The NJ RWA Literacy Signing

The New Jersey RWA Conference is being held this weekend at a venue not too far from me, and this afternoon was the literacy signing fundraiser to support local literacy organizations. I couldn't pass up the chance to meet some lovely authors and buy a few signed books, so I headed over. This conference is no where near the scale of the national one held in New York City back in June, so I was able to take my time and chat a bit with some of the authors as I went around the room, which was great. I shared how I came to learn about their books, which of their books I've read and enjoyed, how they affected me, that sort of thing. It was really nice.

The first author I visited was KT Grant, a.k.a. katiebabs a.k.a. Kate. Kate and I have been friends for several years now, having first met online on JR Ward's message boards back in 2007. Today, Kate participated in her first ever author signing where SHE was the one signing copies of her book, Sweet and Sinful, available in paperback now.

Congratulations on this milestone, Kate! :)

I was so thrilled to learn that Kristan Higgins was going to be at this conference. She is one of my most favorite authors and I missed out on seeing her at the National RWA author signing in June. So I was particularly thrilled to be able to meet her today.

Kristan Higgins' next book is Until There Was You, and will be released on Tuesday, October 25, 2011. That's just a few days away--look for it!

Other lovely authors I met and their books I purchased:




  
Laura Griffin, Snapped
Caroline Linden, One Night In London
Lisa Dale, Slow Dancing on Price's Pier
Rachel Gibson, Any Man of Mine

Brenda Novak Inside, Book One in her Bulletproof romantic suspense series. She's so friendly--we spoke fondly of our friend Phyl who donates a hand made quilt to the online auction Ms. Novak hosts every year to benefit diabetes research.

Ms. Novak also has an historical romance coming out soon, titled The Bastard-- her very first release in this genre. The book will be offered in ebook format only on November 1, 2011, but I believe it may become available in print by demand. It sounds great!


Have you read any of these books or other books by these authors? 
I'd love to hear!

My RWA Literacy Signing Adventure

I tried for an abbreviated version, but it's just not possible...

The day before the lit signing, nath and her sister came to my house for lunch! Of course, they came bearing all kinds of delicious treats from Canada--ketchup flavored potato chips, gourmet flavored macaroons, fabulous gourmet jellies and two tins of REAL Canadian maple syrup. I am a maple syrup snob and ONLY eat the 100% pure maple syrup, usually from Vermont or Canada. Nath also cleared some books from her shelf and brought me a bunch of them, including Cold Magic by Kate Elliot, which I have been wanting to read for so long.

Nath and her sister are such sweethearts. I am lucky to call them friends and they spoil me rotten. : ) After nath and her sister left, I went over the list of authors who were going to be at the signing again to make sure I had everyone I wanted to meet on my list. I was disappointed to learn that historical romance author Meredith Duran wasn't on the list, so I tweeted my disappointment to her and she messaged me back letting me know she was going to be in the city on Tuesday and that she would be happy to meet up! How awesome is that? VERY awesome.

The next day was the RWA Literacy Signing in Manhattan at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. I planned to arrive an hour or two early to meet up with some book blogging friends, but I mis-remembered the train schedule and missed my outgoing train by scant minutes. I literally saw the train roll away from the station as I got there. Argh. I should have been more attentive to the schedule and double checked the time. Fortunately, I don't live too far from the train station, so I went back home for a bit and then came back for the next train an hour later.

As soon as I arrived at the Marriott, I met up with Dru Ann in the lobby and then shortly after, nath, her sister and Kristie J found me with Dru Ann. It was so great to have finally met Kristie in person. We went to the lounge for a bit where I met Wendy, The SuperLibrarian who was awarded Librarian of the Year yesterday at the conference and Rosie. It was there that we briefly saw author Meljean Brook who gave all of us a set of her awesome Iron Seas Romance Trading Cards. She came back shortly afterwards and sat with us for a while before nath and I couldn't stand it anymore and proceeded to the ballroom for the literacy signing that had started a few minutes prior.

So, the literacy signing. What an adventure! I thought I was so organized for this event with my list of 40+ authors, arranged alphabetically and prioritized by urgency--nine MUST SEE authors, followed by GO TO THESE NEXT authors and finally the IF THERE'S TIME authors. At the very top of my list was Nalini Singh, Tessa Dare and Megan Hart. So much for organization, though, because as soon as I entered the ballroom, my head was spinning and it took a lot of concentration to keep tabs on my list while navigating the crowded ballroom. In the beginning I took time to snap a photo with an author and tweet it, but that was taking too much time, so I stopped doing that after the first couple of authors. You can see some of my tweets and photos on my twitterfeed HERE. There are photos there of me with Nalini Singh, Jeannie Lin, Megan Hart and fellow book blogger and aspiring author, Kwana. I also found Lea and we got to exchange hugs! Every single author I met was gracious and kind, clearly happy to meet their readers. I had such a good time introducing myself and exchanging a few words about their books.

Before I knew it, the signing was winding down and it was time to check out. Over $46,000 was raised at the RWA 2011 Literacy signing to benefit local and worldwide literacy programs. Isn't that fantastic? Here is a look at what I got:

click to enlarge

Enclave by Ann Aguirre (YA)
Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles (YA)
Time Weaver by Shana Abé
Deeper than Midnight by Lara Adrian
Beg for Mercy by Jami Alden
The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne
Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison
When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James
A Lot Like Love by Julie James
Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah MacLean
Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier
Unveiled by Courtney Milan
Follow My Lead by Kate Noble
A Brush of Darkness by Allison Pang
Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh
Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh

I also bought the NYT best selling, self published ebook novella "Unlocked" by Courtney Milan [for only 99 cents!] using a QR Code Scanner app on my iPhone and scanning the QR Code for the book from her laptop. So tech savvy! You can do the same thing at Courtney's blog on her Literacy Unlocked post.

I also came home with a bunch of cool author swag such as bookmarks, pens and some of those really awesome Romance Trading Cards, which were "invented" by the lovely author, Jeannie Lin.

In addition, I met the following authors without buying books:
Larissa Ione ... who signed my personal copy of Pleasure Unbound
Zoë Archer ... new series to be released Dec. 2012
Jaci Burton ... I read her Wild Riders series and already have them
Christina Dodd .. who was sold out of her books by the time I got to her
Carolyn Jewel ... next historical due out next year
Heather Webber... didn't have copies of Absolutely, Positively :( 

There were several authors on my list whom didn't get to see. I either had trouble finding them or I saw two or more people waiting to meet them and or I ran out of time to see everyone! One of those authors is Kristan Higgins whose books I love, but I knew she is planning to attend the NJ RWA conference in October, so hopefully I'll get to see her then--and hopefully snagging a copy of her next book, Until There Was You that releases three days after NJ RWA.

After checking out of the signing, I headed to the lounge for the book blogger bash to meet up with friends lustyreader, nath, Hilcia, Mariana, Lisa, Rosie, Wendy, Kristie, Kira <---and her super adorable baby girl, J, Kate, SarahT and Pearl. I hope I'm not forgetting anyone! We all start comparing notes on our signing adventures and Mariana asks me if I got to everyone on my list. I start to reply YES with confidence, only to realize with sunken heart that I didn't get to see Tessa Dare who was AT THE TOP OF MY LIST?!! How could this have happened?! I was SO distraught. Someone suggested paging her somehow and I got the idea to "page" her on twitter. Which I did ... with an embarrassing spelling error, too. Hey, I was nervous! The best part? Within minutes she tweeted back that she was coming down to the lounge! SO awesome!!! In the meantime, Meredith Duran arrived in the lounge and we got to meet! Tuesday also happened to be release day of her latest book, A Lady's Lesson in Scandal, copies of which I brought along for her to sign, one that I will giveaway on my blog, so keep your eye out for that. A little while later, Tessa Dare came to the lounge and there I am hanging out with Tessa Dare and Meredith Duran (squeeee!) and a handful of other very lovely readers and authors in the lounge of the hotel. I tried not to trip over my words and I think I pretty much held myself together.  It was so much fun! I didn't think the evening could be any better... until Tessa gave me this:

It's an uncorrected ARC of A Night to Surrender, the first book in her upcoming Spindle's Cove series that is coming out in August 2011!!!! I feel like I won the jackpot! :)

To read more about Tessa Dare and her lovely books, visit her website at http://tessadare.com.

For information about Meredith Duran and her lovely books, visit her website at http://meredithduran.com and her blog that she shares with author Sherry Thomas at http://www.sherrythomas.com/blog/.

I had such a great time meeting old and new book blogging friends and so many fantastic authors. Everyone I met on this adventure was kind, warm-hearted, gracious and fun. I hear RWA is going to be in NYC again in 2015. I'm already looking forward to it!

:)

RWA in NYC: Who's going?

I love this logo for
the RWANYC
Chapter.

The RWA (Romance Writers of America) National Conference takes place in NYC next week, which includes a literacy book signing event open to the public on Tuesday to which I'm going. It's a romance readers evening night out to buy some books, support the literacy movement and connect with some favorite romance authors and fellow romance readers, too.

The RWA "Readers for Life" Literacy Signing is a book sale and author autographing event at which thousands of dollars are raised for ProLiteracy Worldwide and the local literacy organization ACE New York. The event will be at the Marriott Marquis ballroom in Times Square next Tuesday, June 28, 2011 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. A couple hundred romance authors will be at the signing with only two hours to navigate the crowds and probably wait in long lines for a minute of time connecting with some of these wonderful women who have not only entertained me, but often also touched my heart in special ways through their stories. Of course, I also have a list of  'new-to-me' authors whom I've been wanting to read, so I'm going to try to see some of those authors, too.

I've been going over the really long list of authors attending [you can view the list HERE] and have come up with a short list of 53 authors to see. Yes, a short list. I'm trying to figure out how in the world I'm going to get to everyone in such a short amount of time and I'm thinking it's not likely. So I'm working on prioritizing my list of 'must see' authors, and let me tell you, it is NOT EASY. I do know one thing is certain...
I am NOT LEAVING without meeting Nalini Singh who is the New York Times best selling author who writes the wonderfully complex and amazing Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunters paranormal romance series. I am such a fan. She is not allowed to leave Manhattan until we meet. lol!

Another very favorite author of mine who I must see is Tessa Dare. I just LOVE everything about her writing and am impatiently waiting for her next books.

Megan Hart is also at the top of my must see list for this signing. Her books are in a league all their own--sexy, brutally honest, emotional and immensely thought provoking. She is a master of pushing the envelope in the romance and women's fiction genres.


I also look forward to meeting Kristan Higgins who writes really fun, honest and emotional feel good contemporary romances. I love all of her books.


The list goes on to include SO MANY other authors! I won't bore you with my lists. ;) Some authors I have been reading for years, some I have only read one or two of their books and yet others who have been on my 'I want to read this author / this series' radar for anywhere from a few months to a few years. So many authors, so little time! It's going to be crazy, but so much fun!

I am EQUALLY EXCITED--if not more so, to meet fellow romance readers and book bloggers whom I have gotten to know over the years who will also be there. I'm planning to arrive at the Marriott before the signing to hopefully bump into some friends then, and I'll hang out for awhile afterwards as well. Wendy, The Super Librarian--who has been named RWA's 2011 Librarian Of The Year!--has initiated a Blogger Bash at the Atrium Lounge in the Mariott after the literacy signing to encourage romance reader blogger author editor publisher etc. mingling--such a great idea!

Who else is going?
I'd love to meet up with you, so let me know if you'll be there so we can look for each other!

Also, have you ever gone to a past RWA Literacy signing?
If so, do you have any suggestions for how best to navigate the ballroom with my author list?


:)

Loving Lisa Kleypas!

In case you haven't yet heard, Ana and Thea from The Book Smugglers blog are celebrating the works of author Lisa Kleypas all this week on their blog. So far I have only read Ms. Kleypas' contemporary romances, Sugar Daddy and Blue Eyed Devil, and both were phenomenal novels. The next novel in this contemporary world is titled Smooth Talking Stranger and will feature Jack Travis, who appeared briefly in Sugar Daddy and then more prominently in Blue Eyed Devil wherein he hired his younger sister and the heroine of Blue Eyed Devil in his firm. Here's a look at the newly revealed bookcover of Smooth Talking Stranger, revealed for the very first time yesterday by Ana and Thea on The Book Smugglers blog.  And a book blurb, also supplied by Ana and Thea... and was also on Ramblings on Romance several weeks ago. 

Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas 

(March 2009, St. Martin Press)

Jack Travis leads the uncomplicated life of a millionaire Texas playboy. He makes no commitments, he loves many women, he lives for pleasure. But no one has ever truly touched his heart or soul. Until one day, a woman appears on his doorstep with fury on her face and a baby in her arms. It seems Jack is the father and this woman is the baby's aunt. The real mother has abandoned the child to her more responsible sister. And now, Jack is being called upon to take responsibility for the first time in his life.

You can also read an excerpt of Smooth Talking Stranger on Lisa Kleypas' website HERE.  Ooo la la! I want this book yesterday! 

Be sure to visit The BookSmugglers all this week as Ana and Thea (and I believe a brave DARE guest reviewer... ) will be reviewing and discussing various novels of Ms. Kleypas. They also have an interview and book giveaway planned toward the end of the week. Don't miss it!


How I came to read Lisa Kleypas. 

i.e., How I came to Love Lisa Kleypas! 

As I've mentioned in the past (see my very first blog post HERE), I only started reading romance novels almost exactly two years ago from today's date! After a long hiatus from reading recreationally-- aside from baby books, cookbooks and magazines, that is-- I started reading Young Adult fiction, starting with the Harry Potter novels in the summer of 2003 (read aloud to my girls) right up to Twilight and New Moon which I read back to back in September 2006. Immediately after devouring the two Twilight novels, I fell in love with the romanticized vampire and knew I needed to read adult fiction with vampires as not only the good guy, but the love interest, too. After a little research on Amazon.com, I discovered paranormal romance. Imagine! An entire subgenre of romance with 100s, if not 1000s of books to choose from!

I instantly became a paranormal romance junkie, with a particular addiction to vampires. J.R. Ward became my favorite author and I was thrilled when I found out she would be doing a book signing in my local Barnes & Noble on the release day of Lover Revealed in early March of 2007. While in the bookstore that night, one of the employees was handing out a B&N newsletter and schedule of upcoming events for the month and I learned that author Lisa Kleypas would be visiting the same B&N a few weeks later. I recognized her name as a prominent romance author and even took pride in myself for knowing she wrote historical romances! About a week or so later I found myself back in my Barnes & Noble standing in front of the display of Sugar Daddy novels silently debating whether or not I should buy and read the book just so I could go to a book signing for an author I barely knew. I mean, I liked the idea of meeting another successful author, but I wasn't really into historical romances. And now this latest novel is this author's first contemporary romance? And it's hardcover? Nah, too many risks, I thought. But... Lisa Kleypas is a big name in romance, and how often does one get the opportunity to meet not one, but two successful and well known authors in her very own Barnes & Noble? Right? As I stood there debating, an employee of B&N who is also a romance reader, remembered me from Ward's signing and convinced me to buy the hardcover copy of Sugar Daddy. 

A few days later I picked up the book and started reading. At first, I was thinking that contemporaries are just not my thing. I had enough strife in my own young life, did I really want to read about someone else's struggles? I wanted the extreme escapism I found in paranormals. But then, before I knew it, I was completely sucked in to Sugar Daddy and the story of Liberty Jones. I laughed, I cried, I got nervous, excited and mad. I ended up devouring it even more readily than some of my favorite paranormals and Sugar Daddy became one of my favorite reads of 2007. 

A few days later, I attended Lisa Kleypas' book signing and was so utterly impressed by her. She was poised, articulate, friendly, and really down to earth. Ms. Kleypas even made me teary eyed when she talked about her passion for writing romance stories ever since she was 12 years old and again when she shared a personal anecdote in order to show why reading romance is important and comforting for us. I walked in to that signing as the newest fan of Lisa Kleypas the author and walked out of that signing as the newest fan of Lisa Kleypas the person.   

Here is a picture of me with Lisa Kleypas at the Sugar Daddy book signing at my local Barnes & Noble in March 2007.

My hair was really long then. A few months after this picture was taken, in August 2007,  I got it cut and donated 12 inches of my hair to Locks of Love.  I had previously donated 12 inches in August 2005, too! Just a little tidbit about me. ;) 

If you haven't already read Lisa Kelypas' contemporary romances, you really should. Right now you can buy Sugar Daddy in hardcover at amazon.com at the Bargain Price of $5.99! Go HERE. It is an A read for me.

Of course, you're going to want to read Blue Eyed Devil, so you may as well order it as well. Blue Eyed Devil is an A+ read for me and currently my favorite novel of 2008.

Sherrilyn Kenyon NYC Book Signing

I trekked into Manhattan yesterday evening for Sherrilyn Kenyon's Acheron book signing at the Columbus Circle Borders. Sherrilyn is the talented author of the Dark Hunter and Dream Hunter series as well as several other series that I have not yet read. Sherrilyn is not only a talented and successful author, she's also a gracious, kind and warm person. She truly deserves all the success she has achieved in her writing career.

I took the train from my suburban town in New Jersey to New York Penn Station and had my trip planned so that I'd get to the Borders a bit before 7 pm. I didn't check the weather forecast before leaving home and was surprised that sunny blue skies gave way to gray skies and a sudden thunderstorm upon coming out of Penn Station. After walking in the rain for maybe 10 blocks, I found a sidewalk vendor selling umbrellas for $5 (just before a pair of street cops shut him down for lack of proper permits, I might add! Phew for me!). I still got drenched, though. I arrived at the Columbus Circle Borders just moments before 7 pm and Kate got there at the same time. Imagine our disappointment when we learned that the start time for Sherrilyn Kenyon's Booksigning and Talk got changed to 6 pm!

We missed the entire talk and Q&A!!! Yeah, so sadly I have no tidbits or Kenyon news to report on that end.

Here's a picture of me and Kate shortly after we arrived at Borders:
Surprisingly, we don't look like drowned rats. I think my hair was still very damp and I honestly don't think my shoes or jeans ever dried out that night.

I would guess that there were a good 100 readers there to meet Sherrilyn and get their books signed. Shortly after arriving, Kate and I met up with a few familiar faces. We chatted with authors and fellow twitterers Liz Maverick and Marianne Mancusi, and also aspiring author, book reviewer, and book seller Stacey A. (I'm leaving off her last name, because I'm not sure if she would want her last name revealed). I had met both Liz and Stacey a few weeks ago at a dinner rendez vous that Ann Aguirre arranged when she was on stop over in the NY/NJ area last month, so it was fun meeting up with them again so soon. I also got to see my friend and fellow JR Ward fan, Terri, a.k.a. moonwindt, who is also an upcoming author of paranormal romance. I also chatted with other readers there--it's just so easy to strike up conversations with fellow romance readers.

There was a dude there posing as Acheron, but in my humble opinion, he didn't quite have the stature or attitude to pull off Ash. But really, who could possibly pull that off?
Liz and I decided to he was really a Squire posing as Ash.

And look! I got to try on THE Acheron jacket:
All throughout the signing, author Dianna Love --who is a dear friend of Sherrilyn Kenyon and co author of the novel titled Phantom In The Night -- raffled away a slew of Dark Hunter promotional material. Dianna was great and kept the readers entertained. At the very end, Kate and I each finally won something-- some cool manga Dark Hunter posters that we got Sherrilyn to sign.

Finally, it was my turn to chat with Sherrilyn and get my Acheron book signed. This was my fourth time coming out to meet Sherrilyn in the last year, and I was touched that she remembered me. Like I said in the beginning of this post, Sherrilyn Kenyon is such a warm and gracious person. She makes each of her fans feel special and appreciated and she is truly thankful for all of her readers and adores each and every one.
I don't think I'll ever get tired of meeting this fun and amazing woman. I hope she comes back to the NJ/NY area soon so I can visit with her again.

To learn more about Sherrilyn Kenyon, you can visit her website here. Thanks to Kat at the blog Wit and Sin, who has made tidy lists of her favorite book series, you can also check out the book orders of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series here, and her novels written as Kinley MacGregor here.

Just for kicks, here's a picture of a double decker train. I was on a very very PACKED double decker train out of NY Penn Station heading to New Jersey after 11 pm last night. NYC is truly the city that never sleeps.

Isn't that cool?

Acheron Book Tour

Fri. August 15th, 7:00 PM

Borders

10 Columbus Circle

New York, NY 10019

(212) 823-9775

Booksigning & Talk

I'm heading into New York on Friday night to see Sherrilyn Kenyon for her Acheron Book Tour. This will be my fourth time meeting Ms. Kenyon since August 2007. That's more often than I've met some of my blogging buddies. Seems almost unfair, don't you think?

The first time I met Sherrilyn Kenyon was in August 2007 when she came to a local New Jersey Barnes & Noble for the Devil May Cry book tour. I was immediately impressed by her warmth and humbleness towards her readers and fans.

Here's a picture of me with Sherrilyn the first time I met her. I am in my Dark Hunter zone--complete with a henna tattoo of the Artemis' Dark Hunter cross bow on my shoulder and Simi Demon horns [... little devil horns stolen from my daughters' dress up box. ;) ]

The second time I met Sherrilyn was several weeks later at the NJ RWA Literacy Signing in October 2007. She was again very kind and gracious and even said she remembered me. By now I had finished reading Devil May Cry and I got to chat a bit with her about the upcoming Year of Acheron. She said she really hoped people liked Ash's story and honestly sounded a bit nervous about it's reception by her readers. I admit, I was nervous, too. Was it possible to deliver a happily ever after worthy of a powerful and complex character like Ash? [...according to all the reviews I've been skimming this past week, I think the answer is Yes! Yay! :) ].

The last time I met Sherrilyn was in April 2008 at the NY Comic Con, which was a really different atmosphere to met her since this venue was so huge and she was clearly not the center of attention.

I'm imagining there will be A LOT of people at this Friday's Sherrilyn Kenyon event. It's New York City. It's Acheron. Can it get any bigger than that! Probably, but I like to pretend not. Embarrassingly, I'll be going to the book signing and talk without having read Acheron yet. How sad is that? I'll probably be the only one there who hasn't read it! Oh, wait! I'm making Kate go with me... she doesn't even read this series. Phew! She'll look sillier than me. :P

Anyone else going?