What I did On My Summer Vacation

I just got back from spending five days in San Diego. My parents live there, as does my younger sister, and I went out to visit them (and the ocean, which is my happy place). As a bonus, my daughter Jenn and her guy Ian (who I adore) came in from San Jose for a couple of days too. Ian's parents Maureen and Sean live in San Diego as well, and I met them when I was out there last September and we really hit it off. So seeing them was on the schedule too.

Unlike most of my trips, which are to conventions and conferences, and therefore mostly work, this one was just about spending time with the people I love and communing with Mama Ocean. I was really excited that Jenn and I would be together for the summer solstice, since she used to be a part of Blue Moon Circle when she lived here in Oneonta.

The flights were all long but uneventful, and my sister Becky very kindly picked me up at the airport when I arrived on Monday, and took a detour to bring me (briefly) to the beach on the way to my parents' house. So in the end, I actually made it to the ocean every day of my trip, which was great. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

I don't usually do "selfies," but I posted a picture every day of me with the sea behind me, just to prove I was really there!

Happy beach face

 Of course, I couldn't go to the beach without a good book...

Beach read!

 The day that Jenn, Ian, Maureen, Sean and I spent together happened to be both the Summer Solstice and Maureen's birthday, so we celebrated at my favorite restaurant, The Poseidon, which is right at my favorite beach in Del Mar. We shared lots of good food and all of it was delish!

Seafood feast!

 Then the guys snuck off and had the waiter bring out a giant piece of mud pie with a candle for Maureen (the glass was a trick to keep the ocean breeze from blowing the candle out before she could).

Birthday girl!

 Later, Maureen, Jenn, and I danced on the beach with cool colored flags Jenn brought, to celebrate the solstice. It was one of those rare perfect moments.

Solstice beach blessings!

 Three happy goddesses :-)

Jenn, me, and Maureen

 Here's Jenn and Ian at my parents' house. I'm probably prejudiced, but I think they're an adorable couple.

 This one is a terrible picture, but it captures how much fun we have together, so I'm putting it up here anyway. I think my sister said something to make us laugh just as she took the picture.

My parents took us out to Chili's one night. I'd never been to one, and there was way too much yummy food. Ribs. I love me some ribs. And onion rings...

Another one of the "happy at the beach" shots...

Ocean!

 On the last day, my dad and I went and hung out at the beach together, and like any good dad, he bought me an ice cream cone. It was just perfect. (Coffee, in case you were wondering.) Thanks, dad!

Beach + ice cream = happy

 You probably can't tell, but I really, really love the ocean. It's my happy place. And it has been a rough year so far, so I really needed it!

 There are no pictures of my parents or sister because they hate having their pictures taken. (I got a few, but only by PROMISING I wouldn't put them online.) But take my word for it, they are all glorious.

I was sorry to say goodbye, but happy to be heading back to my goofy cats and my own bed and my writing. Alicia, my fabulous cat sitter, went above and beyond by coming to fetch me at the Albany Airport (about an hour and a half from my house), and then it was back to reality. Hopefully the peace and joy of the ocean and spending time with family will linger a little longer than the jet lag...

Heading to RWA Nationals

I am leaving on Tuesday afternoon for one of the largest writing conferences in the world, the RWA (Romance Writers of America) National conference, being held this year in Orlando, Florida. The location changes, although every four years or so it heads to NYC, since that is publishing central. I usually go to that one because I can get there by bus (5 1/2 hours!) but Orlando is close enough to manage, and it is the only place I get to meet up with my agent Elaine Spencer in person, so I decided to go this year even if it meant flying.

I'm going to be sharing a room with the lovely Maria V. Snyder, who is not only an incredible author whose work I adore and admire, but a very cool person to boot. So yay for that! I'm also going to get a chance to meet up with a bunch of author friends who I never get to see otherwise, do some networking, and take a few workshops that might help with some of the new directions my writing is heading in.

Thankfully, I have an amazing cat sitter coming to take care of Mystic, Magic, and Angus--she used to work at a vet's office, so I know that Mystic (who is doing quite well) will be in good hands. It makes it a lot easier to go than it would be otherwise. Thanks, Alicia!

On Saturday, there will be a Literacy Signing from 3-5PM. It is open to the public and the proceeds all go to benefit literacy (and there will be hundreds of great authors there, some of them WAY more famous than I am). I hope if you are local, you'll stop in and say hello.

Here are a few pictures from past conferences--I'll post an update with new ones when I get home. Are any of you going to be there?

Me and Maria in 2015

The lovely Patience Bloom--I can't wait to see her this year!

At the book signing in 2015

With favorite author Jennifer Crusie

Let me know if you're going to be there!

Coastal Magic Report Part One

So I just got back from attending the Coastal Magic Convention in Daytona Florida (well, I got back on Sunday, but it always takes me a while to recover from these things). This was my second year attending, and if anything, I had more fun this year than I did last year. It helped that my roommate, author/agent pal Lucienne Diver didn't have to leave early because of a bad back this year, and also that the weather was nicer, so I actually got to spend some time sitting on the beach. I love the ocean, so this is something of a motivator for me to go to this con, although there are a zillion other reasons besides this one...

Although you have to admit, it's a pretty good reason.

 I left by bus on Wednesday afternoon, arriving in Schenectady in the early evening, where I had dinner with my sister Sarah and adorable niece Addy (they live there, along with my poor BIL who couldn't come along because he'd just had cataract surgery). After dinner they took me to the Colonie Barnes & Noble, where Addy gleefully showed me some of my books on the shelves!

Seriously, isn't she adorable? Also, I love to see my books in the wild.

 I flew to Orlando in the morning, where Lucienne met me at the airport and we drove together the hour or so to get to the hotel at Daytona Beach. After we checked into our room, we went to this fun seafood restaurant called Bubba Gump's, based on the movie Forrest Gump. The food was delish! Thank goodness there are no calories in food eaten at a con. That's right, isn't it?

NOM

The lunch gang, including Lucienne, Eric Asher, Nancy Northcott, Gail Z. Martin, and Alethea Kontis.

 That evening, there was a fun author/blogger meet up, where some folks managed to find the elusive stuffed unicorns!

Unicorns!

 This was the sunrise outside my window on Friday morning. Unfortunately, they were doing construction at the hotel, so on Thursday and Friday, the calming sound of the waves was interspersed with the not-so calming sound of circular saws... Still, ocean.

Glorious!

 My first panel on Friday was a fun one--A Kind of Magic, where various authors discussed the use of magic in their books.

The "Magic" gang: Chudney Thomas, Eric Asher, Larissa Ione, and me.

 Later, I managed to find some time to relax on the beach. This is my happy face :-)

I'm at the ocean!

A Katie Fforde book from across the pond, and look, a unicorn!

That afternoon, Lucienne, Alethea, and I took part in a paranormal authors "Meet and Greet." The theme for ours was Tea and Tiaras, and we all dressed up as princesses and/or goddesses. (My tiara was borrowed. Can you believe I don't own one? I do have a witch's hat, though.)

Goddess Lucienne, Princess Alethea, and me.

We started out behaving so well...

It didn't last.

 The funny thing about this picture was that Alethea and Lisa Kessler, seated in the front, had no idea what was going on behind them. They didn't realize until we put the picture up on Facebook!

The evening ended with a fabulous dinner and Lucienne dragging me out onto the dance floor at the Mixer/party, gimpy knee and all. But more about that in the next post. For now, have a look at the beautiful sunset we saw as we walked to dinner.

 Beautiful, wasn't it? The six inches of snow outside my window is making me very nostalgic...

Robercon Ho!

I'm working my butt off this weekend, trying to get as much done as I can on the 365 Day book for Llewellyn, because next weekend, I'm going to be at ROBERCON! I'm so excited!

Robercon is my "local" SF/fantasy convention, located in Binghamton, New York, about an hour from where I live. I have gone for the last few years and always had a blast.

Look at all the cool people who attend!

 The convention has both general SF/fantasy panels, cosplay, and the like, plus a bunch of guest authors, including yours truly. Last year, the amazing Tamora Pierce was the author guest of honor, and we had so much fun hanging out together, she is actually coming back this year. I can't wait!

Me and the fabulous Tamora.

 But the REAL reason I am so, so, so excited this year is that my friend Alex Bledsoe is flying in to be the author guest of honor. Alex and I have been friends for years, supporting each other's careers and cheering each other on, but this will be the first time we will actually get to meet in person!

Handsome devil!

Plus, of course, there is the convention guest of honor, Chase Masterson, who had a reoccurring role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This year is going to ROCK.

As an added bonus, for the folks who make it there, my publisher has kindly arranged for me to have my author copies of DANGEROUSLY CHARMING in time to take them to the con, even though the book isn't officially out until October 4th. So a few lucky people are going to get their hands on the book a week and a half before everyone else! Whoo hoo!

I hope I get to see a few of you there. Here's the schedule of events for those who are thinking of coming: Robercon Schedule I will be at both author signings (Saturday and Sunday). I will undoubtedly have a few goodies with me too.

Whoo hooo!

A Trip to Connecticut! Part One

Some of you might have seen me post something on Facebook or Twitter last Thursday about "sekrit plans" for the weekend. Now that I'm back, I'll share with you where I was and what I did.

I went to Connecticut, in fact, to visit my friend Terry and her husband Glenn. They used to live here in Oneonta, but moved to Connecticut about 18 years ago. They have been great about coming to visit me here at least once a year (either Terry on her own or both of them together), but it took me until now to get my act together to go visit them. And man, did we have a great time.

As you know (Bob), almost all of my traveling is writing/work related--Pagan and writing conferences, that sort of thing. This trip was a mini-vacation. Nothing but fun. (And maybe some research for future books.) I didn't realize how much I needed a break until I finally took one!

I took the bus to Albany Friday morning, and Terry drove out and picked me up there (about 2 hours from her house). We spent the evening hanging out and catching up, and then on Saturday, Terry and I headed to the ocean near Essex. We only got to hang out there for about an hour, because Terry is English/Irish and even with sunscreen, will burst into flame if she is in the sun any longer than that. (Yes, I think she is a vampire too. Shhh...) Still, an hour at the beach makes me VERY happy.

OCEAN!!!!!

This is Terry. Say hi to Terry, everyone.

This is my happy face.

Then we drove to Old Lyme to meet up with Glenn at the Florence Griswold Museum, where we had an amazing lunch at their cafe, and then spent a blissful couple of hours walking around looking at American Impressionist paintings and the cool old house and gardens.

This is Glenn. Say hi to Glenn, everyone.

The view from our table outside...a lovely river.

Lots of celebrating during this weekend :-)

Yes, that IS a lobster BLT.

The museum was small and charming. I highly recommend a visit, if you are ever in the area.

Pretty as a picture

We decided this was a picture of us. Me on the left in the black, of course.

 Eventually we drove back to Terry and Glenn's house (about 2 1/2 hours...I spent a lot of time in the car, this trip, but it was worth it) and had a mellow evening of snacks, wine, and a movie. When it was time to go to bed, their cat Pippa kept me company for a bit. (Her sister would have nothing to do with me, alas.)

This is Pippa. Say hi to Pippa, everyone.

And that was just Saturday! Wait until you see what we did on Sunday. Hopefully, I'll get that up tomorrow, since it was too much to fit into one blog!

Oh, and did you realize that as of today, DANGEROUSLY CHARMING is going to be out in FIVE WEEKS?! Somebody should do some kind of giveaway soon, don't you think? Maybe next Tuesday, when we hit the four week mark. (Gulp.)

Tell me, do you ever take a mini-vacation or a long weekend away? If so, where do you go?

World Fantasy Convention Report

Sorry I haven't been around, but I literally haven't been around. (Although I have read all of your comments on the giveaway post!) I left on Thursday night for the World Fantasy Convention, held this year in lovely Saratoga NY, about 2  hours from where I live, which is one of the reasons I went when I was already traveling too much this year. I just got back last night.

It was an interesting con...the convention itself wasn't great (for a number of reasons too complicated to go into), but I got to spend time with some fabulous folks (including authors I knew from Facebook but had never met in person, as well as an old friend I hadn't seen since 2008), see the amazing art show, and eat WAY too much wonderful food. Here are a few highlights:

Either Magic the Cat was helping me pack or telling me not to go away again. Which do you think it was?

Dinner Friday night with Lucienne Diver, Nancy Holzner, Esther Friesner, Carol Berg, and a couple of other folks.

This was my dinner! Crab stuffed shrimp--YUM!

The hysterical Esther Friesner, charming C.S. MacCath, me, and the brilliant Carol Berg

 Getting to meet Esther Friesner and Carol Berg (two of my favorite authors) and spend time with them was such a treat! As was hanging out with the gorgous Lucienne Diver, and my old pal C. S. MacCath, who I met back in 2018 at Pantheacon. We're both in the Llewellyn Pagan Anthology together. She and I and Crystal Sarakas, another friend, may have hatched a sekret plan. Or not. I can't say.

Esther, Lucienne, me, and Carol Berg. It is clear that we were plotting something and Esther was setting it into motion...

Dinner Saturday night...or what was left of it. We went to the Boca Bistro, which was an amazing tapas and wine place. Best food evah!

Author pal and roommate for the con, Nancy Holzner. She was great company!

Naturally, I didn't make it home without some books. A few of those were given to attendees in a cool bookbag, and others I bought to get signed by Esther and Carol, or just because I didn't have them yet. Lucienne and I swapped books, because we each had the other's books only on Kindle.

To top the whole thing off, I got to have breakfast on Sunday morning with my sister Sarah, talented brother in-law Rich, and my much-adored niece Addy, who live nearby.

It was a lovely time, but I'm glad to be home with the kitties and getting ready to dive back into working on Baba #4. Plus, of course, Veiled Magic is out in a week! The KINDLE FIRE HD GIVEAWAY is still on for another three days, so be sure to enter if you haven't done so yet! (And the Tweet about it option can be used every day.) I'll be posting another giveaway soon, too!

Have you gone anyplace interesting lately? (Or, you know, eaten anything good or bought a cool new book?)