Summer 2013 Mishmash

Cuz there is no unifying theme to the post, other than that it’s about the various whatnots of Summer 2013.

RWA 2013

I missed RWA 2012 in Anaheim, though I was only 90 minutes away in San Diego, because it was His Hawtness’s Brokeback Summer.  This year, he is super hale, getting up at the crack of dawn three times a week to run before work, and requiring no nursemaiding at all.  So I sashayed over to Atlanta–though my sashaying probably didn’t look all that pretty, when I was dragging my suitcases from the MARTA station to the hotel–and had myself a great time.

The entire mood of the conference was notably buoyant.  I remember RWA 2010, there was a pervasive sense of unease, and sometimes outright fear.   2011 was when we first started hearing about all the self-publishing successes–and the self-pubbing folks who wanted to give a workshop had to do it in the hotel lobby.

Since I missed last year, for me this is definitely the year self-publishing became the star.  The self-pubbing panels were held in the biggest rooms and every one I went to was well-attended. It is an exciting time to be a writer, with more avenues to success and profitability than ever.

But for me, the best part of the conference was RITA night, when my very dear friend Emily McKay won the YA Romance RITA, for her book The Farm.  I felt like the mother of the bride all night long, even though I had nothing to do with her book!

My second favorite part is probably McIrish–Kristan Higgins’s husband–taking to calling me “Trouble.”  Heh heh.  I am in fact a very untroublesome person, downright virtuous if we examine what I do and don’t do.  But sometimes it’s the mindset that comes across, and I am the sort to encourage my friends to take off their pants in public, in the hope of ensuing excitement.  🙂

New Website

It’s beautiful.  It’s functional.  It’s designed and coded by Frauke Spanuth at Croco Designs, whom I can no longer live without.

The Luckiest Lady in London

I have just turned in the galleys, or first pass pages, as they are sometimes called nowadays–and thoroughly enjoyed the read-through.  I even shed a tear, which came as a surprise, since I hadn’t pegged it as that sort of book.  But then again, angst is my stock-in-trade, so who am I kidding?  🙂

The Burning Sky Book Trailer

I like to make book trailers, when I have time.  Not that I ever expected them to sell books, it was more like a vanity thing, to give me a my-child-has-shiny-shoes kind of swagger.  (And which I have never experienced in real life, as neither of my children have ever consented to footwear that can be shined.)

For the first time, someone else has made me a book trailer, one that might actually accomplish the task of book-pushing.  The text is taken from the opening page of the book, so you could say I wrote the script.  But mainly what makes it work, for me, is the music, and the dramatic beauty of Eton.  (Seriously, I Google Earth’ed the heck out of Eton and looked at every image there was, and never realized the school was that pretty.)

The Dark Days Book Tour

I will be going on a quickie book tour, with fellow Harper YA authors Madeleine Roux, Rae Carson, Michelle Gagnon and Mindy McGinnis.

And these are the dates and the stops:

Sept. 25 – Las Vegas, NV
B&N Northwest, Rainbow Promenade

Sept. 26 – Highland Ranch, CO
Tattered Cover Book Store

Sept. 27 – Houston, TX
Blue Willow Bookshop

Sept. 28 – Austin, TX
Austin Teen Book Festival

Very excited about ending the tour in my hometown.   Would love to see you guys, if the tour comes near your usual haunts.

Covers

As I end a blog post, I ask myself, is that everything?  And the answer is often, no, it’s not, because I have a couple of new covers I haven’t posted yet.  I am, you see, a very serious cover exhibitor.   🙂  First up, audio Ravishing the Heiress.  This looks more like Isabelle than Millie, but hey, if it sells copies.

Ravishing the Heiress Audio Book Cover

Next up, the overseas cover for The Burning Sky.

And that concludes this edition of mishmash, which is probably the only thing we serve around here.  It keeps you cool in summer, and warm in winter, and makes children grow tall and beautiful. 🙂

5 thoughts on “Summer 2013 Mishmash”

  1. Yes, the ONE time in my life that I go to a RWA conference His Hawtness has to fall down. Gargh. Oh well! The book trailer looks really exciting I’ve been totally won over. I was always going to read it and get a copy for my 16 year old–but now I’m marking my calendar

    I happen to be listening to Beguiling the Beauty on that Whispersync thing for Kindle right now–Venetia is just about to let Christian sit alone with his birthday dinner– and have Heiress all lined up to listen to next. Jenny Sterlin does a great job. I always wondered what Venetia looked like–I always kind of pictured a young Elizabeth Taylor.

    Have a great time on your book tour! Wish some stops were closer. 🙂

    Reply
    • I was looking at pictures of Aishwarya Rai, actually, when I wrote Venetia’s description. 🙂 It’s rare that I use actual people for reference for my characters but in this case, I felt it was merited.

      And I hope you will enjoy the YA. My agent says it’s the best romance I’ve ever written. I’m not sure I entirely agree with her but I might by the end of the trilogy. 🙂

      Reply
  2. At the end of the trailer, I almost felt like it should read: Coming to a theatre near you. 🙂 I have the ARC for The Burning Sky, but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. The PGA is near me, so I’ve been trying to catch glimpses of Tiger and Phil. That’s cut into my reading time, but I hope to start it tonight.

    Reply

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