In addition to the recent Terminator: Salvation, we can look forward to two new post-apocalyptic movies coming to a theater near you. I’m anticipating a flood post-apocalyptic urban fantasy to follow. Can anyone say post-apocalyptic steampunk romance with zombies?
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Another year has flashed by. I’ve read a lot of books, written a lot of words and traveled a lot of places. I’ve said goodbye to some dear friends and family members, and celebrated weddings and births. A year full of adventures: showshoeing in Japan, sailing the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, and trekking the rainbow-filled mountains of New Zealand. A year of firsts: attended my first national RWA Conference, finished my first manuscript and biked in my first triathlon. I achieved PRO membership in RWA. I started a second manuscript and am ALMOST DONE WITH THE ROUGH DRAFT!!!
I hope you are all having a fabulous summer!
This year the Romance Writers of America National Conference is in Washington DC. The literacy signing is this Wednesday and the conference runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Last year I had a lovely time at the conference in San Francisco. This year I will not be attending, as I have a family wedding the same weekend. For those of you who are lucky enough to go–TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES!!! I want to hear all about it.
If you go to the literacy signing, please say hi to Greater Seattle RWA authors–especially Shelli Stevens and Deliliah Marvelle–and fabulous regency authors Joanna Bourne and Meredith Duran (and buy their books!). I will be rooting for Washington State authors at the award ceremony: Yasmine Galenorn, Susan Mallery, Anthea Lawson, Vivi Andrews, Cherry Adair, Julia Quinn, Susan Wiggs, Janice Kay Johnson, Debbie Malcomer and Lisa Kleypas.
Epilogue is having a store closing blowout sale with 20%-70% off all new and used titles. The sale began Sunday and the neighbors showed up in droves. The line ran all the way to the back of the store. I picked up a new version of Peter Pan, a book of native american poetry that fits my world building for my current manuscript, Anne Bishop’s “Pillars of the World” (which was very good), Julia Quinn’s “Mr. Cavendish I presume”, Liz Carlyle’s “Never Seduce a Rake”, and Elizabeth Haydon’s “Rhapsody”.
Can small, independently owned bookstores outlast this crummy economy? Where do you shop for books?
Many big name authors started out writing for the Harlequin and Silhouette category lines, including Nora Roberts, Suzanne Brockmann, Cherry Adair and Susan Mallory. Do you aspire to join their ranks? The Presents line features ruthless billionaires, greek tycoons and many secret babies. Alpha males at their brawniest and the women who tame them. I have often thought this would be a fun line to write for.
Harlequin Presents/Modern Heat guidelines
Length: 50,000 words
Upmarket, glossy and sharply contemporary, these stories sparkle with lively dialogue and sizzling sensuality! They offer all the international glamour, passion and alpha-male heroes you expect from Modern/Presents, with a flirty young voice and a whole load of sass! These entertaining romances reflect the life experiences of today’s young women, within a chic, glamorous and usually urban setting. The heroines are often your twenty-something girl-about-town but there’s no compromising on the hero: he must be very alpha and absolutely to die for! There’ll be sparks flying when these two meet—and nothing short of fireworks once they get to the bedroom!
I Heart Presents Contest details:
PS: I’m passing this information on, but I have no involvement in the contest. Please visit the I Heart Presents blog for all your contest needs.
Shelli Stevens is the president of my RWA chapter and a friend, so please help show her the love by spreading the word about her contest! Shelli is celebrating her first Aphrodisia book release, Take Me. First prize: $75 gift certificate to Amazon. Second prize: $25 gift certificate to Lush. Throughout the month of July, Shelli is giving away books on her blog. For full contest details, click on the link below.
ENTERING THE CONTEST (short version)
To enter the contest, share the sprout widget from her contest page (it isn’t wordpress compatible) on one of your social networking pages. Leave a comment in her contest post with a link to your blog entry or wherever you’ve posted the graphic and your answer to the following question: If you could close your eyes and just be Taken Away somewhere at this moment, where would you go?
Does your dream vacation include walking in Edward’s footsteps and photographing Bella’s truck? A jaunty, five-hour drive from Portland or Seattle, up the coast to the farther, rainier side of the Olympic Peninsula will get you your fix. Despite the distance, twilight fans are descending upon the sleepy little logging town of Forks. A woman at the post office told me tourism has gone up 700% since Stephanie Meyer’s internationally bestselling Twilight Saga came out. I can believe it. Before this Forks was mostly famous for being the last place to buy matches and bandaids before entering the Hoh Rain Forest.
Mr. Wonderful and I traveled to Forks this past weekend for a little Twilight action and some hiking in the beautiful Olympic National Park. I’d been to Forks as a child. As a literary tourist, it was much more entertaining.
The truck to the right is parked outside the Forks Visitor Center. It isn’t the same truck as in the movie (little of the real Forks appears in the movie), but it’s a picturesque landmark to get your picture taken with. Every business in town has joined the fun. Local motels announce, “Welcome to the Twilight Zone” and “Edward didn’t sleep here,” (vampires don’t sleep). A gas station on the road to La Push warns “No Vampires Beyond this point,” referring to the dividing line between the Quileute werewolf and Cullen’s territory.
Stay tuned for a list of things to do in Forks.