Part of my summer break was attending the annual Romance Writers of America conference in New York on June 28-July 1. I always love going to the national conference. There’s just something so inspiring about being surrounded by so many other writers, readers, bloggers, and just folks who love books. Going to nationals always makes me want to go home and immediately start writing something new.

There will be tons of wrap-up posts about the conference in the next week or so, so I thought I would add mine to the mix. I think I’ll also do a post about what I learned. But to start off, here’s a brief day-by-day recap of my conference:

MONDAY

This was mostly a travel day for me and Wheezley, my significant other, although I did meet with Annelise, my agent, that evening. I asked her the question that I always do whenever I see her at a conference: What are editors looking for these days? What seems to be selling right now? She says editors are interested in paranormal, YA, and Amish romances (who knew?). So anyway, there’s a tidbit for all the writers out there.

TUESDAY

I had a breakfast meeting with Alicia, my YA editor, and Alex, the digital/social media editor for my YA publisher, Kensington. We had a really nice breakfast getting to know each other and talking about Touch of Frost. I’m looking forward to the YA blog tour that the folks at Kensington have set up for me and just getting the word out about the book. We also talked a lot about social media and how important it’s become to promoting books these days.

After breakfast, Wheezley and I spent most of the day just walking around the Times Square area and hitting some of the touristy shops, like the M&Ms and Hershey stores. And yes, they smell like chocolate inside. LOL.

Then, of course, the annual literacy signing was that night. Oh, boy. If you’ve never been to the signing, you should go if it’s ever in a city close to you. Basically, it’s about 500 authors in a ballroom signing and talking about books for two hours. It’s hot, it’s loud, and it’s crowded, but it’s also a really fun time. Check out this video from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

A lot of folks came by my table to chat or just say hi, which was really nice, and I loved putting faces with names of everyone that I’ve chatted with online. One lady also asked me for spoilers about the Elemental Assassin series, which was really flattering. (And no, I can’t give out any spoilers about the series beyond what’s on the back cover copy of the books.)

Someone told me that people started lining up for the literacy signing at 2:30 p.m. that afternoon (the signing didn’t start until 5:30). Someone else told me they started lining up at 11:30 that morning. The RWA volunteers came around about 7 p.m. and asked if we could stay longer since there were still about 400 people waiting in line (the signing was supposed to end at 7:30). That amazed me. I stayed until about 8 p.m., when it seemed like things were winding down. Anyway, it was great to be around so many folks who love books. Here’s a view of the craziness that was the literacy signing:

WEDNESDAY

This was my busiest day with four events. The first thing that I did was walk over to the Simon & Schuster offices (the Pocket imprint publishes my Elemental Assassin series) to do a taping with three other urban fantasy authors: Jenna Black, Seressia Glass, and Allison Pang. Basically, we smiled into the camera and talked about why we like urban fantasy. It was a little nerve-wracking, but it was great getting to meet and chat with the other authors, who were all super cool. I’m not sure when the video will get posted, but I’ll link to it when it goes up. Here’s a photo of the Simon & Schuster building:

After that, I got to meet some of the Pocket publicity folks, all of whom are really nice, and then I went to lunch with Megan, my editor. We talked about the revisions and cover art for By a Thread. I’ve seen the preliminary cover for the book, and it’s just as awesome as the others in the series. I hope to share it soon, but all I can say at this point is that it’s green and Gin is in the swamp. How’s that for a teaser?

Next up, I met with my YA editor again and another Kensington YA author, the very cool Erica O’Rourke, who’s YA book Torn just came out. We went over to the 96th Street branch of the New York Public Library to do a YA event. I had a lot of fun hanging out with my editor, Erica, the folks from her agency, and the other people who were there.

From the library, Erica, my editor, and I went straight to the Kensington cocktail party. It was interesting to see the offices, and there was a really cool ice sculpture shaped like a giant K for the party (I wish I’d thought to take a photo of it). Anyway, the party was fun, and it was great meeting all the folks at Kensington. And here’s a view of the books in my editor Alicia’s office. Notice the copies of Touch of Frost on the middle shelf:

THURSDAY

On Thursday morning, I hit some of the YA panels, where someone said that mermaids seem to be the next big trend in YA books and that dystopian books seem to be reaching the saturation point like vampire books. I’ll be interested to see if there are more mermaid books hitting shelves in the next year or so.

I also attended some of the publisher book signings and got tons of great books (for free!). I think I doubled my TBR pile in about an hour’s time. LOL. I’ll try to do a post when I get the books, which I had to get shipped home.

That afternoon, I did a taping for Romantic Times, talking mostly about the Mythos Academy series and a little about the Elemental Assassin series. It was really fun hanging out with the RT gals and Vida, my publicist at Kensington, especially when we started talking about desserts. Yum. Again, I’m not sure when the video will get posted, but I’ll link to it when it goes up.

After that, I went to the S&S cocktail party at a rooftop garden in Rockfeller Center, which was just gorgeous. Below is a photo of the party. Then, it was off to the Pocket authors dinner at a very nice steakhouse. I have never seen steaks that big before in my life. Seriously, they were like four inches tall. A good time was had by all.

FRIDAY

On Friday, I hit some more of the publisher book signings in the morning, then I did the Pocket book signing at noon, where I got to meet and sit next to the very cool YA author Jennifer Echols. I signed something like 50 copies of Tangled Threads in the space of about 30 minutes. Here’s a photo of my corner of the world at the Pocket signing:

That afternoon, I went to the PAN (Published Authors Network) panel about digitizing your backlist books and putting them up on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. That was really informative (it could have easily been two hours long), and it’s something I’m in the process of doing with my three Bigtime books. I’ll be doing a post about that as I get farther along in the process.

Also, I did a workshop that afternoon: Writing Outside the Box — How to Create Unique Paranormal Characters. I think (sincerely hope) the workshop went okay, except for the fact that I only had 20 worksheets and more folks than that attended the event. You just never know how many folks will attend a workshop, and there was only so much I could pack in my suitcase. But the worksheet is also available on the RWA flash drive for those of you who went to the conference, and you can also view the worksheet online here. Basically, I went through my worksheet and let folks ask me questions about whatever they wanted to. We covered everything from world building to cover letters.

One lady came up to me after the workshop was over and said that I had given her the encouragement to write the story that she wanted to, so that was really nice. Anyway, I hope folks got some useful tips out of the workshop.

And finally, that night, it was time for the Golden Heart and Rita awards. I sat at a table with authors Michelle Diener and Liz Kreger that I know through author Edie Ramer (who unfortunately wasn’t at the conference) and Magical Musings. Here’s Michelle on the left and Liz on the right:

SATURDAY

Another travel day back home for me and Wheezley. It was good to get home and sleep in my own bed.

OVERALL

Overall, I had a great time at the conference. I met a lot of folks, said hello to people I know online, and got to hang out with people who love books. What can be better than that?

Finished Hexed. This urban fantasy anthology features novellas by Ilona Andrews, Yasmine Galenorn, Allyson James, and Jeanne C. Stein.

Andrews’s story, Magic Dreams, focuses on Dali Harimau, a shapeshifting tiger, and her quest to save Jim, the man that she loves, when a spider-like demon infects Jim and tries to take over his body. Iris Kuusi, a Finnish sprite, is looking for redemption and a chance to discover what really happened to her former lover in Galenorn’s Ice Shards. Janet Begay, a Stormwalker, must keep her wits about her when she and her friends are trapped in her hotel in James’s Double Hexed. And in Stein’s Blood Debt, vampire Anna Strong tries to save a kidnapped man and is judged on some of her past actions by a group of mysterious beings.

I like anthologies because you get to try several authors for the price of one book. I almost always find one or two authors that I want to read more by, and this book was no exception.

I liked Galenorn’s story the best. I’d never read her before, and I thought her writing was just excellent — vivid, lush, and descriptive. She really transports you to the frozen land where the story is set and packs a lot of world building into this novella, which is part of her Otherworld series. What really happened to Iris’s lover was a little predictable, but I definitely plan to read more books by Galenorn.

Andrews’s story was also entertaining, and I thought Dali was the best character in the anthology. She’s smart, sassy, sarcastic, and vulnerable all at the same time. Plus, I enjoyed the different cultures and mythologies that were featured in the story. I read the first book in the Kate Daniels series, and this novella reminded me that I need to get caught up on Andrews’s books.

However, I didn’t enjoy the other two stories quite as much. I thought the idea of Stormwalkers and the Southwestern setting in James’s story was really cool, but you don’t get to really see any of the scenery since Janet and her friends are trapped in the hotel for most of the novella. For me, those kind of locked door stories usually work better in murder mysteries. I would have liked to see Janet out in the elements mastering the storms.

The same thing is true of Stein’s story. I think I would have liked it better if it had shown me more of Anna’s regular world, friends, etc., instead of transporting her to this other dimension where she doesn’t know the rules and isn’t quite sure what’s going on.

Overall, though, this is a solid urban fantasy anthology with a variety of styles, characters, and creatures. Check it out.

My grade: B-

Would I read this authors again: Yes. I’m especially interested in reading more of Galenorn’s books.

Memorable quote from Ice Shards: “It had been cold inside, but outside, it was brilliant and icy. The darkness ate up every light except the glow from the crusted snow beneath our feet. The sky was clear — the stars twinkling over our heads.”

Hope everyone is having a great Fourth of July. Cook out, watch some fireworks, spend time with family and friends, and take a moment to remember all the sacrifices that all our servicemen and woman and their loved ones have made over the years so we can enjoy the freedom that we do today.

Stay cool and stay safe!

First Frost is finally here! Happy release day to me! Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah! Okay, okay, I’ll quit huzzahing now.

First Frost is a prequel e-story in my Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series. Here’s the description:

I am Gwen Frost, and I have a Gypsy gift.  It’s called psy­chome­try — that’s a fancy way of say­ing that I see images in my head and get flashes of other people’s mem­o­ries off almost every­thing I touch, even guys.

My gift makes me kind of nosy. Okay, okay, maybe a lot nosy — to the point of obses­sion some­times. I want to know every­thing about every­one around me. But even I don’t want to know the secret that a girl in my class is hid­ing or the ter­ri­ble loss that will send me to a new school — Mythos Acad­emy, where the teach­ers aren’t prepar­ing us for the SATs, but to bat­tle Reapers of Chaos.  Now I have no friends and no idea how my gift fits in with all these war­rior whiz kids.  The only thing I do know is that my life is never, ever going to be the same …

First Frost takes place before the events in Touch of Frost, the first book in the Mythos Academy series. You can read an excerpt here. It is avail­able through Ama­zon, Barnes & Noble, etc. as 99-cent download.

You don’t have to read First Frost to start or enjoy the Mythos Academy series, but if you want to see exactly how Gwen winds up at the acad­emy or get an early feel for the books, you might enjoy it.

Happy reading, everyone!

Is over at:

Books at Midnight