Overheard at RT: Barry Eisler growled out, "Down on your knees."

So here I am at RT again, having a wonderful time mingling around my kind of people--readers who love romance and all its different sub-genres.

My morning panel. "Bond James Bond," went well. Everyone had a good time and I was invited to blog about it at the RT blog, so more details about that as soon as I get it done. My panelists were Barry Eisler, Robert Gregory Browne, Andrew Peterson, and Julie Kramer, every one of them a unique writer of the romance/suspense/thriller genre. They gave great insight about writing that character that stands out and POV from a killer mind-set. If you haven't checked their books out, I do recommend them because really, I was quite in awe after listening to their backgrounds and experiences. All of us write about assassins, killers, snipers, and the people who love them.

I went to Jennifer St. Giles' and Barry Eisler's panel which kept its promise that it'd be unforgettable. They read sex scenes from male and female writers after which the audience guessed and then gave reasons why. Well. Let me tell you that Barry Eisler has a sexay reading voice, and if you weren't there, you won't soon forget the way he put on that cowboy twang and growled out, "Down on your knees" from Victoria Dahl's sex scene. There was much giggling, but brave Barry masterfully kept right on ;-).

The discussion that followed was very interesting, with over 90 % of the audience being right at guessing the gender of the writer of each excerpt. Word choices, body positions, and aracter POV focus all gave clues, and there was much laughter again when a reader yelled out, "A woman would never write "he touched her pubic mound."" Barry nodded. "No pubic mound," he said, then, after a pause, he added, "I can't believe I used the word "pubic mound" in public."

I was much entertained.

I also spent a lot of time hugging people. Quick count of friends I've been eating, drinking, and chatting with: Brenda Jackson, Lauren Dane, Cindy Gerard, Cheyenne McCray, Shiloh Walker, Heather Graham, Mary Stella, Kathy Love, so many, many more, and this is still early afternoon, and I still had to attend some publisher spotlights and author get-togethers!

By evening, I was ready to fall on my face, but nope, the Ellora's Cave Fantasy Ball was on. This year's theme was "your sexiest red dress." Everyone looked fabulous, showing some red. I danced my feet off with Lauren Dane, Ann Aguirre, Anya Bast, Megan Hart, Cindy Gerard, and Victoria Dahl. Then, after a few drinks, I headed back to my room because my old bones were threatening war in the morning if I don't get off my feet.

Yes, yes, I left all those pretty male models behind in favor of bed. I must be getting old.

P/S Pictures when I get time to resize them. Solly.

Bear with me while I learn. The first button likes the POST. The second button likes the BLOG site. Please help me by "liking" me. Thanks!
NO NEED TO CLICK TILL I TELL YA: RESERVED FOR NOT SAFE FOR WORK STUFF

There Be Yummy Cowboys

Legendary author Linda Lael Miller, one of my favorite goddesses, will be continuing her McKettrick saga in a trilogy. She has a behind-the-scene look on how her trailer was made. And if you like to look at men in cowboy hats and jeans, you have to check this out:



Don't you want all three of the McKettrick brothers? :-) Here is the equally delicious end product, the trailer:



Hmmm. Happy Friday! :)

P/S Don't forget to answer the reader (post below) if you're feeling helpful today.

P/P/S For those who share my LURV for puppies, Kika has given birth to another set of beautiful babies and you can get addicted like me by scrolling down to the bottom of my blog and catch a dose of Puppy Heaven. Click on the middle arrow to stay on this site.

Bear with me while I learn. The first button likes the POST. The second button likes the BLOG site. Please help me by "liking" me. Thanks!
NO NEED TO CLICK TILL I TELL YA: RESERVED FOR NOT SAFE FOR WORK STUFF

RT: Yes, I Mushed A Spartan's Package

This is the infamous party hosted by Deidre Knight, who was promoting her Midnight Warriors series. She had a very memorable way of making us remember her heros ;-).

First, the Spartan Warriors gathered, proclaiming their need for maidens to break a long-awaited curse. Or something like that. I don't know, many of us were just staring at the skirts.

The game began. The warriors sat in their chairs as the maidens started to dance around them, sizing their warrior strength ;-).

Everyone jumped onto the warriors as the music stopped. One maiden is left without a warrior and is sacrificed to the dragon (I made that up). Then one Spartan warrior became free from his captivity and he ran off with his maiden.

Below, I became overzealous in my quest to win the game and literally squashed on top of a Spartan. He went, "Oooooooofffphfff." I turned to him and said, "I'm sorry, did I mush your package?" "No," he replied, but his voice was a bit higher than usual, I thought.

As you can see, my new editor was a bit more lady-like in her warrior seat.

I did quite well, samplingsaving many warrior seats.

I didn't win, but I thought it was quite a fun game ;-). Sometimes it's fun to have no shame. Hey, I'm an old lady. Cute young seats are hard to find! Heh. The above young Warrior went on to become Mr. Romance 2009.

This one below--I don't know--Alpha Male thinks I was smiling a bit too cheekily because my hand was too near the guy's thigh or something. Tsk. He has such a overworked imagination! *eg*

Bear with me while I learn. The first button likes the POST. The second button likes the BLOG site. Please help me by "liking" me. Thanks!
NO NEED TO CLICK TILL I TELL YA: RESERVED FOR NOT SAFE FOR WORK STUFF

RT Recap: Day One

I'm back home. Yup, went on the roof today. Chased after a couple of inspectors. Sigh over some permits. Oh...yes, it was toolbelt time. How I long for yesterday....

I'm going to give a recap of my RT 08 experience day-by-day, so bear with me as I resize pics, cut out odd shots, and brighten-n-contrast.

Like I said, the hotel room was just horrendous. It smelt of sawdust and plaster and like I told you, I developed an allergy on the last day of the conference. A side of my face was red with some kind of weird looking rash and my throat was feeling scratchy.

But let's not go there yet...we're at the beginning, when everyone was getting started. And where do authors start their conference? Why, at the bar, of course.

Ro my right is Jill Smith (RT reviewer) and to my left, Jackie Kessler (Road to Hell).



Sitting across from me was the very talented Caitlin Kittredge (Night Watch) and Jeanne Stein (The Watcher).


Also across from me was Cheyenne McCray (Shadow Magic) and Barry Eisler (Requiem for an Assassin).

All these photos are courtesy of Mark Henry (Happy Hour of the Damned). Also present was Michelle Rowen and Richelle Meade. We were all thirsty and noisy, and I was so happy to be among so many talented authors.

Then I met with my roomies, Jeri Smith-Ready and Ann Aguirre, and we giggled at how to fit the extra bed in our tiny room. We finally decided to send that away and push the two beds together to make one huge one for all three of us. There were suitcases and boxes of books strewn all over the room as we chatted away, still kind of in shock at the state of the hotel and that we were all Internet-less. I felt horribly lost without it and vowed to look for the Vortex of Internet Connectivity in the lobby.

But first, we must go to the Ellora's Cave party. Why? Well....


It is not the beginning of RT without a welcome by the Ellora's Cavemen, you know.

The theme for the night was Hollywood. The EC authors all have their own Hollywood Walk Star. Those in costume came as a Hollywood icon.


Here is the lovely Heather Graham, dressed as Carmen Miranda. I look like a dowdy grandma beside her.


The fans were having fun too, as you can see from the above shot.

On the dance floor, sexay Lauren Dane made flirty eyes as she boogied.

I was hugged left and right by friends I haven't seen for a year. Here's me and Mark with his friend.

Here's my good friend, Rodney, Mr. Romance 2006. He was my "speech trainer" in 2003 and we've been great drinking buddies since.

Yes, I didn't need no steeenkin' Hollywood costume to get hugged by Rodney, nyah nyah. I shared a few drinks with Michelle Buonfiglio, who cracked me up with her earthy sense of humor. She taught me the secret of lip gloss and camera ;-).

The EC party got quite wild. There was some eyebrow raising moments. Some ladies swooned at the gyrating bodies. Others were watching with big grins on their faces. Let's just say, the EC Cavemen lived up to their name ;-).

Later in the night, way past innocent bedtime, not to be out-danced, some of the Mr. Romance contestants took over the stage and showed the girls some of their own moves too. As you can see, they weren't shy at all.

Yes, the roofing world was far, far away....

Day Two Recap tomorrow.

Bear with me while I learn. The first button likes the POST. The second button likes the BLOG site. Please help me by "liking" me. Thanks!
NO NEED TO CLICK TILL I TELL YA: RESERVED FOR NOT SAFE FOR WORK STUFF