RWA '12 Thumbs Up - Thumbs Down

I've had a day or so to recuperate from the Romance Writers of America annual conference, so here’s my take on the event. I’m keeping it simple. Either a thumbs up, or a thumbs down.

Time spent with old friends. – It’s always good to see old friends, some of which I only get to see once a year at this event.

Meeting new friends. – All you have to do is turn and say hello to the person next to you, and voila! – new friend! Love it!

The Connect Lounge – Combined with the Goody Room, this roomy venue provided a place to chat with friends in person and online. Free Wi-Fi was provided by Sony, Tor/Forge, Samhain and Belle Books. Thanks to everyone who contributed. The free Wi-Fi saved countless dollars for conference attendees!

Food – Sustenance was plentiful this year. Continental breakfast was great – lots of healthy and tasty choices, and even if you were the last one to come down, you could still find something to eat at one of the numerous serving stations. There was a suspicious lack of places to actually perch to eat on Thursday, but that was corrected on Friday. Kudos to RWA and Marriott for a job well done. Luncheon on Thursday and Friday was delicious. The presentation was lovely, and the servers efficient and polite. Again, a job well done. For those meals not provided in the registration fee, there were good, reasonably priced choices in the hotel, and a short walk outside. The Starbucks/ café even had a place to sit.This is not always the case, so more kudos for that.

Literacy Signing – The room was huge!!! What a nice surprise! I wasn’t sure about the new non-alphabetical layout, but it only took a minute to find specific authors, then I’d turn a corner and be pleasantly surprised to see another author I didn’t know I was looking for. LOL Major kudos for raising over $50K for literacy programs!

Keynote Speech – Stephanie Laurens rocked the house this year with her take on the changing landscape of the publishing industry, particularly the choices authors have in regards to getting their work to the reader. Ms. Laurens received a standing ovation from the packed ballroom.

Awards Luncheon Speech – Given by Robyn Carr. Need I say more?

Annual General Meeting – Kudos to the Board of Directors for their forward progress toward giving self-published authors the recognition they deserve. New rules will allow self-pubbed authors to enter PAN with $5K in sales on a single book. More kudos to RWA for moving the Golden Heart contest into the twenty-first century. Next year, all entries will be received electronically!


An eBook wins a RITA - Yep, we've been waiting for this to happen! Congratulations to Fiona Lowe for her landmark win. Her Contemporary Single Title Romance, Boomerang Bride from Carina Press made history as the first ever eBook to win a RITA.

Van Gogh Vodka Event – Three free vodka cocktails. No need to elaborate on that.

Self-publishing workshops – Was it just me, or were there more workshops this year geared to the self-publishing option? They covered the gamut from why to how, and marketing if you do. 

Venue layout – For the most part, everything was on one level this year, as well as all in the same general area. No escalators or elevators to take. No guessing which floor a certain ballroom was on. Once I figured out Platinum was to the right, Grand and Marquis to the left, I was set to go.

I have to give kudos to the Marriott for the bar layout. Lots of room for groups to spread out onto the patio or into the lobby. Again, not always the case.

Massage Station – Whether you took advantage of the massage station or not, the guys giving the massages were eye candy guaranteed to loosen you up!

Small Rooms – I figured out too late (entirely my fault for not reading the fine print) that our room that slept four was equipped with full-size beds. Seriously? I didn’t know there was a hotel on the planet that didn’t put at least Queen-size beds in their double rooms. Oh well, I could have forgiven them that since my bed-mate was skinny, but the room was tiny. Even without luggage for four, plus mountains of SWAG and books, we would have felt cramped. Note to self – read the fine print next year before deciding how many roomies to take on. Not that I regret spending time with my roomies. They were the best! If they weren’t, I probably would have killed them. That’s how cramped it was.

Temperature Control – It’s a common complaint. I almost froze to death in every workshop. I guess it beats the alternative, but still. I have to complain about something!

Clash of Events – I was really disappointed that the Passionate Ink party was at the exact same time as the Van Gogh Vodka event – the latter of which I signed up for in May. The PI party wasn’t announced until a few weeks before the conference. By then, I wasn’t inclined to change my plans (free event) for something I had to pay for.

Awards Ceremony – It seems I never know what to expect at one of these things. Food, no food. Food on the table or a buffet line afterwards. This year there was table seating with fresh fruit, cake pops and coffee. After much searching, self-serve water was found (because I don’t drink coffee). The fruit never made it my way – not that I really wanted it anyway. I passed on the white cake when it was revealed that it was cheesecake – which I don’t eat. I tried the chocolate cake pop instead, and washed all three bites down with my cup of water and wished I had a gallon more. Note to pastry chef – dipping one inch of a three-inch cake pop in frosting does not seal in moisture. If you want the whole thing wet, you have to dip the whole thing in. This goes for many things, not just cake pops. Add to that, fellow Los Angeles Romance Author, Robena Grant did not win a Golden Heart for her romantic suspense, Exposure. We still love you, Robena!

Elevators – Out of five elevators servicing the tower I was in, I only saw two at a time actually functioning, and it was never the same two, so you had to stay alert or you’d miss your chance. Did I mention that the elevator didn’t chime, nor did the arrows light up when it stopped on our floor? I’m sure the people in the rooms closest to them were grateful for this, but I was not.

Construction – I understand road improvements must be made sometime, but I am not inclined to cut the city of Anaheim any slack here. It’s summer. It’s tourist season. Construction goes on year around in SoCal, so couldn’t this have been done in the winter when the crowds are less? And in all fairness, I’m only picking on the city when perhaps I should be picking on someone else. I’m just not sure who else to blame, so they get all my animosity for this.

How about you? What would you give a thumbs up or a thumbs down?

Guest Blog - Natasha Moore

Natasha Moore is with us today talking about her new book,
 RISK IT from Samhain Publishing.

 Here's the cover - 

 ///fanning///, and ///fanning /// some more!

Thanks to Roz for inviting me as her guest today. I’m celebrating the release of the second book in my Paolo’s Playhouse series from Samhain. RISK IT is the story of a married couple who have let the stress of day to day life take the spark out of their marriage. I don’t know about any of you, but as a working mom with two kids, there are times I feel as if I get on a treadmill the second I wake up in the morning and I don’t get off it until I drop into bed at night. Sex? I’m too tired!

Yeah, there may be more than a little bit of me in my heroine, Amy.

Blurb:

On the outside, Amy has the American dream. Two busy kids, a job she loves, a big house thanks to her husband’s climb up the corporate ladder. What she hasn’t had in a long time…is sex. Sure, she’s too exhausted at night to think about it, but maybe Will’s long hours at work aren’t the real reason he rarely touches her anymore.

Feeling her marriage teetering on the edge, she rents the voyeur room at Paolo’s Playhouse. Maybe bringing back the memory of the one wicked thing they used to do together will relight the sparks.

Will loves his wife, but she’s never been one to take chances—except for the time before kids, when they’d camp out in a club’s back booth, getting all worked up watching the dirty dancers. Their careers have seriously cut into their “us” time, and if she’s booked them a sexual playroom, it sounds like she’s serious about solving the problem.

When Will shows up way, way late, Amy wonders why she bothered, and if her plan to relight the flame has only made it painfully clear that it’s too late to try.

Luckily, I discovered romance, and erotic romance in particular. I didn’t have a fantasy club like Paolo’s Playhouse to go to, but I was able to live out my fantasies in those stories and they seemed to jump start my libido again. Let me tell you, my husband loves it when I’m reading (or writing) erotic romance.

Shhhh!!!! Natasha!!! You're telling our writer secrets!! LOL

Here’s an excerpt from RISK IT:

The door opened again. Paolo stepped into the room. “Your husband has not arrived?”

She took a deep, shaky breath. “No.”

He sat down in the chair beside her. “It is difficult to wait, isn’t it?” She nodded, looking down at her hands, clasped in her lap. “Especially for someone you care for so much.”

Amy nodded again. She thought she heard a touch of pain in his voice. Perhaps this handsome man had had his share of heartbreak. Maybe he did understand.

“I…um, I was really looking forward to this evening. We have two children and busy jobs, and we don’t get much time alone.”

“People like you and your husband are the very reason the Playhouse was started,” he said smoothly. “There are not many safe places for people to indulge in a private fantasy. Or to try something new. To take a risk.”

Sometimes risks didn’t pay off. Paolo must be an expert at this fantasy thing, must see tons of people come and go. As he calmly sat there beside her, not judging but supporting, she found herself pouring out her troubled thoughts.

“It’s not that I don’t like sex. I do. But why can’t he understand that I get so tired? I work all day and come home to the kids and dinner and homework and laundry, and by the time I fall into bed, sex is the last thing on my mind!” Her hand flew to her mouth, as if she could take back that outpouring of words. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go off like that.”

“It’s all right. But you know, of course, that you must make time for each other.”

“But he’s just as bad. He’s been working all these long hours lately and comes home just in time to go to bed and then expects a quickie before he rolls over and goes to sleep.” Like last night.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“My answer is the same. You must make your time together as important as your careers or your children or your laundry.”

Easier said than done. But… “I love him.”

“Of course you do. And you’re here to make things better, right? This playroom, the blue room, it has a special meaning for you both?”

“I thought it did, but it looks like I’ve been stood up.” Obviously, this night alone together didn’t mean anything to Will.

Paolo took her hand. “I’m certain your husband wanted to be here.” He glanced at his watch.

“Perhaps you would like to reschedule?”

“No.” Why couldn’t they wait a little longer? “Oh, I suppose the other couple has…”

“Yes, they’ve already started.”

She rose to her feet. The hell with Will anyway. Postponing it until another night wasn’t going to make any difference. She flashed Paolo a shaky smile. “Well, I don’t want to miss that. Could you take me to the playroom now, please?”

The first book in the Paolo’s Playhouse series, FLAUNT IT is available now. RISK IT released on Nov 15^th.  BIRTHDAY GIRL is scheduled for release in Feb and PLAYTHING in May. I hope you’ll want to give them a try. Especially if you want to add a little spark to your relationship. Your partner will be glad you did J

Natasha

www.natashamoore.com

Natasha Moore fell in love with the written word as soon as she could read.  As she grew up, she discovered romance and now enjoys the chance to add some extra sizzle to her stories. She writes sexy contemporary and erotic romance for Samhain, Ellora’s Cave and Red Sage. She lives in New York State with her real life hero who is happy to tell everyone that he’s her inspiration.  They travel in their RV whenever possible. The great thing about writing is she can take it anywhere. 

Many thanks to Natasha for stopping by today. I'm always grateful when someone brings along eye-candy, like that awesome cover, and follows it up with an excerpt that has me running for the buy link! And in case it has you doing the same thing - here it is!  BUY LINK And wow! It's only $1.75. I gotta have this!

Feel free to leave a comment for Natasha so she'll come back and visit with us again!Maybe she'll bring more eye-candy next time!