Pictures from Lori Foster's Event: Also, Do you want to be interviewed?

As you may or may not know, I attended Lori Foster's Readers' 'N Writers' Get Together this past weekend in Cincinnati. I had a great time. I made many new friends. I learned a lot of good things. I had appointments with one agent and a few editors and publishers. I signed my books. In short, it was awesome.

As promised, here are some pics. Better late than never. :)

* Also, if you're an author or a reader or a reviewer or an editor/publisher and you would like to be interviewed on my blog, please answer the interview questions below and email them to me and I'll feature your interview on my blog. Be sure to answer all the questions that apply and return them to me at:

chinara@aol.com

Since I get a LOT of spam, be sure to put in the subject line: "Interview with Ashley/Your Name"

If you have a book coming out or something time sensitive, let me know and I'll try to post your interview on or very near your special day. This goes for all my old and new friends, and those of you I haven't formally met.

The questions will be below the conference pictures. Just copy and paste and add your answers. If you're an author and would like for me to post your book cover or pic, email that to me with your answered interview questions.



Cerridwen author: Joanna Waugh

Wendy and 1st Lt. (I'm sorry I forgot your name)

Author Lori Foster

Author Kelly Nyrae

Above and below: Authors Ashley Ladd (in pink), Trenea Sumter (sitting), and Autumn Bell (standing, in costume). This was 3 out of our 4 woman dinner/movie girls' night out crew. We went to see "Sex in the City" and we had a blast. I can't wait to hang out with them again.

Author Autumn Bell

Authors Lucy Monroe and Susanna Carr (We signed at the same table and they were both extremely nice and helpful with writing and promotion advice.)

The "Power of Love" anthology authors

Rhonda Penders (left) publisher of Wild Rose Press, and author Ashley Ladd

Authors Trenea Sumter and Ashley Ladd

Oops! I HAVE TO go on a diet (again). Soon as I get back to Florida I'm going back to eating mainly fruits and veggies and working out daily!!!

As you can see, we had a blast. I've not had so much fun in a long time.

And now, for the Interview Questions:

1) Are you a writer, reader, book reviewer, edit, agent, or publisher?

2) If you're a reader (and what person above isn't) what genres are your favorite to read? What are your favorite books and authors?

3) What is your all-time favorite book?

4) About how many books do you read in a month? A year?

5) What makes you like a book?

6) What makes you hate a book? What makes you throw a book against a wall? (Have you ever thrown a book against a wall or given up in the middle in frustration?)

7) Do you belong to a readers' group?

8) If you're a writer, what genres do you write in? Why?

9) Please tell us the names of all your published books and where we can get them.

10) If you're a writer, who do you write for? If you're a reviewer, who do you review for? If you're another publishing professional, who do you work for?

11) Are you running any contests, spotlights, or other promotions you'd like for us to know about?

10) Do you have a day job also, and if so what is it? Did you hold any other jobs before this one? If so, what were they?

11) What are your hobbies and passions other than reading and writing?

12) Where do you live? What do you like best about your home town? Were you born here or somewhere else?

13) Tell us a bit about your family and pets.

14) What is your daily routine?

15) What conferences, book signings, or other appearances might we meet you at in the next year?

16) Tell us any other interesting tid bits about yourself or your books you'd like for us to know.

(Please feel free to delete any questions you may be uncomfortable answering).

Thanks in advance!

** Sometimes my mail overflows my email box so please, if you don't hear from me within two days, email your questions and answers again until you receive a response from me.

Cats on Tuesday

Last week I joined a group called "Cats on Tuesday". Thus, here are my cat pics for Tuesday.

I honestly tried to get some good pics of my cats tonight, but they didn't want to cooperate. What I wanted to get a shot of most, was Dion's and Prissy's paws as they're both polydactyl cats.

Here's the pics I managed to get or already had. Unfortunately, it's not much.







To the left is Stacey. She's a sweet cat, not polydactyl like Dion and Prissy, and not tailess like Bobby.







This is Bobby, our tailess cutie. Doesn't he look like Groucho Marx? He has a personality to match. He can be neurotic and likes to climb up people to get their attention, but he can also be the sweetest, most loving cat alive. Although Stacey won't like me for saying this, "Uncle" Bobby was a much better mother to her kittens than she was. Bobby's always cleaning them and nurturing them, even now. And Bobby wasn't their blood uncle, just an adopted family member.







Meet sleepyhead, I mean Dion (short for "Dionysius").


He's very big and very mellow (and very sleepy at this time of night).







See the extra digit on Dion's paw? Oy! The pic's still dark. I promise to get a better pic soon.







Here's a pic of another polydactyl paw, that's a little clearer. I'll keep trying to get a very clear picture of Dion's or Prissy's paws and when I do, I'll post them here.

Before I adopted Dion, I'd never heard of Hemingways or polydactyl cats. Supposedly, Ernest Hemingway fell in love with polydactyl cats, too, and adopted several. They propagated and now there are approximately 60 cats on his estate, about half of them with the polydactyl (6-toed) paws.

I just read that the extra digit, or in other words, the polydactyl paw is considered a mutation. No cat that has this feature (the big thumb or extra toe) can be considered a pure breed. No one supposedly tries to breed polydactyl cats.

If Dion's an example, that's a shame. He's the most mellow, adorable, and cute and cuddly cat on the planet. Everyone thinks his paws are awesome. I'll definitely get a pic of him to post soon. He was extra-camera shy tonight, unfortunately.

I'll make it my mission to have more and better cat pictures for next week's Cats on Tuesdays. Stay tuned. Same day, some blog.