RT Promo iIems?

For the past several days, I've been checking out promo items to have made for the RT convention in April. I can't make up my mind. Of course all of us authors want items that will compel readers to buy a gadzillion of our books, to buy all our backlist and all our future books. We want items the readers will keep and thus remind them of us for a long time into the future. We want items that will stand out in the crowd. And we want items that won't make us go broke. Um... That's a pretty tall order. At least it's perplexing the heck out of me. There's a couple things I'm thinking about. I hesitate to mention which things here because if hundreds of authors haven't already thought about them, I want to keep it unusual. When I'm at a readers' conference, I love to pick up pens. I usually look at the author's website. But does everybody? Hopefully. I definitely don't want to invest in something like a candy bar wrapper that'll be thrown away after one use and at most get one glance, however much appreciated. Bookmarks are another good buy for the money, but there are usually hundreds of them. How many will a reader honestly use and reread? Yet again, what other promo item can you purchase 100 for $17.95? You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Romantic Times Convention

I'm jealous. I'm envious. And I have no right to be. This week authors and readers are going to the RT (Romantic Times Convention) and I'm not. I made the choice not to go. I think it had something to do with lack of $. It might have been also lack of vacation time and wanting to see my dad and have ear surgery so I could hear better, and also that I'm going to Lori Foster Readers and Writers Get Together in Cincinnati while I visit my dad and go to my 30th high school reunion. Guess I can't have it all. But now that the week is here and everybody's been so excited and all they can do is talk about it, and blog land (at least in writer's world) is pretty barren and deserted already and most don't leave on their planes till tomorrow, I'm wishing I'd signed up to go anyway. Like I read in Carol's blog today at TEB, I'm shy and don't do too well mingling with people I've never met before, even in blogland and cyber space, much less at all. I worry too much, too, about what people with think. Worse, my mind often goes blank when I meet someone new and I can't think of anything to say, much less something witty and eloquent. I still have no clue why the day job ever thought they wanted to put me on a telephone with donors. I did try to warn them. I guess I got over that as I did work my way up to manager, but then of course, I'm surrounded by a group of people I've known for years, some of them for ten years, that I see 5 days a week - my second family. It's even very likely, that after all this, I'll do the same thing next year - go to Lori Foster's event in Cincinnati (if it works out well this summer, that is) so I can also see my dad and my family and have my vacation from the day job do double duty. I'll probably not get to too many RT's until I can retire from the 9-5 world, in say, 15 or 20 years. I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing... To all my friends, blogging buddies, fellow authors, and readers, have a great time and bring back lots of pictures to share.