Conference Notes

I'm back from Lori Foster's Readers' 'N Writers' Get Together. I met a lot of very nice people and picked up some good tips and ideas. I went to one agent and four editor/publisher appointments. All asked me to send partials with synopsis. There's so much I want to talk about but I'm dead tired. Four of us had a great girls' night out last night - we went to dinner and then to see Sex In The City. We took a lot of those silly photo booth pictures as if we were teens again. People looked at us weird, but it was really really nice. BWT, the movie was great. I was never a big Sex in the City fan, but it sounded like a fun thing to do with the girls, and I really enjoyed it. I'd even see it again. I took several pictures of the event and the people I met which I'll post soon as I've not downloaded them yet. Lucy Monroe and Susanna Carr and Alan Foster (Lori Foster's husband) were all very generous with giving me tips and just very sweet people. We sat at the same booksigning table. Susanna's really inspired me to submit to Harlequin Spice Briefs which I'll do asap. If I've forgotten anyone, please forgive me. Treana Sumter, Autumn, and Beckie Davis were my movie-dinner group and they were so much fun and so nice. We'll definitely keep in touch. So were Joanna and Mary Ann and Wendy and the Novel Talk reviewer. Please forgive me if I'm forgetting last names at the moment). I met a 1st Lieutenant recently returned from Iraq. I'm afraid I don't recall her name but she was very sweet and an avid reader. I sat by her at lunch and was fascinated by her tales of life in Iraq on active duty. I must say that Lori Foster is blessed to have such a nice and supportive husband as Alan. He's a real gem and it's obvious they're still very much in love. They were high school sweethearts at my first high school. I, of course, bought several books - Treana's, Lori Foster's anthology Power of Love, Susanna Carr's latest release (I'll report on them all after I read them). Lucy Monroe's books were sold out before I could grab one. At least I couldn't find them. There were so many more I longed to buy but I'll have to get them when I get back home. I read Lori's story in the Power of Love anthology and it's excellent and very sexy. I can't wait to read the rest. It's a must read and all proceeds go to help the Cincinnati/Hamilton County YWCA for battered women. I spent a lot of time at the YWCA in the next county up when I was a kid - I learned to swim there, took art lessons, played sports, and even went to their camp every summer and loved it. The YWCA holds a special place in my heart. There's so much writing and reading I'm yearning to dig into and yet I'm still here with Dad and the aunt and uncle want me to come to their house for at least two days. I think I have to take a nap first or I'll never make the drive. Why can't there be 48 hours in a day? Or 72? Why can't I do four things at once? I am a pretty good multi-tasker - not just my opinion - my day job boss says that's my biggest strength. (Funny, two bosses ago, the boss thought that was a detriment. I think she thought I was hiding stuff flitting between things so fast. The current boss is much smarter.) I met Rhonda Penders, Sr. Editor of Wild Rose Press, and just as special, sister to my blog friend Nicole McCaffrey. Rhonda sought me out specially per Nicole's request just to find out we'd already met and spoken a couple times. LOL. I enjoyed it - she's such a nice lady and I'm very impressed with her and her company. I hope to make this a yearly conference as I'd love to see my friends again, it was very helpful, and a lot of fun. Plus I want to see Dad at least yearly. I'll see what I can do.

Guest Blogger: Author Judith Rochelle

I'm happy to welcome erotic romance author, Judith Rochelle, as my guest today. It was a joy chatting with her. Please give a big welcome to Judith and leave some comments for her and visit her site: www.judithrochelle.com

Why do you say Texas is God’s place on earth? Please tell us about what life is like there.

Texas is rich in history, exciting and colorful, with enough wide open spaces to make you forget about concrete jungles. Wild life still roams a lot of the state. Travel anywhere in the state and you get the most peaceful feeling, as if nature is really talking to you. We live on six gorgeous acres in the Hill Country, which is mostly small towns, huge cattle ranches and rolling hills. All kinds of wildlife live here and I feed deer by hand. It’s like being on another planet, yet in fifteen minutes I can be in the middle of civilization.

Please tell us about some of your terrific “firsts” (first female sports reporter on The Michigan Daily at the University of Michigan; first woman to own a rock and roll agency in Detroit, the home of Motown; first woman president of the Pasco (Florida) Economic Development Council). I’m in awe. You really owned a rock and roll agency in Motown? Do tell.

Oh, yeah. I was doing public relations work free lance and a folk singer I knew asked me to do a press kit for him and help him get exposure. Then two other singers called me and asked me to do the same for them. The someone gave my name to a rock band and they wanted me to help them get jobs. Yeah, right. Like I really knew what I was doing. But I got myself licensed by the state and the musicians union and started knocking on the doors of rock clubs. Think sci fi convention with loud music. The owners are as weird as the musicians. But all it took was getting one foot in the door and having one success and my phone didn’t stop ringing.

My sports reporter career started my freshman year in college when the guy I was dating, for a lark, asked me to join the sports staff of the college newspaper. Those guys were such testosterone jerks. They’d send me riding across campus on a man’s bike, or to cover swimming practice where the men don’t wear suits. They thought they had me when they told me I had to get a locker room interview with the hockey tem, but I beat them at their own game. I bribed the coach with a box of cigars, the team dressed out and I got my interview.

You mention in your bio that you had a wild and wacky time managing rock and roll bands. Would we know of any of the bands? Which ones? Can you tell us a story about your time with one of them?

Most of them were bar bands, or bands who did small concert clubs, but we did a lot of dates with bands big in the 70s like Bob Seger and The Allman brothers. I think my most memorable (or least?) was the country concert I did with five acts and kept cool back stage drinking Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill. I woke up the next morning thinking I’d been drinking formaldehyde!! Then there was the band who decided in the middle of a set to stop playing, picked up their instruments and walked off the stage. That was definitely heart attack time.

What do you like to do in your spare time? You sound a lot like my father – avid golfer, reader, target shooter. What kind of guns do you shoot? I used to shoot trap, rifles, and pistols. Dad loved skeet as well, but I was rarely fast enough to shoot the second bird.

I shoot a small Kahr P 9mm, a small handgun that I’ve learned to handle really well. Texas has a concealed handgun law so I got myself licensed. The instructor I had for my renewal class is former Delta force and has been an invaluable resource for my Lotus Circle series of psychic romantic intrigue thrillers. And reading-if I’m not writing, my nose is stuck in a book or my ebook reader. My golf is so-so but on a good day I can beat my husband 1 (Don’t tell him I told you!)

I also see you’re a cat lover, like me. Please tell us about your kittens.

We have three: Bast, all black, who we are sure is a reincarnation of our Nefertiti who we had to put to sleep at seventeen; Blanca, all white,. Who we call our ‘special child’ because she’s a little behind the others and doesn’t meow-she just squeaks; and Grace, a torty, who is the ring leader of the group, talks all the time and tattles on the other two. It’s like having small children all over again.

What position do you hold for your RWA chapter? Will you be attending the RWA National conference this year or any other conferences?

I just finished a two year stint, first as second vice president, then first, and chaired out conference last year. This year I’m taking a breather but will get involved again come June. I won’t be going to RWA but definitely RT and really looking forward to it.

I am currently involved with a project sponsored by one of my publishers,. The wild Rose Press. My latest romantic suspense, On The Run, is a fundraiser for St. Jude’s Hospital for Children. Every single penny from sales of the book will go into a special fund for St. Jude’s. I hope everyone will visit www.thewildrosepress.com and check out On The Run.

Tate Donovan was sure The Yellow Rose would be his when his father died. After all, he’d grown up there and it was his legacy. But Abby Culhane was King’s stepdaughter for many years and held a place in the old man’s heart right up to the end. When King leaves her one fourth of the ranch and Tate’s grandparents’ home, Tate is shocked. Then he sees the grown-up Abby and can’t decide whether he wants to fight her over the will or take her to bed. The entire town of White Tail, Texas rolls up its sleeves.

Excerpt:

One Hot Texas Night
by Judith Rochelle

Copyright © 2007
All rights reserved, The Wild Rose Press

“Well, how about this?” Tate's eyes traveled the length of her body, scrutinizing her as if she were completely nude. “I didn't get a good look at you in Ryan's office. Someone's grown up since she got run out of town.”

Again with the grown up. What was it with people here, anyway? Willing herself not to blush at his blatant scrutiny, Abby took a deep breath, exhaled and faced him squarely. It didn't help that she felt as if she'd been digging ditches all day, while he still looked like he'd just stepped out of an air-conditioned house.

“First of all,” she began, “I didn't get ‘run out of town', and I resent you saying that. We moved on to something that you wouldn't in your wildest dreams be able to handle.”

“Oh, yeah? There's not much I can't handle, little girl.”

“And don't call me that, you jerk.” Deep breaths again. Control. Control. “Secondly, I'm not selling you anything. Your father left me this property and the interest in the ranch fair and square. For whatever reason, he wanted me to have it. So no deals.”

He leaned back against the wall. Power radiated from him, and arrogance was evident in his posture and tone of voice. Tate Donovan owned the world, and she'd just invaded it, uninvited. “So what do you plan to do with it, city girl?”

“I haven't decided yet.” She planted her hands on her hips and blew a stray curl from her forehead. “And I'm in no hurry to make up my mind.”

He moved so swiftly he was almost body to body with her before she realized it, his bands biting into her shoulders. “You as good as stole this land from me, Abby. I won't stand for it. Why do you want it, anyway? I know you're not planning to live here.”

The heat from his body enveloped her, and the spicy scent of his aftershave tickled her nose. Once that scent had tantalized a love-struck, ignorant teenager. Even now her skin burned where he touched her. Damn! She turned her head away from him.

“Actually, I am.” Lord, why did she say that? The words had popped out before she could stop them. Closing her mouth after the fact didn't help at all.

This is available at: http://www.thewildrosepress.com

Thank you, Judith, for visiting with us today. Many happy sales and good luck with your career.

Ashley