"A Lily Among Thorns" Re-Release Celebration!

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful romance novel.

It was one of the most well-written, addictive romances in the land, with an absolutely stellar ex-courtesan heroine, a dashing m/m secondary romance, and one of the sweetest, handsomest, smartest, amazingest, chemist-tailor-detective Beta heroes EVER.

Unfortunately, this astounding romance was stuck on the sinking ship Dorchester, and when Dorchester went down, so did the novel. And for a while, that was the last anyone saw of this amazing book.

Until now.

It's BAAAAAAACK! A Lily Among Thorns is back! 

Thanks to Rose Lerner's new publisher, Samhain, they're re-releasing it in eBook format! She's also holding an amazing contest to celebrate this masterpiece's much-anticipated return. 

Still not sure? Try my 2012 review! Lily Among Thorns is seriously one of the best romance novels I've ever read. It's complex, it's sweet, it's unconventional, and it's become a fast favourite, along with all of Rose Lerner's other novels. 

I'm just saying - if you don't want to wait all the way until January for the next book in her Lively St. Lemeston series, take a chance with this magnificent, and magnificently odd romance. 

HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Today's the Day!

My debut novel, The Duke of Snow and Apples, has just been released from Entangled Publishing TODAY.

Today was a good day. My mum sniffled over my dedication and showed a screenshot of her buying my book, my coworkers at My Paying Job threw me a pizza party, and my old stompin' ground Heroes and Heartbreakers posted a First Look of my novel!  

It means a whole lot to see the romance community that took me to its heaving bosom seven years ago now reading and talking about my book. I wish I could write more, but I don't think I have any words left, today. Too excited and happy and exhausted. Anticipation is exhausting!

Ah well. Back to Googling myself!

"The Duke of Snow and Apples" and the End of Aspiration

I've pretty much had the same dream for most of my self-aware life.

To be a writer. Now, being a writer is a pretty easy dream to fulfil. If you put a pen to paper, or set your fingers above a typewriter, and apply enough physical pressure to scrawl or type out words, you're a writer.

....or if you dictate it to your mum because you haven't learned how to write yet - so long you draw all the pictures!

And I did become a writer. I started this blog. I wrote for The Green Man Review, The Gateway, Heroes and Heartbreakers, and even The Huffington Post. 

My first published fiction piece happened in 2007, when my novella, "My Brother's Own Words," appeared in Cicada Magazine's March/April issue.

It was a professional magazine. They took almost a year to receive, read, accept, and publish my manuscript - and they paid 25 cents a word, which, for a 9,000-word novella, was not too shabby! 

Still, I couldn't quite kick the "aspiring" label off of my efforts. I wanted to be a novelist. Have my own book. My own Amazon and Goodreads page. My own cover. A book that was mine. 

Recently, I took The Duke of Snow and Apples - a novel I'd written a few years ago - out from under the metaphorical bed and gave it a dust-off. I realized that the time we'd spent apart had given me a better perspective on the novel and how to improve it. So, after polishing it one more time, I resubmitted it for the first time in years.

And it got accepted. 

ACCEPTED.

The Duke of Snow and Apples is going to be a reality, thanks to Entangled Publishing! It's going to have a cover, and eventually an Amazon page, and crappy 1-star reviews from people angry that it's priced too high! It's going to be a published novel, and it's going to be my published novel! 

It was almost anti-climatic how it happened. I received the E-mail on my Blackberry - a cheery little yellow envelope icon blinking up at me as I was having my afternoon break at work. I don't know what I was expecting - although I had harboured daydreams of my publishers turning up in a van, showering me in confetti and announcing their intent to acquire my novel by way of chocolate icing tastefully hand-written onto an enormous ice cream cake. 

But believe me, for the last couple of days, I've been happily coughing up accidentally-ingested confetti in my heart. 

The interesting thing is that this didn't really happen by focusing on accomplishing One Major Dream - but by gradually accomplishing smaller dreams that accumulated and granted me the skills and experience required to tackle the Big Dream. I wanted to be a writer - so I wrote. I wanted to be a published writer, so I volunteered for magazines and started a blog. Using the exposure I got from my blog posts, I turned to contributing to e-zines and literary blogs. And in the process of doing all that, I learned how the publishing world worked, especially in relation to the things I'd already written. 

During NaNoWriMo 2008, I landed on an idea for a novel. A romance novel. A retelling of Snow White - only this time, the damsel was the hero (a footman), and the Prince Charming a spoiled noblewoman. The setting would be very similar to Regency England, but set in a fantasy world where the importance of bloodlines and breeding had a very specific magical purpose. 

So I wrote it. I finished it. I polished it. And I critique-grouped it thanks to the RWA's fantastic Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal chapter. I pitched it to agents (once in person!). I submitted it to contests. It appeared in Dear Author's First Page series. One agent request a partial. A publisher requested a full. 

But somehow, it never happened. There were a lot of critiques and the consensus was that it just wasn't quite good enough. I think the excitement of all the requests followed by all the rejections sapped my drive for the idea. I honestly forget why I gave up on it, but I think my brain was already churning out new ideas and wanted to work on a new project rather than waste the effort on a flagging former project that didn't measure up. 

But sometimes setting a project aside for a while can be a good thing. In the intervening years, the publishing world changed, readers changed, and I changed. For the better, I hope.

Now I can finally scratch out "Aspiring" next to my description. Elizabeth Vail, Aspiring Novelist. It has a nice ring to it.

I haven't heard back yet about a release date, but I'll be sure to keep you guys updated! For now - I'm off to work on another novel! 

Responding to Negative Reviews: Do's and Don'ts

This little post is in response to a recent scandal involving a way-cray-cray website created by a spiteful writer in order to revenge herself anonymously upon snarky reviewers by stalking them, going so far as to post their addresses and personal information online. And all of it in the name of "stopping bullying" (except for *cough* the fact that all the legitimate anti-bullying organizations she linked to refused all association and demanded the removal of their banners from her page). But the fact remains - how should authors react to negative or snarky reviews?

Well, search no more, because AnimeJune has the answer.

So, let's imagine you're a crispity-cool magic-fantastic writer of published novels, and let's say you're innocently surfing the internet when...

EGADS!

 A negative review of your CRISPITY-COOL MAGIC-FANTASTIC NOVEL!

A lot of emotions might be going through your head right now. 

Your first instinct might be depression, because someone didn't like all the cool things you wrote, which means they don't think that you're cool, which makes you start to doubt if you were ever crispity-cool and magic-fantastic to begin with.

Your second instinct might be rage. After all, rage is more productive, right? This reviewer clearly didn't even read your novel, at least not the way it was meant to be read - and he or she is telling everyone how to read it THE WRONG WAY. They're threatening your career! They're spreading lies and misconceptions about how your book isn't crispity-cool and magic-fantastic - WHEN IT CLEARLY IS, BECAUSE YOU WROTE IT!

 Decisions, decisions. What would a truly crispity-cool magic-fantastic author do in this situation? It's not like there's a guide on the internet.

WELL, NOW THERE IS! THE ULTIMATE DO'S AND DON'TS FOR RESPONDING TO A NEGATIVE REVIEW:

DO eat your feelings.

So many magic-fantastic feelings...

DO drink wine. It's nature's Control-Z! And it helps you live longer, like the French do, because we read it somewhere in a magazine. We think.

DO call your mum. DO call your friends. They're your very first fans, after all! They'll understand and listen to what you're going through!

DO cry in the bath. You are an artiste! You are not a machine! Your passionate heart is wounded!

The bathtub of an artiste is a judgement-free zone.

An artiste's feelings are very exhausting. 

DON'T write nasty posts or e-mails to the reviewer. You are an artiste! Your work must be engorged with love, not with hate!

DON'T use the Internet to track down that reviewer's personal information, credit rating, or address.

DO use the Internet to find pictures of kittens!

DON'T go after your reviewer with a knife...

...unless it's to offer them chicken in a gesture of peace! Dark meat or white meat?

Mmmmmm, chicken. The anguished, hungry goddess of vengeance is appeased.

DO keep writing. Writing is YOUR passion, and YOUR dream - you don't do it for the reviewers, after all. You do it for yourself, because you are a crispity-cool magic-fantastic author.

The writing-space of an artiste is also a judgement-free zone. And Mama's gotta make her deadline.

 Lasty, DO remember that you are a crispity-cool magic-fantastic author. If people are reviewing your book, that means people are also reading your book. And the more people are reading and talking about your book, the more people will find out about and start reading your book. And that is awesome.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (and WAIT)

Yes, after nearly a month of waiting, my last box of RWA 2010 loot came in, fully intact! Ultimately, shipping my books in three flat-rate boxes cost a bit more than last year and took a bit longer so I guess I learned my lesson. But still! Loot! I won't be creeping into any more book stores for a long time after this. Aren't they pretty?

In other news, after a long, long and incredibly spirit-draining three months of unemployment, I now have a job. A pretty kick-ass job, as a matter of fact. A job that is about a million times better than the last job I held. Good pay, fantastic benefits, a great environment, room to advance, easy transportation, my own cubicle and name plate, work that I like and am good at. The perfect job, really.

Let me tell you, being unemployed sucks. Being unemployed for three months sucks balls. Being unemployed for three months, whilst enduring dozens and dozens of job interviews and placement agency testings that shoot my hopes up only for nothing to come of them, sucks ZOMBIE DONKEY BALLS. I mean, I kept getting all these interviews, so I thought something about my resume must be good. But months passed and I never got hired, despite all those interviews, so the creeping paranoia set in that something must be wrong with me. Something I didn't know about. Something about my interview skills - was it my fashion sense? My references? Bad breath? What could it be? How could I fix it if I didn't know what it was?

Hopelessness began to set in. I felt like the loser slacker in the sitcoms who still lives with her parents and can't get a job. I no longer felt excited about interviews - no, that's not true. I still felt excited when I got to the interview and it seemed to go well and the company seemed great, but I couldn't afford to get my hopes up afterward. I couldn't understand what God's plan for me was.

Now, of course, I know what God's plan was. I went for an interview at the Dream Job. By this point, I'd been to so many interviews I was no longer nervous about answering tough questions like What I Felt My Weaknesses Were, and now knew better than to head into an interview without researching the company first. I could easily recite the well-worn stories about going above and beyond for a client, how my previous job experience was relevant to the current job posting, how I felt communication was my primary problem solver.

But my expectations? Lower than low. This company was too good, too professional. I'd been refused a job in a mailroom. Chapters hadn't even called me back, and they were retail! I'd speed-typed my way through seven different placement agencies with no results. It was obvious I would have to work temp work or for some small, one-room office operation or call centre.

The next day, I got a call from my mum while I was at a festival with my friend. The Dream Job wanted me to call them back. I dared to hope - just a little. Something to look forward to before the very nice regional manager gave me the inevitable "thought I'd let you know that unfortunately we've gone with another candidate" speech. I called them back.

I got the job. THE job. The dream job. The manager said, "I want you to know that you were the first candidate we interviewed, and you made it really difficult to interview anyone else. I wanted to hire you on the spot but I thought I would give it to the end of the day just to be fair, but I knew I couldn't hold another day of interviews. I was so impressed with your skills, your knowledge, your professionalism" -- by this point, over the phone, I was somewhat belying my sense of professionalism by happy-dancing.

In hindsight, I could see Big G's plan. All those interviews, all those months of polishing and waiting and trying, it was all meant to lead up to The Dream Interview. I needed those months of attempts so that by the time I had the Dream Interview, interviewing was so ingrained in me that I could show the best part of myself without being nervous. I had to go through the hell of being interviewed and passed over for crapshoot, poorly-paid jobs I didn't really want (except to pay the bills) in order to be ready to ace the interview for the job I really wanted.

So now I'm hired, and I just had my first day of work today. The office is full of a lot of great people and while there is a lot to learn (and I mean a lot), it's all work that I really like. It's a place where I can really build a career and make a lot of friends - it's definitely not the dead-end, pay-the-bills-until-I'm-published kind of deal I thought I'd eventually have to settle for.

So I'm really looking forward to working my ass off!

Submitted to an Agent! And other writing milestones.

Today, I gathered my courage and presented my query letter, my synopsis, and the first three chapters of The Duke of Snow and Apples, proofread the bejeesus out of them, put them into an e-mail, said a prayer to St. Paul (patron saint of writers and bloggers), and hit the "send" button.

And promptly fell on my face when I received a "nonexistent e-mail address autoreply."

After I entered the agent's correct e-mail address, I sat back and thought. Well, it's done. I've done it. I pitched to an agent, I received a request for a partial, and a week and a half later I was able to write a decent synopsis and query letter and send it along with the first three chapters.

I DID IT.

So what do I do now? Well, I have time before a response - the agent I pitched to is on holiday until the end of August. I also have a bunch of contests I could enter, both for feedback and to pad a future query letter if this one doesn't pan out. I'm also starting on the first draft for the sequel, Lord of Dreams. I love first drafts - I write them longhand in notebooks, because I am romantic and whimsical and vain of my handwriting but at the same time it's also harder to self-edit so I actually produce faster. And my heroine in this one is really interesting.

I'll also keep polishing and checking on The Duke of Snow and Apples. Writing the synopsis actually got me to chop a 3000-word scene because looking at the big-picture of my plot, that scene completely diminished my Black Moment. With it gone, my manuscript is 3000 words lighter and has a tighter, more emotional ending.

Either way, whatever happens, I DID IT. I am one of the only 10% of writers who actually submit something to an agent after getting a request. I may never be published, I may starve in obscurity in a penniless garret (how romantic!), but at least I will be able to say that I sent my stuff in. I didn't keep my manuscript in a box under my bed. I didn't hide my light under a bushel.

I DID IT.

And now - to write some more!

I've Been Shortlisted! Vote for Me!

It's September 7th, and the voting has officially begun for those shortlisted in the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards. And GUESS WHAT?

*~I'VE BEEN SHORTLISTED FOR BEST ROMANCE REVIEW BLOG!~*

Whoo hoo! Happy dance! Happy dance! First of all, THANK YOU to the people who nominated me! THANK YOU to the panel who read my first posts and shortlisted me!

And THANK YOU in advance (wink, wink) to the people who will vote for me here, yesssssss?

For those of you who are only now discovering this blog thanks to the BBAW shortlists, I'm AnimeJune and I review romance. While my blog's been up for five years, it's only been a romance blog for about 2 (if you want to read personal posts about my writing progress and fun and games in university, my employment misadventures, informal movie reviews and occasional rants against my parents' supreme unfairness then by all means read the earlier posts, *lol*).

I tend to read mostly historicals, with some contemporary and increasing amounts of paranormal. I try to make my reviews funny as well as in-depth, analytical and illuminating. As my regular readers doubtless already know, I have a particular format in which I review which divides the book into the barebone facts before I go in-depth so if a wall of text isn't your thing you can get the gist from the first part. Feel free to check out my tags, where I've arranged my reviews according to letter grade.

My reading taste can be rather eclectic - sometimes I review newer books (especially after coming home with all that loot from RWA Nationals) and sometimes I review older books that I picked up in Used Book Stores and library sales because I am poor and cheap. All I can say is that I review every romance I read, regardless of where I get it from.

Also, yes, a caveat - I sometimes do reveal spoilers in my reviews. I have a general warning at the top of my blog but for reaaaaally big spoilers I do give some advance warning. Sometimes to express my particular reaction to a book I have to detail it and provide specific examples, so you have been warned.

So....like my blog? Then VOTE VOTE VOTE!

"Aaah," some of you will say, however, "but what about your competitors for the award?" My lovely, darling, and totally not-evil-ho-bag running mates are as follows. What? Highlight these entries? WhyEVER would you want to do that? What a silly idea:

Babbling About Books and More run by Katiebabs. This is SUCH a good romance blog. Katiebabs hasn't said she eats babies, but she's never come out and officially said she DOESN'T eat babies. Her reviews are great, and she's got cute sheep and kittens! Maybe that's because she's too busy - EATING BABIES. King MhoPho, her sheep mascot is hilarious! and the spawn of the devil! THE SHEEP DEVIL! The DEVILIEST OF ALL DEVILS!

Racy Romance Reviews, run by Jessica. Wow, this is a romance blog written by a philosophy professor who happens to like romance novels and is proud of it! A big poo-poo-head smarty-pants professor. Whenever she reviews romance, she always digs deep to see that, hey, underneath that torn bodice is compelling feminist cultural commentary! See, smarty-pants professor? I can use big words too! It's always a treat to read an intellectual's take on the romance genre. I've already got MY doctorate - a PH.D in ASS-KICKOLOGY. That's DOCTOR Kick-Ass to YOU, smarty-pants.

Reading Adventures, run by Marg. I wasn't aware of this blog before, so I'm only checking it out now. She does a lot of commentary, and even has a weekly event called Library Loot. *GASP!* She steals from LIBRARIES! Quick! Call the police! And she doesn't only review romance - she also reads a lot of historical fiction, mysteries, and YA. Funny how she's nominated for best ROMANCE review blog. Which is it, Marg? Can't keep your stories straight? It looks pretty interesting - and wow! Look at her blogger links! What? Gossamer Obsessions isn't linked? What's wrong with MY blog? Waaaaaaah.....

The Book Binge, run by Casee, Holly, and Rowena. These three women read like madwomen, with new romance reviews up everyday! Binge, eh? Does that mean there's a Book Purge blog out there? I can always depend on the Binge, they do so much I don't know how they can maintain regular lives. Ladies, the first step is admitting you have a problem. Not to mention they have lots of giveaways. Bookarexia's a dangerous disorder, ladies - here, let me give you to the address to this treatment facility located in Siberia. No, they don't allow internet access there - why do you ask?

Wow, what a great group of competitors! Still, I hope you guys enjoy reading my blog - I have a review for Meljean Brook's Demon Angel coming up pretty soon. Be sure to keep an eye out for it.

And, don't forget:

VOTE FOR MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

You like me! You really like me!

The book-blogosphere has been heating up this week with the distribution of nominations for the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards! I nominated a bunch of my friends and fellow bloggers, but nothing surprised and delighted me more when I found myself nominated in FOUR categories:

-Best General Review Blog
"This blog doesn’t specialize in any one book genre, but it’s still excellent. Their book reviews usually cause you to add one more book to the TBR pile." Before I started writing reviews, my posts on my blog were personal and sporadic. Reviewing books, however, has changed the way I write and changed the way I read, as well!

-Best Romance Blog
"This blog is hot! And it reviews romance books in a way that keeps you coming back for more." Aaaaaaw yeah!

-Most Humorous/Funniest Blog
"This blog cracks you up. You make sure you’re never drinking anything while reading this blog for fear you may snort it out of your nose. You’ve been known to forward the posts from this blogger to friends, saying, “This is so funny! You have to read this!” Sometimes it can be incredibly difficult to come up with funny things to say about romance novels, but the difficulty also helps me to assess and analyse what I read more than I used to. And hell, I love being funny. Or being thought of as funny, I should say.

-Best Writing
"It’s not just what they say, it’s how they say it. This blog is almost as enjoyable to read as the books (and anything else) it talks about." Okay, okay, I'm enormously honoured to have received ALL my nominations, but it's this one that gets me all warm and fuzzy. Best writing? Really? Me? Someone actually nominated me for that? I mean, wow. Considering my nomination I should be coming up with something more articulate to say... but people like my writing! Yippee!

This Just In (edited August 20th): Best Reviews. "Book reviews are the heart and soul of book blogging, and this blog is the cream of the crop - consistently well-written, entertaining and informative reviews are a staple on this blog." HELL YEAH! I love writing reviews, love it, so it's AWESOME to be honoured for it. Even reading a bad novel, I know I can look forward to the unique pleasure of writing a scathing bad review, and with a good novel, I can promote it to my readers and spread the love.

THANK YOU FOR NOMINATING ME, YOU GUYS!

Congratulations to all the other nominees, and don't forget to participate in Book Blogger Appreciation Week from September 14th-18th!

I won an Award!

The wonderful Lusty Reader, whom I met in Washington D.C. during the RWA National Conference, nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger Award! Awesome! This is the first time I've won any sort of blogger award, and I'm so pleased. I have been feeling really Kreativ lately thanks to RWA - I finally started work on my novel's second draft, and I've already finished three chapters (prologue included). Sometimes it's difficult to get started writing. To me, writing is like pushing a boulder down a hill - the initial push is really difficult, the rock looks really big and it's really heavy - but once you go ahead and do it, it's gets easier and easier to keep writing, until whenever you're not, you're itching to go back and do it.

But I can't just sit on my electronic laurels:

The Kreativ rules state that:

Once you receive this award you are to list seven of your favorite things and then nominate seven other blogs.

Okay! In no particular order, seven of my favourite things:

1. Canadian spelling. I'm a bit like Anne of Green Gables - I believe spelling really can affect how romantic or beautiful a word seems to you (to my Nana Ann's dismay, I do think the e on the end of Anne makes it a prettier name). To me, flavour and honour and parlour look so much classier than flavor, honor, and parlor. Plus, it's always a bit of a jolt to read books set in historical Britain that use American spelling.

Pronunciation, too - I'm an Elizabeth with a zed, not a zee.

2. Mary Balogh. Mary Mary Mary Mary. Love her. Love her. I've only read four of her books so far (I'm too damn slow!) but every time she astounds me with how she takes romance cliches and turns them on their ear. Plus, she lives in Canada, only one province away from me (Saskatchewan).

3. Dark chocolate Kit-Kat Bars. Yum.

4. Craig Olejnik. He's a Canadian actor who stars in CTV/NBC's The Listener. Now, when I created the hero of my novel, The Duke of Snow and Apples, I didn't have a particular actor or real-life person in mind. Frederick Snow started out as rather a type of hero I like and rarely see - he's tall, lanky (not beefy), nimble, with dark curly hair and is the complete opposite of tanned (he blushes and sunburns). He also has huge blue eyes that are a source of his secret magic power, but are also his most distinctive and beautiful facial feature. Again, I had no image in mind when I created him a year ago - but then here comes Craig Olejnik and I just went, "Holy CRAP - he's got Frederick's eyes!" Weird. But cool. And pretty.

5. Books. They are my heroin. And RWA was an enormous "Heroin? You like heroin? Have some free heroin!" festival for me.

6. Choral Music. Weird, I know - but this pertains more to singing it than listening to it. I've been part of my University's mixed chorus for going on five years (even though I'm no longer *in* University) and I never fail to feel awed by the feeling of singing these gorgeous, enormous, epic songs with a hundred and fifty other people. Find an example of a choir singing "O Magnum Mysterium" on YouTube and you'll know what I mean. I love being a part of a mixed chorus. I'm a Soprano II, and I usually sit on the far left, and back, because I'm one of the louder voices (I'm the choral equivalent of a linebacker). There's even a video of me somewhere of my solo from The Little Mermaid medley we put on in 2007.

7. Instrumental Film Scores. I love movies, and I know some scenes just wouldn't be the same without the score. I have a great time imagining scenes from my novels when I listen to them. I love the bombastic themes by Danny Elfman and John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith (love the Rudy soundtrack!), although the subtler ones are good too (particularly James Newton Howard's theme for M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable).

Now, for the bloggers! Lusty Reader's already nominated a bunch I already know and love, so I nominate (again, in no particular order):

1. Ramblings on Romance. Not only do I love Kristie J's take on romance (and So You Think You Can Dance), but she's a truly amazing woman in person, too!

2. The Misadventures of Super Librarian. Wendy is an inspiration in so many ways - first, I love her blog and her lightning reviews, but she also writes about the importance of romance in libraries (my public library, for all of its good qualities *cough*booksales*cough* has a sucky romance section it does not organize). Is also super-rad in person.

3. The Booksmugglers. Love these gals. They blog about three of my favourite genres - romance, fantasy, and YA. Their reviews are hilarious and often spot-on (although we've disagreed on things before). They asked me to do a Guest Dare and instantly turned me into a Linnea Sinclair fangirl. One of my favourite blogs ever!

4. Babbling about Books, and More. I got onto her blog thanks to her posts on Ramblings on Romance and Powerpuff Reviews with the Booksmugglers. Seriously awesome - and she's also a romance blogger who's trying to make it as a romance author (like me).

5. Leslie's Psyche. Just an all-round excellent blogger, who reviews both fantasy and romance, my main genres. At the same time, she also does reviews of much older books, which is very interesting to me, who is just getting into the genre and can usually only find the newer books. She's the one who piqued my interest in Westerns.

6. The Book Binge. They always impress me with the sheer number of reviews they do, always one or two a day. This means I always check in with them, even if a good chunk of the romances they review tend to be outside my circle of interest.

7. Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Last but certainly not least - are these gals. They don't review too often on their site anymore, now usually posting news in the industry and discussion topics, but these are the women who got me started in romance. They're the ones who suggested the first romance novel I ever read (Jennifer Crusie's Bet Me), back when they were still called The Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels, and they got me hooked. I can't even remember what website I was originally on when I clicked the link to the Smart Bitches, but the beautiful site design attracted me, and the hilarious reviews that kicked bad romance novel ass while celebrating wonderful, intelligent romance inspired me to start reading a genre I'd never thought of trying. They're pretty much the reason I am where I am today.

So that's about it! A big thank you to Lusty Reader and all my reader fans!

AnimeJune's Big-Ass RWA Post: "Final Booty Call"

WARNING, the content of this post might be construed to seem like I'm bragging. I'm not bragging. I'm just stating the honest facts - okay yes I'm bragging. But not in the bad way. This is the bragging the warrior does after he's combed the chilled forests of the hinterland, taken down a rampaging bison with his bare hands, and hauled the enormous carcass home to feed his village. "Look at how BIG that bison was!"

Okay, so what I did took a lot less blood and pain (although I might have accidentally elbowed a few people at the crowded book signings) but this is probably the closest I'll ever come to big game hunting. I faced the heated battlefields of the booksignings, the lines to the ballroom, rival fangirls, riveting workshops, and now UPS has finally brought back my hard-won spoils. If you would indulge me, please let me hang the literary equivalent of a huge bison pelt on my wall. A huge bison pelt that I will eventually review all of, by the way.

What I mean to say with all this blathering, is that UPS finally delivered the box of books I shipped from RWA Nationals! So (as I mentioned I would in my other posts), let me detail the full extent of my RWA National Conference Bounty. I'm not doing pictures of them all, because that would take a long-ass time to load, but I will describe what made me choose certain books, why I'm excited to read them, where I got them, and who was lovely enough to sign them.

The short, quick and dirty version: these are all the books I got at RWA. 11 were bought at the Literacy Booksigning, 3 were bought with the $25 I won at the RWA Online Chapter party, and 69 were free of charge. The majority of these had to be shipped, thanks to the unfair restrictions in both luggage weight and volume. I think it's safe to say that it's not going to be very hard to refrain from buying books (with exceptions made for going to the Library sale with my Granny in September and spending book certificates given as gifts at Christmas and birthdays, etc.) for the next year to save money for Nashville. At least I won't have to tighten my belt.

Long version (in alphabetical order, and I'm not mentioning the books I got at the Literacy signing because I already did in a previous post):

The Summoning, by Kelley Armstrong.
I found this one while at the Avon book signing. At first she didn't have any books at the signing which I thought was weird, but more were brought in. It turns out her original books had been stolen (along with Melissa Marr's and some others that were all held in the same room at the Marriott), which makes me hopping mad. Otherwise, I was glad to try her new YA book. I've read most of the Women of the Otherworld series (I got them for free by being an employee at Chapters), and she is one of the rare paranormal authors whose work I've read and enjoyed.

Tangled Up in Love, by Heidi Betts.
The knitting cover reminded me of How to Knit a Wild Bikini, but Betts assured me at the St Martin's signing that her book was better. We'll see about that - but the story does sound nice.

One Reckless Summer, by Toni Blake.
A BIG thank you to Katiebabs and her endless generosity - she allowed me to grab this out of her box of unwanted books. I've been wanted to read this since I read the blurb - small town romance! Interclass relationship! Hooray!

Dangerous, by Monica Burns
No idea about the story or the author, but I won a copy of this trade paperback at the RWA Online Party.

Passion for the Paranormal, by Shannon K Butcher, Emma Holly, Alyssa Day, Nalini Singh, Christina Dodd, Jessica Anderson
Okay, so technically this is a book of excerpts, but it's big enough to be considered a real book in my eyes. I wrote off paranormals years ago after burning out on a couple of bad or m'eh ones for The Green Man Review (turns out I don't like Patricia Briggs, so sue me - her first book had huge-ass info dumps and the plot was convoluted and made no sense, so why should I try her other books?), but it's still a huge genre so while I can get examples for free I might as well try more.

Never Trust a Scoundrel, by Gayle Callen.
Found this at the Avon signing, where I first discovered that Gayle Callen is fantastic and superfly and gives bad-ass workshop advice. She was also offering her Julia Latham medievals, but I chose the Regency one. She told me she wrote medievals under a different name so she could have more books out at the same time. Seems like a good plan to me!

Homicide in Hardcover, by Kate Carlisle.
I won this as part of the Orange Country Chapter's prize at the Literacy signing raffle. I'm not familiar with the author, but a "bibliophile mystery" sounds intriguing.

Paradise Valley, by Robin Carr.
Found this at the St Martin's signing once it had cooled down a little and the crowds had thinned. I've heard good things about her work and I love love love small-town romances so I snatched this up quick as I could.

Plundered Treasure, by Charlotte Carter.
I won this hardcover book in the raffle prize. The title made me giggle before I read it and found out it's more of a mystery.

Charmed and Dangerous, by Toni McGee Causey.
Can you forgive me for reading the title and expecting a paranormal? Picked this up at the St Martin's signing and discovered it's more of a suspense a la Stephanie Plum (author's words).

Undressed, by Kristina Cook.
I found this in the Goody Room, but what a weirdly marketed book it is. Go to Amazon or Chapters.ca and find a picture of the cover. Everything about the cover screamed contemporary - the sleek cartoon piece of very modern underwear on the front, the jolly (instead of handwritten) font, even the title, made it sound like a chick-lit-y read. Only by reading the back did I discover it was a historical. *headdesk*

Confessions of a Duchess, by Nicola Cornick.
Found this at the Harlequin signing, and historical + pretty cover + free is pretty much catnip to me.

Tumbling Through Time, by Gwyn Cready.
I found this at the Pocket signing, and picked it over Seducing Mr Darcy - partly because I liked the idea of falling in love with your own romance hero and partly because I'm proud and prejudiced against books that screw around with Jane Austen because they always seem like fan fiction to me - I respect fan fiction, but don't think it should be published.

Start Me Up, by Victoria Dahl.
Found this book at the Harlequin signing. I've heard oodles of positive press about Victoria Dahl, and I'm glad I got the chance to pick up one of her contemporaries as opposed to one of her historicals. Don't get me wrong, I love historicals - but I made a very conscious choice to pick up a lot of contemporaries and paranormals to make sure I don't OD on empire-waist gowns.

Eve of Darkness, by S.J. Day.
Part of the raffle prize I won, donated by the Orange Country Chapter. Awesome cover, non-Caucasion heroine, religious subtext? Yes please!

Wild, Wild Women of the West, by Delilah Devlin, Layla Chase, and Myle Jackson.
This was a part of the prize package I won in a raffle, donated by the Orange County Chapter of RWA. No idea what it's about, but I've been thinking about getting into westerns.

The Girl Most Likely To ... By Susan Donovan.
Caught this one at the St Martin's signing - it sounded like an interesting contemporary. I like the idea of reuniting sweethearts and small towns.

Sins of a Duke, by Suzanne Enoch.
I already know I like her books, so even though I bought Always a Scoundrel at the Literacy Autographing event, when I saw she had another book at the Avon signing, I snatched it right up.

How I Write, by Janet Evanovich, with Ina Yalof.
This was on every chair in the ballroom during the opening session where the Stephanie Plum author gave her speech. Somewhat unsettled by the fact that the famous author didn't write her How I Write book alone.

Wild Blue Under, by Judi Fennell.
A surprising find at the Sourcebooks signing: a merman hero. Count me in!

Suddenly One Summer, by Barbara Freethy.
Found this in my RWA registration goody bag, and was instantly attracted to the beautiful cover and the plot that takes place in a small town. I am a total sucker/addict for small-town stories.

Halfway to the Grave, by Jeaniene Frost.
Found this at the Avon signing, and decided to take advantage of the free book opportunity to give the paranormal and urban fantasy subgenre of romance another go. This one sounded good, and Katiebabs loves it, so that's a firm recommendation.

The Diaper Diaries, by Abby Gaines.
I won this in the raffle. I'm mostly unfamiliar with category romances, but since I got this for free I might as well try it.

Teaming Up, by Abby Gaines.
Also in the Orange County Chapter raffle prize - it's a Nascar romance. Colour me intrigued.

The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor, by Diane Gaston, Deb Marlowe, Amanda McCabe.
Met Deb Marlowe at the awesome workshop with Sabrina Jeffries about making a single title romance series, and discovered I'd demonstrated remarkable foresight in picking up her book at the Harlequin signing before I'd met her.

Tangled Up in You, by Rachel Gibson.
Got this at the Avon signing to dilute the pure estract of Historical I was tapping from the event, entirely unaware that I was choosing this one over the book that eventually got her the RITA (Not Another Bad Date).

The Blue Zone, by Andrew Gross.
Found a huge stack of these books in the Goody Room, grabbed one. No idea who this guy is or how he writes but I guess I'll find out one way or the other.

Any Given Doomsday, by Lori Handeland.
There's been a lot of buzz surrounding this paranormal series, so when I got the chance at the St Martins' signing to get a free copy of the first book, I took my chance.

Talk of the Town, by Karen Hawkins.
Found this book at the Pocket signing, and I was interested in trying her stuff. I chose her contemporary (rather than the historical highlander romance that she was also signing) because I need to balance my diet of historicals with contemporary and paranormal and other genres, otherwise I tend to go a little nuts.

A Hint of Wicked, by Jennifer Haymore.
HOORAY! I'm so pleased I discovered this was part of the raffle prize from the Orange County Chapter of RWA! This has been on my wishlist for forever. The only regret is that Canadian Customs, when they opened my box to inspect the contents, ravaged the shit out of the cover. It's still readable though!

In Bed with the Devil, by Lorraine Heath.
I met her at the Avon signing, and the story (girl hires "devil earl" to murder a dude) sounded both enjoyably implausible and interesting, as well as being the first in a series, inspired me to pick this book up.

Forbidden Moon, by Elysa Hendricks.
When I went to the Gathering (the party for the FF&P chapter of RWA), there were goody bags on every chair - one seat at our table wasn't claimed, so the rest of those seated divided the spoils. I was given this because, as one of my tablemates said, "You're the newbie, take every opportunity for books that you can." Initially, I wanted to refuse. Why? Because it has an ugly cover. And I mean ugly. I'm talking about cheap computer graphics, an unnecessarily phallic symbol on the front, a publisher I don't know. I took one look and thought DO NOT WANT. But how fair would that be? It's not the author's fault her book looks like ass. So I'm going to make myself read it anyway.

Immortal Warrior, by Lisa Hendrix.
I've been trying to get back into paranormals, and this book sounded amazing - a Viking cursed to be an eagle in the daytime who marries a lady and has to keep it a secret. Sounds a lot like Ladyhawke. I love Ladyhawke. Thanks to the Barnes and Noble giftcard I won from RWA, I got this book free of charge!

Too Good to be True, by Kristan Higgins.
I was delighted to find this in my RWA registration goody bag! I'd heard fabulous things about her books, and the story for this novel in particular (girl makes up a pretend boyfriend to make her ex-fiance and her sister feel less guilty for falling in love with each other) really intrigued me.

Death Angel, by Linda Howard.
This was given to every attendee of the Thursday RWA Luncheon, where Linda Howard was the keynote speaker. Honestly, Linda Howard's speech was hilarious and inspirational, so I'm actually looking forward to trying the romantic suspense genre with one of her books.

Don't Bargain with the Devil, by Sabrina Jeffries
I found this in my RWA goody bag at registration. I was tempted to write Jeffries off after my lukewarm response to One Night With a Prince, but after getting this for free and really enjoying her Series Story Arc workshop, I'm definitely giving her a second chance.

Outcast, by Joan Johnston.
Found a huge pile of these in the goody room. Sounds intriguing (hero with mental issues?).

Sins of a Wicked Duke, by Sophie Jordan.
I discovered the last copy of this in the Goody Room, thanks to my preternationally-good timing, I suppose. The cover is gorgeous, and the story is about a girl who disguises herself as a footman. I'm both intrigued and wary - footmen are supposed to be tall and have sexy calves. How sexy are our heroine's calves going to be, exactly? And how tall will she be, since I doubt any image-conscious duke worth his salt would hire a short, slight footman.

Lord of Legends, Susan Krinard.
Harlequin signing. The hero is a unicorn. 'Nuff said.

The Concubine, by Jade Lee.
I won this at the Gathering by asking a question of the Q&A panel of Prism winners. I'm really excited to read this one - it's a Harlequin Historical set in ancient China, and Jade Lee in person is AWESOME. It pissed me off to no small degree to hear from Lee that the sales for this book tanked because the setting was in Asia! GRRR!

Since the Surrender, by Julie Anne Long.
I count this as a free RWA book because I ordered it with the money I got trading in my $25 Barnes and Noble gift card I won at the RWA Online Chapter party, and boy am I glad I did! Can't wait to read it!

Blood Magic, Jennifer Lyon.
Actually, I honestly can't remember where I found this - either in my goody bag or in the goody room. Either way, it has witches in it. Witches can be good.

Windswept, Ann Macela.
I won this at the RWA Online Party - or rather, I traded my $25 Barnes and Noble giftcard (the first one I won) for it, because we don't have Barnes and Nobles in Canada. I'm excited for this one - it has a gorgeous cover!

A Warrior's Taking, by Margo Maguire.
Picked this one up at the Avon signing because it was the first in a series by an author I was unfamiliar with. Maguire later took part in a workshop I attended about the high-concept historical. Cheesy cover aside, the time-travel-historical story could be interesting.

The Bride Price, by Anne Mallory.
Avon signing. Pretty, pretty, pretty cover.

For the Earl's Pleasure, by Anne Mallory.
Katiebabs let me have this from her pile of unwanted books at RWA. She was dismayed that it was a paranormal (not that she doesn't like paranormals, but rather this book is obviously marketed more as a historical - there's no mention of magic even on the back blurb), but now that I know this in advance, maybe I'll enjoy the book more.

Gentlemen Behaving Badly, by Michelle Marcos.
Found this at the St Martin's signing. Sounded good, even with the mantitty cover that looks really, really similar to the cover for Meredith Duran's Bound By Your Touch. I tend to dislike mantitty covers, I think they demean the genre a bit, but a jovial fellow conference-goer expressed her respectful disagreement by pretending to lick the cover. To each their own, I suppose.

A Highlander of Her Own, by Melissa Mayhue.
I picked this one up at the Pocket signing, mainly because I'd met Mayhue at her workshop for creating a good paranormal world. Reading Sir Walter Scott has given me such a horror of phonetically-spelled Scottish accents that I've avoided all Highlander romances, but that's not exactly fair, so I'm starting with Mayhue.

Labor Day, by Joyce Maynard.
Never heard of this author, but I found a hardcover copy of this in my RWA goody bag.

Bedding the Heiress, by Cathy Maxwell.
Snatched this up at the Avon booksigning. I've heard of Cathy Maxwell but I've never read any of her books. This is what I ultimately enjoyed about the booksignings - not just the free stuff, but the chance to try a lot of new authors at once without breaking your bank account.

Four Dukes and a Devil, by Cathy Maxwell, Elaine Fox, Jeaniene Frost, Sophia Nash, and Tracy Anne Warren.
This is an anthology I found at the Avon signing, and I don't try too many of those, although heaven knows I should - it's a great way to discover several new authors at once. It sounds good - a good mix of historical with a touch of paranormal in for kicks.

Scandal of the Black Rose, by Debra Mullins.
I picked this up at the Avon book signing. I hadn't read any Mullins before, and the blurb, with its secret spyness plot, grabbed me.

To Ruin the Duke, by Debra Mullins.
I won this in the Orange County Chapter raffle prize - so now I have two Mullins books to try.

Never Resist Temptation, by Miranda Neville.
I've never read her books, but I saw her at the Avon signing - and within days of the conference's end she Friended me on Facebook! Can't wait to read her book.

A Scotsman In Love, by Karen Ranney.
I normally have a prejudice against Scottish romances, but something about the story just drew me in, and when Katiebabs let me snag a free copy from her box of unwanted books, I couldn't say no!

Rescue Me, by Christy Reece.
This, along with Death Angel, was given to attendees of Linda Howard's luncheon. I'm not at all familiar with romantic suspence, so I'll give this one the ol' college try.

The Professors' Wives' Club, by Joanne Rendell.
Found this baby in the Goody Room. The Goody Room, while not completely comprised of free books like the popular myth, does often have books in it - the problem is that they tend to go SUPER FAST so it's usually the luck of timing.

How to Knit a Wild Bikini, by Christie Ridgway.
I think this may have been part of the raffle prize I won from the Orange County Chapter of RWA. I'm excited, because I've read one of Ridgway's books and really enjoyed it.

Awaken Me Darkly, by Gena Showalter.
I found this at the Pocket signing (I think), and I picked it up because I was interested in Showalter's series about the Lords who are cursed with the demon imbodiments of human frailty (Wrath, Pain, Doubt, etc. etc.), but she only had her Alien huntress series on the table. Still - sci-fi romance can still be good (as Linnea Sinclair has proven).

Hope's Folly, by Linnea Sinclair.
Found it in my goody bag at the Gathering. YES YES YES YES! Too bad Linnea Sinclair couldn't make it to RWA - I'd love to have met her.

Bad to the Bone, by Jeri Smith-Ready.
Found this one at the Pocket Book signing, and since I'd met Jeri Smith-Ready beforehand at the Gathering and really loved her contribution to the Q&A panel afterwards, picking it up and asking her to sign it was a no-brainer. It is the second in her series, but she assured me it wouldn't leave me lost.

Storm Glass, by Maria V. Snyder.
I was surprised as hell to find this at the Harlequin booksigning, but pleased - since the Book Smugglers wuv her very much.

Heart of the Wolf, by Terry Spear.
It came with the RWA Harlequin tote at registration. Another chance to try an interesting paranormal.

Rewriting Monday, by Jodi Thomas.
This book caught my eye a while ago and wouldn't let go. Small-town setting? Check. Editor/publisher hero? Check and check! Thanks to the Barnes and Noble giftcard I won, I ordered this as soon as I got back from Washington.

Sin and Scandal in England, by Melody Thomas.
I picked this up at the Avon signing, because I looove historicals. It was either this, or Wild and Wicked in Scotland - and even though Scotland had the prettier cover, my terror of having to translate dialogue like "I dinnae ken why ye et so muckle haggis" kept me away.

Winter Heat, by Vicky Lewis Thompson, Jade Lee, and Anna DeStefano.
I got this one at DeStefano's workshop about revising and editing your manuscript. I'm a little ashamed of this one because I whined for it. Everyone who asked a question was supposed to get a book at the end, but by the workshop's end there was a mad dash and no books left. I moped a bit about how I'd asked a question, and someone very nice and very tolerant of my whining childishness offered me their copy. I have very low social skills and read people's emotions very poorly, and I tend to blow my social mistakes out of proportion so I'm not sure if I was a whining baby or if someone at RWA was just really nice.

The Panther & the Pyramid, by Bonnie Vanak.
I came over to buy her latest book, The Lady and the Libertine, because Kristie J had raved about her - and she gave me this book absolutely free, just because it was Kristie J's favourite!

Tempted by His Kiss, Tracy Anne Warren.
Avon signing. PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY pretty pretty pretty cover. Also - I liked her workshop about getting six-figure deals selling historicals.

The Lady Flees Her Lord, by Michele Ann Young.
I caught a copy of this at the Sourcebooks signing. I'd had no idea Sourcebooks published any historicals that weren't Georgette Heyer's, so colour me surprised and delighted.

And that's about it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've suddenly become really really REALLY behind in my reading.

AnimeJune's Big-Ass RWA Post: Tuesday - "And the Lord God said, Get Thee to a Workshop!"

Okay, so I'm back and moderately rested from RWA (I recover fast, what can I say?). I decided to do my detail- and photo-intensive blog posts day by day. I may repeat myself a bit from my last blog post made from Washington on Kristie J's computer, but that was written in haste and these posts will have pictures!

Okay, so I don't have a whole lot to say for Tuesday. I got on the plane without a hitch. Everyone with Northwestern Airlines was a peach about my allergies so I had no problems flying with them other than the inevitable (boredom, no leg room). Maybe airports put something in the air, but every minute I spent in an airport (on the way back, as well) was with a big smile on my face, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

I went from my town to Minneapolis, only to find out that Minnesota rips off Canada hardcore in how their tourism board markets their state ("come look at our moose! Look at our black bears and mountains and pines!") and their airport's bookstores have NO ROMANCE SECTIONS (while still having sports and business and YA fiction sections). Then from Minnesota I was off to Baltimore where I caught the shuttle.

The shuttle took about an hour and a half, very long - but I ended up running into the first two of the many authors I met and had awesome conversations with over the conference: Nina Bangs and Gerry Bartlett. We had a great conversation and while I was very intimidated at first they were so nice and helpful. Apparently they've been friends for years and years and watching their first RITA Awards Ceremony spurred them both to become Golden Heart finalists the next year.
In the photo, Nina is in the middle, Gerry is on the right.

Also, the reaaaally long shuttle ride allowed us to get a little tour of downtown Washington which was nice. It reminded me a lot of my university - lots of new buildings standing shoulder-to-shoulder with these gorgeous old buildings.

I managed to get to the hotel in one piece and found my very own personal hotel room and found it to be the absolute perfect room for a conference - inside, it was very comfortable with a huge king-size bed and all the amenities, but it was across from the ice machine and the view from its window consisted of a blank brick wall. Essentially, this was a room that was perfect for crashing and sleeping comfortably in but it actively discouraged me from trying to spend much free time there. Essentially, God, through the Marriott Hotel Franchise, said - "AnimeJune, you are not going to cower in your room because I've ensured you're going to be bored as hell if you do!"
I was barely in my hotel room five minutes before I got a call from Kristie J! Who said she and Wendy the SuperLibrarian, Barbara and Rosie (from Nobody Asked Me, a blog I'm definitely checking out now) would be downstairs at the bar and would I like to join them?

SURE! After making myself a little presentable after seven hours on two planes, I went down to the bar. I was met by the head waiter, and I gave him a rambling and only half-remembered description of what my friends were supposed to look like.

"You don't know what they look like?" he said in disbelief.

"I met them on the internet," said I, all innocence. This was when the waiter got a deer-in-the-headlights "Oh shit I'm going to end up interviewed for an episode of Dateline: To Catch a Predator" look, but thankfully the other bloggers spotted me and I joined them for dinner. Wow! It's one thing to e-mail other bloggers and comment on their websites, it's quite another to meet them in person. Kristie J is honestly such a wonderful woman, Barbara is hilarious (and my first real-life encounter with a Brooklyn accent), Wendy knew just about everything and wasn't afraid to share some of it (I'm also thinking of getting a masters in Library Science), and Rosie was a lot of fun.

I honestly don't know what I would have done throughout the rest of the conference if I hadn't met these wonderful blogger friends first. I mean, there are thousands of opportunities to make new friends at RWA (and I took advantage of as many as I could), but it's really helpful to have a core group of people you already know from the start to keep you from getting overwhelmed or left behind by it all.

What a wonderful world we live in!

Hugh Jackman is back in theatres.

America has a black president.

And a Joss Whedon show - despite icky initial reviews and terrible ratings - has been renewed for a second season!

All is right with the world.

I'm going to the RWA 29th Annual Conference!

I did it.

I booked my plane. I booked my hotel (pricey but worth it!).

I'm going to the Romance Writers of America Annual Conference!!!

Gah! I'm so excited! I drank in all the blog entries on the last RWA conference in San Francisco and it sounded like such an awesome experience - meeting my favourite authors, going to workshops and seminars, meeting agents and editors... How exciting could that be for an aspiring romance author who is 75%....70%....okay 65% percent through the first draft of her first romance novel, The Duke of Snow and Apples.

It's my own little adventure - I might as well go while I'm young enough to recover from it, eh?

It also means I should probably set a deadline for my first romance novel, hahaha.

Any of my readers been to RWA? What's it like? What should I bring (or NOT bring)? What's your favourite part about going to the conference?