If you can stand to learn any more about my RT adventures, here’s a drive-by video of me shot by the lovely Barbara Vey, Publisher’s Weekly blogger extraordinaire. You’ll see me with author Catherine Chernow, who sat next to me at the signing…

Here are a few more pics from RT, in no particular order. Run your mouse over the pic for its description.

Well, I made it safely home from Pittsburgh, where I had the time of my life at the Romantic Times BOOKlovers Convention and won the Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Kimani Press of the Year for Just About Sex. I was thrilled beyond belief and, as I said at the time, grateful to be included in a category with so many talented authors.

The low point of the convention was the last portion of an otherwise lovely drive to Pittsburgh. There was some sort of a weird disconnect between where my TripTik ended and the hotel’s website directions began, and so, when I was nearly close enough to the city to be able to see the three rivers I’d heard so much about, I got lost.

Hopelessly, utterly, ridiculously LOST.

The more I tried to get un-lost, the lost-er I got, until finally I had to call the hotel and be navigated home by a bellman like a Boeing 757 with broken landing gear on the horn with air traffic control.

I finally arrived at 11:30 p.m. feeling irritated and sheepish, but the first person I saw was, luckily, the beautiful and funny Kayla Perrin, who told me that she, too, had found the Pittsburgh highways especially tricky to navigate.

This was the only downer in a wonderful few days. Well, that and the ten minute blackout in the ballroom at the end of the signing, which added a little additional drama.

Here, in no particular order, are some of the many highlights:

· Giving my No More Lazy Scenes workshop with HelenKay Dimon and Sasha White;

· Sitting on the multicultural authors panel and laughing my head off with the crowd and other authors, including L.A. Banks, Caridad Pinero, Marjorie M. Liu, Camille Anthony and Kimberly Kaye Terry, the multicultural genre captain and a truly lovely and fun woman;

· Attending the Under the Sea Faery Ball with Eve Silver and enjoying the, ah, myriad and varied costumes;

· Sitting on the contemporary authors panel with Lori Foster, Lori Wilde, Christie Craig and Sharon Sala;

· Spending time with my editors and publisher;

· Finally meeting author friend Maureen Smith face-to-face;

· Embarrassingly gushy fangirl moments with some of my author heroines, including Brenda Jackson, Lisa Jackson, L.A. Banks, and J.R. Ward;

· Catching up with LifetimeTV’s Michelle Buonfiglio, one of the romance genre’s greatest advocates and a wonderful woman;

· Being rescued out of the loooooong breakfast buffet line by the very considerate Gwyneth Bolton and aspiring author Felicia from Chicago; and

· Connecting with readers at the book signing.

While I’m glad to be back home with the husband and younglings, I miss my friends already, not to mention the thrill of adrenalin and inspiration that always comes from connecting with others who love the romance genre as much as I do.

So … how many days until the next convention???

Here are a few pics. Run your mouse over them for descriptions. More pics tomorrow …

If you’ll be in the Cincinnati area this Saturday, February 9th, please join me at the Reader’s Appreciation Day Signing at the Streets of West Chester Barnes & Noble. I’ll be there from 1-3 p.m. signing Sweeter than Revenge. Several other local romance authors, including Jennifer Crusie, Lori Foster, and Anne Stuart will also be signing their latest books. Lots of fun will be had by all, so I hope to see you there!

Join me tonight at 9 p.m. EST as I chat about Sweeter Than Revenge with the fine folks over at NovelTalk. They’re always lots of fun to hang out with, and I’ll be giving away a book or two …

If you’ll be in the Cincinnati area tomorrow, please join me at the Streets of West Chester Barnes & Noble for the annual Romancing the Holidays Book Signing featuring many local authors, including Lori Foster and Patricia Sargeant. It’ll be from 1-3 p.m., and we’d love to see you there.

So here’s what happened:

The books reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer, a delightful woman named Sara Pearce, decided to write an article about local authors to watch, and e-mailed to ask if I wanted to be included.

I don’t think you need to guess what the answer to THAT question was.

Armed with my black outfit—could have chosen a white shirt, but went with the black—and a great pair of heels that didn’t make it into the final picture, I headed downtown to have my pic taken with the likes of young adult author Kaza Kingsley and author Brock Clarke, the husband of one of the members of the book club to which I used to belong.

One of the highlights of the whole event was meeting fellow romance author Marjorie M. Liu, who is tall, thin, and beautiful. I decided not to hate her, though, because:

1. She’s a lovely person; and
2. She’s a former lawyer like me.

Thanks to Sara Pearce and everyone at the Enquirer, who made this such a great experience.

Well, I’m back from Romance Writers of America’s national conference in Dallas, and I’m feeling almost human again. No, I haven’t unpacked yet; let’s not get crazy. But I have gotten a little sleep, and had a chance to decompress from several days of nonstop networking and socializing. Here are a few pix and a few highlights, in no particular order:

• Lisa Kleypas’s keynote luncheon address. What a lovely representative of the romance genre she is—beautiful, articulate, and classy. She made the point that romance is an important genre—no matter what the critics say—because it’s one in which the WOMAN is important. Is that a great message, or what?

• The literacy signing, which raised over fifty thousand dollars.

• Meeting romance reviewers like Jane, Sybil, and Michelle Buonfiglio, all of whom are lots of fun. Jane gets extra credit from me because she let me play with and post a comment from her iPhone, which is way cool and has pictures of her painfully adorable daughter on it.

• The Harlequin party, which really has to be experienced to be believed. Where else can you see dozens of your favorite romance authors (many of whom do NOT write for Harlequin, BTW—crashers welcome!) sipping cosmos, eating gooey chocolate desserts, and dancing to BOTH John Denver’s Thank God I’m a Country Boy and Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer?

• Seeing Nora Roberts dance barefoot and with joyful abandon at the Harlequin party.

• The Kensington party, where they had DELICIOUS nibblies—with me, it’s all about the food.

• Making new friends, like Laura Drewry, Nalini Singh and Dona Sarkar-Mishra.

• Catching up with old friends, like Eve Silver, Caroline Linden (who also let me see her iPhone), Patricia Sargeant, and Lori Devoti.

• The book signing at the African American History Museum, where I met legends like former bookseller Emma Rodgers, Francis Ray, and Beverly Jenkins, greeted readers who came from far and wide to enjoy cake and punch with us, and laughed with Kayla Perrin (and to think I once thought she was quiet and demure ) and Karen White-Owens, among others.

• Winning a gift basket in the raffle at the Death by Chocolate party, where I sat with Marcia James (who also won a basket) and Pamela Clare. Marcia and I credit Pamela with our wins because she touched us and/or said encouraging words in the seconds before our names were announced.

Whew! I’m re-exhausted just thinking about it! I can’t think when I’ve had so much fun.

Is it too soon to start counting the days until next year’s conference in San Francisco?

If you’ll be in the Dallas area on Saturday, please stop by a Mini Romance Slam Jam book signing. I’ll be joining Francis Ray, Kayla Perrin, Patricia Sargeant, Wayne Jordan, and other romance writers signing their books. Hope to see you there!

If you’ll be in the Dallas area on Wednesday, please stop by the literacy signing. Hundreds of your favorite authors will be there to sign their books, and all proceeds will go to charity. Hope to see you there!