More RT in Houston Adventures!

WRITING BUSINESS FIRST ;-).

First, a wonderful review of VIRTUALLY HIS is up at The Romance Readers Connection. Read it HERE. Thank you, Wendy Keel, for taking the time to write such an in-indepth critique of Hell's first book!

Now this put me in a GREAT MOOD! Until...I received this (edited) email last night:

----- Original Message -----
From: Mr. Ednace ***
To: jenn@gennita.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 8:22 PM
Subject: virtually his
This book is terrible! It is totally based on sex! There is about 1/2 chapter based on any kind of plot! I have been gypped! If the government ever gets to this REM it better be based on more than screwing each other! You are supposed to have a book based on some type of plot...where is it? I kept reading thinking that surely it would get better...nope! did not happen! This girl needs to get another job!

Oooh ouch! So I checked the Properties of this wonderful email and found that this person's email addy was Snuffy@blahblah and I couldn't help but snigger at the thought of a man named EDNACE whose email is SNUFFY. I'm thinking, maybe some prankster? So, I decided I'd send out a "polite" response, using his moniker:

To: Mr. Ednace ***
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 8:39 PM
Subject: Re: virtually his
Dear Snuffy,

So sorry. Can you please return this book to the romance section of the bookstore? It must have been shelved under government documents by mistake.

Thank you.

Gennita

I don't think he appreciated my calling him Mr. Snuffy because he replied with this (edited):

----- Original Message -----
From: Mr. Ednace ***
To: GENNITA
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 8:50 PM
Subject: Re: virtually his
I don't want a refund. I just do not expect that kind of trashy writing! This is the first time that I have ever sent an email such as this, but that book was so offensive that I could not comment! There are readers out here that recognize the difference between writing and trash. If this is what you want for a future then grow up!

and...

...if you consider what you wrote romance, then I feel sorry for you. Raw sex has nothing to do with romance. How about Karen Robards, Anne Stuart , Brenda Novak, Kay Hooper. I think you need other role models. These authors have been around awhile. I have never even heard of Lora Leigh, Angela Knight or Laurell Hamilton. If you want a career in writing that will last, rather than a flash in a brief time span, then I think you need to revise your writing so that you have a plot that you develop that keeps a readers attention. Really, how long can you keep a person's interest when all you talk about is getting a man's head (or hand) between a woman's legs.

and...

Gennita, we live in a time when there is a great deal of interest in sex...there always has been but if you want to be a writer that last beyond 2010 then you need to study other authors. Ones that are not here today and gone tomorrrow.

Well. That was nice. ;-) I'll post my response tomorrow, just to keep you hanging. After all, I'm...uh...trying to be suspenseful here. LOL.

So, anyway, I need a HUGGgggggg. Or at least, some comments about my pretty RT pics below...

***********************
Romantic Times Convention Day Three

I woke up early to get attend a workshop on Urban Fantasy. Marjorie Liu is on the panel, along with great writers of the genre: Charlaine Harris, Rachel Caine, and Jim Butcher!



That's Jim looking all serious, handing the mic over to Charlaine but he was really, really funny. And witty. When one of the audience asked each author to describe Urban Fantasy in one succinct line, he said: "Dirty Harry Potter." We all laughed, but I thought, "Perfect!"

So I took a pic with The Man himself:



I later bought a whole bunch of his books signed by him AND someone STOLE them. I am still mad about that.

After the panel, Liz Maverick was interviewing Marjorie Liu, so of course I have to sidle in and interrupt! Liz looked fabulous and she owed me a drink!. ;-)



Of course I had my mid-morning drink ;-). Then I had to go to Club RT to meet with some readers and what do I see? Bare chested men.



Well, damn. And this was just around noon, mind you. Of course, I have to do this to get pictures for the blog (really hard work!):



This is Chris, from Virginia. His talent: clapping with his feet. I have photos!



This is Brian and he has nice shoulders. And abs. And...never mind. I needed another drink after that particular pose.

So off I went with some readers for a quick luncheon drink and bumped into Angela Knight! Goddess! Angela looked fabulous and I snatched up a book from her ;-).



Later that evening, I behaved. I dutifully hugged the right guy.



Then more merriment followed. I shall post more pictures tomorrow!

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