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 can’t believe how long it’s been since I blogged last. Long enough, in fact, that I wasn’t sure I remembered my password. As you can see, I managed it and here I am.

It’s a new year. Amazing, really. So much happened last year–good and bad.

The good: I was published! I’m endlessly grateful to Cobblestone Press for buying my work. I couldn’t have asked for a more positive first publishing experience. And I’ve met so many wonderful people through Cobblestone and through writing.

The bad: I’ve lost focus. Part of this is because of the day job. There have been a number of shake-ups there lately. Plus, since I write and edit eight hours a day, sometimes writing is the last thing I want to do when I get home. I’ve also let some things become distractions unnecessarily.

My goal for the year is simply this: focus on the writing. I’m going to do my best to shut out the static, the distractions.

I wrote today and it felt wonderful.

In other news, I’m attending the upcoming Utah RWA conference next month. I’m excited about all the speakers and hope to get a lot of good information I can use in my writing.

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

I’m back from Atlanta! What a thrilling and amazing time it was! Now I’m ready for a vacation. LOL! Unfortunately, I head back to work tomorrow. I took today off, knowing that I would need at least a day before jumping back into the fray.

I thought it would be fun to do a day by day account of the conference. It’s all starting to blur together, but I’ll do my best. I flew into Atlanta on Tuesday. I’m not the most comfortable traveler, and I wanted to be in the hotel and settled, especially before the literacy signing on Wednesday. I arrived at the Hilton about 6:00 PM, ordered a room service dinner, and enjoyed a quiet evening.

Here’s the view from the hotel window.

This day was pretty uneventful, which was nice since there was much to come in the next several days.

It’s a bit mind-boggling to realize that I’m leaving for the RWA conference in two days. Eeek! I must start packing today. Within the hour, actually. Tomorrow I’ll go buy anything I’ve forgotten. Right now that list consists of nylons. LOL! I don’t like dresses, and when I do wear skirts, I usually wear knee-highs or sandals, neither of which would be appropriate with the black dress I bought for awards night.

Dress is listed as business casual, but I’m still going to wear jeans a couple of days. Business casual is what I wear to work, and this won’t feel like a vacation if I wear work outfits every day. So I’m going casual on Wednesday and maybe Friday too.

Anyway, this is likely to be my last post before leaving. I’ll see many of you at the conference (safe travels, if you’re coming), and the rest of you I’ll “see” again in August.

I’ve decided it’s better for me to just accept that I’m taking July off writing. I did a little writing the first week, did none last week, as I attended a work convention. This week, I’m doing a few more things for convention and getting ready for next week’s Romance Writers of America conference. I’m hoping to write a little the end of this week, but I’m going to stop pressuring myself. I think I’m trying to juggle a little too much just now.

Anyway, I’ve found a dress and am going shopping at lunch today for shoes to go with it. Then I will be quite happy if I never see a shopping center again for a while. LOL! Internet shopping is my friend, definitely my preferred mode of shopping.

This week I am confronting one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in months. I’m trying to find a dress.

I’m going to the Romance Writers of America conference later this month, and I want a nice dress for the award ceremony. Doesn’t sound too difficult, right? But I spent several hours shopping without success. Why do so many dresses have an empire waist (or something similar)? Looks great on some women. On me, it just looks like I have miles of legs and nothing on top. Not an attractive look.

And here’s another thing. I’m overweight, not inches away from the grave. Surely there are dresses out there that are somewhere between teeny-bopper and matronly dignified.

I found a couple on the internet (via a catalog that arrived in today’s mail, yay!), and I’m now debating whether I should give one of them a try. You never can tell how it will look until you have it on, though, so I’m a tiny bit reluctant. Ah, well. I can always send it back if it doesn’t work.

I’m not even up for any awards. I don’t know why I’m so concerned about my outfit. Sigh.

Whew, what a busy day it was! I arrived at the hotel around 8:10 AM; luckily they were just getting started, so I didn’t miss a thing.

The day began with a comedian, Charlie Earley, who was quite funny. It was nice to begin the day with a few laughs.

Editors’ Panel
Next was a panel with Anne Sowards, editor at Berkley, and Raelene Gorlinsky, editor at Ellora’s Cave. You can see a glimpse of Anne to the right of Earley in the photo above. The one photo I took of her turned out fuzzy, and I couldn’t even take one of Raelene because there were a couple of people blocking my view. In any case, here are some of my notes from that panel.

Berkley is looking for everything except short regency and series (category) romance.

Ellora’s Cave is looking for interracial and gay romance. They are starting a new erotica line where the focus is more on the sexual relationship than on the romance.

At Cerridwen, they are looking for everything except children’s literature. They are 95% sure that they will launch a line of traditional regencies because there is a market for them.

An interesting piece of trivia: only 15%-25% of the first three chapters are read in their entirety. You need to think of the editor as a reader. Your story should catch their attention from the beginning and not be bogged down by long back story. Also, send the first three chapters, not three of your favorite chapters.

They talked a little about the submission review process. Submissions from current authors take priority, followed by requested submissions. After that, they turn to the remaining submissions.

Anne’s advice to writers is to read a lot. I think I have that one down. Ha! If you’re worried about inadvertently absorbing what you read, read another genre.

Some other tips/info:

• Your book should be polished when you send it, the best work you can make it. The editor’s job is not to give advice or critique your work.
• Very rarely will an editor take on a diamond in the rough. In the time it would take to help these writers improve, they could take three other writers.
• Remember that your query letter is a business letter. Don’t include personal information.
• Once you have a contract, it is your responsibility to understand it, not the publisher’s responsibility to explain it to you. If you do not have an agent, contact someone familiar with contract law.

A lot of the information seemed like common sense, but I found it all very helpful.

Scott Eagan
Scott is an agent with the Greyhous Literary Agency, which is romance-focused. He started the agency and wants to keep it small so he can have a strong connection with his authors.

The main thing he emphasized was doing your research–researching your genre, agent, etc. Someone who is an agent for your friend may not be the right agent for you, for instance.

He is looking for a good mystery/suspense with a romance that isn’t just an afterthought. He is not looking for category romance–single title is his specialty. He also doesn’t like characters with a lot of emotional baggage.

When you go to conferences that have editor panels, take advantage of them by asking questions. Ask them why they bought a particular book that was published in the last year. This can help you understand what they are looking for.

I asked when a writer should get an agent. He said most writers are not ready when they have written one book, but you should look for an agent when you are serious about being a writer. You should also consider it when you get signed by a publisher.

Sherrilyn Kenyon
Sherilyn talked after Scott and was also the luncheon keynote speaker. I’m going to combine my report of them, since the talks were closely related. She shared a little of her publication story. She held up a file folder of rejection letters that was about an inch and a half thick. She said it represented a year of her life. She received all of these rejections in one year.

Some of the other things she said:

• Don’t chase after trends. If you don’t love what you’re writing, you won’t last.
• Set goals but don’t set yourself up to fail. If you only have time to write for one hour a day during your lunch hour, then do it. Just don’t give up.
• Educate yourself about the business. There is always a non-compete clause waiting to get you.
• Want other writers to succeed–they can help open new markets. No writer ever loses a contract because a new writer is published.
• Only you can share your stories. If you stop writing, those stories will die.
• Surround yourself with supportive friends.

She’s a very motivational speaker, and she seems really down-to-earth.

Lynn and Lunch
After Sherrilyn’s first talk, I attended a class by Lynn Kurland. I don’t have many notes from this one because we filled out a worksheet for most of the time. I was also wilting a bit because the room was very hot. She talked about characterization and getting to know your characters.

Then it was time for lunch. Once again, there were three books left on our chairs. This time the books were Angels and Outlaws by Lori Wilde; Legendary Tails IV by Jaid Black, Marly Chance, N.J. Walters, Ravyn Wilde, Ashleigh Raine, and Mandy Roth; and Playing Easy to Get by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jaid Black, and Kresley Cole.

I sat at the same table as Anne and Raelene, and it was fun to talk with them a little bit. I learned that Anne and I went to the same college and both of us majored in English. She graduated a year after I did. It is a fairly large department, but I’m surprised we didn’t bump into each other back then.

Anyway, after lunch, Sherrilyn spoke again (see notes above).

Jo Leigh
Jo’s presentation was perhaps the most helpful one of the whole conference, at least for me. She talked about the core decisions, the things you decide about yourself when you are young. Those decisions influence you throughout your life, and you can also use them to create realistic characters.

I talked with Jo after the presentation about In Her Eyes, and she gave me some good ideas. More rewrites ahead. LOL!

Marjorie Jones and Marie Higgins
Christine Feehan was unable to attend the conference because of a family emergency, so Jones and Higgins filled in with a presentation about critique groups. Here are some of their suggestions:

• A smaller critique group is better because you get to know each other.
• Point out positive things about the writing as well as things the writer can improve.
• Critique genres you enjoy writing or reading so that you can provide valuable suggestions.

After the presentation, they had a drawing for a three-chapter critique. There were two winners and I was one of them. Should be helpful.

The book signing was next, and I spent a ridiculous amount of money there. And that was the end of the conference. It was well worth the cost, and I’m definitely planning to go to RWA in Atlanta.