was sorry to miss RaeAnne Thayne’s presentation about taming your internal writing demons (I could sure use that one), but I got some terrific information I’m excited to put to use. I have some new ideas for Tony’s story, which has been simmering on the back burner for a while.

Dinner came after the classes, and it was a Murder Mystery Dinner presented by Hunt Mysteries. I thought it was cute and entertaining, even though I didn’t correctly guess the killer. After dinner, the first day of the conference concluded.

I had to get up bright and early on Saturday to make sure I arrived for Karen Robards’s presentation at 8:30. Wow, is she terrific. I loved hearing how she got started in the business and getting her tips. It was even more a treat for me because she is one of the first romance authors I ever read and loved. I took pages and pages of notes. Some of her comments:

• Never start or end a chapter at a boring point.
• Use white space to speed up the action.
• The hero/heroine are like yin and yang. Each needs something the other has.
• Mystery presents the reader with a puzzle. Suspense plunges your reader into a nightmare.
• There is always a motivation that fuels a character’s every move.

Her presentation lasted most of the morning (with a break), and then it was time for lunch.

At lunch, we received another six or seven books. The authors and publishers who contributed to the conference were incredibly generous. During lunch, award winners were announced and Christina Skye gave the keynote speech about life lessons. Here were some of my favorite lessons:

• Write from the heart and gut, not from the head.
• It’s supposed to be fun. Only the joy will help you get through the things you face as a writer.
• A good writer touches hearts and changes lives.

The editor/publisher panel was next. The participants: Victoria Curran from Harlequin; Debbie Malone from Triskelion; Barbara Collins Rosenberg from The Rosenberg Group; Elaine Spencer from The Knight Agency. I got lots of little tidbits from this panel:

• Nephele Tempest is looking for science fiction/fantasy. (I wish I’d asked about futuristics, since I have two manuscripts in various states of completion.)
• Silhouette Nocturne is actively acquiring.
• When one person asked about chick lit, Rosenberg said that the market for it “has bottomed out.” Elaine added that “people are running from it” and it therefore needs to be packaged another way for it to get anywhere.

Next, Karen Robards and Christina Skye did an author’s panel.

The final event of the conference was a book signing. I bought a few books, but I also signed CDs of Office Relations and Between Floors. It was great fun. I went into it with low expectations about how many copies I would sell, and I ended up selling more than I thought I would. So I would describe my first signing as a success.

I also had Museum Rendezvous on small CDs that I gave out free. I think they turned out pretty cute–you can see them in the picture above directly to the right of my name card. I even gave one to Karen Robards, which seems kind of surreal since I’ve loved so many of her books. Hopefully she’ll enjoy the story.

So, that’s the conference. It was a lot of fun, but I’ve enjoyed staying home and relaxing today. Being an extrovert is exhausting.

I’m thrilled to announce that I’m participating in a multi-author book signing next weekend. Here are the details.

Date: February 3, 2007

Time: 5:00 to 6:00 PM (mountain time)

Where: Heart of the West Utah Romance Writers of America
The Mystery of Suspense Conference
Salt Lake City Airport Hilton
5151 Wiley Post Way
Salt Lake City, UT 84116

Who:
New York Times Best Selling Authors: Karen Robards and Christina Skye

Local Authors: Ann Chamberlin
RaeAnne Thayne
Lisa Dawn MacDonald
Phyllis Campbell
Ravyn Wilde
Sara Fitzgerald
Lia Sebastian

More information: http://www.utahrwa.com/2007Conference.html
Or e-mail mary@marymartinez.com

If you can make it, I’d love to see you!

On Friday, I hoped I’d get up early to attend an 8:30 AM class. That didn’t happen. I slept in and started my day with the Avon/Ballantine publisher-hosted signing. I had my rolling cart with me to hold the books, and it was very helpful. I also had the fan I picked up in the Goody Room. I made good use of it while I stood in line.

The signing rooms were pretty small this year. Last year’s format was better, where the authors were lined up in a large room with one publisher on each side. This time around, they were squashed into smaller rooms with tables along the wall. This added a homey element, but some of the lines spilled into each other, making them tough to negotiate.

I hit the Avon room first, getting books from Kim Harrison and Laura Lee Guhrke, among others. Only when I got home did I realize I already had an autographed copy of Guhrke’s book. Oops. I’m looking forward to Kim Harrison’s Dead Witch Walking, though. I was hoping to run into Lisa Kleypas, but I didn’t see her.

I picked up several more books in the Ballantine room, including Raven Hart’s The Vampire’s Seduction, Linda Howard’s Killing Time, and Allison Brennan’s The Kill. It was nice to say hello to Linda Howard. I told her that I love To Die For, and she said the sequel is coming out sometime in November.

After the signing, I attended my first class: Theme – Taking an Old Fashioned Concept and Turning It into an Effective Way to Market Your Voice. It was pretty good, although I had to leave early to make it to lunch. I did get some ideas I think will help me finish The Seventh Sense.

Next came the Passionate Ink luncheon at the Atlanta Aquarium. It was just far enough that walking would not have been fun, so I took a cab. I still got there a little too late to sit with any of my fellow Romance Divas, so I sat in a corner table. There were little goody bags that contained two print books, two e-books, and lots of promo items such as pens and bookmarks. Very fun!

There were a number of speakers at the luncheon, including one of the reviewers at Joyfully Reviewed, editor Raelene Gorlinski, and an agent. When it comes to erotic romance, many editors are looking for menage, male/male romance, and alpha males. Not good news for someone who writes heterosexual and monogamous romance, often with beta heroes. LOL! But there’s room for me, too, I’m sure. It’s good for readers to have many choices.

The next two pictures are of the beluga whales and fish at the aquarium.

After the luncheon, I took a cab back to the hotel and attended a class called Writing with Magic (for Muggles). I knew it would be about J.K. Rowling’s books, but I hadn’t expected it to be the main focus of the class. I haven’t read book six, but I know a lot about what happens now . . . I should have anticipated that.

After the class, it was time for another publisher signing. This time around was Berkley and St. Martin’s Press. While waiting in line, I ran into author Jill Shalvis and we chatted for a few minutes. It was nice to see her. Before she left, she told me that the wait for the Berkley room was worth it, and she was right. I got a bunch of books there from authors I really like, such as Gena Showalter.

Lia and Gena

I’m a member of MaryJanice Davidson’s Yahoogroup, and I remembered she said she wasn’t a member of RWA. So I was pretty surprised to see her at the signing. Once I did, though, I was quick to get in line. When I got to the front of the line, I told her I was in her group, so she gave me an “Official MaryJanice Davidson Stalker” pin (LOL!), and I had her sign my copy of Mysteria. I also got a copy of Unwed & Undead. Left to my own devices, I would have loved a copy of all the books she had available, but courtesy kicked in and I showed a little restraint.

Before I left, I convinced Gena Showalter to take this picture of us.

Lia and MaryJanice Davidson

After this signing, I wandered up in time to catch 10 minutes of the Publisher Spotlight on Pocket. I stayed for the Publisher Spotlight on Kensington. HelenKay Dimon gives a good run down of it at her blog. One thing to note: Kate Duffy is not interested in erotica, so that should be submitted to one of the other editors, such as Hillary Sares. They had a couple of books as giveaways, including an ARC for Jacquelyn Frank’s Nightwalkers: Jacob, which Kate Duffy says is a series she is extremely excited about. Should be fun to give this a try.

After the spotlight, I took a quick nap, then headed off to dinner with some of the Cobblestone Press authors. We went to a place called The Varsity. Our shoes stuck to the floor as we walked in, but the food was good and the company was terrific. After dinner, we hung out with a few Romance Divas. I left early to get some sleep before the next day’s events.

Number of Books Acquired on Thursday: 44
Total Books Acquired through Thursday: 104

Thursday’s events started off bright and early with the PRO Retreat at 8:00 AM. Honestly, I have no idea how I managed to get up in time for this, since I am not a morning person and I’m even less a morning person in Eastern Time. LOL! Anyway, I made it to the retreat and sat with fellow Cobblestone Press authors Mia Romano and Shelli Stevens.

Left to right: Mia, Me, Shelli

There were several speakers, including Lani Diane Rich and Susan Crandall, who talked about the myths about what it’s like to be a published author. Editors Raelene Gorlinsky (Ellora’s Cave), Tracy Farrell (Harlequin) and Cindy Hwang (Berkley) talked about what’s hot and what they are looking for. I thought it was pretty interesting that Cindy Hwang found a few authors by reading their fan fiction, which led her to their original fiction.

One especially promising moment during this discussion was the statement that a lot of e-book authors are making the jump into print. These authors are often prolific and are accustomed to deadlines, two definite points in their favor.

Jennifer Crusie, Bob Mayer, and Mollie Smith talked about the benefits of a website and blog. The goal of a blog is first to entertain, than to inform. I’m not sure how good a job I do with either, actually. LOL! They did recommend group blogs, which offer more variety for blog readers and put less pressure on authors.

Nora Roberts was the keynote speaker, and she was awesome. I loved her topic and found it very motivating. She talked about the importance of focusing on the story instead of getting bogged down by centering on your career. The story is what you can control. She also emphasized that there is no right way to write–one author’s magic may not work for you.

After the PRO Retreat came the luncheon with Meg Cabot as the keynote speaker. Lunch was OK; I especially loved the cheesecake dessert. Ha! Meg was hilarious, and I enjoyed hearing her talk about her experience attending the movie premiere of The Princess Diaries. Two free books by her were waiting on the chairs when we entered the luncheon area to sit down. I now have three copies of Size 12 Is Not Fat, one of them autographed. I might need one or two more. What do you think? Ha!

After lunch, I went upstairs to my hotel room to take a nap. It was so nice to sleep for a while. When I got up again, I went downstairs and ordered MP3 of the complete conference classes. I knew I wouldn’t be able to attend all the ones that interested me, so I ordered a set. They should arrive in about six weeks.

That night was a dinner at Azio’s with the Romance Divas. More than 40 of us were there, and I didn’t get any pictures of the table. I did manage to get pictures of all the Cobblestone Press authors who attended the dinner.

Back row, left to right: Eden Bradley, Loribelle Hunt, Me, Emma Peterson, Crystal Jordan; front row, left to right: Stella Price, Audra Price, Shelli Stevens

After dinner was the Midnight Madness Bazaar, where RWA chapters and other groups sold T-shirts, jewelry, bookmarks, lanyards, and all sorts of other fun stuff. I bought a T-shirt, handmade card, and a ribbon asking “Anyone seen my muse?” Sasha White had a table with twisted glass jewelry and book thongs. If you bought $20 worth, you got a free book. I bought a necklace, three book thongs, and got her book, Gypsy Heart, free.

Later a group of us went to Champion’s once again. Tonight there was a lot of dancing. I consider myself a decent dancer, but some of these women can move, let me tell you. A few people also did karaoke. Here are some pictures.

Left to right: Eden, Jax, Kristen

Left to right: Lacey, Loribelle, Shelli

Shelli sings I Will Survive

Michelle and Amanda sing Like a Virgin

My smart roommate went to bed before midnight; I stayed for a while longer to dance. I did get to meet another Cobblestone author, Susan Greene. I went back to the hotel room before 1:00 AM to try and get some sleep before the next day.

Number of Books Acquired on Thursday: 4
Total Books Acquired through Thursday: 60

On to my report of Wednesday. This was the one day I slept in, since there were no classes being offered this day and I didn’t need to check out of the hotel until 11:00 AM. So I had a relaxing morning and checked out right around 11:00. Then, I headed over to the Marriott Marquis hotel, which was (thankfully) right across the street from the Hilton. I was a little concerned that they wouldn’t let me check in until 3:00 PM, but I checked in early with no problem.

The hotel was amazing–very large and elegant. I wish I had pictures to show you, but I kept putting it off, thinking I would take photos later. Sorry. In any case, I shared a room with Ember Case, who is just fabulous, the best roommate I could have had.

After settling into the room, I went down to the conference registration desk and got my name tag. A good reminder that I needed to learn to answer to Lia. LOL! Then I wandered over to get my conference bag, which was offered by William Morrow. It was filled with books: 18, to be exact. And this was only the beginning of the book pile I managed to accumulate.

In the afternoon, I wandered over to the Goody Room, where authors leave goodies such as bookmarks, pins, pens, cover flats, postcards, etc., for conference registrants to take. There was no limit to the number of times you could go into the room, so I made sure to visit it Thursday and Friday as well, since more authors would come and set out new items. I came home with a bag of goodies, including a few books. The most practical item I picked up was a fan, which came in handy later (more about that later).

I also dropped off my goodies, which were magnets for my two books to date: Office Relations and Between Floors. I spread them out over several tables so that someone who might miss them on one table would notice them on another. I also stopped by the Bookfair and bought two books about writing.

That afternoon, I took a nap before getting ready for the RWA literacy signing. I didn’t have books to sell, but I’ve been limiting my book purchases for months and was ready to spend. That’s exactly what I did. After waiting outside the ballroom for half an hour, the doors opened and I walked up and down the aisles collecting books I wanted to buy. I had a cart with me, so I wasn’t limited to what I could carry.

The result? I left with 34 books, many of them trade paperbacks. It turned out that quite a few of them were books that weren’t available at the publisher signings (where attendees could get books free as long as they were willing to wait in line for them). Can you tell I’m trying to justify the amount I spent? OK, I’ll tell you, but remember, I saved up several months for this. (Yep, still rationalizing the fact that I spent almost $400.)

Here’s the full cart, though you can’t see all the books I bought.

The signing was a lot of fun. I ran into several Romance Divas, including my roommate. It was so great to finally put faces to some of the names I’ve seen so often.

After the signing, I took the books back to my room and went with several Divas to a restaurant named Ruth’s Chris. Their specialty is steak, and it was pretty good.

Clockwise starting from front left: Shelli Stevens, me, Ember, Emma Peterson, Jax, Kristen, Sherice

We returned to the hotel after dinner and went to Champion’s, a bar and grill. A certain Diva (not me!) showed off her corset, which earned free drinks for her table and ours! LOL! I stayed and socialized for a while, then went back to the hotel room to get some sleep before the next day.

Number of Books Acquired on Wednesday: 56