AnimeJune's Big-Ass RWA Post: Friday - "It's Business, It's Business Time"

If Thursday was when the conference started to get down to business, Friday was when the conference was all about the business. I was a bit nonplussed by the (seemingly) sudden change in tone from giddy energy to SERIOUS BUSINESS but I got used to it. Workshops all day, some booksignings, and an empty Friday night, so I have fewer pictures for this day than others.

My day started out with the Continental Breakfast, and one of the very, very few problems I had with this conference. See, I have a nut allergy, and several meals are included in the RWA registration fee (which is mighty steep). I contacted someone at RWA about my allergy, and she seemed really helpful and said that my name and information would be given to the Marriott, and that I could find her anytime with the banquet captains, and that there would always be meals and desserts made without nuts that I would be directed to every time. I thought this was amazing - I was expecting that most of my meals with the hotel would involve fruit plates or just being told what not to eat, so I was very excited. Well, I never ended up meeting this woman, none of the banquet captains during the conference knew who she was, and other than my name being on a list for the luncheons, all the rest of my allergy-meal-planning had to be done myself. I had to go to the banquet captains and order a nut-free breakfast by myself and I had to wait 45 minutes to get and eat my Continental Breakfast. Fruit plates were my dessert replacement, and at the RITA reception none of the banquet captains had ever heard of this woman I contacted and worse, none of them could tell me anything about the food they were serving and whether it had nuts in it or whether anything had been especially prepared so I ate nothing at the RITA reception.

I should be clear about this - I'm not angry at the Marriott. I'm used to dealing with my nut allergy in public venues. The reason I'm annoyed is because in my conversations with the RWA representative, I was expecting more. If I'd e-mailed her and she'd said, "Well, all I can say is check with the Marriott - it might just be fruit plates and nothing is guaranteed" - that would have been fine. I could have accepted that and dealt with it beforehand. My problem is that she said, "I will make sure the hotel does this and this and you can be sure to find me here and there will be food prepared for you etc. etc." and yet nothing was done. I was expecting more than normal so when I ended up with normal I was disappointed. I never saw her in person. None of the banquet captains she said she'd be near knew who she was. I ended up on my own for most of it. I hope she enjoys the gift I bought for her beforehand for her helpfulness because I will not be doing it again.

ANYWAY - on to more positive things. After the breakfast I rushed over to my first workshop, Mastering Your Domain: Research and Development of the Paranormal World hosted by (left to right) Alyssa Day, Stephanie Julian, and Melissa Mayhue. It was a vastly interesting workshop. They all suggested research should be done in mythology and history and all sorts of interesting subjects because that will give a fantasy world an interesting backbone - but at the same time everyone should remember that the main idea is your paranormal world is made up. By you. You create the rules, but while you must remain consistant to those rules, you can make up whatever rules you like. However, the authors did mention that if you decide to do something with a magical creature that goes against the collective consciousness regarding that creature, you need to explain it. Example: if you have a vampire character who can go out in the sun without any problem, there will be readers that complain "Everyone knows vampires can't go out in the sun!" And you will have to find a way to explain why you're doing something differently.

After that, I hit the Pocket Book Signing to pick up some interesting reads, and since the Harlequin booksigning was right next door, when I was done with Pocket I wandered into Harlequin, and found a lot more books I wasn't expecting to be interested in. I'll admit, when I hear "Harlequin Booksigning" I imagine category romance which I tend to avoid, but I forgot all about Harlequin's single titles in paranormal, YA, and historical, so I found a lot to like (I even picked up a book with a unicorn for a hero!). Because I went to the Harlequin signing and then talked to some people and then returned to my room to stash my loot, like a muttonhead I completely forgot about attending the workshop Paranormals: Writing Outside the Box, which was a shame.

So instead I lined up for the Awards Luncheon. First, the RWA President alerted us to the bombings in Indonesia which had hit Marriott hotels, bombings that had apparently been aimed at Americans. Weird, but when I'm swept up in RWA I really don't pay attention to any of the news until I'm out. Anyway, she handed out some of the honorary awards to best librarian, best bookseller, and best article that puts romance in a positive light. Afterward, Eloisa James came up to give us her Keynote speech.

Linda Howard gave us a comedic speech, Eloisa James gave us a dramatic one - mainly showing how the events in her life, both tragic and positive, gave her the opportunity to pour her emotion in the similar events she put in her fiction. It was an emotional speech, especially when she explained her fears for her daughter's frail health and her mother's disapproval of romance. I enjoyed it and it made me want to go out and WRITE RIGHT NOW. Anyhoo, since I already had the novels I found on my seat, I dropped them off at the Book Exchange, a table by the conference registration desk where people who get doubles of books can leave their extras for other people to pick up.

After the luncheon, I skipped off to the It's Not the Hottest Genre, So How Do Debut Historical Romance Authors Get Six-Figure Deals? workshop with (left to right) Tessa Dare, Tracy Anne Warren, Helen Breitwieser and Kristin Nelson (agents), Courtney Milan, and Sherry Thomas. This turned out to be much more helpful than I had expected. After all, there really isn't a formula for how to write a brilliant book that gets you the big bucks, but these authors and their agents shared the authors' query letters, discussed what the agents liked about them, and the books' opening paragraphs and writing styles that caught agent and editor attention. You need a hook, basically - or at least a really well written idea.

After this workshop came a painful decision - should I go to the Berkley and Grand Central Publishing booksignings or should I go to the Why We Love Mr Darcy: Insider Tips on the Historical Market workshop with (left to right) Laura Lee Guhrke, May Chen (Avon editor), and Julia Quinn? As you can tell from the photo, you can guess which one I went to, but still...

I love free stuff - free books, especially. I would have loved to have gone to the Berkley and Grand Central signings and snatched up more free books to squirrel away ... but then I would have missed the workshop by authors I adore that was discussing an issue I was interested in. That's when I really had to consider the money and effort I'd put into coming to this conference and what I wanted to get out of this conference. There are always free books, and if there aren't any good workshops on at the time I will hit up a booksigning, no question - but ultimately I'm here to learn and if I came away from this conference with six huge boxes of books but no workshop experience I wouldn't have considered that a good use of my investment. I already had, what, 50 free books already? This wasn't a Free Book conference, this was a Writer's conference and while the free books were a lovely bonus, I ultimately decided to go to the workshops because I am a writer and I did not travel 3000 miles and pay a huge amount of money to get free stuff.

But that can always be someone else's plan - I met someone on Saturday who said she bought the CD-ROM of all the workshops to listen to later while going to all the booksignings she could manage.

My decision turned out to be in my favour because from what I heard - the Berkley signing wasn't very well organized. Instead of letting everyone in, they let a certain number of people in at a time and only let new people in when others left. While this succeeded in thinning the crush of people in the small booksigning room, according to friends of mine who attended, this meant the people who got in first now had the time and space to snatch up all the books they could without lines, and this led to the publishers running out of books before even half the people who'd been waiting in line had a chance to get in! Personally, while the crush at booksignings can be extreme, it's necessary - better that all the people in line get 2-3 free books than a quarter of the people in line get 15 books while the rest get nothing.

The workshop with Guhrke, Quinn, and Chen was relatively illuminating - we were often distracted by the wild cheering coming from the RITA and Golden Heart Finalist party in the room next door. It was also a bit contradictory - Gurhke said if we want to succeed and make a living, we have to be businesswomen as well as artists and research the trends - but ultimately said write for yourself. Huh? What if what you're writing isn't a trend right now? I understand her idea, but I think Julia Quinn was a wee bit more helpful in making sure we research and understand the genre we're writing for and it's general trends, so that we know when we're nudging boundaries or breaking rules.

Next came What Came First, the Plot or the Character? the Yin and Yang of Creating Great Characters within Great Plots, which gave some tips on how to show and not tell about characters, and creating scenes that explain characters in an interesting way.

After that, things quieted down. Friday nights, from what I hear, are traditionally quiet because this is the night when the publishers all give parties for their authors (the Harlequin party was at the Ritz-Carlton, apparently). Katiebabs had invited me to go the big bloggers' dinner she'd planned at the local Lebanese restaurant, but I had to decline. For the same reason people with a peanut allergy avoid Thai restaurants (because they cook everything with peanut oil), people with tree nut allergies like me have to avoid Lebanese restaurants. So I figured it was going to be a quiet night. Kristie J was also too tired to do anything, so I brought up McDonalds for both of us because it was cheaper than room service and we just talked. It was a nice little bit of downtime.


But the downtime didn't last long! Pretty soon the other bloggers were back at the hotel bar so down I went for another chat. In the first picture, that's Rosie, another blogger whose name and blog I have both shamefully forgotten, and Julie James. In the second picture is Aymless, who is AWESOME. I met her at the Literacy signing and she blew me away with all of her energy. While we were talking in the bar, a woman comes up and I asked her name, and she said, "Shiloh Walker."

Cue double-take! She doesn't like having her picture taken but she was a blast to talk to. Lots of fun and energy. She had a southern accent (as a Canadian, I had a hard trouble telling a Southern accent and a Lower Midwest accent apart, which unintentionally offended the Midwesterners who insisted they didn't have an accent), but she said it was because she was lazy rather than being actually southern. As a nurse, she had a lot of things to say about sex scenes that were not only anatomically impossible but damn unhygenic.

After awhile a cowboy (yes, a cowboy) with a porn 'stache dropped off some cupcakes leftover from the Harlequin party and in the last photo you can see Aymless enjoying one. Very surreal (the cupcake cowboy, that is). Eventually people drifted off and I crashed into bed, ready for the last day of the conference.

AnimeJune's Big-Ass RWA Post: Thursday - "And Lo, At My Command Books Shall Rain from the Sky"

Okay, Thursday - Thursday was a day when people started getting down to business. Workshops began today, editor and agent appointments started today, and while there was still a lot of fun and networking and craziness to be hand, there was some buckling down (although not nearly as much buckling-down as Friday and Saturday demanded).

I got in line at the hotel's restaurant for breakfast, and ended up standing behind Elizabeth Hoyt in line (although she left for her table before I could talk to her). I had breakfast with a mother and daughter - the former a published Inspirational author, the latter an aspiring author. It was wonderful - there's such a sense of trust at RWA in the "we're all authors" vein that if you sit still long enough someone will invite you along to do whatever it is they're already doing. I have to admit, to my great misfortune, that I have forgotten their names (I forget a lot of names, which is why I've spent that last week poring through the business cards I received putting names to faces).

After breakfast came the Opening Session with Janet Evanovich. On every chair in that room were free copies of How I Write by her, and I learned that every function with a keynote speaker gave free copies of the speakers' books to everyone. First, of course, we had a speech by RWA President Diane Pershing who was great at getting us all motivated and excited for RWA. Then we had Janet Evanovich who basically answered questions that were given to her on cue cards that she hadn't seen before. She was pretty funny - starting with "It's so hard to be cool as Janet Evanovich," showing off her broken foot that she'd received falling off a stage during a booksigning in Toronto. She ended describing how, dejected at the packing crate full of rejection letters she'd received, she took it out into the yard and set it on fire.

She choked up a bit (and everyone in the room did too) when she mentioned how her husband and son came out and gave her a hug before they told her, "Your editor just called" when she finally made her first sale. That was the cool bit - every woman in that room was on the exact same page about the magic (or anticipated magic for when they finally get one) of the first sale.

After that I checked at the conference desk to see if my ticket had won in the raffle - during the Literacy Signing there was a huge raffle where different chapters of RWA donated baskets of goodies and books by their authors to be won, and people bought tickets and placed their tickets in the little bags beside whichever prize they wanted to win. Sure enough - I WON A RAFFLE PRIZE! WHOOHOO! From the Orange County Chapter! I got a bag of books (including Jennifer Haymore's A Hint of Wicked which was on my wish list!), some gorgeous stationary (individual handmade cards! How could I ever mail them, they're so pretty! I'm very selfish and would rather mail them to myself...) and a license plate holder that said Romance Writers Love Doing Research. Almost makes me wish I had a car. And maybe a driver's license. Maybe I should make a contest on my blog, but I should e-mail and ask the OCC first - I don't want to re-gift such a wonderful prize without getting their okay.

A couple of hours after that came the Keynote Luncheon with Linda Howard as speaker. Again - free books on the seats, and some interesting people.

The woman on the left is Kathrynn Dennis, author of Shadow Rider (and also a horse veterinarian!), and the woman on the right is Jessa Slade with her "First Sale" ribbon, author of Seduced by Shadows (who was bragging about her "naked man chest" cover). It was a hoot talking to them - I traded my business card for their promotional materials (such as an excerpt of Seduced by Shadows - I got a lot of excerpts, hmmm, maybe I should do a joint minireview of all of them?).

On my other side at the table was Kit Donner, holding up the cover flat of her first sale, The Notorious Bridegroom. It made me itch to get started on the outline for the second draft of The Duke of Snow and Apples so that I could hurry up and finish the book and hurry up and pitch it to an agent so I could hurry up and get my first sale ribbon when I go to RWA next year (umm, yeah, one of the things that was pounded into my head during the conference - in the publishing industry and the lives of those that aspire to it, there is no hurrying whatsoever).

Linda Howard, as the lunch speaker, was hilarious. Her speech, basted in a golden Southern accent, was meant to be inspirational, so she detailed how she agreed to be the Keynote Speaker while still under the effects of general anesthesia; how if you have an injured leg and your wife has an injured leg you shouldn't drag her wheelchair behind your car tied to a cord, or if you absolutely must you better damn well make sure it's not a BUNJEE CORD (true story - Linda Howard calls herself "keeper of the nuts," in regards to her crazy family); but if you can handle your crazy relatives and cows ("the devil's handmaidens - they have horns, the devil has horns. Coincidence? I THINK NOT") and still manage to write - you're a true author, hahahaha.

After that came the workshops. The first one I attended was Hot Vampires, Demon Slayers, and Enchantresses: the Many Flavors of Fantasy that was hosted by Pati Nagle (the woman in blue with the loooong hair) and Mary Jo Putney (on the far left). This was interesting because it helped to differentiate between fantasy, urban fantasy, fantasy with romantic elements, fantasy romance and paranormal romance. Basically the main message these two wonderful authors (Putney, more romance than fantasy; Nagle, more fantasy than romance) was that in the description of category, one is the adjective and one is the noun, and the noun should be the dominant genre in my story. Example - in fantasy romance, romance is the noun so that story should be dominated by the romance. In romantic fantasy, fantasy is the noun so that story should be dominated by the fantasy aspects.

After that, my friends, came that most wonderful of RWA National events - the publisher booksigning. In this case, the first one on Thursday was the Avon signing. Essentially, at publisher booksignings, a number of authors under a particular publisher all get into a room and sign copies of their books. For free. FREE. FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

I'm not kidding - it's like Halloween for readers. You line up in front of author tables, say hi, they sign a book, you put it in your giant gorgeous Harlequin tote or a large box and you move on to someone else. It's fantastic. But - there are lines, particularly for the more popular authors like, in Avon's case, Eloisa James, Julia Quinn, and Stephanie Laurens. Wendy the SuperLibrarian advised that for the authors you really like that are must-haves on your list, the safest bet is to buy their books at the Literacy Signing. Because of the lines and the crowds and the randomness, the booksignings are better for trying newer authors - although if you can get a copy of your favourite author's book for free, might as well.

I picked up Suzanne Enoch's Sins of a Duke, Tracy Anne Warren's Tempted By His Kiss (in part for its bee-yu-tee-full cover) for a start. I also picked up a copy of Sophia Nash's The Kiss for Barbara who had to miss most of the publisher booksignings because she had workshops at the same time. Now, after my vehement dislike of The Kiss, why would I give a copy of it to someone else? Well, I love Barbara, but reading her blog I know we tend to differ a great deal on the types of romance we like so I figured if I hated it, she'd be sure to love it! I also got a bunch of other cool books that I will discuss in detail once UPS sends the box to my house.

After that I walked through the bar in the hotel and saw a familiar face whose name I couldn't quite remember. I figured, "I recognize her face, she must be an author!" and she caught me staring and came over - and it turned out to be Katiebabs from Babbling about Books! I sat down to talk with her, Julie James, and the incomparably awesome Joanna Bourne.

She wrote My Lord and Spymaster and Spymaster's Lady and just won the RITA. She was really super nice and helped me a lot with some of my questions about historical research (Googlebooks is apparently a fantastic resource). You can bet I was cheering extra loud when she won the RITA.

After that came Lauren Willig's How to Live in Another Century or Just Sound Like You Did workshop. She was helpful. While I was still a little intimidated by all the research I feel I still haven't done, I found I already researched in much the same way she suggested - first, general research (immersion in the period), then more specific research (when I stopped studying The Regency in general and started researching Servants in Particular) and spot research (when I come up against a particular problem while I'm writing). I take heart from the fact that my novel is a fantasy romance set in a world based on Regency England so that I don't have to be exactly like Regency England (for instance, in my world, daughters can inherit as long as there are no sons because direct magical bloodlines are more important than men inheriting so there are more peeresses in their own right).

After that, came the Gathering - the party and general meeting for the FF&P (that's Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal) chapter of RWA. I sat at a great table with some wonderful people (and I got Linnea Sinclair's Hope's Folly in my goody bag! Hooray!), and had a great time, even though I was behind a pillar and could see absolutely nothing.

These two wonderful ladies are La-Tessa (on the left) and Marguerite (on the right), whom I met first at the RWA Online party and now here at the Gathering. Seriously, they were a blast to talk to. One of their funniest stories was how they got a publicist fired because said publicist asked them to change one of their book reviews because they referred to the heroine as a "stereotypical island nymph."

Marguerite: "I wrote that because I was being professional. I could have just called her a ho."

Publicist: "The heroine went to grad school!"

Marguerite: "Fine - she's an educated ho."

Publicist: "She's an attorney!"

Marguerite: "So she's a loose litigator!"

La-Tessa: "We even talked to the author, she said 'Hell, I know she's a ho! That's how I wrote her!'"

After this, came the Prisms - the awards for the best Paranormal romance, and it was interesting to note the different categories (Light Paranormal, Dark Paranormal, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Novella, Young Adult, Time Travel, Erotica - pretty cool). What was really fun was afterwards some of the winners participated in a panel where we could ask questions. In this picture, from left to right, we have Isabo Kelly, Leanna Renee Hieber, Jade Lee, Jeri Smith-Ready, and Catherine Asaro.

When I got up to ask my question, they all admired my glossy red pumps, and I increased my sci-fi street cred to an incredible degree when I revealed I shared a hometown with Firefly's Nathan Fillion and "my sister once sold beer to his mom" ("Oh my God, you're one degree away!" cried Leanna).

There was some great info to be hand. Leanna talked about the importance of small presses like Crescent Moon, and that they shouldn't be discounted just because they're small because they can often give your manuscript the attention and focus it needs that larger presses might not have time to provide. On the other hand, she also said we shouldn't sell our work short and not try the larger presses as well because we think we're not good enough.

After that, I just stayed behind and talked. There is so much opportunity for excellent conversation at RWA, let me tell ya. I took a picture with Jade Lee (and I won a copy of her book The Concubine and was dismayed to discover how poorly it had sold because it was a Chinese historical instead of an English historical). I also talked more with Leanna Renee Hieber, because her fantasy romance (The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker) is based in Victorian England. And I even met Angie Fox (author of The Accidental Demon Slayer).

Now, by this point it was 10 pm and I thought I might head to bed early and read a little - but no. There is little to no downtime at RWA, so just heading to my hotel room I ran into people going to the Moonlight Madness Bazaar (where chapters of RWA sell handmade goodies to raise funds), and I bought a t-shirt that said "Romance Writer" on the front and "As a matter of fact I do write real books" on the back.

Wandering around some more I just happened upon the eHarlequin pyjama party. I was not wearing pyjamas, by the way, but I didn't stick out too much. People asked partygoers to make up the best story about their pyjamas, and I won a cute paperweight when I said that my pyjamas, being Canadian-government-issued, had been held up at Customs because they wouldn't let PJ's made of moose-fur, polar bear-fur, and Wayne Gretzky's hair over the border.

After that, well, it really was time to crash. Good thing I still had Friday and Saturday to look forward to!

AnimeJune's Big-Ass RWA Post: Wednesday - "AnimeJune Explores Washington"

Well, on Wednesday, I woke up bright and early (or as brightly early as a foreigner in a time zone two hours ahead of her own can be) and (after I ordered room service breakfast, as mentioned in a previous post) registered for the conference. Upon the registration, I received a first taste of what would be a heady and addictive thrill at the National Conference: free stuff. With registration, I got a gorgeous totebag with this year's logo and the pictures of old-school Harlequin covers on it, a totebag that came complete with program, flashdrive (containing workshop handouts and free e-books), and six free novels. Awesome. After registration I headed to the goody room.

I'd been warned beforehand about the myth that the goody room is a room of free books. It's not - the goody room is a promotion room, where authors and publishers drop off promotional materials for the taking. The materials can be books (I found Sophie Jordon's Sins of a Wicked Duke there), but more often they're beautiful bookmarks, pens, magnets, postcards, cover flats and excerpt booklets. There's something for everyone and it's updated regularly. Really, it's like a treasure hunt - if you check it once or twice a day, you're bound to find something interesting.

After goody-ing up, I went sightseeing with Kristie J and Barbara (Kristie J is the one who's laughing, and Barbara is the blonde). Kristie J had already been on the bus tours but they decided to try and get a closer look at some of the sights so they followed my lead.

I do like to be prepared, so beforehand I'd researched the fantastic Washington Metrorail and its various stops and plotted an easy and relatively cheap route to the National Mall. The ride was smooth and uneventful except for that first escalator ride to the bottom - it was so long and steep it was a little frightening!

We made it to Smithsonian station and rose up into the sunlight. The weather that day was flawless - hot and clear, with the giant Washington monument that has to be seen in person to be really appreciated looming over everything.

We decided to hit the National Museum of American History first. It was pretty interesting. It had everything from the personal items of the US's first presidents to Seinfeld's Puffy Shirt to the original Ruby Slippers.

We went through nearly the whole museum, and by the time we left Kristie and Barbara were beat and decided to return to the hotel. I considered going with them, but I figured it's a public place in the middle of the day and I'm only going to be young once, so I decided to trek all the way from the Museum of American History to the Lincoln Memorial and back. First I had to pass the World War II Memorial.
I'll admit I sniffled a little at the WWII Memorial. I mean, my great-grandfather fought in the war, but he didn't die there and other than that I don't really have personal ties to WWII. It was a beautiful memorial, though, and new. It was made in 2004 and there was a lot of controversy because some people thought its construction would impede the view of the Mall.

Kept walking though - the weather was great and I drank a lot of water. Still, it was a long walk. By the time I approached the Lincoln Memorial, I realized, "Oh crap. STAIRS."
And yet somehow I made it up there to photograph more beautiful views, if that's even possible.

Then, of course, the problem came when I had to come back down and walk all the way back to the Smithsonian Metro station. Thankfully on the way I was pleasantly distracted by two more monuments - the stunning Korean War Memorial and this beautiful temple that I can't identify but I'm sure is something important (I'm Canadian, sorry - does anyone else know what it is?).


After I returned to the hotel I had a shrieking headache so I crashed in my room, ate junk food in bed (a unique hotel perk), and slept until the Literacy signing, where more awesomeness occurred! In case you're unaware, the Literacy Autographing at RWA National is a huge charity event where 500 authors get together in one room, their publishers donate books, and fans walk up, talk to the authors and get the books signed before buying them, with the proceeds going to a literary charity. There are also raffles and prizes for further fundraising. I had a great time at the signing, and here's who I stopped by to see:

Meredith Duran. She is awesome. Going to RWA helped me discover that about authors I haven't even read yet. She wrote Duke of Shadows which set the blogging world on its ear and from what I hear this new book of hers I got, Bound By Your Touch, is just as good. I didn't just meet her at the signing, however - we ended up running into each other surprisingly frequently during the conference.

Gaelen Foley. I finished The Duke and I loved it, so of course I had to track Gaelen Foley down at the signing and get a picture as well as a copy of her newest, My Wicked Marquess.

Suzanne Enoch. I loved After the Kiss, so I decided not to buy the last book in the series (Always a Scoundrel) on purpose so that I could pick up a signed copy from her in person.

Julie JAMES! Again, her latest (Practice Makes Perfect) was a book I held off on buying because I was looking forward to getting it at the signing. Seriously, Julie James is just plain fun to hang around - we totally ended up in similar circles during the conference.

Julie Anne Long. She is probably the author I gushed the most embarassingly at. I love her writing style. Love it. Tried to make that clear in sixty seconds or less. Whether or not it worked is a secret only she knows.
Kate Noble. Blame the Booksmugglers for this - they hyped her two books so well I knew I had to get me a copy - or two (beta heroes? Yes please!). She seemed surprised I wanted to take both, but hey - more for charity!

Bonnie Vanak. I'm unfamiliar with her work (but familiar with her blog), but Kristie J recommended I swing by her table and drop a word or two because Bonnie Vanak is, as Kristie J insisted, Very Good People. To prove it, Ms Vanak not only sold me a copy of The Lady and the Libertine, but also gave me a free copy of Kristie's favourite book, The Panther and the Pyramid. I mean, wow. She is Very Good People.

Nora Roberts. I didn't actually get one of her books (Blue Dahlia remains on my TBR *sigh*), but I did ask for a photo because she's one of my Granny's favourite authors and I knew Granny was feeling down.

Eloisa James. I already admired Eloisa James for her novels, her columns, and most importantly her latest responsibility as the poster child for literate, Ivy-league educated romance readers, but her luncheon keynote speach on Friday was a thing of beauty (I'll explain more on the Friday post).

Laura Lee Guhrke. Meeting her was a blast. I told her I'd packed one of her older books on the plane (His Every Kiss) and she explained how she'd been inspired by listening to an interview with William Shatner (who suffers from tinnitus, same as the hero from Kiss), and so I should keep eyes open because I'll never know when a good story idea comes along!

But, amazingly enough, that's not all! After this long, exhaustive day I went to the RWA Online Chapter party. I met some really astoundingly kick-ass people - from Marguerite and La-Tessa (whom I would also meet at The Gathering the next day), to Jamie and Jess (middle and right in the photo - I'm sorry to the lovely woman on the left, but I forgot your name! -_-). I also won some free books and a Barnes and Noble gift card!

After the party, though, I allowed myself to stumble into bed. Amazing - other than my nap, I got almost no downtime, and the workshops hadn't even started yet!

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.

Blogging from Washington, Part 1

I'm now in Washington, DC, typing from Kristie J's computer (thanks Kristie J!), and recovering from an exhausting but fantastic couple of days.

Yesterday, I took two flights that eventually landed me in Baltimore, where I then took a shuttle that took an hour and a half to reach Washington DC. Good news, though, I ended up on the same shuttle with paranormal authors Gerry Bartlett and Nina Bangs! It was awesome talking to them, taking photos with them - what a great initial experience for the conference! Bad news: discovered of all the things I could have forgotten to pack, I forgot to pack lipstick (but not my new eyeshadows!).

Tired as I was, it wasn't long before I ran into Kristie J, Wendy the Superlibrarian, Rosie, and Barbara. We had a lot of fun talking about romance with other people who knew what secret babies and alpha/beta males were!

Next day, used some of my Granny's gift money to spend shamelessly on room service breakfast (thanks Granny!). Registered for the conference today - there are two other conferences going on the in the same hotel but ours is the most exciting. Didn't see the attendees of the other conferences finding free romance novels and flashdrives loaded with reference materials in their boring totebags which totally weren't covered in fabulous examples of Harlequin covers spanning 60 years! I also checked out the Goody Room, where there were more free books, as well as cool cover flats, bookmarks, luggage tags, fridge magnets, pens. Great way to promote your materials!

Went sightseeing with Kristie J and Barbara - saw the Washington Monument. Checked out the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, where we saw the original Kermit the Frog puppet and the actual ruby slippers used in The Wizard of Oz! Afterward, Kristie J and Barbara headed back to the hotel, so I decided to check out the rest of the monuments (Lincoln, Korean War, World War II) on my own. It was quite a walk, but the weather was gorgeous (really hot, but the nice really hot if you have a sunhat and a cold bottle of water). Took some great photos.

Came back exhausted and with a killer headache, so I slept until the Literacy Signing. I will post photos of the entire trip once I get back so I'll just have to give you a description now: I met most of my favourite authors and picked up lots of books (for charity! for CHARITY!), and I got a picture with Nora Roberts for Granny (get well soon, Granny!). I have to cut this short and edit in links later because I have to get ready for the RWA Online Chapter party. See you later!

How You Will Recognize Me At RWA

In less than 12 hours I will be boarding the plane (one of the planes, anyway) that will be taking me to Washington, DC for the RWA National Conference. I plan on meeting up with many blogging friends (and authors and readers), but since I've known or met or spoken with them over the internet, how shall we know each other? Well, I don't know about other bloggers, but without giving too much away, if you are at RWA:

1. I'll be the loud one. Yes. Louder than everyone else. "I CAN'T SEEM TO CONTROL THE VOLUME OF MY VOICE!"

2. I might be the one singing Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie's "The War of 1812" in front of the White House ("And the White House burned, burned, burned, and we're the ones that did it" - look it up on YouTube, CANUCK PRIDE 4 LIFE).

3. I might be the one dragged off for a cavity search for singing "The War of 1812" in front of the White House ("The White House burned, burned, burned, and things were very historical - and the Americans ran and cried like a bunch of little babies, wah wah waaaaah - in the War of 1812!").

4. I'll be the one squirrelling every book I can get into my backpack/tote/purse/moneybelt (somehow?). I treat swag and free stuff like the internet - IT'S SERIOUS BUSINESS. When I went to the last job fair at my university, I returned home with 47 pens and a full freezer bag of candy just from picking it up from the tables and talking to people (the one thing I didn't bring back, oddly enough? A job). Imagine what I'll do at RWA.

5. I'm the one wearing black and white polka-dots, black trousers and glossy red pumps to every formal party/function (I'm packing light. Why? See above).

6. I'll be chatting up my (still planning my second draft, damn it to hell) novel, The Duke of Snow and Apples. I might mention words like "colour symbolism" and "magically-Regency-ish".

7. I'll be the one handing a Canadian souvenir to the wonderful Cheryl Dickerson who has been such a great help with accomodating my food allergies at the RWA-provided meals.

Other than that, I'll will just have to see how things go. I will be handing out business cards. I will be attending workshops (mostly about historical research and fantasy worldbuilding). I picked my two travelling books. I'm almost done Sabrina Jeffries' One Night With a Prince, but I think I'll be leaving it behind to finish later (horndog asshole hero + actually alright heroine who shouldn't put up with his bullshit = indifferent read). Nope, on this trip I'm bringing His Every Kiss by Laura Lee Guhrke (I haven't read much by her in a while), and Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas. Yeah, I caved. I felt so apathetic towards Private Arrangements and I couldn't understand why, because it was legitimately well-written. So I'm trying again with Not Quite a Husband. Maybe I'll have the same response I had to Julie Anne Long (where I hated her first book but impressed with her writing and was rewarded by her next one).

Hope to see you there!

"The Duke," by Gaelen Foley

Alternate Title: Ho For Show

The Chick: Belinda Hamilton. After an obsessed and unwelcome suitor destroyed her family's finances and living on the streets ruined her future, the formerly virtuous finishing-school teacher decides to become a courtesan. Luckily for her, on her first foray on the open market (so to speak), she hooks up with the honorable Duke of Hawkescliff, a man who will pay her to pretend to be his mistress while they smoke out a killer.
The Rub: Although both agree to a no-sex clause in their arrangement, Bel ends up falling for Hawkescliff's virtue and steadfastness. However, thanks to scars from her past she's terrified of the act of lovemaking.
Dream Casting: Romola Garai.

The Dude: Robert Knight, Duke of Hawkescliff. For years he repressed his love for his oldest friend's wife, and when her husband informs him he suspects his nephew Dolph might have killed her, Robert thinks the best way to squeeze Dolph into confessing is to pretend a courtship with the object of Dolph's obsessive affection: Belinda Hamilton.
The Rub: While Robert believes himself morally superior to paying for sex from a dolled-up whore, he ends up enjoying Belinda's company far more than he anticipated. But, as a prominent Tory politician, can he afford to jeopardize his sterling reputation by involving Belinda in a deeper commitment?
Dream Casting: Richard Armitage.

The Plot:

Earl of Coldfell: Dude, you loved my wife - now avenge her death!

Robert: Yes, sir!

Dolph, Suspected Murderer: Belinda, Belinda, Belinda, Belinda, Belinda. I love Belinda. Can't wait to marry Belinda.

Belinda: Oh, did I mention? I'm a courtesan now.

Dolph: WHAT. THE. HELL.

Robert: *lightbulb!* Miss Hamilton, want to kill two revenge birds with one stone? Let's team up! ..............only without sex.

Belinda: Thank goodness he doesn't want to have sex! I'm terrified!

Robert: Thank goodness I don't have to have sex! I have morals!

Belinda: *prepares dinner* *dresses pretty* *hosts parties* Who knew? I like being a political hostess!

Robert: *buys Belinda fancy presents* *takes her on drives* Who knew? I like making my fake girlfriend happy!

Belinda and Robert: Oh shit, we're perfect for each other!

Robert: But I can't marry you, I have a reputation!

Belinda: But I can't be your mistress if you're married!

Every Other Character in the Book: Robert - DON'T BE AN ASS.

Robert: Fine, let's get married!

Belinda: Hooray!

Romance Convention Checklist

1 Ho fo' Sho'

3 Hos for Reals (Harriette Wilson and her sisters!)

2 Precocious Children

2 Precocious Siblings

1 Loving but Still Neglectful Parent

1 Loving but Still Slutty Parent (deceased)

1 "No Sex" Agreement Doomed to Failure

1 Fancy Coach and Four

1 Case of Muuuuuuuuuuurder

2 Romantically Lacklustre Rivals

1 Secondary Romance

1 Rape

1 Royal Ass-Whupping as Punishment of Rape

The Word: Well, who knew I'd find another great author right before I'm set to attend the RWA National Conference that she'll be attending? Murphy's Law, right? I hope my luggage can handle the extra weight of books. I've had this book on my TBR pile for a while now, and after reading an excellent book by an author I knew (Jo Goodman), I decided to pick up a book by an author I didn't. And what a good lucky dip it was!

Robert Knight, Duke of Hawkescliff, is an honourable man. When he fell in love with the much-younger wife of his old friend, the Earl of Coldfell, he did nothing about it. When Lucy, the wife, dies under mysterious circumstances, Coldfell tells Robert he suspects foul play and the person responsible for it. However, as he's too elderly to exact revenge himself, he trusts Robert with the task, explaining his strong suspicions that his wastrel nephew and heir Dolph Breckinridge did it to prevent Lucy from conceiving a child that would have deprived him of his inheritance.

Belinda Hamilton used to be a virtuous woman - that is, until Dolph Breckinridge set his sights on her. When she refused his attentions, he had her father thrown in prison for debt. When she found work as a finishing-school teacher, he had her fired. Reduced to working as an orange girl in the streets, penniless and friendless thanks to Dolph, she's eventually raped by her father's prison warden. Thinking her last precious possession (her virtue) has been stolen, she believes there's no point in guarding her reputation any longer. However, she would rather swallow glass than marry Dolph, so she decides to stick it to Dolph and get some ready cash to spring her father at the same time by asking the famous Harriette Wilson (a real-life courtesan who counted Wellington among her lovers) to train her as a courtesan.

Robert first meets Belinda when she's just finished her training as a courtesan. She's well on her way to charming the pants off all the eligible men in London, but she hasn't chosen an official protector yet. Robert, after ingratiating himself with Dolph in an attempt to sneak a confession out of him, discovers Dolph's obsession with Belinda. The brute is outraged when he discovers "his" woman would rather be a whore than marry him, and Robert sees an opportunity to put the screws to Dolph and send him over the edge: if he becomes Belinda's protector, he'll have something important enough to hold over Dolph that just might be worth confessing to murder for.

Robert approaches Belinda, offering to be her protector. Belinda is immediately attracted to him - not only is he handsome and rich, but he has a reputation for honour and integrity and is unmarried (Belinda, for all that she's a courtesan, still struggles with the idea of competing with a wife). She even agrees with his political views! The arrangement promises to be mutually beneficial in all sorts of ways: both of them want revenge against Dolph Breckinridge, and Robert, far too upstanding and moral to really use a courtesan, promises to pay and treat Belinda like a mistress without bedding her like one. Belinda, still traumatized from her rape, thinks this is an awesome idea.

However, the wonderful joy of this novel comes from how this plan goes horribly, horribly wrong. While both Robert and Belinda work hard to maintain the appearance of being a loving couple, neither of them plan on how much they end up enjoying it - Robert particularly. Rigidly moral in his views, he sneers at the general idea of mistresses and courtesans, but he quickly discovers he loves spending time pleasing Belinda and surprising her with presents. One of my favourite scenes is when he buys her a carriage and horses and his boyish "aw, shucks" reaction to Belinda's delight.

Belinda, meanwhile, to repay Robert, goes above and beyond the tasks of a mistress - arranging his household, hosting parties, tuning his instrument (his piano, you pervs!), and discovers the same thing - she loves helping him and making him comfortable. The greater part of the novel is how Robert and Belinda have to deal with their immediately happy feelings around each other - the murder mystery is pretty much a flimsy piece of fluff designed to bring the protagonists together.

And I loved the protagonists. Robert's mother was Georgiana Knight, the "Hawkescliff Harlot," a woman who gave her husband two legitimate children (Robert and his baby sister Jacinda) but produced four other sons from her adulterous liaisons. Robert grew up watching how his mother's antics unmanned his father and was determined to live a moral life. So, yes, he's a righteous, proud, upstanding prude. But he's not mean about it, and that's the kicker. Even though he disapproves of courtesans and mistresses, he never goes out of his way to bludgeon Belinda with his dislike and he treats her with courtesy and kindness. It was delightful to watch how easily he jumped down from his high horse whenever Belinda needed him to - when he finally does find out Belinda's painful secret, his actions are immediate, hella bad ass, and definitely don't adhere to any rulebook.

Similarly, Belinda is not "oh woe is me" about being a courtesan - while she wishes life had been different, she had reasons for her choice and accepts the consequences. Ultimately she wishes she hadn't had to become a courtesan - but she doesn't reject the wealth and fancy gowns and presents that Robert gives her as being "bought with sin" or some crap. She doesn't reject or resent Robert as the man who's paying for her affections, either. She needs the money, Robert is kind enough to give it to her, and she's creative enough to repay him with her hostessing skills and public attentions. This is not a romance where the hero and heroine meet, instantly dislike each other, and proceed to insult and belittle each other until they fall into bed.

Really, nearly the whole novel impressed me - Gaelen Foley does a great job integrating the history of the period into the story. Several real-life personages appear - politicians, artists, courtesans - and their inclusion in the story makes sense and adds to the historical atmosphere rather than seeming like convenient name-dropping. Robert is a prominent politician, therefore it makes sense when he meets real-life ministers and dignitaries. Similarly, as a prominant courtesan, Belinda naturally would deal with Harriette Wilson and her sisters and their famous lovers and hangers-on.

This novel would have been a perfect A if not for the third act, which sagged a bit as the conflict ran out of steam. We get some waffling from the hero, some laboured justifications for Robert's slutty mum (that don't totally redeem her, in my opinion), and some last-minute conflict resolutions. Otherwise, though, this was a lovely novel with refreshingly open and loving characters.
A-