RT-The saga ends...for now

Forgot one thing from Friday (maybe Thurs? I can’t remember). We went over to the pharmacy to buy candy and pens for the signing. I hadn’t brought any silver Sharpies with me. *G* I found some. Came back and sat a while with JC Wilder and Carolan Ivey and JC Wilder. *frowns* someone else was there, too, but for the life of me…I can’t remember who. Maybe one of the roomies or buds will supply the name. Saw Shiloh Walker from afar.

Now onto Sat:

Got up early as usual and went down to eat breakfast at the buffet. Had to use our coupons! I went down the ballroom level so could check in books I brought with me to be signed. Robin Schone hadn’t been there yet due to an illness in the family but I brought her book just in case. She was still MIA. I hope everything is okay with her. L

Came down very early to set up shop and also run around like a crazy person to buy any books I wanted to be signed. Only…RT couldn’t find Melany’s books! The guy from RT, who I didn’t get his name, and Jeania from Ellora’s Cave were so helpful. They kept checking in with me and offering suggestions. We finally located them about five minutes before showtime. Eek! I’d already set up my spot and found Megan Hart to sign Tempted. But due to that, I hadn’t gotten a couple of books I brought signed and didn’t buy a couple I would have. I completely missed the chance to buy Grimspace and get Ann Aguirre to sign it, because by the time I got a chance, she’d sold out. Good for her but sighy for me. I did mange to snag copies of a Lauren Dane and Liz Andrews book and have them sign them for me.

They opened the doors and in came the people. I had so so so much fun. I talked to readers and other authors. I handed out promo. It was really a neat time. Lyn Armstrong was on one side of me and I love her accent. Kelley Armstrong was two seats down *G*. Mari came over and had seen the June copy of RT. I asked what did I get and when she told me, I did a whoop. 4 stars *G* for The Sixth Curse of Spring. Aline de Chevigny was quite amused.

Just as the book fair was ending, the lights went out! LOL I look around and everyone had their cell phones out. The lights came back on within 15 minutes. We checked out and went back up to the room to collapse. Cathy Maxwell, who I’d run into several times, was behind me in the check out line.

We went to the Military Mixer, where I took a few pictures of Fabio for Melissa. After that, went to Joe’s Crab Shack to eat. Oh yummmmmy. They had coconut shrimp, which I’d been craving. On the way back to the hotel, Melissa and I sat on the backseat of the shuttle. Every time we hit a bump, I hit my head *sigh*. Needless to say Melissa and I got the giggles again LOL.

We went to the Dorchester party. The Impalers did some playing again, which was nice. LOL Mari’s husband went to get a drink and Melissa asked him for some water. He brought it back and she sipped it. Leaned over to me and said, “I don’t think this is water. Taste it.” I took a small sip and cracked up. It was seltzer or tonic water. LOL uggggh.

We wound up going up to bed fairly early because Melissa had an early plane out. Pam and I wanted to be on the road soon thereafter, too.

Sunday we got up, Melissa vamoosed very early and Pam and set about on the trip home. It rained the whole way from Pittsburgh, pouring once we hit Virginia. But we made it without incident…or getting lost.

My house wasn’t as big a wreck as I’d feared. Kudos to my hubby for that. The kids had made me a sign to welcome me home.


People I wish I could have spent more time with
Megan Hart
Lauren Dane
Adele Dubois
Ann Auguire
Angie, nice Mommy—evil Editor


People I wish I could have met
Adrianna Dane
L.A Banks (she was such a great speaker and I enjoyed reading her first sale story at Dear Author)
Marianne LaCroix, somehow I kept missing her!
Anya Bast
Sasha White
Sarah from Smart Bitches
Morgan Hawke
Vivi Anna
Laura Bradford
Shiloh Walker

Definitely more for both lists but that will do.

So that’s the trip to RT in a nutshell. I’m already looking forward to Orlando!

Mechele

Where I was this weekend and other misc updates

I went to RavenCon. Saw my friend Pam again and attended seminars on podcasting (over my head), fairy costuming (will come in way handy) and urban fantasy. It's my first con other than RT and it was fun. I'm thinking about going to Marscon in 2009.

Dark Raiders is almost where I need it to be for now. I went through and gutted so had to write to get it back up to three chapters. The synopsis is done *G*. It stands at about 9100 K out of 80 K.

The rest of the RT story is coming.

May the muses have stories to tell
Mechele

RT--The Saga continues

Thursday

Got up and went to breakfast. The hotel had given us coupons so that made the buffet in my price range LOL. We were lucky to get seats and get food.

Went to Club RT to hang out and had a fabulous time talking to people. Also, saw people entering my giveaway! LOL that was neat, and I’m easily amused.

Went to a few workshops. The one on Second Life was fascinating. I’m intrigued by this virtual world but worried I’ll get too sucked in. We’ll see where I go. They did mention Loose Id, my publisher has a site in Second Life, which I knew, but they had a screen shot so I got to see the store front.

Lunch was Mexican and a show at the Lighting and Thunder Luncheon. Was rather dramatic as it was a hanging scene.

I went to Club RT again to sit, had a pitch to an editor (it went well *G*), and then attended a multicultural workshop. Interesting talk was had about creating characters who are believable. LA Banks is a phenomenal speaker I must say.

We went to the Evenings Temptation Mixer with Mary Janice Davidson, Michelle Bardsley, and Dakota Cassidy. OMG LOL. We had totes that we could get signed. MJ crossed out the other two’s names for the woman in front of me. Said, “I’ll behave” for mine. And then insulted Michelle and Dakota on the next two bags for Melissa and Mari. LOL it was funny. Dakota and Michelle naturally responded in kind. It definitely mixed things up.

Next, was the Fairy Ball. I wore wings. Ummm, I didn’t realize with wings…they stick out. Had a lot of adjusting to do so I wasn’t whacking people and things. LOL they gave out different desserts at dinner. Ask Melissa about banana cake. She and I got the giggles and they decided we should no longer be seated next to each other LOL.

I left the Fairy Ball to change for the speakeasy being done by Christine Feehan. Now, I had signed up for the Texas Hold “Em tournament. I was nervous as I’ve just really learned how to play. LOL I wanted not to be the first one out. And I wasn’t! it came down to Lainey, from Coffee Time Romance, and I. I lost but had a great great time playing poker. Yes, Lainey, we will have to play online sometime.

I didn’t get back to the room until almost 2. Both roomies were sacked out already.




Friday

Getting up is hard to do, especially when you’ve been up til 2. I dragged myself out of bed though. Went to the Elloras Cave Author brunch. It was fabulous I must say. I enjoyed management talking and I also got an Elloras Cave bag (with lots of pockets) and a Melany Logen star! Whoo hooo.

Made it to the Kensington spotlight. Can I just say I can listen to Kate Duffy talk anytime, anywhere? She’s such a great speaker. I definitely got ideas for paranormal suspense (Tigress Euphrates. It could become a novel….)

Went to the RT Awards luncheon. Better desserts LOL. Was really neat seeing some of the authors getting awards. One woman, who I can’t remember, had lost her husband while writing the book so was very tearful.

I went to Club Rt thinking I needed to draw my winner. I didn’t. They did it for me and handled contacting her and everything. I hope you enjoy it, Barbara! I was very impressed with Club RT. The staff was fantastic and on the ball. I had fun in there during my designated times, too.

I was running on empty so I went to the room and laid down. Napped just long enough to feel better but not too long to feel sluggish.

Mari, Melissa, and I then had a video interview. It was rather cool. Sam came with us for moral support along with another friend, Stacey, who we’ve hung with a couple of times before. I’ll post up when the interview airs on RT’s website.

We then went and dressed for the vampire ball. Pam wore a leather duster and real fangs. She looked cool, I must say. Due to the crowd, Melissa, Pam and I sat at one table and Mari and Sam at another. The skit was a little long at the vampire ball but afterward, the Impalers came on and played. Lots of 80’s covers including, da da da…Pour some sugar on me. *G*

I think I collapsed into bed after the vampire ball…

Next up the book fair...

Guest blogging at Romance Junkies

On being starstruck and fainting.

Mechele

Blogging over at Loose Ends and RT, the saga begins

I'm blogging at Loose Ends today on my book fetish. Chime in and let me know how much you love books and how you decide what goes and what stays.

In lieu of a Thursday Thirteen, I'm going to begin my RT experience. I will finish it up over the weekend.


I was going to do a Thursday Thirteen for RT. But I found that I have much more than 26 things to say *blinks* (combined for Melany and Mechele). So here we go.

On Sunday, I found out I finaled in the Passionate Plume. Much rejoicing ensued but I was too busy to post about it as I tried to finish up Bitter Love and succeeded. I ran around like the chicken on Monday, trying to get everything accomplished that I needed to before I had to leave. The hubby laughed at me packing because I had so many outfits. I was dressing up this year and one day, I had three different things to wear.



Tuesday

We left early but not too early as we wanted to avoid the rush of DC. Pam Kinney aka Sapphire Phelan, roomie and friend, rode with me. The drive was beautiful, in the mountains. We actually went under a mountain in a tunnel. My ears constantly popped and stuffed. Trip was uneventful until we came to the last turn and got lost. The street wasn’t labeled! Called the hotel, who told us the name of a bridge to come over the river to downtown. The bridge names aren’t labeled either *sigh*. But we saw the Hilton and followed it on over. There was a lot of construction in the streets around the hotel. Actually the roads on the way up did, too. Sort of a forerunner to the hotel, which was being worked on.

Met up with Melissa, my writing and critique partner, good friend, and roomie. The hall our room was on was being constructed upon.

I caught up with Adele Dubois and picked up a gorgeous pair of fairy wings for the Fairy Ball. Was nice to hang with her for a few minutes. Wish I’d found more time to spend chatting with her.

Caught a shuttle and went to dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse. I had been craving Italian so was YUMMMMY.

Went to the EC virgin party and got to meet a couple of people, Eve Vaughn, Ciana Stone, and Katherine Kingston, along with a few others.

Should have gone to bed earlier LOL. That will be my mantra!




Wed

Got up to go register for RT. Found out where to check in my books (Dinah’s Dark Desire) for consignment for the ebook fair. Set up our promo on promotion lane. Everyone seemed to enjoy my post-it’s, so they went quickly. Ended up running into Scott Carpenter (SL Carpenter), and Melissa of course told him I was big fan. LOL because I’d seen him earlier and hadn’t. I wound up getting a hug from him *G* and a pen. It’s so neat to meet authors, who you really do love their work.

Met up with Sam Cheever, who was a friend of Melissa’s. I’ve now found a bud, too *G*.

We saw Megan Hart and Lauren Dane and got hugs and stalks!

Went to a vampire panel, which was fascinating. Mari of Marissa Alwin called, she had arrived. I left to go check in my books.

Went to the pub with Melissa, Mari, and Sam at the hotel to try for lunch. They had two people working, not enough seating, and a long wait for food. Took us an hour and a half to get sandwiches.

Went to Loose Id’s spotlight and LOL Flash aka Stephanie Burke was helping Treva with the giveaway. Found out the winner of March Madness, Celia Kyle, congrats!

Arrived early at the ebook expo to check in my print copies and get set up. I had such a ball at the ebook expo! Granted, I was signing ebooks that I didn’t get the code for people to buy until almost the end, but I sold quite a few copies of Dinah’s Dark Desire. And met a lot of people, who stopped by to chat, and gave away promo. I talked to people on both sides of me. Cris Anson and Morgan Ashbury. Mari of Marissa Alwin was seated not too far away and visited often. Liz Andrews was two seats down so talked to her, too. She’s so nice. I wish we’d gotten a chance to hang out more.

Went to the Loose Id reception and met Terri Pray, who has the most awesome accent. Saw Nia Foxx, Treva Harte, and Barbara Sheridan. Sat around and talked a while before the next party.

Which was the Elloras Cave Fantasy party. I hadn’t known If I was going to make it in time to walk across the stage and be introduced but I did. They introduced each author. LOL of course we were confusing as we had Melissa as herself and as half of Marissa and Melany. I enjoyed the chocolate fountain *G*. I know some things happened there but I didn’t see them. I’m oblivious. I think I was starting to get nervous about the next day at this point, too.

Coming soon…the rest of the story.

Mechele

Want to go behind the scenes of Settler's Mine 3: The Woman?

Go behind the book with me at Southern Fried Chicas today.

Mechele

I'm doing the new release shimmy

Settler's Mine 3: The Woman is out at Loose Id!! I'm so excited. This was a challenge to write and it's wonderful to share Jax, Tam, and Kiann with the world.

To read an excerpt.

May the muses have new releases

Mechele

I do live and all kinds of news

I'm back from RT and will pen some stories later in the week. I'm still recovering.

I so enjoyed everyone I met at RT!!

It was a wonderful trip. Both the ebook expo and the Saturday signing went very well. So did my time in Club RT.

My newsletter released earlier today with a fabulous interview with Shelley Munro. All people joining will get a copy of the newsletter and be entered to win goodies from RT.

I have two fabulous reviews from RT. Settler's Mine 1: The Rivals received four stars in the May issue! AND The Sixth Curse of Spring received four stars in the June issue!

Now for some big news.

Are you ready???

Veterans: Nothing to Lose finaled in the 3rd annual Passionate Plume in the contemporary category AND Settler's Mine 2: The Lovers finaled in the futuristic/sci-fi/fantasy category!

Nah, I'm not walking on air or anything *G*.

May the muses have good news
Mechele

Gone Conferencing

I'll be at RT next week! It's exciting but I'm a bit apprehensive. LOL and going nuts with preparation.

Bitter Love is done! It rounded out at 29500 words. I know of one scene I will write during revisions so it's going to grow. Plus, the end scene will need some padding. But the first draft is done!

I plan to hit Seek and You Shall Find and Bitter Love quite hard when I come back and submit them both the week of my return.

See you on the flip side.

May the muses have conferences
Mechele

Thursday Thirteen

13 things I’m looking forward to about RT by Mechele 1. Getting to see Mel, Mari, and Sapphire again. I believe Nice Mommy Evil Editor aka Angie will be there *G* too so I can harass her again and tell her how I read her blog. 2. Meeting Lauren Dane, Adele Dubois, and several others. 3. Having dinner with fellow Loose Id’ers like Treva Harte 4. Being a published author. Last RT I attended, I wasn’t published yet. 5. Handing out my promo items. *G* they are pretty 6. Doing the ebook expo and also signing at the gigantic book fair on Saturday. 7. The seminars. I have quite a few on my list that I really want to attend. 8. The parties. LOL I rarely get an opportunity to dance here so that’s always fun. May Pour Some Sugar on Me get played at least once. 9. Doing Club RT. *G* I hope to accost and talk to people wandering in. 10. Getting to see authors that I admire. I think Robin Schone is awesome and I babble when I talk to her LOL. 11. Playing Texas Hold “em. I’m nervous because I hope I understand the game enough but it should be fun. 12. The books. They always have a few giveaways. I’m also looking forward to collecting promo and seeing what everyone else brought. 13. Dressing up. I rarely do it here. I’ve had my hair highlighted. I’m getting my nails done and have some outfits for parties. Maybe Mari will French braid my hair again like she did for the last RT.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Nothing but Red available now

Nothing but Red is now available for purchase. This is the anthology in honor of Du’a Khalil Aswad, who was brutally stoned in an honor killing. I'm proud to have two poems in this anthology, where all profits will go to Equality Now.

Mechele

Wow

It's only been three days since I posted. LOL it feels like a lifetime ago.

Let's recap. Had an RT crisis that got resolved quickly. Thought the oldest had broken her finger, but after xrays, it's just bruised and badly cut. Had the spring carnival at school. Went to the niece's birthday party and had a blast with the hubby's family. Got some cover flats made for a couple of books. The youngest was sick last night and spent today with me.

Yes, realizing the youngest was reading over MY shoulder stopped my work today LOL. I'm trying to play catch up.

Bitter Love stats:


I want to finish it before I leave for RT.

Spent today thinking about how to revise Seek and You Shall Find. I have a scene I love, but really think it needs to be cut. that will give me more room to play in the story. I needed to write it and it's a pretty scene *G* but the more I play with possibilities, I think it needs to fall away. I hope to get that revised before RT as well.

May the muses have pretty scenes
Mechele

Who knew a review could make me so happy?

I've been waiting to announce this but Veterans: Nothing to Lose was selected by Joyfully Reviewed as a Joyfully Recommended book for April.

Ley said, "Nothing to Lose is a fantastic story. I started this story and avoided interruptions until I finished it. Niki and Bryan had a void in their life and they knew Richard was the one to fill it. Richard carried around so much hurt inside stemming from his life overseas fighting the war, the killing and saving of lives and also from his person life. He blamed himself for things he had no control over and he locked himself up emotionally to deal and struggle with his feelings on his own. Even though Niki and Bryan knew Richard needed to be with them Richard required some convincing. The interactions between these three were passionate and caring, it never felt like ‘just sex’. This is such a great story of loving, caring and understanding. I Joyfully Recommend Nothing to Lose."

I posted the whole review part of the review because...I read this the beginning of the week and teared up. I love these words! I love it when a reviewer or a reader totally "got" what I wrote.

"It never felt like 'just sex'." That's probably one of the best compliments I've ever received. I also know that Joyfully Reviewed is very selective on the Joyfully Recommended designation. So it means tons to me.

Not only that but Bold Bride by Melany Logen (my cowritten author ego) received a great review from JR as well. Talia said, "I loved every word of Bold Bride. I found the storyline intriguing and the love scenes sensuous enough to melt even the most frozen of hearts. Miguel is my type of hero – quiet, unassuming, but deadly when the need calls for it. His love and adoration of Abby was quite amazing, given the fact that marrying a Caucasian might have led to his death in the not so modern historical west. Abby’s fortitude to make Miguel as happy as possible during the course of their marriage was bold indeed - even I blushed. All in all, Bold Bride is a mighty fine historical romance – one that I will reread over and over."

I'm walking on air!

May the muses have good days to offset the bad
Mechele

Thursday Thirteen

13 things I’m looking forward to by Mechele 1. RT! I get to see Mel, Mari, Sapphire, and so many others 2. The Spring Carnival at my kid’s school 3. My field trip today with the third grade. 4. My niece’s birthday party on Sunday. She’ll be three and is a delight. She has PKU but luckily they caught it early enough. Her diet must be monitored religiously. 5. Getting my hair cut. My bangs are too long. I want to get highlights put in, too. 6. Getting my nails done for RT. I want a French manicure 7. My husband’s brother’s wedding. Should be a fun affair. 8. Getting home from RT and seeing my family and critters. They will have missed me. *G* it will buy me an hour of loving. 9. Going to see Iron Man. I want to see it in the theaters. 10. Going to see Prince Caspian 11. Field Day. I just like it *G* 12. In some ways, summer. Though the kids will ultimately drive me nuts. 13. Submitting quite a few stories

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants