RWA Report and Book Giveaway

I've been back from my trip to the RWA National Conference for a week and a half, but it has taken me this long to get around to reporting on it because A) as usual, I was exhausted when I came back and B) I've been really busy.

But here, at last, is a quick report on my trip.

It was good.

Oh, sorry, you wanted a little more detail? I got in Wednesday late morning, checked in, and caught up with my roommate, the fabulous Maria V. Snyder. (I adore her books. If you haven't read them yet, go run out and catch up.) The two of us ended up going out to dinner that first night with two of my favorite peeps from the Coastal Magic convention, author extraordinaire Carrie Ann Ryan and copy editor extraordinaire and Official Woman with the Coolest Hair Chelle Olson. We went to a fun brewery restaurant and shared tastes of all the different beers made in house. Also, yummy guacamole.

Chelle, Carrie Ann, and Maria

 One of the best things about going to this particular convention is being able to meet up with people I never get to see anyplace else. I had a great lunch meeting with my agent Elaine Spencer (which I somehow completely failed to get a picture of, dammit), met the glorious Tawna Fenske in person at last

The glorious Tawna Fenske

 Had breakfast and then other meet-ups with one of my favorite people, Harlequin senior editor Patience Bloom (who has the best red hair evah and is also a sweetie of the Nth order).

Patience!

One of the reasons I decided to go this year was because one of my very favorite authors was giving the keynote speech at the luncheon. I love, love, love Susan Wiggs' books (they're an auto-buy for me) and while we follow each other on Twitter, I've never met her. She was a great speaker, and when I got to meet up with her later at the Berkley party, it was absolutely the highlight of my con. (And AGAIN, no picture! Argh!)

Susan Wiggs

At these cons, you tend to run into the same people over and over again. At this particular one, that person was the lovely and charming Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I kept swearing I wasn't stalking her, but I'm not sure she believed me. Either way, she was absolutely gracious about it.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips. And yes, that book came home with me.

At the "Cool Kids" table for the awards ceremony.

 One of the highlights of the convention is the RITA awards ceremony. I actually got to sit at the Cool Kids table between amazing author Kristan Higgins and my lovely pal Patience.

The last night, I had fun in a photo booth with Princess Alethea Kontis (who I also know from Coastal Magic--seriously, you people want to go to THAT convention) at Sherrilyn Kenyon's book release party. It is possible we got a little silly.

As always, I kept my goal to have bacon every day at the con. It's important to have goals in life, don't you think?

Dinner on the last night with roomie Maria. BBQ by the pool, yum!

Best roommate ever

 I always come home from these things with a million books. This time I swore I would limit it to ten, so I didn't have to pay to ship a big box home. Yeah. Not so much.

27 is the same as 10, right?

 Although in my defense, the three books in the middle are ones my agent brought me to read for inspiration on the current book I'm writing, and the pile on the right is for the cat sitters and some friends, and a giveaway. AND I had to mail home the rest of the swag I brought with me to give away.

 Oh, wait, did I say giveaway? I brought home a copy of Susan's last book, The Family Tree (I already have it in hardcover), plus a luggage tag with a picture of her upcoming book, A Map of the Heart. Plus, there are two tote bags! I'll probably also throw in some misc. bookmarks and such. Who wants to enter?

Goodies!

This is going to be a quickie giveaway, only on for a few days, so be sure to enter right away. Oh, and Magic the Cat would like you to know that she helped me pack.

She's never happy about me leaving, and you can tell.

Enter by filling out the Rafflecopter form. You get credit for anything you've already done, like following me on Twitter. (You've already done that, RIGHT?)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Next up, a blog about my visit to Animal Adventure Park to see April the giraffe!

Where my money goes--or why I'm not rich

Books, books, and more books. Also, books.

I have always been a big reader. Make that huge. I love the way a good book can take you to an entirely different reality (and away from your own). I'm guessing that this love for books had something to do with my becoming an author...

The thing about being a writer is--you HAVE to read. It is now part of your job. Bummer. (Hehehehehe.) This is not to say that all writers read. I've actually known a few who said, once they became published, that they were too busy writing to read. I couldn't disagree more.

There are a lot of reasons why a writer should continue reading. For one thing, I learn a lot by reading books by good writers. I study what they do right and try to figure out ways to integrate what I've learned into my own writing. I am inspired by good writing, too. And as an author, I need to know what is being written in the genres I plan to write in--both so I know what is already out there (and don't spend months writing a book only to find out that someone had that bright idea already), and what isn't.

Besides, I love to read.

On top of all these reasons, I buy books because I believe in supporting the publishing industry (which is struggling mightily these days) and the authors I like. Here are a few of the books I bought LAST WEEK.

Susan Wiggs -- Marrying Daisy Bellamy
You could call this Women's Fiction, or maybe romance. This is the latest in a series set in the mythical New York State setting of Willow Lake. I have read and loved every single book in this series, all of which can be read independently of each other.


Carol Berg -- The Soul Mirror
This is traditional fantasy at its best, with in-depth and detailed world-building and complicated tortured characters. This book is the second in this particular series. The first one, The Spirit Lens, so captivated my imagination, it has been torture waiting for the second one to come out!

Tamora Pierce -- Tortall and Other Lands
This is a book of short stories set in Pierce's YA fantasy world of Tortall, plus a couple of tales from other places. Pierce is one of my favorite YA fantasy authors; she writes the best strong female teen characters I have ever seen, and her world-building is second to none. And you don't have to be a teen (or a girl) to love her books, I promise.

Kim Harrison -- Pale Demon
This is the 9th in Harrison's best selling Rachel Morgan urban fantasy series. Witches, vampires, fae...and not one cliche in the bunch. These books are among the best urban fantasies out there today. She was one of my inspirations for my own urban fantasy series.

I am also rereading ALL the "Vorkosigan" series by Lois McMaster Bujold, since she just came out with a new one-- Cyroburn. These are traditional science fiction, with amazing characters and a wonderful mixture of thoughtfulness and humor.

As you can see, I have very eclectic tastes; everything from romance to fantasy to science fiction to YA and beyond. It is probably no accident that I write in all those genres as well.

I hope that you will be inspired by this blog to go out and pick up a book by one of these authors. And I'd like to know what you're reading, too. Maybe I can find another favorite to inspire me!