Photographs & Memories

My significant other (who will henceforth be referred to as Wheezley Blighter — and no that’s not his real name) and I actually left for the Romantic Times convention on Tuesday so we could drive up to Erie, Pennsylvania.

My friend Super Librarian Amy (as she will henceforth be known) is the head honcho at the Corry Public Library in Corry, Pennsylvania, a small town about thirty minutes from Erie. Since Pittsburgh is only about 2 1/2 hours from Erie, Super Librarian Amy asked me to come up, do a book signing, and hang out. I was happy to oblige. :buttercup:

So we packed up the car and headed that way early Tuesday morning. I’d only been to Pennsylvania one other time, and I was curious about where my friend lived (she’s originally from the area).

Pennsylvania is really flat. And swampy. And there are more dead deer by the side of the road than anywhere else I’ve ever been. Seriously. Super Librarian Amy told me to watch out for the “suicidal” deer, but I didn’t believe her until we got up there. We’d pass a great big deer lying dead by the side of the interstate every other mile or so. Weird.

After we cruised by Pittsburgh, there wasn’t a lot to see until we got to Erie. I thought my part of the world was rural, but Pennsylvania was more so. Guess it’s all the farmland up that way. Anyway, we only got lost once on one of the back roads and made it to the library right on time.

The Corry library is really nice, especially for a small-town library (the photo above shows the inside of the library). The library collection is around 90,000 books — and there are only about 1,500 people who live in the town. That’s a pretty good book-to-person ratio. Color me impressed. I sold six books, which wasn’t bad considering this was a Tuesday night. But more importantly, I got to hang out with my friend, meet some of her family, meet her fiance, and went out to dinner — it was all good. :blossom:

So thanks Super Librarian Amy — we had a great time.

Also, if any writer out there in blog land lives in Pennsylvania or the surrounding area, you can contact Super Librarian Amy through the library’s Web site. She’s always looking for authors to come to the library and do events.

Up next: More stuff from RT.

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 …

Here’s the final cover art for Hot Mama. Basically, some of the text on the front got tweaked, and they added a cover blurb at the bottom.

I thought the Karma Girl cover was excellent, but I think I like this one just a tiny bit better. Kudos go out to artist Stanley Chow for his excellent design. Fiona Fine looks just the way I picture her in my head. Once you read the book, I think you’ll agree too.

Now that I have the cover, you know what’s coming next … bookmarks! Wha-ha-ha! 😈