The 2008 Romance Writers of America Conference is finally over. My very first time at the conference, it has been a fabulous, overwhelming week of much squeeeing and many deer-in-the-headlights moments. I am exhausted and need a month to recover, but must get back to work WRITING! My critique partner spent the conference holed up in her hotel room rewriting her opening chapters. I bow in her general direction. Good lord, that’s dedication. Me, I was busy hiding behind plants and generally making a fool of myself. (I’m terribly shy. Brad Paisley has it right: I’m so much cooler online.)

Highlight 1: Star Struck – Meeting My Favorite Authors *squeeeee!*

(above left) Nora Roberts remembered my Ferrets Against Plagiarism teeshirt and said her grandkids wear theirs all the time. (above right) Harlequin authors Delores Fossen and Jessica Andersen.

(above left) Larissa Ione signs PLEASURE UNBOUND. (above right) Lisa Kleypas *fans self* signs SUGAR DADDY. Yup, I own both these books. But I lurve them and so I need signed copies.

(above left) Kresley Cole signed the most recent IMMORTALS AFTER DUSK book. (above right) Nalini Singh ran out of books *sob* but she signed the ARC of HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE for me. Too bad I have to give it back to Katie(babs).

(above left) Mother-Daughter team P.C. and Kristin Cast. (above right) Lori Handeland signed ARCs of her new Urban Fantasy series.

(above left) Melissa Marr signed copies of her 2008 RITA winner in the YA category WICKED LOVELY. (above right) Julia London also ran out of books, but she talked to me for a bit.

Highlight 2: Romance Bloggers Rule the World

Finally met quite a few of the lovely ladies I’ve been blogging with over the past year: the Smart Bitches, Jane from Dear Author, Katie(babs) and Kristi(J), Wendy Super Librarian, Little Alys, Lisabea, Sula, Tracy, Rosie, Amy, and I apologize in advance for forgetting anyone else…my brain is fried. I also met Twitter friends. Teh Internetz is amazing.

Highlight 3: Christmas in July from Jolly Old Saint Martin and his publishing friends

This picture only shows the stash from Friday. Saturday I attended three more publisher signings, and scored a bunch of Advanced Reader Copies from TOR. I put the ARCs in my suitcase and shipped the two full boxes back.

Highlight 4: Writing Workshops (wait, there were workshops?)

Been there, done that, bought the CD. Actually I did attend a few, and I’ll write up my notes (no promises) when I get back home.

A Vampire, a Werewolf and a Demon walk into a bar…

Vampires might have established the paranormal genre, but werewolves are the heroes closest to my heart. Last night, as I cuddled up in bed with a stack of books trying to ease my anticipation for Patricia Briggs’ upcoming CRY WOLF, I realized that I am very definitely on a werewolf kick. It might be my childhood fascination with Elf Quest Graphic Novels. It might be the Little Red Ridinghood inside us all. Whatever it is, Werewolf heroes have captured my imagination in a way that Vampires, those soulless tortured loners, have failed to do.

“Like most animals, werewolves spend a large part of their lives engaged in the three Fs of basic survival: feeding, fighting and…reproduction.” – Elena Michaels, werewolf heroine of BITTEN by Kelley Armstrong

Why I love Werewolves and wolf Shape-shifters:

1. Pack means family.
   Unlike their undead breathren, Werewolves are fiercely loyal to the pack. The pack, whether built through Turning or through biology, is everything: family, friendship, leader, world. The werewolf hero has brothers who have his back through any fight, and when he finds his heroine that loyalty is extended to her.
2. Wolves mate for life.
   Finding a mate is one of the most important events of a werewolf’s life. He will brave hell and high water to protect his mate, unleashing his savage beast to fight for love.
3. Body language and pack dynamics.
   I find the integration of wolf body language fascinating. Werewolf characters take on the complex political dynamics of real wolf packs, demonstrating dominance and submissiveness and deference to the alpha. Patricia Briggs is the best at weaving in complex pack hierarchy through body language.

Werewolf books on my shelves (first in series):

1. MOON CALLED by Patricia Briggs (Book 1: Mercy Thompson series) Have I talked about this series enough? Cuz I lurve it like a vamp loves blood.

Mercy Thompson’s life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she’s fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy isn’t exactly normal herself.

2. “Alpha and Omega” Novella by Patricia Briggs in anthology ON THE PROWL (Prequel: Alpha and Omega series) CRY WOLF to be realeased July 29!!!

These all-new paranormal romances from today’s hottest authors feature a female werewolf who comes into her own; a Lord who crosses paths with a fiery mage; a mixed-blood Child of the Moon who faces an uncertain future; and a woman whose sixth sense proves to be a dangerous talent.

3. BITTEN by Kelly Armstrong (Book 1: Women of the Otherworld series)

Young, beautiful, and successful, Elena Michaels seems to have it all. Her happy, organized life follows a predictable pattern: filing stories for her job as a journalist, working out at the gym, living with her architect boyfriend, and lunching with her girlfriends from the office. And once a week, in the dead of night, she streaks through a downtown ravine, naked and furred, tearing at the throats of her animal prey.

Elena Michaels is a werewolf.

The man who made her one has been left behind, but his dark legacy has not. And though Elena struggles to maintain the normal life she’s worked so hard to create, she cannot resist the call of the elite pack of werewolves from her past. Her feral instincts will lead her back to them and into a desperate war for survival that will test her own understanding of who, and what, she is.

4. FULL MOON RISING by Keri Arthur (Book 1: Riley Jensen series)

A rare hybrid of vampire and werewolf, Riley Jenson and her twin brother, Rhoan, work for Melbourne’s Directorate of Other Races, an organization created to police the supernatural races–and protect humans from their depredations. While Rhoan is an exalted guardian, a.k.a. assassin, Riley is merely an office worker–until her brother goes missing on one of his missions. The timing couldn’t be worse. More werewolf than vampire, Riley is vulnerable to the moon heat, the weeklong period before the full moon, when her need to mate becomes all-consuming.…

Luckily Riley has two willing partners to satisfy her every need. But she will have to control her urges if she’s going to find her brother….Easier said than done as the city pulses with frenzied desire, and Riley is confronted with a very powerful–and delectably naked–vamp who raises her temperature like never before.

In matters carnal, Riley has met her match. But in matters criminal, she must follow her instincts not only to find her brother but to stop an unholy harvest. For someone is doing some shifty cloning in an attempt to produce the ultimate warrior–by tapping into the genome of nonhumans like Rhoan. Now Riley knows just how dangerous the world is for her kind–and just how much it needs her.

5. HEART OF THE WOLF by Terry Spears

Their forbidden love may get them both killed

Bella is a red werewolf, sole survivor of the fire that killed her entire pack. Forced to flee her adopted gray pack when the alpha male becomes a vicious threat, she struggles to live as a lone wolf, until Devlyn, the gray male who rescued her as a pup, comes to bring her home. His passion for her wont be denied, but hes a beta, doomed to fight to the death if he so much as touches the alphas choice of mate.
When a local red werewolf goes on a killing spree, Bella and Devlyn must flee the murderer, the police and their vengeful pack leader. But with the full moon rising, and her heat upon her, Bella cant resist the pull to her destined mate
A sizzling paranormal romance based in extensive research on how wolves live and behave in the wild, creating a fascinating world of nature and fantasy

6. TEMPTING DANGER by Eileen Wilks (Book 1: World of the Lupi)

Lily Yu is a San Diego police detective investigating a series of grisly murders that appear to be the work of a werewolf. To hunt down the killer, she must infiltrate the clans. Only one man can help her – a werewolf named Rule Turner, a prince of the lupi, whose charismatic presence disturbs Lily. Rule has his own reasons for helping the investigation – reasons he doesn’t want to share with Lily. Logic and honor demand she keep her distance, but the attraction between them is immediate, devastating, and beyond human reason. Now, in a race to fend off evil, Lily finds herself in uncharted territory, tested as never before, and at her back a man who she’s not sure she can trust.

7. WOLF AT THE DOOR by Christine Warren (Book 1: The Others)

Sullivan Quinn didn’t travel 3,000 miles from his native Ireland and his wolf pack just to chase rabidly after the most delectable quarry he’s ever seen. Quinn is in America on a mission—to warn his Other brethren of a shadowy group willing to use murder and mayhem to bring them down. But one whiff of this Foxwoman’s delicious honeysuckle fragrance and he knows that she is more than a colleague or a conquest…she is his mate.

Anthropologist Cassidy Poe is a world-renowned authority on social interaction, but the overpowering desire she feels around Quinn defies every ounce of her expertise. Working by his side to uncover The Others’ enemies poses risks she never expected—to her own safety, to those she loves, and to her heart, as every encounter with Quinn proves more blissfully erotic than the last…

Now, with no one to trust but each other, Quinn and Cassidy face a foe that’s edging closer every day, threatening to destroy the life they’ve always known, and the passion they’ve just discovered…

8. A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER by Kresley Cole (Book 1: Immortals after Dark)

A mythic warrior who’ll stop at nothing to possess her . . .

After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he’s waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.

A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy . . .

Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents — until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae — and their notorious dark desires — ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.

An all-consuming desire . . .

Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

9. CARESSED BY ICE by Nalini Singh (Book 3: Psy-Changelings)

Brenna, a she-wolf Psy, was abducted by a serial killer-and returned a monster. The only person who can help her is Judd, a telekinetic and Council defector. But the passion burning between them could push them both over the edge of sanity

10. BLUE MOON by Lori Handeland (Book 1: Nightcreatures series)

Miniwa, Wisconsin is under siege, but not by the usual summer tourists. The area’s normally shy wolf population has begun stalking human prey, and their victims have been disappearing…or worse. Something is happening in the woods. Something brutal and primitive…

Officer Jessie McQuade has seen plenty in her years on the force-but nothing as intriguing as the gorgeous, naked man she encounters while tracking a rogue wolf. Professor Will Cadotte is a Native American activist. He’s also the only man capable of distracting Jessie from her work. And for a cop, distraction-no matter how pleasurable-can be deadly. It’s against Jessie’s better judgment to accept Will’s help in her investigation, yet she soon finds herself doing exactly that-and more. Will’s dark, penetrating eyes see into a part of Jessie’s soul she never knew existed. It’s exhilarating…and terrifying.
Now, as a town’s deepest secrets come to light, no one is safe: not friends, lovers, or strangers. And as Jessie follows a bloody trail to the shocking truth, she’ll have to decide who she can trust when the moon is full…

11. KITTY AND THE MIDNIGHT HOUR by Carrie Vaughn (Book 1: Kitty Norville)

Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station’and a werewolf in the closet. Her new late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged is a raging success, but it’s Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew?

What are your favorite Werewolf romance novels? Are there any you strongly recommend that I should check out?

First the bad news: The auction is over. Candice Hern’s price went up like Woah in the last half hour of bidding.

Now the good news: It looks like I won all my bids!!! I would like to thank Mr. Wonderful for spoiling me rotten and for funding my book addiction. He is the best husband in the whole wide world and my knight in shining armor and my sugar daddy. I am truly blessed.

Item 1: Critique of a FULL MANUSCRIPT by Award-Winning Regency Author Candice Hern

Historical critique of a full manuscript of a historical romance set in England between 1790 and 1820. Manuscript will be reviewed for accuracy in areas of titles and forms of address; fashion; government and the law; war and the military; travel and geography; art, architecture, and design; anachronistic language; and more. Candice has an extensive research library and will try to vet every aspect of Regency history in the manuscript. Author may be either published or unpublished.

Candice is the award-winning author of 13 historical romances set during the English Regency period. She visits the UK once a year, has an extensive library of reference books of the period, and has been known to waste weeks researching an obscure historical detail. Her 14th novel, LADY BE BAD, came out last August.

For more information about Candice and her work, please visit www.candicehern.com

From last year’s winner: Candice Hern’s in depth critique of my full manuscript was a life saver. She has an amazing ability to pick out troublesome plot points that can be hidden from the author’s eye. Her knowledge of the Regency era is unsurpassed, which made me one lucky girl to have won the bid for her critique!

Item 2: Lunch with author Jenna Petersen at RWA National in San Francisco

Are you going to San Francisco for RWA’s National Conference in July 2008? Then bid to win a lunch with historical romance author Jenna Petersen.

Jenna Petersen started writing full-time in 1999 when her husband said, “You’re only happy when you’re writing, why don’t you do that?” In 2004, her dream came true when her literary agent called to say she’d just sold two books to Avon.

Her releases include: SCANDALOUS (October 2005), FROM LONDON WITH LOVE (August 2006) and DESIRE NEVER DIES (January 2007), SEDUCTION IS FOREVER (October 2007) and the upcoming LESSONS FROM A COURTESAN (July 2008). She also writes erotic romance as Jess Michaels, and helped launch the Avon Red line with her novella in Parlor Games. She recently published her first full-length erotic romance, EVERYTHING FORBIDDEN. Her next Jess Michaels release is SOMETHING RECKLESS (on sale April 22). She’s been a Bookscan and Waldenbooks Mass Market bestseller.

In addition, she has run The Passionate Pen since 1999. This popular site for aspiring authors gets nearly 200,000 hits per month and contains information on literary agents, publishing houses, articles about writing and the industry, links and Jenna’s Diary toward and beyond publication. You can find her at www.PassionatePen.com and at www.JennaPetersen.com.

The winner will have a delicious lunch with Jenna at once of San Francisco’s great local restaurants and have time to pick her brain on whatever writing or reader topics that come to mind!

Item 3: A Critique by USA Today Bestselling Author Lori Handeland

USA Today Bestselling Author Lori Handeland will provide you with a detailed critique of the first three chapters and synopsis of your novel.

Lori Handeland sold her first novel in 1993. Since then she has sold to Dorchester Publishing, Kensington Publishing, Harlequin Superromance, St. Martin’s Press, Avon Books and Pocket Books. Her stories span the historical, contemporary and paranormal genres. She is a Waldenbooks, Bookscan, and USA Today best-selling author, as well as a two time RITA winner for her novel BLUE MOON in 2005 and THE MOMMY QUEST in 2007.

Lori can be reached through her website at www.lorihandeland.com

So now some more good news/bad news:

Bad news: Now that two authors will be critiquing my manuscript(s), I better get my butt in gear. This means less reading and book reviewing and blogging.

Good news: You, my friends, will get the inside scoop on my lunch with Jenna Petersen. Jenna has also graciously agreed to do an interview here on ciaralira. What questions do you have for her?

Questions for you, dear reader: Have any of you read books by Candice, Lori, or Jenna? Do you have questions for me to ask any of these dear ladies when I communicate with them? And lastly, do you think this new wordpress design is hard to read? I’m worried the grey is hard on the eyes.

Forget the beefcake, this news makes me drool fo’ reals. Author Brenda Novak is hosting an auction to raise money for diabetes research, and the prizes are to die for. I’m hyperventilating here. If you are a reader or know a reader of Romance novels (YOU KNOW ME!!!), you must check this out. (There’s non-romance stuff too.) There are hundreds of autographed copies of books, including Advanced Reading Copies (ARC), and opportunities to get your name published in a book. Even have a character named after you! If you are an aspiring author you have the opportunity to have your manuscript read by an impressive list of agents and editors. Not an opportunity to be missed. I’m going to pull out my favorites for you to drool over (and buy for me, should you want to earn my undying love).

For Readers:

• Lunch with Diana Gabaldon in Phoenix, AZ (OMG! LET ME GROVEL!)
• Lunch with JR Ward in New Jersey
• Lunch for 6 with NYT Best Seller Sherrilyn Kenyon & Dianna Love in SF
• YOUR NAME in a 2009 Dark-Hunter Book by NYT #1 Best Selling author Sherrilyn Kenyon
• The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by JR Ward, Autographed (including the new book!)
• For those who like it hot…A year’s worth of books from Kensington’s Aphrodisia Line
• A 1-year of Kensington Brava Books & 6 months of Brava ARCs courtesy of Editor Kate Duffy
• Be a Character in Susan Sizemore’s Next Book
• A complete autographed collection from Paranormal Romance Author Jenna Black
• YOUR SCANDALOUS WAYS by Loretta Chase, Autographed Advanced Reading Copy
• Lori Handeland’s Nightcreature Novels Collection, Autographed
• CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT by Loretta Chase, First Edition, Autographed paperback
• Complete Karen Marie Moning Library, Autographed (hopefully with Nathan Kamp on the cover!)

For Writers:

• Critique of a FULL MANUSCRIPT by Award-Winning Regency Author Candice Hern
• 100 Page Triple Pass Deep Editing Critique and Lunch with Margie Lawson (I took a class from her in March and it was AWESOME.)
• Historical Romance Proposal Critique by Rita Winner and Bestselling Author Madeline Hunter
• Ten Months of Mentoring from Ten Award-winning, Bestselling Author–The Fog City Divas
• Brenda Novak Deluxe Mentoring and Networking Experience
• Conference Fee to National RWA Conference in San Francisco Paid by Author Sophie Jordan
• Agent evaluations
• Author critiques
• Editor evaluation

There’s a ton more, including website design and hosting and lunch with various authors, agents and editors (just the thought of which makes the butterflies run riot in my tummy).

Most auctions start April 30th.

The one thing the auction is missing is a date with a cover model.

Stephanie Rowe
Stephanie, another new author and client of agent-to-the-stars Michelle Grajkowski, writes a hilarious tale of Otherworldly beings with witty dialog and imaginative characters much in keeping with Katie MacAlister’s Aisling Grey, Guardian series (another client of Michelle’s). Publisher’s Weekly aptly calls her books “paranormal romance adventure comedy”. Can’t wait for The Immortal Badboy, which comes out in November 2007!

Date Me Baby, One More Time is about Justine, immortal guardian of the Goblet of Eternal Youth, and Derek, millionaire founder of Vic’s Pretzels, who fall in love while trying to kill each other, she to protect the Goblet (currently an espresso machine named Mona) and he to end the curse that kills every male member of his family at the age of 30. Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3.

Must Love Dragons is about Justine’s roommate, one-time hottie Teresa who was stuck permanently in dragon form when she drank from Mona (the aforementioned Goblet of Eternal Youth). Teresa makes a deal with Satan in order to meet her cyber-lover Zeke, who turns out to be an ex-dragon slayer. Despite their mutual attraction and mutual instincts to kill each other, they manage to outwit Satan and the assailants who are hell-bent on killing Teresa and taking over the Otherworld. Ratin: <3 <3 <3 <3.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Hot is about Becca, Satan’s right hand, who teams up with badboy fighter Nick in order to save Nick’s sister and stop Satan Jr. from taking over the Otherworld. One of Nick’s powers is his vast range of emotions that he can share with empty and soulless Becca. I really enjoyed the love scenes in this book, because they were all about emotions and feelings, not anatomy. Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3.

Lori Handeland
I ended up reading book 5 first, because once again the book itself makes no mention of where it comes in the series and I found it pursuing the library shelves. Would it kill them to write “book 5″ on the cover or make a list of the books to read in order on the inside? Anyways, the books are relatively “stand alone”, as is typical of paranormal romance. That means that the books are related and characters sometimes carry through, but each novel has a different hero/heroine pair as the main characters.

In Midnight Moon, Cassandra experiences a devastating tragedy, goes into the witness protection program, and becomes a voodoo priestess in New Orleans. Heartbroken and grieving, she employs fortune hunter Devon Murphy to guide her through the jungles of Haiti to discover a secret zombie ritual to bring her daughter back from the dead, and finds instead something worth living for. This was a very well-written, creative paranormal romance, but honestly some of the voodoo/zombie stuff was a little gruesome. I also didn’t believe the two main characters really fell in love; it seemed much more like plain-old lust, which doesn’t leave me feeling warm and fuzzy. Rating: <3 <3 <3