Check out these author and book events in Seattle in the upcoming months. Questions should be directed to the host organization, as I am only passing on the information.

SEPTEMBER: Southcenter Barnes & Noble celebrates its 15th anniversary!
Please join us for author panels and signings:

Sun. 09/06 J.A. Jance 1pm (thriller)
Sat. 09/12 Jayne Ann Krentz 3pm (romance)
Sun. 09/13 Robert Dugoni 1pm (thriller)
Sun. 09/20 Team Seattle 2pm: Mark Henry, Cherie Priest, Lauren Dane, Kat Richardson (speculative fiction/urban fantasy)
Sat. 09/26 Yasmine Galenorn 2pm (paranormal romance)
Sun 09/27 Margaret Mallory & Gerri Russell 2pm (historical romance)

Southcenter Barnes & Noble
300 Andover Park W. #200
Tukwila, WA 98188

SEPTEMBER 19-20: Half Price Books Washington Warehouse Sale
Everything $1 or less! 9 am to 6 pm
9241 Greenwood Ave. N. in Seattle

SEPTEMBER 25-27: Seattle Public Library Book Sale
The Friends of the Library hold two major book sales every year, in Spring and Fall. At each sale, over 200,000 books and other items are offered to the general public. Proceeds go to benefit The Seattle Public Library. Location: Magnuson Park, Hangar in Building #30, 7400 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, 98115

• Friday, September 25: 6:30- 9:30 p.m. Member preview sale. Members may purchase up to 25 items. Memberships $10 in advance; $30 at the door.
• Saturday, September 26: 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.
• Sunday, September 27: 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.

OCTOBER 7: 826 Seattle fundraiser: Where the Wild Things Are movie preview
826 Seattle is a nonprofit writing center that helps students, ages 6-18 develop their creative and expository writing skills. Be the first on EVERY BLOCK of Seattle to see what is the most anticipated movie of the year by attending this preview showing of the movie, sponsored by 826 Seattle and our pals at the Northwest Film Forum. How come Warner Brothers is letting us do this? Because Dave Eggers, co-founder of 826 National, also co-wrote the screenplay with director Spike Jonze.

Check out the trailer: http://wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com/

Quick! Buy tickets here right now: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/79215

OCTOBER 8, 7pm: R.A. Salvatore
The Ghost King: Transitions, Book III (WOTC)
University Bookstore store Seattle
Don’t miss the gripping conclusion to Salvatore’s New York Times best-selling Transitions trilogy! When the Spellplague ravages Faerûn, Drizzt and his companions are caught in the chaos. Seeking out the help of the priest Cadderly–the hero of the recently reissued series The Cleric Quintet–Drizzt finds himself facing his most powerful and elusive foe, the twisted Crenshinibon, the demonic crystal shard he believed had been destroyed years ago.

OCTOBER 10, 4 pm to 6 pm: Emerald City Book Fair
The public is invited to the book fair of the Emerald City Writers Conference, where tons of local romance authors will be autographing books. The event is held at the Bellevue Hilton. The official author list is not yet public, but I’ll post it when it is. We are pleased to donate a portion of the Book Fair proceeds to DAWN, Domestic Abuse Womens Network of South King County.

OCTOBER 23-25: Seattle Steamcon
Dust off your brass goggles for the first ever Seattle Steampunk Conference. There will be costumes, tea parties, Steampunk author speeches, music (Abney Park), games and more. Check out http://www.steam-con.com for more information.

OCTOBER 24-25, 10am-6pm: Seattle Book Festival
Columbia City Event Center. Remember the old Northwest Book Festival on the waterfront? Seattle’s Columbia City community is bringing it back. It’s going to be very cool event with at least 50 authors in attendance and over 80 exhibitors. This is a grass roots effort with all the funding coming from participants. Rumor has it there will be a panel on the “Changing Face of Romance.”

On Saturday local romance readers and authors gathered at the King County Library in the middle of nowhere Covington for a Romance Extravaganza!!

Jacquie Rodgers and Ann Charles: Pre-Published Promotion

Sadly, getting lost, roadwork on the freeway, and Seattle’s gnarly traffic conspired against my attendance at the morning meeting. I caught the last half hour or so… These are my notes, not theirs.

Jacquie and Ann spoke about developing a platform to expand your readership. These tools must include a website (buy your domain name now!), and can include workshops and speeches, mailing lists, and social networking sites like facebook, twitter, goodreads or group blogs.

Three questions to identify when creating your platform:

1. Who are you known as NOW?
2. How do others see you?
3. Where do you want to be a Year from now?

Agents and Editors want to see authors have current websites with interactive elements (such as blogs or newsletters). It needs to be updated frequently so that readers return to the site. A newslist is only meaningful if it has more than 2000 names. They want to see that you’re putting yourself out there. Headshots, which you will put on your website and in the back of your books, should be indicative of your subgenre and writing. Write paranormal? Your picture should be dark and mysterious. Write contemporary romantic comedy? Your picture should be bright, sunny and colorful.

Jacquie encouraged us to find author mentors who is a success in some aspect of promotion that you want to include in your business model. Hers are Stella Cameron for having some of the first book trailers (which are now common), Gerri Russell for networking and establishing a broad reader base, and Rowena Cherry for podcasting greatness. She recommended copromoting on your website by giving away friends’ books. Ann looks up to Jane Porter for always being gracious and kind, Yasmine Galenorn for her disciplen, JA Conrad who has a great publishing for newbies resource on his website, and Jacquie Rodgers for being a social networking whore. She stressed the importance of ALWAYS being gracious, courteous and kind.

The two writers have launched a new website for author and aspiring author promotion: www.1stturningpoint.com

Jayne Ann Krentz defends Pop Fiction

Author Jayne Ann Krentz, who writes Regency romance as Amanda Quick and futuristic romance as Jayne Castle, made an eloquent and uplifting defense of popular fiction. I wanted to stand up and shout “Yes! YES! THAT is why I love the romance genre!” If only I could bottle her speech to replay when needed. A former librarian herself, Jayne applauded librarians for getting romance into the libraries. Culturally, Americans think “if a book is in the library it is somehow a ‘real’ book.” She said that romance authors are not alone – no popular fiction authors feel they get respect.

The prejudice against romance is just a sharp part of the bias against pop fiction in general. The convention and standards held up in literary fiction is a masculine style of writing that abhors sentiment and strong emotion, but his is NOT the style of our historic heroic tradition. It is a relatively recent convention based on psychoanalysis and modern angst. Anything with wide appeal is highly suspect in our culture; it is taken for granted and treated with little respect. But popular fiction has it’s own place in our culture and society. It is NOT watered-down literary fiction. It stands on it’s own and draws its power from the historic heroic tradition – not modern angst. It is wrong to use the standards of literary fiction to judge popular fiction.

Popular Fiction “teaches us we need not be victims, but with courage and honor we can vanquish our fears and triumph over adversary.” – Jayne Ann Krentz

In literary fiction, the protagonists are victims. The genre focuses on their alienation and disfunction: the destructive aspects of the human condition. Popular fiction, on the other hand, pits good against evil on a broad scale. Its protagonists may be victims, but honor, courage, determination and love they triumph despite the hurdles in their path. Pop fiction holds up optimism over despair. It has an enormous survival value. Lit fiction does not hold these values important. It illuminates and examines human neuroses, but does not solve them.

Jayne’s Arcane Society is an effort to tie together her many personas and encourage readers of one subgenre to try the others.

Historical and Paranormal Romance Panels

You can tell we were having a great time!

Amanda Quick, Gerri Russell, and Library Goddess Deborah Schneider (RWA bookseller of year 09)

Stella Cameron, Alexis Morgan and Cherry Adair, (Yasmine Galenorn not pictured)

After the Romance Extravaganza, Cherry Adair invited everyone to a very delicious High Tea, while she regaled us with sage advice on writing, plotting and publishing. While some authors urge us to write the “book of our heart,” Cherry Adair urged us to write in a subgenre that we will want to stick with and continue writing in for many books to come. The food was amazing, the company divine. Looking forward to next year!

News from the Library Goddess, sponsored in part by the Greater Seattle RWA. Don’t you wish you lived here?

Romance Extravaganza

Meet some of your favorite best-selling romance authors on a day dedicated to romance readers and book lovers.

Saturday, May 2, 11:30am–2:30pm

Covington Library

Meet the Authors

11:30am – Keynote Address by Amanda Quick

Noon – Book Signing Party with all participating authors

12:30pm – Historical Romance Panel with Amanda Quick, Elizabeth Boyle and Gerri Russell

1:30pm – Paranormal Romance Panel with Cherry Adair, Stella Cameron, Yasmine Galenorn, Alexis Morgan

Sponsored by the Covington Friends of the Library and the Greater Seattle Chapter of Romance Writers of America.

Books will be for sale at this event.

July 17 – 20, 2008 – Seattle Airport Hilton

This PNWA Conference marks the one year anniversary of when I decided to try my hand at writing a fiction novel. I attended the PNWA conference last year and was inspired by fabulous speakers, including Alexis Morgan, Richelle Mead, Caitlin Kittredge, Michelle Grajkowski, Pat White, and Ann Roth. This year the conference appears to be half the size of last year. It’s tiny! But I’m still attending, since I’m a literary contest finalist and I plan to make my very first agent and editor pitches.

CIARA’S (Tentative)SCHEDULE:
(for a complete PNWA schedule click here)

THURSDAY, July 17, 2008

2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Business Side of Writing
Learn How To Pitch To An Agent and Editor. Can you say what your novel is about in one sentence? Participants will have the opportunity to write their idea down and have it discussed. We’ll find out what you really meant to write and the level of interest it generates. All will profit, not just the person whose idea is discussed, as this workshop will show you how to focus your creative energies and learn how to pitch your novel.
Speaker: Bob Mayer is a New York Times bestselling author with 38 books published. He has over three million books in print and is in demand as a team-building, life-changing and leadership speaker and consultant for his Who Dares Wins: The Green Beret Way Concepts.
Moderator: C.J. Wyckoff

4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Craft of Writing
Top Ten Novel Writing Mistakes
Speaker: James Thayer

8:00p.m.
Dessert Reception with Agents and Editors,
Featuring Speaker Bob Dugoni

FRIDAY, July 18, 2008

9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Editors Forum
Moderator: Bob Dugoni
The editors will give an overview of the kind of projects they are acquiring and the best way to submit your project. A question and answer period will be included.

10:30 a.m. – Noon
Agents Forum
Moderator: Bob Dugoni
The agents will give an overview of the kind of projects they are acquiring and the best way to submit your project. A question and answer period will be included.

1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Romance Track
Successful Tips for Writing a Compelling Series. Learn how to develop an engaging series of books that will make readers come back for more. The three things attendees will learn different kinds of series, keeping the writing fresh and developing a compelling story arc.
Speakers: Pat White and Mary Buckham

3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Romance Track
The Joy of Writing Sex: (It’s Not Just for Romance Writers Anymore!)
Sex is more than just dirty words on the bathroom stalls. It’s part of being human. As writers we can’t afford to neglect the gem mine of conflicts, hopes and disappointments waiting for our character is in their bedrooms. This workshop will explore the special world of writing sex scenes without apology. Sex is funny. And dramatic. Transporting and heartbreaking. Find out what it means to your character and you’ll know them well enough to tell their story.
Speaker: Diana Groe AKA Emily Bryan

6:30 p.m.
Dinner Program with Keynote Speaker Gayle Lynds

8:30 – 10:00 p.m.
Autograph Party
Over 60 Award Winning and New York Times Bestselling Authors will attend the Autograph Party that will follow the Keynote Address.

SATURDAY, July 19, 2008

8:30 – 10:00 a.m.
The Craft of Writing Track
Manuscript Makeover: Revision Techniques for Novels. You’ve finished your novel, and you know it needs work, but where do you begin? We’ll cover a diagnostic system to spot common weaknesses in craft and practice a technique for boosting original style. You’ll create a self-editing checklist to take home and confidently finish your revision.
Speaker: Elizabeth Lyon has been an independent book editor for twenty years and has helped nonfiction and fiction writers gain first (and subsequent) book conTracks.

10:30 – Noon
Mystery/Thriller Track
Writing For Adrenaline Junkies – The Art of Addicting Readers to Suspense
Thriller author Rick Mofina discusses how to build drama, tension and suspense; then crank it up so that readers are complelled to sacrifice family and sleep to your story.
Speaker: Rick Mofina, one of the leading thriller writers of the day.

2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Science Fiction/Fantasy
URBAN FANTASY Or: The Scooby Gang Saves the World Again
Weres, vampires, and witches, oh my! Creatures from mythology and legend abound in the urban fantasy/paranormal romance genres. But what separates urban fantasy from paranormal romance? While they’re often closely linked, what are the dividing lines that cause a book to fall into one camp or the other? And how does urban fantasy differ from high fantasy? Learn how to ensure your characters save the day without falling into the superhero trap, and that your evil overlords aren’t just Darth Vader or Sauron in disguise. In short, this workshop will offer you some tricks of the trade to make sure your urban fantasy stands out from the pack.
Speaker: Yasmine Galenorn. USA Today Bestselling author

4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Romance
Creating Unique and Individual Characters.
Speakers: Alexis Morgan and Ann Roth .

6:30 – 8:30
Literary Contest Awards Celebration and Dinner
*bites nails*

So many books to read, so few hours in the day…

My current Series To Read list. Some I’ve been recommended and others I’ve happened upon while browsing. I can’t wait to bite my teeth into these! (I’ve obviously come off my Regency binge head first into a Paranormal orgy.)

1. The Midnight Breed series by Lara Adrian
   Book 1 – Kiss of Midnight
2. The Fading Lands series by C.L. Wilson
   Book 1 – Lord of the Fading Lands
3. Werecat series by Rachel Vincent
   Book – Stray
4. The Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole
   Book 1 – A Hunger Like No Other
5. Argeneau Vampires series by Lynsay Sands
   Book 1 – A Quick Bite
6. The Drakon series by Shana Abe
   Book 1 – The Smoke Thief
7. Southern Vampire Mysteries series by Charlaine Harris
   Book 1 – Dead Until Dark
8. The Silver Dragons series by Katie MacAlister (Seattle Author!)
   Book 1 due out in May – Playing with Fire
9. Tales of an Urban Werewolf series by Karen Macinerney
   Book 1 – Howling at the Moon
10. Love at Stake series by Kerrelyn Sparks
    Book 1 – How To Marry a Millionaire Vampire
11. The Sisters of the Moon series by Yasmine Galenorn (Seattle Author!)
    Book 1 – Witchling
12. Guardians of Eternity series by Alexandra Ivy
    Book 1 – When Darkness Comes
13. Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton
    Book 1 – Guilty Pleasures
    (Yes, I realize I’m the last person on earth to read this book.)