While I’m talking about events, I want to mention that I’m going to be one of about 25 authors appearing and signing books during Lora Leigh’s Reader Appreciation Weekend. The event will be held in September in Huntington, West Virginia.
I’ve never been to RAW before, but I hear it’s a lot of fun. There are lots of great authors attending, like J.R. Ward and Nalini Singh, and I know I’ll be just as much of a fangirl as anyone else. I’m looking forward to it! :cool:Â
So I’m going to Romantic Tmes convention in a couple weeks’ time. My friend Amy happens to live up that way. And she happens to be a librarian. Author … librarian … librarian … author … instant event! 😎
So the plan is for me to sign books and chat with folks at the Corry Public Library in Corry, Pa. from 6 or 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 15. If anyone’s going to be up that way, we’d love to see you there.
And if there are any western Pennsylvania authors out there, Amy would love to have you come by her library some time, too.
Anybody else gearing up for RT yet? I’ve got a ton of stuff to do. Finish my workshop and print out 100 copies of it, practice said workshop, drag out my suitcase, pack up some bookmarks. Oh yeah, I need to finish a book and send it to my agent before I leave too.
No pressure or anything … :rolleyes:
I’ve talked about television, movies, and music. Now, let’s look at books and guilty pleasures.
Probably my main guilty pleasure when it comes to books is westerns. I. Love. Westerns! In my younger years, I read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books too many times to count. (Although for some reason, Alonzo’s book was always my favorite).
I also discovered the Wagons West series by Dana Fuller Ross at my library. These books are part historical fiction, part action, and part soap opera about the settling of the American West. Most of the titles are state names, like Oregon, Oklahoma, Tennessee, etc. There’s something like 24 books in this series, and I read them all — again and again and again. In order. Ross also wrote a couple of spin-off series, but I never read those. Maybe I will now …
And I used to read historical romances set in the American West like crazy. I’d go to the library and get as many as I could find. Cowboys! Cattle rustlers! Epic love stories! Sigh …
Then, there’s fantasy. Another love of mine (as if you couldn’t guess). I’ll read just about any fantasy book if there’s a) magic, b) swords, or c) dwarves it in. When I discovered fantasy, I started with folks like Tolkien, Terry Brooks, and David Eddings. Now, most of my TBR pile is fantasy, paranormal romance, or some combination of the two. I’m especially digging the surge of urban fantasy books and folks like Jim Butcher and Kim Harrison.
I don’t really care for sci-fi, though. I know it’s really just a different kind of fantasy, but spaceships and aliens have never appealed to me. I’ve read some of the Star Wars sci-fi books, but that’s about it.
I also like cozy murder mysteries. You know the kind I’m talking about. The ones that take place in a quaint, charming small town that just happens to have the highest murder rate in America — where the same person stumbles over a dead body every other week or so. M.C. Beaton writes a couple of murder mystery series set in England, and I’ve read most of those books, along with all the old Agatha Christies.
Then, there are folks like Robert B. Parker, who writes the Spenser private investigator series, among others. I’ve read every single one of those, even though the characters don’t really change or grow that much and it’s really easy to figure out who the bad guy is (Spenser almost always knows by chapter 10). But the books have great dialogue and one-liners. So whenever there’s a new one, I always get it from the library.
What about you? What are some of your bookish guilty pleasures?
Guess what I have? Jinx bookmarks!
Here’s a picture of the front of the bookmark. The printer did a fantastic job, as always, and they look really good. The back is mostly text about the book, so I won’t bore you with that.
I got the bookmarks on Friday and spent all weekend bundling up 700 packets of them for the Bookstores that Care program that Romantic Times sponsors.
No Easter egg hunting for me. Just hours and hours of counting and bundling bookmarks. I finally got done yesterday afternoon. Needless to say, I’m suffering some serious carpal tunnel from twisting so many rubber bands. Ah, the glamorous life of an author. 😎
Now on to the important stuff — how to get the bookmarks. As always, I give away free bookmarks to readers. All I ask readers to do is send me a self-addressed stamped evelope big enough to hold the 2 x 8 bookmarks.
So, if you want some free Jinx bookmarks, send me an e-mail or leave your e-mail in the comments, and I’ll send you the rest of the info on how to get them.
Happy reading!
Every month I send out an electronic newsletter, and one of my features is a couple of book recommendations. I also ask folks to write in with their own recommendations, which I share here on the blog.
For March, Purple Ranger recommends the Demon series by Julie Kenner. According to Purple Ranger, there are three books out in the series so far: Carpe Demon, California Demon, and Demons Are Forever. A fourth book in the series, Deja Demon, will be released later this year.
I’ve read the first book, Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom. Imagine Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a soccer mom, and you’ve got Kate Connor, the heroine of Kenner’s series. Kate juggles the needs of her family (husband, teenage daughter, infant son) while tracking down and killing demons and other nasty things in San Diablo, Calif. It’s mommy lit with a paranormal twist.
Anybody else read something good recently? Share in the comments.
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