Saturday was dominated by the Book Fair. Several very major authors were in attendance, including J.R. Ward (whose books are my personal obsession), Jim Butcher, Lori Foster, Jeaniene Frost, and Charlaine Harris. I was thrilled to have a couple of people stop by to say they liked the two I currently have in print! It was good to talk to readers and see what people are interested in.

Not long after the book fair ended, I had to catch my flights back to Seattle. With the time difference and the stopover, I was pretty exhausted when I got back to Westlake. Thankfully, my special someone was there to meet me. ;)

The convention is always fun. It’s motivating, inspires new ideas, and is a great chance to meet everyone in the industry from publishers to booksellers to fellow authors to librarians to readers and everyone in between. I hope to attend again next year!

I was too lazy to get up in time for the morning mixer on Friday, so I found my own breakfast in the food court and then headed to the first panel of the day, KEEPING IT FRESH, FOCUSED AND FABULOUS, which was about book series. The panelists were Melissa Mayhue, Stephanie Julian, Alyssa Day, and Samantha Kane. I arrived fairly early, waddling in thanks to a breakfast consisting of French toast and bacon, and was able to talk to Melissa Mayhue one on one! Squee! She has several books set fifty years before the era where my fourth novel, Stay With Me, takes place. I managed to snag one of the free copies of the first and latest in her series and I’m stoked to read them! I just get all swoony thinking about beefy Highlanders!

The next panel was extremely helpful, REVISION QUEST: MAKING YOUR BOOK A KEEPER. They steamrolled through so much great advice and even better was that all the advice was laid out on hand-outs to take with us! No note-taking needed! :D It was paneled by EC editor Kelli Collins, and EC authors Anne Calhoun and Robin L. Rotham. Robin is hilarious!

By lunchtime, my French toast wasn’t holding me up anymore and, as a creature of habit, I wandered back to the food court for tacos. After wiping away the sour cream, I blew through the last two panels, the first of which was on historicals: BRINGING HISTORICAL CHARACTERS TO LIFE, paneled by Victoria Alexander, Victoria Dahl, S.J. Day AKA Sylvia Day, Sally MacKenzie, and captained by Kristina Cook AKA Kristi Astor. I jotted down several really great resources on spotting and eliminating anachronisms and learned about maintaining the right balance of historical accuracy and artistic license so that a modern reader can enjoy the history behind the book without falling asleep or throwing the book to the floor out of confusion.

The last panel for me was STEAMY STEAMPUNK. I like the genre, I’m interested in it, and I could soooo use it as a sexy-as-hell worldsetting. I found a few movies to watch and books to read for a clearer idea of the fun genre-mixing you can do with steampunk, and the panelists all had some great stories out or coming out soon! They were Kat Richardson, Nathalie Gray, Liz Maverick, Caitlin Kittredge, and Stacia Kane, all moderated by Mark Henry. Nathalie was an adorable steampunk fangirl!

After four panels, it was time for the eBook Expo. It was exciting to get to talk to readers about my two latest releases, and I ran out of bookplates for one of them! At 6pm, though, it was time to take a break before heading to the Vampire Ball. It was presented by Helen A. Rosburg and Heather Graham, who has this great video series on the hotel TV network about ghost stories around the country. It’s fascinating!

The ball was loads of fun. Graham and Rosburg always put on a great play for us while we eat, and Graham showed up in the play as the newest version of the Mad Hatter while Rosburg played the White Queen! After half an hour of dropping it like it’s hot on the dance floor, I went to the hotel’s bar on the 2nd floor for some drinks with some fellow authors. Two strong tequila sunrises had me floating above the table and we talked until well past midnight.

WHAT A DAY!

I kicked off the day by attending the Mystery Chix & Private Dix mixer. (The wit at this convention is just endless.) A slew of successful mystery authors hosted the event, and a big raffle was done to give away each author’s books. In attendance were Brett Battles, whom I saw yesterday at another panel along with CJ Lyons, who was also there, and Robert Gregory Browne (the official heckler at said panel), Carole Nelson Douglas, Toni McGee Causey, Harley Jane Kozak, Diana Rowland, Rick Mofina, and so many more! I was so in awe of all these big writers that I forgot to take any pictures! Or maybe it was the EC model sitting at the table…

I must admit that I was lucky to have decided to attend the mixer because it was next door to the room where an EC Authors Lunch would be held, and I had yet to find out when and where it was supposed to be! Color me pink to have missed it–probably several times–on the EC loop. Before the lunch, though, I attended HOW TO WRITE DYNAMIC DIALOGUE. The panelists were both hilarious: Lani Diane Rich and Anne Stuart. (Jennifer Crusie was unfortunately sick.) I read some very good advice on common dialogue mistakes from the writing guide Don’t Murder Your Mystery, but it was helpful to hear some things on the difference between how men and women speak, and to hear that the same dialogue mistakes I make are made by many people!

The EC Author Lunch was fabulous. I got to meet a long-time EC author by the name of Rosemary Laurey aka Madeleine Oh aka Georgia Evans. D: Wow! She was a delight to speak to and one of the many people that was affected by the unpronounceable volcano that erupted and covered Europe with ash, having only arrived at the convention yesterday, I believe. On my other side was Raelene Gorlinsky! I was like a peon sitting with the nobles! The lunch served was great, although dessert was a strange concoction with the consistency of frosting and just as sweet. EC also gave us authors an adorable EC-themed blanket! I love my publisher!

After a quick break, I attended the special session held by Planned Television Arts, a company that promotes authors. God knows neither I nor my weeping credit card–still in the corner–could afford a publicist, but I did receive some good advice that I’ll tuck away for later.

The long day has me tuckered out, though, and since I’d be seriously underdressed at either of the remaining evening parties, I’m opting to enjoy my brief vacation from my day job and will spend some time writing in my room. (Or maybe I’m out solving a local crime! YOU NEVER KNOW.)

EDIT: I did indeed make an appearance despite my tank and jeans tendency. Here’s a picture of some fellow EC authors!

Whew, what an afternoon! After some spicy Kung Pao chicken, I started in on some more panels. It was so difficult the whole afternoon to pick which ones to attend, but for the first one, I chose THE MILLION-DOLLAR MARKETING PLAN. The panelists were Marcia James (who handed out these cute cards with little handcuffs attached!), Tina Gallagher, and Sutton Fox. They had so much helpful advice and I’ll try to put it to good use with my tiny budget! Don’t worry, my little credit card! I promise to stop making you cry!

Next up was VAMPIRE: COUNT WHO?. It was a great discussion of the voracious appetite readers have currently for paranormal romance, especially vamps. The moderator was Charlaine Harris, whose books are so wonderful, and the panelists were Carole Nelson Douglas, Michele Bardsley, Jaye Wells, and Jeanne C. Stein. The various vampire myths were covered, starting with Rice and Stoker, all the way up to today’s plethora of bloodsuckers! The authors all discussed their vamp series and how their vamps “work”. Do they see their reflection? Does sunlight hurt them? Do they feed from humans or can they feed from other things? I can’t wait to start on my own urban fantasy!

The final panel of the day was MAKE THE LEAP TO WRITING FULL-TIME. It’s still my wish to someday work from home, doing everything from writing to promoting–the whole business of being an author. It was definitely a more serious panel. The four ladies on the panel gave me a lot to think about. They were Laura Baumbach, Treva Harte, Lacey Savage, and Caitlyn Willows. Timing and the right circumstances are all key. They also let us in on things they didn’t expect when they went full-time, such as the hours they end up putting in. It’s eight to ten hours a day, every day, which I…sort of expected, but it was good to hear that yes, working from home means that you’re always at work! One panelist said that it’s very much like the work an entrepreneur puts into his/her new business. A steady day job may be forty hours a week, but when starting up your own business, your number of work hours shoots up.

After the panel and some dinner, it was time to get changed and attend Ellora’s Cave’s “Paint the Town Red” party! Several of EC’s handsome “Cavemen” cover models were in attendance, as they always are.

Hello out there in Internet Land. This is Ruby from Columbus, OH at the annual RT Writers’ Convention! I’m so happy to be here (even if my credit card is crying in the corner). It’s only been half a day and already I’ve met so many people! When I arrived late last night, I hopped across the street for dinner with my roommate, who was eating with a couple of booksellers out of Portland and also Bookseller Liaison Kate Ryan! After scarfing down some chicken fingers–yes, I do still eat like I’m 11-years-old–my roommate and I headed back to our room and it was lights out.

First thing this morning, we headed down to a mixer where we were welcomed to the con and served coffee and tidbits. A lucky hundred attendees or so received a cute mini-hat! Then I shot over to the Media & Marketing panel: WHAT RT WANTS & WHAT AUTHORS NEED TO KNOW. The panelists were Stephanie Klose, Liz French, Elissa Petruzzi, and Faygie Levy (will post pictures soon!). They had lots of great advice about self-promotion, do’s and don’t's, and other resources to use for making yourself into a brand and selling it well and professionally.

Next up was a panel about BAD GUYS WE LOVE TO HATE! I really like the panel captain, CJ Lyons, who I saw at RT 2008 as well. She was there with authors Andrew Peterson, Diana Rowland, Juliet Blackwell AKA Hailey Lind, and Brett Battles. I personally had questions on getting my facts straight when it comes to police procedure, and they were helpful in telling me how to get in touch with my local police agency, and with online groups such as Crime Scene Writer. There’s even a Writer’s Police Academy in North Carolina. Sweet beans!

The only regret I have at RT so far is that I can’t be in two places at once! Or in some cases three! Tonight at 5pm, there are three panels I need to attend. Hopefully there are handouts I can grab! @_@

I’m back from RT! What a fun time! Next year’s will be in Orlando (my favorite place since I’m a huge fan of Mickey Mouse–despite my age), so please think about coming out to see me and all the other authors! There’ll be lots of interesting panels, too, if book-signings are not your thing. The best part, though, is all the parties and cover models! A very nice EC author by the name of M.A. Ellis took pictures of me with four cover models from Ellora’s Cave: “Big” John (he was enormous), Rodney & Brian (cover model sandwich!), and Kevin (who loves the camera).

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Surely, anyone who is attending this year’s RT Convention is already on their way or has already arrived, so this post may not be read by other attendees until after the convention, but I’m about to drive over to Pittsburgh and can’t wait to meet everyone. I hope everyone attending has a safe trip to Pittsburgh and has a great time at RT 2008. See you soon!

First, I’d like to announce that I did win one of the three book trailer awards up for grabs every month at New Covey Trailer Awards, the one for “Most Artistic Trailer“. Thanks to the Covey judges for selecting my trailer. I’m hoping to start working on a trailer for Oblivion and Blues.

So, I’m finally back in the States. After living in Japan for about three years and eight months, it’s at once both strange to be home and very relieving. On top of that, I’m scared to be in a transition. I’ve only been home for about ten days, but soon I’ll be heading to Pittsburgh for the RT Convention. I honestly don’t think I’m prepared with any sort of freebies or clothes or even my schedule. Getting home from Tokyo took priority, which was much more complicated than expected when you take into account how entangled you become after so many years in a foreign country: taxes to pay, utilities to cancel, furniture to dispose of, etc.

Therefore, if you come to my little table at either of the signing events on Wednesday or Saturday, I’m sorry if I don’t have anything terribly interesting laid out. I honestly got very confused twenty minutes into investigating the annual RT Convention because there were so many promotion opportunities, panels, events, parties, gift baskets, freebies one could prepare, and so on. I don’t have an agent or much experience and still don’t know what I’m doing, really. I beg your forgiveness if you feel a little disappointed. :(

Anyway, I am excited to attend. I hope to learn a lot, meet a lot of people, and hopefully come away with a much better idea of how to write better books, promote them better, and reach more readers.

Okay, a couple of things have been settled, so I am officially announcing that I’ll be attending the 2008 Romantic Times Convention in Pittsburgh. I haven’t registered yet, but will next week or so. I’m hoping that EC will be able to provide a print version of Caught in the Devil’s Hand for the Book Fair and the Expo, both of which I’ll be attending.

If you are going to RT, please come by and see me!

In other news, it’s insanely humid here in Tokyo, which can be blamed on the typhoon about to roll in on Thursday or Friday. I feel like I’m melting. However, some good news is that CitDH received five angels from Fallen Angel Reviews. Yay!

Well, summer was fun (and way too hot). The weather has been a little cooler lately, though I’m sure those stifling temperatures will come back for a few more days before autumn officially arrives. Tomorrow starts another segment of work, but I’m super excited (not about my day job, though). Read more