First things first.
Beef!
This hunky guy was brought to my attention by Lina from RBL. She said she thought she could see some of my contemporary heroes (Julian, Marc Hunter) in him, and I couldn't agree more. I found the top photo to be trés Marc, though, of course, it's not the Marc Hunter I stared at while I wrote the book. The photo below is just screaming sexy.
Okay, on with other matters.
Tomorrow morning at 9, I fly out of DIA for Dallas/Ft. Worth for the Romance Writers of America national conference. I absolutely hate flying, but lacking a transporter, I guess it's my best option. But once I land, it will be a blast.
After checking in and registering for the conference. I'll be attending the Bookseller Tea, an event RWA has put together for published authors. I attended last year as well, but I hadn't had one moment of sleep the night before. This time I hope to be awake and capable of answering questions like, "What subgenres do you write?" and "Where are you from?"
Almost immediately after that comes the annual literacy signing. Try to imagine 300 authors and 10,000 readers in one room! The first year I signed books there, I was shellshocked by the press of people and the noise. This will be my fourth literacy signing, I think.
But this year will be special. There will be a blue and gold flag sitting at my spot that says, "RITA Finalist." I'm probably going to start bawling when I see it. (Note to self: waterproof mascara.) I'm actually going to bring my old camera — it's one of those antiquated things that takes, you know, film. I need a photo of this to put in my scrapbook so my grandchildren can see it one day.
After the signing, I'll be meeting up with authors Emma Holly and Gennita Low. Gennita and I have polished off our share of tequila shots together (and gotten lost outside our own hotel afterwards), but this will be my first time meeting Emma in person. I will also be meeting a host of friends/readers from the Internet for the first time, and I can't wait to put faces with the names and emails.
If you're in Dallas, please stop by my table and say hello!