San Francisco Photo Album

Hello Mave Faves! I had a great time in San Francisco! No, I didn't win the Golden Heart, but honestly I was just thrilled to be a finalist. It was so great meeting all of the other Pixie Chicks (that's what we 2008 Golden Heart finalists call ourselves). We even had t-shirts!

It was especially wonderful to see so many great friends: Julianne, Santa, Manda, Elodie, Tessa, Amy, Sara, Courtney, and so many more! I also loved meeting for the first time Leigh, Louisa, Anna, Elisabeth, Angie, and all the Pixie Chicks! I have to give a special shout out to my roommate, Pamela Fryer, who won the Golden Heart for Best Series Contemporary Action Adventure! Yay Pam! (Here are pics of me with J Perry Stone, Courtney Milan, Anna Campbell, and Pam Fryer.)

 

And here's a pic of some of the FanLit alums from two years ago:

And last but not least, here are the Mavens! Unfortunately Carrie couldn't be with us and I've no idea how to crop her in.

 

It was an exhausting four days, but I learned a lot and networked my little tush off. (Actually, it's still there. Pesky thing.)

Be sure to stop in tomorrow when Angie Fox is our guest Maven. You want to find out your Biker Witch name, don't you? Post a comment and you could win a signed copy of Angie's brand new debut, The Accidental Demon Slayer. I'm reading it now and it's hi-larious.

How was your conference? If you weren't there, how productive were you without us to bother you?

Moonlight and Magnolia Madness!

Happy Monday Mavenland! (Oooh, I've been wanting to say that!) I just got back yesterday from the fabulous 25th Moonlight and Magnolias Conference in Atlanta, sponsored by Georgia Romance Writers. What a lovely group of women and a what a wonderful time! Where to begin?

I arrived late Thursday so the conference started on Friday morning for me. They had a pitch workshop where authors helped 100 attendees (the first 100 who signed up, which sadly didn't include me). I picked up excellent nuggets of information from several people who did attend - did I mention how friendly and lovely these women are? - while I waited to give my first pitch. And how'd the pitch go? Very well, thank you!

Friday afternoon included a CIA workshop and some great networking opportunities. India Carolina (my spectacular roommate and fellow Maggie finalist!) and I chatted with Madeline Hunter (see picture), whose The Rules of Seduction I'd just finished reading on the plane. She told us about her new live-action trailer for her latest release, Lessons of Desire. Do check it out at her website, it's great! Madeline was so kind to ask about what we were pitching and encouraged us to pitch what we are currently working on as well as what we've completed. Editors and agents love to know that you have more, more, more! This was one of the highlights of my weekend, so thank you Madeline!

Friday night, India and I went to dinner with some of the GRW gals and Manda Collins from Romance Vagabonds (see pics). J Perry Stone made reservations for us at Ibbalito's (not sure that's remotely spelled correctly, but I blame the garlic hangover!), an Italian restaurant with the most fabulous garlic rolls you've ever tasted. See the picture, which I took specifically for Maven Lacey who loves to photograph food. Thank you friends for making me and India feel so welcome. We had a blast!

Saturday was workshop day. Lots of great information and good times. Saturday's luncheon speaker was Linda Howard who shared hilarious tales of stubborn cows and mattress delivery disasters (seriously funny stuff, people). After the workshops was a booksigning, where I had my picture snapped with one of our Maven faves, Elizabeth Hoyt (see pic). Elizabeth gave a great workshop on polishing to publish. Excellent information, friends!

The book signing also included the raffle drawing, which was incredibly hard to hear as everyone chatted up their favorite authors. That didn't stop us from clutching our tickets and hoping desperately for the critique from whichever author, agent, or editor we wanted most. India put down some serious bucks for a few she really, really wanted. And why not? It worked because her ticket was drawn for a critique from Cindy Hwang at Berkley. Go India! Sadly, I got a big donut. Actually, I didn't event get a donut. I would have liked a donut...

Moving on to the big gig: the Maggie ceremony. Naturally, I was nervous as all get-out. I knew I would feel good with however it turned out because, honestly, being a finalist was such an honor in itself and it brought me to the conference, which was a fantastic experience. At this point, I was just pleased as punch and would have very much liked to skip the ceremony! But, alas, everyone else wanted to do it.

Finalists got reserved seating up close, so India and I sat at a table with GRW president and published long contemporary finalist, Anna DeStefano, published long contemporary finalist, Seressia Glass, unpublished short contemporary finalist (and winner!) Trish Milburn, published long contemporary finalist (and winner!), Tanya Michaels, and unpublished single title finalist (and winner! are you sensing a theme at this table??), Leslie Tentler. We were in great company! They announced the finalists for each category and then announced the winners Miss America-style, meaning they counted down from honorable mention to first. Every time they said a name in my category and it wasn't mine, my stomach dropped a little further toward the floor. After four names, it was first or second place for me and I could barely hear for the roaring in my ears. When they announced Glorious as second place, I just beamed (so much that my face hurt later!). I can't tell you how palpable the excitement was! Everyone was so gracious and wonderful, and just, wow. The whole evening was incredibly inspiring. The GRW website doesn't have the winners posted yet, but be sure to check back later!

After the ceremony, there was a very loud DJ (I'm getting so old) and yummy dessert bar. Finally, I could handle a glass of wine! We hung out with our buddies and thought seriously about coming back next year (October 3-5, 2008!). What a ride! Thank you Georgia Romance Writers!!!

Tell us about your local conference experiences. If you haven't been to one, what are you waiting for? I flew across country for this one and let me tell you, it was worth it!

What Gets You Hot? (ok, that should be 'who' but whatever)

Man, do I go for the serious, intense look.

My brother recently sent me this picture of Cillian Murphy from the new movie Sunshine. My mother has recently informed me the movie isn't getting the best reviews, but I don't care! However many million-cajillion dollars they spent to get *me* that picture was totally worth it.

It inspires me.

(Author's Note: My brother was actually not trying to encourage me. He was ferverntly hoping someone didn't make the mistake of casting Cillian Murphy as a Vulcan in the new Star Trek movie. He said he could totally see them "making that mistake" and then he sent a link to a picture of "Lacey's Guy-with-Way-Too-Big-of-Head-I-Don't-Quite-Have-Red-Eyes crush." He went on to say he thought Cillian would make a great Vulcan, but he didn't want to see the guy in "his" movie. My thought here is that my brother was tapped into what I'm about to say next about Cillian Murphy's expressive face or lack thereof. And yes, my family has ginormous email threads about Star Trek and other SciFi movies...)

I couldn't really put my finger on why I like this guy. I get a lot of weird looks for trying, that's for sure. It's something about the way I can project any of my character's emotions onto his face. Some people might say he isn't actually expressive at all -- all the best pictures taken of Cillian Murphy are like this one, with a similar, fixed regard on an unseen object. Or maybe he's not looking at anything. But my brother just happened to send me this picture right when I was polishing the very deepest, darkest, most intense part of my manuscript. And let me say, I was inspired.

So here's my new toy:

Yes, that's Yul Brynner. I think I've been waiting my entire life to write a book about him. In fact, whether or not I should is the topic of my post tomorrow over at laceykaye.com.

Today, though, I want you to tell me if you write from pictures, post a link to the picture in the comments if you can, and tell me why you're drawn to him (or her).


It's not just because he's a stud. There's tons of studs out there (trust me, I've looked) but you picked THIS stud to model your hero's face or personality on.

A winner will be drawn for a signed "Mavens Rock!" copy of Catch a Mate by Gena Showalter.

Who gets you in the mood?

More Conference Fun

I have to say I am so sad I don't have more pictures from the RWA National Conference. I have two and they're both posted here. Yes, it's the same group of gorgeous ladies, but each picture features different people looking good and different people, well, looking away from the camera. These are some of the FanLit folks and it was sure fun to meet them in person! Sadly, I don't know everyone's name, but I do know Beverley Kendall, Courtney Milan, Tessa Dare, India Carolina, Cynthia Falcon, Jacqueline, Sara Lindsey, Erica, and Lacey. I'm sort of in the middle - my hair looks much lighter in this picture than in the one in the TV over there (because it is - I do that in the summer). I also decided to have bangs the week before the conference, but that's a whole other blog post.

One of the reasons I don't have more pictures is that I was so excited to just be there. I was literally sucking the life from every moment. I wanted to take pictures at the super fun Romance Divas dinner on Thursday night, but that was the one time I didn't have my camera! I also would have taken more pictures Saturday night when these were taken, but unfortunately the transfer of my camera for these photos included an accidental drop and my camera refused to work after that. Never fear, for we did have someone take a Maven picture. Now, if I could just remember who that was...

I'm not sure what more I can highlight that everyone else hasn't already discussed. I really loved the pitch/giggle fest with the SIRENs (see Lacey's blog). Jacqueline is right that pitching to them was much more nervewracking than the pitches themselves! Very, very helpful though (and bigger, sexier, and more fun!). Can't wait for San Francisco. Actually, I can't wait for Emerald City in October. Smaller venue and crowd, but I'm guessing it'll be the same fun ride.

Who else is going to Emerald City? Come on west-coasters, it's in Seattle! What other conferences/events are you planning to attend this year?