So, I’m finally recov­ered from the Women’s Expo last week­end, held in Kingsport, Tenn., and thought I’d share some thoughts and photographs. Events included a meet-the-authors din­ner Fri­day night and even more authors sign­ing through­out the day on Saturday.

I think I sold at least 20 books on Sat­ur­day, maybe a few more. It was so crazy, it was hard to keep track. Here I am with Barry Eisler, author of the John Rain assas­sin series. Barry was one of the big names at the expo, and he was really fun to talk to.

One of the best parts about doing events like this is get­ting to meet other authors. I also got to chat with Shirley Dams­gaard, who writes witch-themed mys­ter­ies for Avon. A very witty and funny lady.

Another great thing about these sorts of events is get­ting to meet other read­ers. Because authors are always read­ers first. At least, I am. Krista, left, is a nurse man­ager who drove in from Nashville for the event. We talked about Sher­ri­lyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series and other books we’d read. 

I also got to meet Cha­sity, who com­ments on my blog some­times. She came down from the Pound, Va. area for the expo. Both ladies picked up advance copies of Hot Mama, which I hope they will enjoy. Sev­eral other local folks also stopped by and said hi to me on Sat­ur­day dur­ing the actual book signing.

Speak­ing of Hot Mama, here it is, along with Karma Girl at a table dur­ing the Fri­day night din­ner. Hot Mama offi­cially comes out on Nov. 6, so get ready to  order, read, and enjoy.

The expo is a yearly event, held the third week­end in Octo­ber. The orga­niz­ers, the won­der­ful Sharon and Lydia, are already mak­ing plans for next year. They’re try­ing to get romance author Nora Roberts to come for the 2008 event and fan­tasy writer Jim Butcher in 2009. Fin­gers crossed!

What about you? Who would you like to see at an event like the expo? Inquir­ing minds want to know …