Passion and Prose event

So this weekend was the first ever Passion and Prose event. It was really lovely. I liked the set up a lot. 2 authors were at each table, and readers were interspersed. I was actually assigned to the same table as Tessa Dare & Wendy. The other author at our table was the lovely Judy Duarte, author of many wonderful Silhouette Special Editions (pssst - she has a new one coming out next month, except the back cover blurb makes it seem like - 3 babies? Ack! But otherwise? Yeah, like her books.).

The emcee for the day was MG Lord, who was hilariously funny, and did a great job. She's also a professor, and has written some really interesting-sounding books. Her latest, The Accidental Feminist: How Elizabeth Taylor Raised Our Consciousness and We Were Too Distracted by Her Beauty to Notice, is one I think I am going to pick up. She gave us all sorts of examples in her talk about Elizabeth Taylor, and got me very intrigued.

We had the keynote by Gail Carriger, who was very funny. And apparently, brilliant as well. She's an archaeologist.

Then there was time to purchase books, visit with authors and get books signed.

Tessa Dare - and what's with that one piece of hair hanging
down on my forehead? It's there in every single picture, LOL.

Then back into the main room for lunch. Who would have ever thought that they would serve grilled cheese and tomato soup? But it was a brilliant choice. Absolutely delicious, and everyone agreed it was a total winner. Plus, the salad they served first had strawberries, oranges, and grapefruit on it. Win!

After lunch there was a YA panel. And those ladies were so interesting and adorable. I swear, it was enough to make me want to read a YA book.

I forgot to take pics of them, so just totally swiped this collage off the
Passion and Prose site. I wanted to give them their due.

During that panel, they served dessert - DIY ice cream sundaes and gorgeous cookies. Again, everyone agreed. Winner.

Of course, Wendy debated diving into the whipped cream, and I was planning to simply drink the leftover chocolate sauce. Yeah, we're so classy like that. The whipped cream was really good, but it didn't want to leave the serving spoon!

Then it was time for more book signing and schmoozing with authors and readers.

My favoritest person: HelenKay Dimon

Sylvia Day (L) and Zuri Day (R)

And can I say? My happiest new find of the day was Zuri Day. She is gorgeous and funny and outspoken. I totally want to be her when I grow up. The cover for her next (not yet released) book had me itching to read it. It's just so romantic. They are so into each other. And not just for the smexxin'. Except for his hunka hunka abs and shoulders there. There's something about the definition on a guy's shoulders that I love. *ahem* back to the blogpost...

Once that was done, it was time for the afternoon keynote: Meg Cabot. She was adorable, and hilarious, as you'd expect. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of her. And forgot to take any of me, Wendy, & Rowena. And forgot to buy raffle tickets - they gave away some great prize baskets. Sensing a theme here about me? D-oh!

There were so many there that I didn't get the chance to say hello to, but wished I had. So... if they are at RWA this summer, I will simply ambush them. And I hope that Passion & Prose keeps this a west cost event. There are already many author/reader events in the east (Lori Foster, Lora Leigh, etc). It's nice to have one out here.

First post about #RT11

This year, RT is taking place in my backyard. And because we're totally tapped out after youngest's bar mitzvah, I couldn't afford to either take a week off work or to pay for the entire convention. Much sadness ensued. Then, Holly, Tracy, Nikki, Renee, Rosie, and I decided that we could do the weekend. So I'm planning on checking in Friday morning and hanging til Sunday morning.

Well, yesterday I received an email from the lovely and wonderful Malle Vallik of Harlequin/Carina Press asking me to a dinner that she and Angela James were hosting. (thanks for the referral, Holly!) Of course, I immediately emailed the hubby, told him the kids were on their own for a 2nd night in a row, and answered in the affirmative for dinner. Pretty much a no-brainer. An invitation to dinner to talk about books? I'm so there! One of the tremendous perks of being local. And of having teenagers who'd rather call for a pizza than almost anything else.

Well, it turns out that both Malle and Angie are beautiful, wonderful, gracious people, and I had a lovely time. OK, it was lovely except for the 10 minutes when I was suffering from The. Worst. Hot. Flash. Ever. I seriously think I freaked everyone out. And I thought I would die. Yes. D. I. E.

Also in attendance was Smart Bitch Sarah, who is one of the funniest women I've met. And also just very lovely and gracious, too. So there was me, Tracy, Renee, Amber, Barbara Vey, Mallory, and Katie. All talking books, Goodreads, and peeves. Oh, and amazing food, too! Truly a wonderful evening. So thanks again, Malle!

I started out the evening with lovely long curls. This pic was post-hotflash.

Missing is Barbara, who manned all the cameras.

Afterward, Tracy and I hung in the bar chatting with LB Gregg (aka our very own Lisabea). As we were ready to leave, I spotted Lauren Dane and had to go interrupt her conversation to say hi. Yes, I was rude and pushy, but there you have it and she was very sweet about my interruption :)

I will be heading out to RT tomorrow by lunchtime (hopefully - I have to call in to two meetings tomorrow morning - ugh). I'm sharing a room with Holly, Nikki, and Tracy. Should be a blast! And we'll be hanging in the bar Saturday evening at about 7:00 as "the SoCalBloggers" just waiting for all the authors and other bloggers to come visit with us. Well, ok. We'll be there gawking and drinking and laughing and we hope that anyone who is there that wants to visit will swing by.