I cannot believe how swamped I am. I finished my book, for goodness sakes, I should have a life. But ever since I hit the send button I have been in frantic catch up mode.

‘Cept with this blog. And since I am off to the Surrey International Writer’s conference in Surrey, BC (I think it sounds so cool to be able to say, “I am going out of the country,” even if it is only two hours north of my house). I am not making any promises that I won’t go all fan girl on Elizabeth George–whose writing I … Read more »

Yes, yes, I’ve been a wee bit slow in posting. Only because I am trying to get my book done and it is consuming all my time. All My Time. But I had a quick few minutes between shuffling kids to school, so I thought I would remind folks that I have several Events coming up in the next few weeks.

I’ll be in Surrey, British Columbia, up in Canada in two weeks and then at the Emerald City Writer’s Conference (Bellevue, Washington) the last weekend of the month. Both conferences have booksignings that are open to the public and … Read more »

Of course you don’t go to Alaska just for the brothel tour, you actually go for the vistas and wildlife. And being a big state they have tons–though the only thing I saw of wildlife was a moose’s behind–and then it was from the train. But here is a better shot from the train:

And if you want to see amazing, there are the glaciers in Glacier Bay:

Or up on a glacier:

Then the view from a dog sled is amazing:

From the top of Juneau:

And all points in between:

Up close:

Truly a gorgeous place. I keep … Read more »

Yes, I was on vacation. I spent 10 days in Alaska, seeing the sights, cruising, traveling via: plane, bus, train, ship, bus, helicopter, bus, zipline, and bus.

One would expect me to go on and on about the mountains and vistas and the fab buffet on the ship and all the sights. No, I want to tell you about one of my highlights: I went to a brothel. Well, a Brothel Museum. Out of the twenty people I was traveling with, I was one of the first to sign up for the Brothel Museum tour. Go figure.

Yes, I was … Read more »

I will be entirely honest: I tend to choose my RWA conference attendance by virtue of where the conference is taking place. San Francisco? Oh, yeah. Orlando? Not so much. No offense to Orlando, but here is the real deciding factor: what is there to see and do in the host city that is just outside the hotel door and doesn’t require a rental car. And in NYC, there is everything.

As evidenced from the view of hectic Times Square from my hotel room:

Amazing huh? And I love this HUGE billboard. This poor fellow was trapped out there all … Read more »

When I worked in an office in the real world, we had OOF. The Out Of Office Notice. So this week I am officially OOF–off to the Romance Writer’s of America National Conference. Publisher’s meetings, agent lunch, all kinds of adventures, laughs and hijinks.

Just what you would expect when you put 2000 romance writers under one roof.

But I came with an accessory this year, my oldest son. So if anything, he is keeping me out of trouble–and out touring the city and keeping him fed–which seems to be all a tweener boy wants to do–well, that and video … Read more »

Over the years I’ve gone to a number of RWA conferences. I’ve pitched. I’ve gone to workshops. I’ve sat in my room and wondered what I was doing there. I’ve signed books. I’ve collected books. I’ve met agents, editors, publicists, professionals that I now call friends. I love conference. I loathe conference. All for the same reasons. So here are the quick links to the blogs I’ve written over the years with advice about going to conference:

1) My GLEE Inspired Conference Tips. Even if you have never watched Glee, there is advice here to that should be taken … Read more »

This weekend was such a whirl. Trip to Portland, a booksigning, come home and then over Puget Sound to Silverdale for the last signing. I can’t believe how fast the time went. But I thought you might like to see some pictures from all these adventures.

Powells

Julia Quinn and I were there for a duel event–the booksigning and the Romance Live event–which when they post it, I’ll share a link, just in case you missed it. Let me say, it was way too much fun. Great questions from the audience and via the online folks. I hope Avon plans … Read more »

First of all, huge props go to Stefanie Sloane who organized this wonderful event. As Julia Quinn and I joked, nothing would have happened–not the food, the flowers, getting the word out–if Stefanie wasn’t the world’s most organized writer. I will only take credit for picking up the incredible and beautiful cakes from Bakery Nouveau, which was a task I was assigned based solely on the fact I live in that part of town.

Everything was ready and waiting for us. From our books:

To lots of Lord Langleys awaiting good homes. Doesn’t he look entirely lonely and in … Read more »

Bracing myself for the week ahead. Three events, four if you count that this morning, Lord Langley goes on sale! Huzzah! Hurray! Yee-hah! I think that covers it.

Since I am usually a stay at home mom who has been known to drive through carpool pick up wearing her slippers, being trussed up, er, dressed up for three events (one of them in front of a live stream internet audience) is rather daunting. But I will survive if only because A) I get to meet so many of you, and 2) I’m hanging with my good peeps, Julia Quinn… Read more »