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 …

My romance author friend and sorority sister Gwyneth Bolton was kind enough to let me visit her blog today and answer some questions about Sweeter Than Revenge. Stop by and say hi.

I was sorry to hear of the death this week of Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, one of the true giants in the world of romance publishing. She is frequently credited with creating the modern romance genre and being the first author to follow the hero and heroine into the bedroom and write an explicit sex scene about their interlude.

I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I doubt if there’s a historical romance reader anywhere that doesn’t have a KEW novel on her keeper shelf. The books are long and lush, filled with larger-than-life characters of the type that burrow into your head and refuse to leave once you’ve finished the book.

My personal favorite is Ashes in the Wind, the tale of Alaina, the southern belle/suspected spy forced to masquerade as a boy, and Cole, the Union surgeon with whom she becomes entangled. Over several hundred pages, the two battle their own demons and conflicts, meddling family members of the worst sort, and each other. I first read this book in high school, and I can’t count the number of times I’ve pulled out my battered copy and reread my favorite passages. Now that I write romance myself, I’ve often wished I could create characters as passionate and compelling as hers.

She’ll be missed.

Author Sharon Cullars, who seems like a perfectly lovely woman and who writes gripping and very original love stories, is now public enemy number one. Why? Because she’s tagged me for another one of those meme things.

We all know the rules by now, right? List eight things about yourself, tag eight more people, blah, blah, blah.

So if you can stand to read eight more things about me, here goes:

1. Some of my favorite books growing up:
• A Separate Peace;
• Island of the Blue Dolphins;
• Lord of the Flies;
• Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret;
• Jane-Emily;
• Huckleberry Finn; and
• To Kill a Mockingbird.

2. Favorite Graeter’s Ice Cream Flavors: black raspberry chip and caramel.

3. Favorite quirky TV shows: Moonlighting, Northern Exposure, Twin Peaks, and Ally MacBeal.

4. Favorite best written TV shows: NYPD Blue, The Cosby Show, Friday Night Lights, and Sex and the City.

5. Favorite Prince songs: When Two Are in Love, Purple Rain, I Would Die For You, and The Beautiful Ones.

6. Favorite pastime: reading.

7. Favorite songs to listen to while writing: trick category! I prefer to write in complete SILENCE.

8. Favorite Denzel Washington performances (if I’m FORCED to choose!) Glory and Training Day.

Whew! I have once again satisfied my meme duties, although I refuse to pass this on to anyone else. Instead, I’d like to have commenters list a few of their favorite things, and at the end of the day tomorrow (Wednesday) I’ll pick one to receive a $25 gift certificate to Borders.

Yesterday I went to the Lori Foster/Dianne Castell/Linda Keller Reader/Author Get Together here in Cincinnati, where a great time was had by all. The event featured a book fair and signing, luncheon, and gift basket raffle benefitting the local battered women’s shelter. I’m not sure how many people came or how much money was made, but I can say this: our hostesses know how to show people a great time. They’re fun, gracious, and generous beyond words. Here are a few pics, from top to bottom, then across:

Group photo (I’m the one in the chair on the far left);

Erin McCarthy, Kelley Vitollo (I think!) and Toni Blake;

Sasha Lord, a lovely author whose name I’ve already forgotten (I’m so sorry!) and Patricia Sargeant; and

With Patricia Sargeant again.

I have, obviously, forgiven Patricia Sargeant for tagging me the other week.

Has anyone else read (and enjoyed) Sharon Cullars’ The Object of Love? Check out my review if you have time.

My former friend, author Patricia Sargeant, has tagged me to blog about my eight random things.

*SIGH*

It’s not like I was BUSY or anything, Patricia. Not like I had anything I needed to get done today.

SHEESH.

So here are the rules:

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about herself.
2. People who are tagged write a post about their own eight random things and post the rules.
3. At the end of the blog, the person has to tag eight people and post their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Okay? Okay. Here are my eight random things:

Ummm … thinking … thinking …

Oh, okay. Here we go:

1. I love to bake, especially cakes. Favorites: pound cake, Italian crème cake, and carrot cake.

2. I love to cook. Favorites: the Christmas Eve meal Angela cooked for Justus in Risk—beef tenderloin, green beans almondine, and these really great mashed potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese. And carrot cake.

3. I went through an O.J. Simpson obsession, and read all the books—including his ridiculous I Want to Tell You—before it was all said and done.

4. I love Prince. In high school, my father and I camped out all night outside the old Lazarus/Shillito’s to get tix for the Purple Rain tour. LOVE Prince.

5. My all-time pet-peave? People smacking/cracking gum. Drives me INSANE.

6. Here are some of the movies I always have to watch whenever they’re on TV, regardless of the fact that I have them on DVD:

a. Jaws;
b. Any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy;
c. The Godfather;
d. A Few Good Men;
e. Aliens;
f. Gone With the Wind; and
g. When Harry Met Sally.

7. I’m not real fond of spiders or heights.

8. My first car was a baby blue Honda Accord. Manual transmission. Don’t remember the year. LOVED that car.

Sooo … now my random eight duties are fulfilled, more or less. I’m not tagging eight more people because I don’t want that many people to hate me in one fell swoop. I know I’m breaking the rules. I sure hope the earth continues to spin on its axis anyway. *G*

And if you feel like mentioning a random fact about yourself, I’ll give away a copy of Just About Sex to a random commenter late today.

Kate Rothwell, among others, has been discussing the difficult topic of whether people are open to reading romances by and/or about people outside their own race. She’s conducting a little experiment on her blog. Stop by if you have time.

I’m visiting over at Gwyneth Bolton’s site. She graciously interviewed me and has posted it on her blog. Stop by if you have time…

There’s a cool new site out there and I thought I’d spread the word about it a little. Romance Novel TV features video clips of interviews with some heavy hitters, including Nora Roberts, Christina Dodd, and Eloisa James. You may want to add it to your bookmarks.