The day got off to a great start for some of the Rubies with a Ruby Slippered Sisterhood breakfast:

You’ll notice that I’m not part of this bright-eyed group, since the jetlag has not been kind to me, but Heather McCollum, Rita Henuber, and Liz Talley are in front, and Sharon Lynn Fisher, Elisa Beatty, Elizabeth Langston, Laurie Kellogg, and Darynda Jones are in the back.

After breakfast came a full slate of workshops, editor and agent appointments, and book signings. If women weren’t tottering on their high heels earlier, they certainly were after the book signings — I saw many women absolutely loaded down with books from Avon and Harlequin in the morning, as well as Berkley and Pocket in the afternoon. And, our own Jeannie Lin gave a workshop called “Selling the Hard Sell”, sharing her perspective on selling a historical novel set in an non-standard location (Tang dynasty China):

The annual awards luncheon was today, hosted by Jayne Ann Krentz (aka Amanda Quick, for those of you who first got to know her in the historical space). She has reinvented herself several times, often after taking huge risks by jumping to new genres or writing stories that readers weren’t quite ready for. Her biggest advice was to identify your core story, understand the market and how your core story fits into it, and understand your readers (and that they won’t necessarily follow you into vastly different worlds).

Unfortunately, I had to skip out on lunch early because I had lunch with Eloisa James (squee!). No, I’m not insanely connected; I won the lunch in a charity auction several months ago. Eloisa was even more wonderful than her books are, and we spent an hour discussing the industry, the marketing landscape, strategies for managing agents and editors, and even some mind-blowingly helpful critique of my current WIP. I won’t share more here because I don’t want to post anything publicly without her permission, but feel free to contact me (dearsara AT sararamsey DOT com) if you’re curious.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with more workshops, book signings, and spotlights on publishing houses. The 2010 Golden Heart finalists also had a champagne reception, where they received their GH certificates; this year’s group is called the ‘Unsinkables’, and we have several ‘Unsinkable Rubies’ who have finaled two years in a row. Unfortunately I don’t have pics for all of them, but a few of the Unsinkable Rubies are below:

Shea Berkley accepts her Golden Heart certificate

Hope Ramsay accepts her certificate

Vanessa Barneveld accepting from publishing legend Sharon Sala

Sharon Lynn Fisher accepts her GH certificate

Big thanks to Elisa Beatty for taking photos!

The major publishing house parties were tonight, including the mythical, infamous Harlequin party. I made no attempt to crash it; instead, I had dinner with some friends from the San Francisco and Charleston RWA chapters. And now, it’s time to get some beauty sleep before the last day of the conference. Best of luck to all the 2010 finalists — I can’t wait to congratulate the winners tomorrow night!

Anyway, the first official business was… official business.  RWA members, eager to hear what our board had to say, showed up for the Annual General Meeting at 9:30–only to learn there wasn’t a quorum.

Nationals attendees at the close of the AGM

So it was a short meeting, and we were on our way by 10:00.  But we did get to applaud the brave souls running for office (woo hoo Addison!)

The Dolphin lobby was soon swarmed with attendees awaiting the Keynote Luncheon (as well as confused families wandering by in bathing suits, mesmerized by the mysterious people whispering about heroes, tragedy, and sizzle.)

And what a keynote luncheon it was.  After eating our green chicken, RWA President Michelle Monkou announced that the literarcy signing had raised… drumroll…

$55,000!

representatives from literacy groups saying thanks

The funds will benefit literacy groups in Orlando and Nashville.

Go us!

This accomplishment is one to be proud of.  Readers are at the heart of what we do; how cool that RWA contributes to literacy in every city hosting our national convention.

Next, luncheon attendees were in for a real treat when speaker Nora Roberts gave us an amazing keynote address.

Nora Roberts keynotes

To paraphrase Nora’s themes:

• writing is hard
• your writer friends are worth cherishing
• RWA is a great organization for writers

I couldn’t agree more with all three points.  (And Ruby Sisters–thanks for all you do.  I’m just saying.)

At the conclusion of the keynote luncheon, we were all off to an afternoon full of workshops or retreats.  I volunteered to moderate the workshop “Pantsers, Plotters, and Plotsers: A Detente.”

Deb Marlowe, Sabrina Jeffries, and Claudia Dain

Our lovely and talented panelists are Deb Marlowe, Sabrina Jeffries, and Claudia Dain.  Three great authors; three individual writing processes.  Thanks for reassuring the rest of us that it is all about creating a process which works for us.

Thursday evening had no scheduled events–but for some, it was just as busy.  Publishing houses and agents hosted parties for their authors, while several special interest chapters held annual meetings.

YA-RWA Chapter Meeting

I attended the annual meeting of YA-RWA.  Rosemary Clement-Moore and Tera Lynn Childs were the panelists for a discussion about YA novels and its emergence within RWA.

So, I guess that’s it for now.  If I could pick three words to describe my first official day at RWA Nationals, I’d pick: fun, busy, inspiring.

Mobs descended on the Registration desks, trying to figure out if they were filed under their pen names or their real names. The Swan and Dolphin have become a weird mash-up of Disney tourists (strollers, sunburns, Mickey Mouse ears) and RWA members (eco-friendly canvas conference bags full of books, cute outfits and name badges, with lots of quick downward eye-flicks to check the name, often followed by “OMG! I KNOW you!!”)

A relatively quiet moment at the Registration Desk

The badges are low-key this year: a clear pouch and a mellow pink-and-blue lanyard (bling added!)

Workshops don’t start until Thursday, but the place was buzzing, with the Book Fair and Goody Room open for business, luncheons for Chapter Leadership and Librarians, a First Timers’ Orientation, and Chapter events like the Beau Monde Retreat, the RWA Online Chapter party, and meetings of the Scriptscene, RWA Heartbeat, and Faith, Hope & Love Chapters. Everywhere you looked, old friends, critique partners, and agents / editors / authors were meeting up with jubilant hugs, seeing each other face-to-face for the first time in a year. (Or, in the case of Ruby Sister Louisa Cornell and her CP, meeting face-to-face for the first time in their six-year working relationship.)

For Golden Heart finalists, a big highlight was the Golden Network Retreat. A wonderfully generous and articulate panel of publishing professionals ( editors Heather Osborne of Tor, Alexandra Kendall of Red Sage, and Deb Werksman of Sourcebooks and agents Jessica Faust and Kevan Lyon) struck mortal terror into the hearts of everyone present with a Gong-Show-like game of “Yell STOP when you’d stop reading this submission.”  Wow, they’re tough!  They were all cringing and apologizing about “being mean,” but it was incredibly helpful to hear them straightforwardly name some of the things that make them reject a manscript: unsympathetic heroines, historical inaccuracies, stilted dialogue, excessive interior monologue, even typos.

Incredibly enlightening, but my stomach is still in knots, and I wasn’t even one of the brave souls whose work was critiqued.  My hat is off to all of you who submitted pages! (The session actually ended on a high note, with Deb Werksman publicly requesting a full off one of the submitted pages, which belonged to Unsinkable Nancy Evertz, who writes as Nan Dixon.  Go, Nancy!)

Agent Kevan Lyon, who admits she can't bear stories in which animals or small children are injured

In the evening, the hordes converged at the Literacy Signing: if you think the lines to get Goofy’s autograph in DisneyWorld are long (and fervent), you should see fangirls lined up for Nora Roberts and Sherrilyn Kenyon.  Lines started forming by 3:00, hours before the start of the event. Personally, I may have squee-ed just the *teensiest* bit (in a very dignified way, I’m sure) when I met the wonderful Sherry Thomas, who was giving out cool rose-scented fizzy bath cubes she’d concocted herself.  And in the very same row, just a year after her Golden Heart nomination in the Regency category, Ruby Sister Liz Talley was signing copies of her debut contemporary, Vegas Two-Step.

Sherrilyn Kenyon greets a fan (whose T-shirt reads "And then Buffy Staked Edward. The End.")

The lovely Liz Talley signing Vegas Two-Step for a new fan

The big highlight of the day for the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood, however, was a group dinner date.  I only got to meet with my Sisters for a few minutes at the Dolphin Fountain, but I made it into the photo:

Ruby Reunion!!

I headed off for my first Beau Monde Soiree, which was hilarious good fun: lots of ladies in period costume, plus live music and a expert caller who taught us  Regency dances like Dover Pier and various waltzes.  Many collisions between ladies in white gloves and ostrich-feather headdresses ensued. It all looks so much easier in the movies….  But there was much laughter and good cheer, and I KNOW they don’t do things like this at engineering conventions.

A graceful moment in the Beau Monde Soiree dancing

Quite a day, and night.  It’s nearly midnight, and I’m going to fall into bed so I have energy for tomorrow’s hijinks, including the Keynote Luncheon with speaker Nora Roberts and the start of workshops.  Elizabeth Langston will be telling you all about it for Friday’s post.  Good night, all!

This is one of my favorite times of year, but also one of the most stressful. It’s when we all dress up and spit-shine ourselves to pretend we like to network, enjoy small talk, and can’t hardly wait for the opportunity to sit down and “sell” ourselves and our stories to industry professionals. Eeek!!!

And yes, I’m being somewhat sarcastic, but also serious. For an introvert like me, these things are incredibly stressful, but also, I’m very thankful for the opportunity and I do look forward to this all year. One of the things I look forward to most is hooking up with friends I only see once a year, and looking forward to new friends I’ll be anxiously waiting to see next July!

So with that said…out I traipsed today to see who I could meet!

It’s the day before most everything gets started, but registration did open this afternoon. Nothing overly exciting happening there…those RWA women have this thing down smooth after 30 years. No, there hasn’t been a conference for each of the last 30 years, but this is RWA’s 30th anniversary. Anyone out there know how many annual conferences there have been? Hmmm…wish I’d thought to ask that at the registration desk.

With bag of goodies and a conference program slung over my shoulder, my next stop was the bookstore. Yep, it opened today and I have to admit, I haven’t yet purchased anything, but seeing that many of my favorite authors in one place, not to mention all the writing books I don’t yet have, it’s a wonder I didn’t come out a couple hundred dollars poorer! The thing I didn’t get a shot of here was their setup outside the main bookstore doors. They are showcasing the Nook this conference, letting people take a look if they haven’t seen one, and they also have all kinds of nook covers I’m sure many people will love!

After managing NOT to spend all my money on the first day, I went to the lobby to hang out. I met a new friend, Candy from DC, and I enjoyed a lovely lunch with her and my bud Trish downstairs at The Fountain. I won’t even tell you how big the ice cream cones are down there!

I also met three fabulous PAN members in the lobby. They were gracious enough to let me snap their picture! (Hello, ladies! I hope you stopped by to check out the blog!) From the left is Ann Macela, writer of magic in her contemporary paranormals, Faye Hughes, co-writer of The Everything Guide to Writing a Romance Novel, and Christie Craig, author of action-packed sexy and funny contemporaries.

So many more things were going on today – trips to Disney, lazing by the pool, and lots and lots of squeeing and hugging as old friends met up. There’s nothing to me like an RWA conference. I love watching more and more women trickle in throughout the day, hearing the volume level in the lobby escalate, and watching the wide eyes of those who aren’t part of the conference gape in awe as they wonder who are all these women taking over this resort?!?!?

That’s it for today! I wish all of you unable to make it this year could be here, but hopefully, even though you can’t, we’ll manage to bring a little bit of the conference to you instead!

What little spare time I had was saved for my writing. I don’t regret that choice–I think there are moments when we all need to choose what our priorities will be and it can’t always include volunteer work. Some women have trouble saying “no.” I’m not one of them. I said “no” repeatedly.

Nevertheless, this year I was on sabbatical and for the first time in more than a decade, I knew I was going to have some spare time. So I volunteered to judge in three contests. And when one of my critique partners, who was in charge of organizing the Washington Romance Writer’s annual chapter retreat in 2010, asked if I would help, I said “yes.” More than that, I told her she could assign me to whatever task she needed. With a gleam in her eye, she said, “Great! Why don’t you serve as the VIP liaison?”

I’m a classic “Type A” personality. I’m good with details, organized, and efficient. That made me good at sending out letters detailing our chapter’s financial commitments to its guests, ensuring that anyone with food allergies was taken care of, figuring out the A/V needs of the guest speakers, and then coordinating travel arrangements to and from the retreat for seventeen guest. Later, I found out that the work I did for that retreat had been done by three people in years past. I definitely put some time in.

And I’ll be doing it again next year. Yup, that’s right. My sabbatical year will be over (hear the sound of my weeping?), I’ll be just as busy as I was in preceding years, but I’m going to do it all again–although I’ll be splitting the work with one other person, this time. The benefits to that volunteer work were enormous–enough to make it well worth doing again, even though it means something else will have to give come next April.

The most obvious benefit to my particular volunteer position was getting to chat via email and then in person with editors, agents, and nationally-acclaimed writers.

But the more important benefit was one that I didn’t discover until I was actually at the retreat. I’m shy. Not deathly-afraid-of-meeting-new-people, but shy enough that after almost ten years with my chapter, I only knew a small handful of people. But I couldn’t be shy at this retreat. It was my job to reach out to our seventeen guests, to make certain they had everything they needed, and to make sure they felt welcome and at ease. I made the conscious decision to speak with every single one of our seventeen guests. At other retreats, I had been tongue-tied when an editor or agent sat at my table during a meal. This year? I don’t think a meal went by when I wasn’t sitting next to an editor or agent and doing my best to make them feel comfortable.

Volunteering pushed me to put on my “hostess” persona. And since I was in “hostess” mode, I not only met our seventeen VIPs, but I also reached out to retreat first-timers AND folks I’d been seeing around for years, but never really met or talked to. I walked into that retreat only knowing about six people. I walked out knowing WAY more than that. I would have had fun at the retreat without volunteering. But volunteering made the retreat much more than fun–it was phenomenal.

The other volunteer work that I took on this year was judging in three contests. As a judge, I put a lot of effort into the comments I give, so this was a big time commitment for me. One of the main benefits of judging is that you get to see a lot of first chapters (or first fifty pages). It’s a bit like sitting in an editor’s seat: once you’ve seen a lot of entries, you start to see patterns. You start to see what works well and what doesn’t. I left my judging with ideas about how to go back and strengthen my own writing.

Have you tried volunteering with your local RWA chapter? Or are you at a point where you don’t have the time, if you’re going to keep writing? Is saying “no” easy or hard for you? And what are some of the benefits you’ve found to volunteering for your local chapter or RWA? For those of you heading to Nationals, will you be volunteering there?

Cate Rowan

Congratulations!

It’s time to turn up the heat with my hot new trilogy of books out this summer–WHITE HEAT, BODY HEAT and KILLER HEAT. Each book stands alone but they all revolve around a private security company called Department 6 and the retired special forces, private investigators and police officers who make their living working as “hired guns.” These men and women face some diverse and unusual circumstances—and some very frightening challenges. So get ready to head to the beach, sit back and enjoy the ride.

	In WHITE HEAT, Nate Ferrentino and Rachel Jessop, two members of Department 6, are hired to infiltrate a dangerous cult that has recently settled in the former ghost town of Paradise, Arizona. Members of this cult worship at the feet—and in the bed–of its charismatic leader, Ethan Wycliff. But with one woman claiming to have been stoned, and another missing, Wycliff might be more of a devil than the prophet he claims to be…
	In BODY HEAT, Police Chief Sophia St. Claire finds herself out of her investigative league when someone starts shooting people at pointblank range and leaving them to rot in the desert sun just outside her small town. Help arrives in the form of California’s Department 6 Roderick Guerrero. But as the half-breed bastard of a wealthy local rancher, he has a history he can’t get past–a history that includes Sophia St. Claire.
	In KILLER HEAT, the remains of seven women have been discovered in Skull Valley, Arizona. It’s up to Jonah Young, from Department 6, to assist the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department in solving these murders. But he doesn’t anticipate the complications that arise when he’s forced to work with an old flame. Then everything grows more complicated—and far too personal. They quickly zero in on the most likely suspect, but betting on the wrong man might be the last thing they ever do….

As you can see, all three books are set in Arizona. While growing up, I lived in Chandler for eight years, back when it was still a farming community and not the sprawling metropolis it has since become. I miss those days, especially the long dog days of summer, which is probably why I’ve chosen to set each of these titles in a small town during the hot months. If you’ve never experienced an Arizona summer, or one of their infamous monsoons, you’re really missing something….

Also, Arizona has more than its share of ghost towns. Paradise, the setting of the first book, is one of them. I took a little (or a lot) of artistic liberty when I settled my fictional cult in Paradise, but it’s a unique place that really exists. With such a perfect name, I couldn’t resist.

YOU’RE INVITED…

…to the party of the summer. Join me on Twitter, Wednesday, August 4 at 8 – 10 p.m. eastern time (party hashtag #bnparty). Register at my web site (www.brendanovak.com) to receive your snail mail party pack that includes a coupon for WHITE HEAT and your raffle tickets for the big event. I’m going to be giving away THREE iPads and lots of other great prizes, so don’t miss out!

WHITE HEAT LIP GLOSS

Three Custom Color Specialists has created a lip gloss just for me—and the name of the shade? WHITE HEAT! Lip gloss is the one beauty essential I can’t live without, so you can imagine how pleased I am to have found a company that can customize shades. A sheer and sexy hot pink lip gloss with silver-white and opalescent shimmer, WHITE HEAT is perfect for revving up your favorite lip shade with sparkle and shine. Available in Three Custom Color Specialists’ swing-out lip gloss pot. Apply with your finger or favorite lip brush. ($21.50) You can purchase it at www.threecustom.com

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Brenda Novak has three novels coming out this summer—WHITE HEAT, BODY HEAT & KILLER HEAT. She also runs an annual on-line auction for diabetes research every May at www.brendanovak.com. To date, she’s raised over $1 million. Brenda considers herself lucky to be a mother of five and married to the love of her life.

I’m not going to Orlando (crying on my keyboard-sniff-sniff) but I’ve registered for the New Jersey conference in October and already I’m wondering how my fellow sisters approach editors or agents outside of appointments.  I’m a total introvert. Yes, I know I don’t seem like such on our RSS loop but we’re sisters.

I’ve heard quite a few authors say they’ve received requests for material in the bar, elevator and even in the ladies room and those chance meeting have lead to representation or contracts.  Have any of you approached an editor or agent in this manner? And how?  The faint of heart want to know.

You Write What?

Romance, baby.  With a capital “R.”

Why?

Because in romance, the good guys win – all the time.  It’s what separates romance from love stories.  Only bad guys die in a romance.  Romance stories always have an emotionally satisfying end.  After three or four hundred pages of the hero and heroine fighting the odds–and each other–they wind up living “happily ever after.”

And then of course there’s the sex.  With a capital “S.” And that can be pretty darn satisfying, too.  On several levels.  

But it doesn’t matter what heat level you write or enjoy reading.  The vital thing about romance is that all important HEA.

As a reader, I want to feel the joys, the sorrows, the ups, the downs of the characters.  I want to believe the hero and heroine will NEVER get together only to be proven wrong by the end of the book.  I want to laugh out loud and cry in private while reading.  I want to be entertained.  To escape for an afternoon with hot guys and sexy gals.

This is what I strive for as a writer.  Take my Golden Heart® manuscript, Wild Flower.  Set at the edge of Indian Territory, circa 1882, my heroine is a tough-as-rawhide gal named Matilda.  Raised more a boy than a girl, she plans to leave Indian Territory because she doesn’t believe she’ll ever find happiness on the prairie.  It’s the classical “Ugly Duckling” theme.  Bring in tall, gray-eyed, gorgeous cowboy, Logan, who has secretly loved young Matilda since forever, and you’ve got the potential for a romance story.  But something’s missing.  What?

Ah!  The torture.  The reason Matilda and Logan will NEVER be together.  Because, let’s face it, if it was easy for those two, my story would end on page two.  It reminds me why the famous filmmaker, John Ford, didn’t have the Native Americans shoot the horses in his movie, Stagecoach.  The movie would be over in ten minutes.

The torment for Matilda and Logan starts in Chapter One with her dying father.  He’s taken all her money so she can’t achieve her heart’s desire of escaping Indian Territory.  Then the old man wants her promise that she’ll marry Logan.   Penniless, she has no choice but to agree.  Though Logan has loved Matilda forever, he won’t force her into marriage because he knows how much she wants to leave.  That is until her father makes him an offer he can’t refuse – the ranch is her dowry.  Logan then thinks he might obtain his heart’s desire: Matilda and a place to call home.

Okay.  So now we’ve got a marriage between a reluctant hero and an even more reluctant heroine, each with opposing goals.  She marries him because she has no other choice and he marries her to get the ranch.  Add in cattle rustling, a stampede and two folks with stubborn streaks as long and as wide as the Mississippi River, and you’ve got the true makings of a romance.

But something’s still missing.

Ah, yes!  The sex.  With that capital “S.”

For me, the sex part of any romance story is like the whipped cream and cherry on top of a banana split.  The banana split is scrumptious all by itself, but the whipped cream and cherry make it even better.

But, as I said, it doesn’t matter whether you prefer sweet or erotic in your stories.  What matters is having two characters, from opposite sides, thrown together to overcome insurmountable challenges so they can live “happily ever after.”

HEA.  The reason I not only read romance, but write it as well.

What about you?  What’s your favorite part of a romance story?  What draws you to read or write Inspirational, Young Adult, Romantic Suspense or Paranormal?

I’d love to hear from you! (You can also visit me at www.lyndabailey.net)

Confessions of a “man” in romance, 2010 Golden Heart Finalist Kenneth Zak:

 Golden Heartfelt thanks Elisa for my first ever guest-blog invitation.  Talk about trying to squeeze into ruby slippers, well here it goes.  I’m a Vespa-driving poet, writer, surfer, swimmer, attorney from San Diego, California.

But a man in romance you ask?  Well, I was haunted by a poet contemplating suicide and a woman searching for eternal love and realized they were plodding along opposite ends of the same path.  Realizing nothing more than a breath separated the two, poetry and prose poured into a tale filled with mystical sea turtles, mermaids, sunken treasure and the young woman’s search for the reclusive poet, his muse and the myth of eternal love, culminating in The Poet’s Secret, 2010 RWA Golden Heart Finalist (romantic suspense).

On my writing life:

I was always a bit of a dreamer, penning my first collection of poetry in high school.  After undergrad and law school at Ohio State (where I captained the men’s water polo team), I followed the waves to California.  I eventually shut down my law practice to write full time and in quest of a truer purpose, taking a sabbatical and freeing my creative side in a mountaintop village in Crete where I began my debut novel, The Poet’s Secret, continuing work on the manuscript and poetry in Bali, Costa Rica, Thailand, Cambodia and South America.

On the Golden Heart nomination:

This is my first contest and I am honored, intrigued and inspired to be among so many talented and dedicated writers.  The Unsinkables have been such caring sisters, offering so many options to dress up their “Ken” for the awards ceremony:  powder blue tux, white dinner jacket, plaid leisure suit and even a plait kilt.  I’m working my calf muscles as I write this just to be safe.  I so look forward to meeting everyone in Orlando.

About The Poet’s Secret:

 The Poet’s Secret is an “upmarket” romantic suspense.  Here is a brief teaser:

Elia Aloundra, a young lit student, sees a reclusive poet, Cameron Beck, recite a poem at a campus pub before he vanishes. Ten years earlier, Beck had published a popular collection of ninety-nine odes to one anonymous muse before dropping from the public eye, leaving behind a decade of speculation over his disappearance and the identity of the muse.  Elia always found sanctuary within the pages of great books and raised Beck’s work into that pantheon, memorizing every verse by heart.  But her love life has been paralyzed by the great romances of literature, and she sets off in search of Beck hoping to finally leap from the page and unveil love incarnate.

What she doesn’t know is that as her quest begins, Beck is perched atop a cliff on a remote Caribbean island and about to attempt suicide.  Elia must win her way through Beck’s protective circle: Isabella, a robust island matriarch with heavy voodoo juju, Paco, a local fisherman and cantina owner, and Fatty, a burnt out, transplanted New Orleans crawdad of a doc.  But what Elia cannot fathom is that Beck’s secret will change both their lives forever.

What’s Next:

 After the RWA Conference, I’m off to Crete in August where I’ve been invited to read at a festival and will also begin my next novel, tentatively entitled Icarus Rising, set on Crete and the nearby island of Spinalonga.  Please visit my recently launched website: www.kennethzak.com and/or friend me on facebook: Kenneth Zak (San Diego).

Questions:

Have you ever pictured an emptied ocean, and jumped off that cliff anyway believing in the promise within a single drop of rain?  My son once asked me why don’t I just sell the big house and write my stories.  There was only one good answer.  The Poet’s Secret was written to survive, to explore, to celebrate, to heal, to change everything forever, and to dream once more.  Why do you write romantic tales?