Thursday Thirteen - 222 - 13 Books on My TBR Pile From the RWA Conference in NY

If you recall my earlier post about attending the Romance Writers of America conference in New York in late June/early July, you'll remember me mentioning the various publisher-hosted booksignings, as well as the literacy fundraiser booksigning event.

Because I had read about this conference book binge on various blogs following previous conferences, I remembered to leave extra room in my suitcase, as well as to pack an empty carry-on.

My nefarious plan worked like a dream.

No extra-weight fees charged at the airport. No books left behind at the hotel room.

But lots and lots of books for me, for my best friend Connie and for my mom.

Here are thirteen of the books currently on my To Be Read pile:


1 - An Unlikely Countess by Jo Beverley

I'm currently reading this one.

I just adore this cover. I had to force myself not to buy it when it first came out this spring, as I was hoping she would be at the conference, where I could get it autographed by her.

And there she was! And so my copy has a lovely signature inside it.




2 - Blood of the Rose by Kate Pearce

Also currently reading this one.

Also really into this cover. It's awesome.










3 - Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin

Had been wanting this one for awhile - so glad to buy an autographed copy at the literacy signing.













4 - Sweet Revenge by Andrea Penrose

A cozy Regency mystery featuring chocolate recipes.













5 - The Fallen: Raziel by Kristina Douglas

Love the flames-as-the-letter-'I' in the title and author name.














6 - Ravishing in Red by Madeline Hunter

Another cover I really love. Authentic frock, and I love how she's leaning out of range.













7 - Nightfall by Ellen Connor

Book 1 of a 3-book apocalyptic series.

4 1/2 stars Top Pick from Romantic Times magazine












8 - Personal Protection by Leah Braemel

My first chance to buy my blog buddy's book - which I did, at the literacy signing.













9 - Heiress in Love by Christina Brooke

My first chance to meet my Australian blog buddy In Real Life - and buy her autographed book! Such a joy.














10 - Save the Cat Strikes Back by Blake Snyder

I bought this one at the Barnes and Noble mini store set up in one of the conference rooms. My friend Annette warned me there were only five copies left when she dropped by our hotel room one evening - so I hightailed it there first thing the next morning and snagged one of the last copies.

So far it has already helped with my revisions. Thanks, Annette!






11 - A Season of Seduction

Jennifer used to be a fellow blogger at The Popculturedivas. It was great to meet - and let's face it. Can I resist a Christmas cover like this?














12 - A Secret Affair

Another luscious cover.

And it's Mary Balogh.











13 - No Mercy

This was given to conference goers at one of the luncheons where the keynote speaker was Sherrilyn Kenyon. It was actually one of three of her books waiting for me on my chair in the banquet room.

She gave an inspirational speech that was packed with emotion whenever she spoke of her brother, who was instrumental in setting her along her path as a writer.

And for anyone whose non-writing hurdles can seem overwhelming - this courageous woman is proof that YOU CAN DO IT.

Thursday Thirteen - 221 - 13 Blog Posts by Fellow Bloggers

Today I'd like to shine a spotlight on some great posts I've enjoyed in the last little while:

1 - So Many Books...So Little Time... by Kelly Boyce

2 - More on RWA11-part2: Lit Signing & Evil Elevators by Leah Braemel

3 - Everything You Wanted to Know About Digital Publishing But Were Afraid to Ask - A Q & A With Maya Banks by Jane Litte

4 - On Cowboy Sex Appeal - Give Me a Real Good Man by Julianne Maclean

5 - A Peek Behind the Cover by Deborah Hale

6 - On the Shelf (secret librarian tips for historical research) by Michelle Helliwell

7 - Trekking to Toronto by Linda @ Are We There Yet?

8 - Carrie Preston From True Blood Interview by Melissa Bradley

9 - Playing Tourist at Home! by Anna Campbell

10 - To Float or Not To Float... by Jeanne Adams and Cassondra Murray

11 - Life Through the Eyes of a Child by Stella MacLean

12 - Something Borrowed by Ginger Merante

13 - Belleau Wood, 1 June to 26 June 1918 by Travis Cody

The Writing Meme

I was tagged for this meme way back in May by Leah Braemel. For anyone who tags me and thinks 'That Julia is never going to get around to my meme' - I love memes! Keep those tags coming.

Because of the way my blog schedule has evolved, I save memes to do on Fridays. Believe it or not, I actually have a file of Memes-to-Do in my Documents. If a migraine plagues me all week, by Friday I've definitely run out of juice, so I save the meme until I can concentrate properly. Especially for a meme like The Writing Meme.


1. List one of your writing goals for the upcoming month and how likely you are to accomplish it.

I'm deep into my current WIP, a dark fantasy romance with my lovely Scorpius, the Chamberlain of a medieval-style Keep. I'm absolutely head-over-heels in love with this character. Thinking about him and about his love, Lady Elinor, is a joy at this point. My goal for September is to get to the half-way point in my word count, which would be around 45,000 words.

The likelihood this will be accomplished is a massive Green for Go.

2. What genre or subject would you like to write about that you aren't currently?

Getting back into screenwriting would be heavenly. Keep in mind that the only scripts I've written have been for my own student films, fifteen years ago.

I did write narration for a TV documentary that aired on Vision TV in Canada a few years ago. That was my very first paid writing gig - Tales of a Psychic Medium.

3. What is your writing lifestyle, habits? How do you manage the interruptions with your writing? How do you stay positive? Believe in your writing success?

a) Writing lifestyle - I've really been writing consistently since I was a kid. I carry a notebook and pens with me everywhere I go. I'm not a techie in any way, and I really do my best writing longhand on paper. I have to retype it into the computer, which acts as a first clean-up. But I don't have as much rewriting to do with handwritten material as I do with the pages I type directly into the computer. I write on the bus, while waiting for the ferry, and sometimes while I'm covering reception at work. After I transfer the handwritten stuff onto the computer, I plow ahead on the keyboard.

I was a diary-keeper as a girl, teenager and young adult. Blogging today in my 40's is simply a continuation of that daily habit of chronicling my thoughts and feelings. I've found blogging has helped discipline me towards writing directly onto the computer. I'm so much happier writing with my pen, but that's not going to get my stories published, is it?

b) Interruptions - I don't get bothered by interruptions at all. The truth is I have a continuous, multi-channel broadcast of all my stories in my head that has accompanied me through life for as long as I can remember. I have grown accustomed to muting this channel so I can function in the non-writing world. Everything that is not my story is an interruption, so I roll with those punches and grab ten minutes to write here, an hour there, three hours over there.

c) How do I stay positive - Anyone who knows me can't help but pick up some of my super-positive vibe. I was born in the year of the Dragon, and I'm a very typical Dragon. Arrows of negativity bounce off my scales. I may even pick my teeth with one. My self-confidence is a given, and I'm a natural coach that encourages and buoys others as easily as breathing.

It's not completely impossible for me to get down about things. With my writing, though, I'm happy with my work and I love moving forward on the various stories I've got churning along. It's the revisions that make me want to tear my hair out. It's taken the past year - yes, an entire year - of torturously forcing myself to keep at it, in order to reach my current level of (dis)comfort with it.

d) Believe in my writing success - Posting excerpts here on my blog really helps me keep at it, sometimes. The revisions, that is. It's never hard to write new material. That's always a joy, even deliriously wonderful. It's when I'm bashing my head against the wall with revisions that sharing some of my stuff gives me the dust-off and back-on-my-feet thing.

4. Are you a pantser or plotter? - I'm a total and complete pantser. I just can't create to a pre-plotted structure. I know I have a nebulous gauge inside my head which watches over my story, and I have complete faith in that gauge.

5. Who are two of your favorite current authors and why? - Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Jo Beverley are two of my favorite authors.

Yarbro's vampire, Le Comte de Saint-Germain, is one of the best characters I've ever come across. He's so charismatic, so smart, so charming, so caring, so handsome, so melancholy - oh, I can't resist him, that's just how it is. Yarbro's focus on the pratical problems that go with being an immortal, having to move along after awhile, set up a new household, not stir up suspicion in the local populace never fails to intrigue me.

Beverley's Beowulf Malloren, the Marquess of Rothgar is quite simply the sexiest, coolest hero ever written as far as my tastes are concerned. His sphere is the late 1700's in England, and his outward life is very Scarlet Pimpernel without the foppish cover, with secret-agent machinations in the name of the king. His inner life is very James Bond, where he keeps an iron-clad distance between himself and his heart.

6. How does your family feel about your writing? - My husband has every confidence that someday he will be a kept man. As for the rest of my family, I come from an artistic bunch and we are each other's biggest fans. My dad kept the Father's Day poem I wrote for him when I was in my 20's close at hand for years, reading and rereading it. To know my writing touched him so deeply is one of the best things in my whole life.

Now, a-tagging I will go, a-tagging I will go...

Claudia
Jennifer
Jill
Lisa