Back from RT

The Romantic Times Convention was hectic, exhausting and enjoyable. I did back-to-back tarot readings for the first three days I was there, and got to meet lots of wonderful romance fans and many delightful authors. It was a reality check for me to listen to those authors -- some very successful and well-known -- talk about their ongoing concerns with various publishing issues. Clearly, the things we worry about just change slightly as we move up the success ladder. They never go away.

One of the highlights of my trip (in addition to drinking lots of margaritas while staring mindlessly at the ocean) was having warm, funny and wonderful author Karen Kelley (www.authorkarenkelley.com) as my roommate. Karen made the whole trip a hundred times better for me. She could relate to my tendency to isolate when overwhelmed by too much "group energy," and we managed (as women often do) to create an immediate sense of intimacy through sharing our life stories with each other. Please check out Karen's books. You'll love her and them.

I also got to have a couple of chats with funny cover model C.J. Hollenbach (I can't help it. I'm likely to put on my psychotherapist hat at the mere whisper of intrigue!).

But, I'm glad to be home. Florida is a little too warm for me and I was so happy to feel the cool air when I headed back from the airport in Denver to my home in Boulder. I think I've gotten my travel itch scratched for the next few months.

The Long and Winding Road . . .

is more than just the title of a Lennon/McCartney song. It's the reality of the publishing business. I thought it was time to give a little update on my journey through the maze. My agent is still shopping Vampire Shrink. Seems several editors enjoyed reading the manuscript, but nobody jumped up and down (yet) and said, "yeah, gotta have it." Frustratingly, the comments often center around the time issue: wish it had come in earlier in the "vampire" craze. It has been gratifying to have some editors really wrestle with the decision (before plunging the knife in my heart -- hey, I'm a writer. We can be drama queens. It's expected.) . I go back and forth between hopeful and resigned. The fat lady hasn't sung yet, so anything can happen. On the short-story front, it's been great to sell "Diary of a Narcissistic Bloodsucker" to Inara Press and to have their delightful publisher (Dawn Seewer, www.InaraPress.com) ask me to do more short stories with the same characters. I'm also working on my first attempt at "spicy." So far it's fun, but not something I want Mom to see, so this one will definitely go out under one of my pen names. So, wish me luck and send me "yes" vibes. I'll do the same for you.