Be On The Lookout For Book

I originally read this book back in May and ADORED it. Now that it's out for all to read - it's time to do the repost. This is one you Don't Want To Miss!!

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Occasionally I get ARC’s for books that aren’t due out for a few months. If I read it when I get it and I really enjoy it, I’m not quite sure what to do. Do I do a review for a book in May that won’t released until August? Or do I wait and do a review closer to the release date? But then I might forget some of it and my initial enthusiasm might be gone. Do I do a review now and then just hold it until closer to release date and post then? Chances are pretty good if I do that I won’t remember where I stored it.

So after pondering on all that – I decided on something different. I sort of did it with The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie, but now it’s official. This is a Be On The Lookout For feature. I’ll do a review when the enthusiasm if fresh and repost when the book is released.

So this is it – my inaugural post and the book is……

Stolen Heat by Elisabeth Naughton

Why this one: funny story that. I was on my way to work and drove past the front of the house and noticed a package in my mailbox. See, I don’t check my mail everyday – surprise – and when I saw what looked like a possible book package, I jumped out of the car and quickly ran up to the house, grabbed it and put it in my bag. Later I was reading another book when I noticed that there were missing pages so I put that one away and started this one.

Steam Level: Just the way I like it

Author Website Blurb:

Passion So Hot It's...STOLEN

His past tore them apart. Hers lies thrust them back together.
Now a killer's out for revenge, but the biggest threat for both may just be the heat they thought they'd already lost....

Antiquities dealer Peter Kauffman walked a fine line between clean and corrupt for years. And then he met the woman who changed his life—Egyptologist Katherine Meyer. Their love affair burned white-hot in Egypt, until the day Pete’s lies and half-truths caught up with him. After that, their relationship imploded, Kat walked out, and before Pete could find her to make things right, he heard she’d died in a car bomb.

Six years later, the woman Pete thought he’d lost for good is suddenly back. The lies this time aren’t just his, though. The only way he and Kat will find the truth and evade a killer out for revenge is to work together—as long as they don’t find themselves burned by the heat each thought was stolen long ago…

My Thoughts: Wowzers!! This book started out with a bang and didn’t stop the entire book through!! Often when reading RS it’s not equally balanced, but not so in this one. It’s the perfect blend of both.

Katherine Meyer is an Egyptologist who is currently leading tours of ancient tombs while she waits for the chance to actually do some excavating. Peter Kauffman is a mysterious gallery owner who stands up and takes notice when he first sees her. The chemistry between these two is incendiary. Pete is not quite all that he seems though and he’s slightly shady. Though a series of events, he believes that Kat was killed in an explosion and he has mourned her ever since.

The story opens when Kit who didn't really die, comes back into Pete’s life five years later to steal something from his gallery. He is at first elated she’s alive, and then furious that she let him believe she was dead for the past five years and then even angrier that she has dragged into deep, deep trouble by her reappearance, yet still elated that she is alive. The author does a great job in portraying his conflicting feeling and made me ‘feel what he felt’. I normally don’t go for this kind of hero – a playboy type with questionable morals, but in the case of Peter Kauffman, I just found him very yummy – very yummy indeed. He’s one of those heroes’ who is wrecked for the heroine. I don’t know how else to put it but hopefully you know what I mean.

And as great a character as Peter was, Kat Meyer is just as well written. The Kat five years ago was wonderfully well drawn. She was a bit of an innocent in some ways. She found it hard to believe that someone like Pete would be interested in her. But we the reader can see the appeal. I love a well-written heroine and this one is well written indeed.

Five years later she has lost that touch of naïveté but is still just as interesting. Just as Peter is angry yet still drawn to her, so too is she Peter. Towards the end of their previous relationship she found out something that led her to believe that he was just using her all those years ago and she too feels angry and drawn to Peter at the same time.

The mystery itself is also very well done. Because of what her return sets in action, they are constantly on the run from the villains. This is the “suspense” part of romantic suspense. This is the second of a series but stands on its own very well. I know this because I haven’t read the first book, Stolen Fury yet. I have it – somewhere and you can be sure that I will be tearing into all the piles of books I have all over the house looking for it!!

If you like romantic suspense, if you’ve never tried it before but are curious and looking for a good one – Stolen Heat is a book to put on the Be On The Lookout For. I will be reposting this review later so you can move it from the BOTLF list to the TBB list, then the TBR list, then I think it just might be on the Keeper list

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

A Must Read!!

A few months ago now I became 'aware' of what a huge deal book piracy was, how it hurt the author and I was horrified at the extent of it and so did a post. Since on occasion I get passionate about things, I go what some might call overboard.

Because I'm a little fish in a big pond and this is important to me, I emailed some of the big fish and asked for their help in exposing this topic. They very graciously agreed to help. Jane of Dear Author did a post as did Aztec Lady and Karen Scott of It's My Blog. Smart Bitches have also done posts on it. I also contacted All About Romance, a site that has had a profound effect on me as a romance reader over the years. This is the place where I first found 'my people'. I heard back from Lynn Spencer and she was interested in exploring this issue herself. We exchanged a few emails and she took up the cause. Until then, she hadn't realized the extent of book piracy on our well loved books and the effect it has on authors.

Today she posted a well researched and almost sad post. She has done her research and it shows. This was brought home to me even further at the RWA conference when I had a short talk with one an author whose books I have really enjoyed. I asked her when her next book in the series she is writing is coming out and her response was she didn't know if she would keep it going. And one of the big reasons why is because of the direct result of piracy. She is a mid-list author whose works have been pirated and she is tired of working so hard on something she loves only to have it stolen from under her.

All of us have authors we adore and as readers who love them, it should hurt us too that they are being robbed of the fruits of the work they work so hard on. And - as Lynn points out in her post

"I was aware that book piracy was a big problem, but hearing people’s personal stories made it clear that this is a HUGE deal. Huge as in authors losing tens of thousands of copies of a single book to book piracy. For a midlist author, these losses could feasibly affect sales enough to result in lost contracts – and we as readers may end up losing a storytelling voice we value."

As others who have spoken on the subject, I don't know what all we as readers can do to help, but whatever it might be, I will be willing to do it and support those who brought me so many, many hours of enjoyment; who have taken me to worlds I never would have visited; back in history to ancient Rome, to Medieval England, to Scotland, to Regency and Victorian times; to other continents; to the old West. We have met and fallen in love with Vampires, with Werewolves and many other otherworldly creatures. Authors have shared with us what is in their imaginations. And I hate, hate, hate that their reward is to have their hearts work stolen by modern day internet pirates.

At the risk of bringing out my own little troll Amber and/or Anonymous (and isn't she/he a brave little soul??) again with her bizarro justifications for thievery, I strongly urge you to read Lynn's piece and perhaps linking it on your own blogs so that the word will get out that this kind of action is NOT to be tolerated. If enough of us raise a ruckus, maybe the publishers will get on board and track down these sites and work on cutting them off. I don't think its right that authors alone should be the police in this situation.

Who knows what a small pebble can do when thrown into a body of water can do?

A Contest

I don't hold a lot of contests - I can't think of good stuff to hold them about. But two things came together tonight and I thought "Say!! Why not have a contest!!"

Incident #1 - I stopped at GT (Giant Tiger) on the way home from work and happened to see this HTF book on their small book rack. I knew right away it was hard to find so I picked it up even though I have a copy. I wasn't sure at the time what to do with it, but then happened upon Incident # 2 and since I don't have the talent but others do - a contest idea was born.

Incident #2 -I was checking out the EHarlequin site for sale books when I saw this one. I passed it, went back and looked again and thought O.M.G.! I'm not good at cover snark but this one just begs for it.



So - in order for a chance to win this book, come up with a good tag line or back cover blurb or whatever your imagination decides. The one that makes me laugh the hardest will win

Are you ready??

Here it is

Yep - I found a brand new copy of Lord Ruin by Carolyn Jewel. I know she's a hot author right now.

Keep in mind I have a warped sense of humour and the more warped, the more likely to make me laugh.

And in case you are wondering - the contest is open to anyone anywhere. Of course if you are from the planet Melmac, I can't guarantee when it will get there.
In order to come up with an idea, for anyone interested, I will pick the winner next Wednesday (not to be confused with tomorrow). We always need a laugh or a bit of good news on hump days.

Just leave whatever you come up with in the comments section.

Orannia's Broken Wing Challenge

A while ago Orannia issued a challenge for anyone who hadn't read Broken Wing, to read this book. Since everyone and their mother (and father and brother and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbours and so on) know by now how much I adore this book - it's numero uno on my all time favourite book list now, I've been following said challenge.

Those who took up the gauntlet had until the end of July to read and report their thoughts. If I'm missing some, please let me know!! But from what I've been following, Orianna was the first to report in with her thoughts.

Amy of Aymless's Thought's on Books and Life (and who I got to 'hang' with in DC - and what fun she is) has just blogged about what she thought of it too!


And I had an interesting chat with the people of Source books, publishers of her next release Highland Rebel, in DC and they told me that Broken Wing was the best selling book Medallion has had. I don't know if this is true or not - but if it is - a big huge SCORE!! for blogger buzz 'cause I can't help but think that all us bloggers who have read and loved this book and blogged about it have been a contributing factor in it's doing so well!!

I've got you my pretties!

One of the bonuses, a big bonus in attending the RWA conference is the books you can get - a goodly number of them free! In many cases you get back the price of signing up in books!

Here is a mostly done list of the books I picked up.

Author	Title
Aguirre, Ann	Blue Diablo
Alers, Rochelle	Secret Agenda
Brisbin, Terri	The Conqueror's Lady
Butcher, Shannon	Burning Alive
Campbell, Anna	Tempt The Devil
Caskie, Kathryn	How To Seduce A Duke
Chapman, Janet	Moonlight Warrior
Cornick, Nicola	The Confessions Of A Duchess
Dahl, Victoria	Start Me Up
Day, Alyssa	Atlantis Unleashed
Duran, Meredith	Bound By Your Touch
Enoch, Suzanne	After The Kiss
Enoch, Suzanne	Before The Scandal
Enoch, Suzanne	Sins Of A Duke
Feisty, Lilli	Bound To Please
Freethy, Barbara	Suddenly One Summer
Harris, C.S	Where Serpents Sleep
Haymore, Jennifer	A Hint Of Wicked
James, Eloisa	An Affair Before Christmas
James, Eloisa	Duchess By Night
Jeffries, Sabrina	Don't Bargain With The Devil
Jeffries, Sabrina	Wed Him Before You Bed Him
Johnston, Joan	Outcast
Johnston, Linda O	Back To Life
Joyce, Lydia	Wicked Intentions
Knight, Deirdre	Red Kiss
Linden, Caroline	A View To A Kiss
London, Julia	Highland Scandal
Long, Julie Ann	Like No Other Lover
MacLean, Julianne	Portrait Of A Lover
Mallory, Margaret	Knight Of Pleasure
Martin, Kat	Heart Of Courage
Marvelle, Delilah	Lord Of Pleasure
McCoy, Judi	Hounding The Pavement
McIntyre, Amanda	The Diary Of Cozette
Montgomerie, Pamela	Sapphire Dream
Morgan, Alexis	Darkness Unknown
Parrish, Leslie	Fade To Black
Pearce, Kate	Simply Shameless
Perry, Kate	Marked By Passion
Renwick, Sophie	Hot In Here
Rosenthal, Pam	The Edge Of Impropriety
Rush, Jamie	A Perfect Darkness
Spears, Terry	Heart Of The Wolf
Tabke, Karin	Master Of Craving
Thomas, Sherry	Not Quite A Husband
Vanak, Bonnie	The Lady And The Libertine
Warren, Tracy Anne	Tempted By His Kiss
Williamson, Beth	Hell For Leather
Williamson, Beth	The Education of Madeline
Williamson, Beth	The Redemption of Micah
Wolff, Veronica	Warrior Of The Highlands

And just so you know - there were a few; more then a few, that I didn't get because they were out of them before I got there. I was wondering how long I could hold out before heading to the bookstore. It's a sickness I tell you, because I broke down tonight! I finished reading Meredith Duran's Bound By Your Touch yesterday (review to come soon!) and loved it so much, I had to check and see if her next book, Written on Your Skin was in the store and low and behold it was!! So I just had to get it to read up on Phin's story. So while I was there I got a couple I missed in DC.

Dare, Tessa	Goddess Of The Hunt
York, Rebecca	Eternal Moon

AnimeJune just posted her list too - and you can see that while we both got quite a few books - many of them are different!

Where I've been and what I've been doing

Do you ever start reading a book - a real good book - put it down somewhere and then can't find it? That's what I did the other day. I've torn the house apart looking for it and can't find it anywhere!!! Arrrrrrggggghhh






So I started another book and I'm really enjoying it too - that's part of what's taken me away from blogging the past couple of days - reading, losing a book, looking for a book, reading another book and..




I've been entering the books I got into all my varied book cataloguing places. It's taking quite some time but when I get done, I plan to post all my new lovelies. I've been doing it on the lap top and I can only type half as fast on the laptop keyboard as I can on the desk top.

Wrap Up

There were so many wonderful things about the conference - too many to mention them all in case I forget someone or something. One of the things I most enjoyed was spending time with my roomies - Wendy, Barbara, Rosie for a night or two and our honourary roommate Aztec Lady. And of course I can't forget our frequent visitor AnimeJune.

Being almost a seasoned veteran now, a good deal of what made this year so great was seeing the excitement of the newbies. I asked Barbara and Aztec Lady is they would be interested in having an 'after the party' chat. After a little bit of trouble - getting AL on AIM and then getting Barbara up and running on the newest version, we finally settled down to a nice talk on the whole experience - the 90% good and the 10% of what could have been better. So - here we go - our thoughts

KristieJ: Yeah!!!!!! Barbara is in the building!! You are you both here now. Oh this is so much better then talking to you one at a time

Aztec Lady: hell, yeah and *sniff* thank you, Barbara *sniff*

Barbara: LOL, okay ladies. Let's get the ball rolling!

KristieJ: You should have seen me when I was first trying to figure this out - it was scary!

Barbara: My kiddos need to hit the hay soon, lol.

KristieJ: OK - So what made you both to attend the RWA conference this year? Barbara - you first so we don't get confused

Aztec Lady: The good news is that once you do this a few times, you get the hang of it [at least that's how it worked for me with yahoo, and I'm hoping this is similar *crossing fingers*] For me, I never thought I would actually have the opportunity to attend an RWA National Conference, but I've been always curious about the 'behind the scenes' author stuff since... well, forever, it seems. And then there's the lure of meeting so many interesting people I interact with online--bloggers, authors, author/bloggers, etc.

Barbara: Well, I was hoping to see Lisa Kleypas, lol. But you knew that Kristie. She's been my favorite since...forever. Wow, now I seem shallow. Thanks AL, lol. ((hugs))

Aztec Lady: *chuckling* not shallow, Barbara -- focused!

KristieJ: LOL - Barbara - you are fairly new to blogging so you missed all the experiences we blogged about in previous years. As you have aspirations to write romance, was that another reason?

Barbara: LOL! Well, the minute I heard about the workshops, my interests in attended peeked. I'm hungry to learn as much as I can about the writing process and RWA seemed like the best place to get some insightful information.

KristieJ: And AL - you first this time - how did it compare to what you thought it would be?

Aztec Lady: Oh my lord and all the levels of hell--you know how I read everything about RWA last year and the year before from everyone in romance blogland? I *thought* I knew what to expect. I mean, I thought, "sure, they had a good time, but there MUST be some exaggerating going on, nothing can be THAT good". Hah, that'll show me to leave the doubting tomasina home when dealing with romance readers, blogers and writers. It was amazing, incredible, wonderful and breathtaking

Barbara: Ditto

Aztec Lady: [yeah, I know, hyperbole here] but it was! I got into romance books and reading and prejudice and bias conversations with EVERYONE without a hitch just started talking and everyone knew where I was coming from--even if we didn't agree on the topic, Now I'll shut up--sorry Barbara]

Barbara: Not to mention EVERYONE was just soooo friendly!

Aztec Lady: [friendly: hell, and double hell, YEAH]

Barbara: You get a certain idea of what a person is like through blogging and I'll admit, I was a bit surprised by some people. I pictured them all serious (Aztec Lady) when in all reality they were amazingly laid back and fun!

KristieJ: Barbara - you probably missed this but last year there was a bit of chatter that bloggers shouldn't attend a writers conference - that RT was more for readers. Did either of you feel the least bit slighted or unwanted?

Barbara: I guess because I always seen AL posting on Kristie's more serious posts, I took her for rather serious about everything. But OMG, she's funny as anything.

KristieJ: (and I thought AL would be a bit more serious too *g*) then she is

Aztec Lady: oh god, what a horrible reputation to have -- good thing nobody was upset I am not all that serious *ahem*

Barbara: No, not at all. I do have to agree that "Party Wise" RT is more geared for the reader. But RWA, is perfect for everyone. It has just enough for pubbed authors, aspiring authors and readers alike.

KristieJ: Were they any authors - other then Lisa Kleypas that either of you were hoping to meet? If you did who were they?

Aztec Lady: the "bloggers shouldn't attend" bit? I didn't feel it, at all. The opposite in fact. I can't get over (and apologies if this comes of as conceited) over the many people who smiled vaguely and politely at me, then read the badge and went, "Aztec Lady!" and hugged me, or took my picture, or told me they read/like my reviews. Seriously, heady stuff. I felt so welcome, so at home, so in tune with everyone I interacted with.

Barbara: Oh heck yeah!! Eve Silver, Charlotte Featherstone, Anna Campbell, Toni Blake and as you all know, Samantha Kane. Ugh, I was such a fangirl, lol. OMGosh and Julia Quinn!!! How could I forget her?!

Aztec Lady: holy cow, my list is long--and I met almost everyone of then. Shiloh Walker--what a lovely woman!

Barbara: And I agree with AL it is a conference for EVERYONE. Lisabea/LBGregg -- another gorgeous woman

Barbara: Yes!!!! But Lisa was just so cool I forgot she was a writer, lol.

Aztec Lady: Virginia Kantra, Alyssa Day (again), Lauren Dane (again), Ann Aguirre (*kisses and love*) Beth Williamson (again), Nora Roberts, CLWilson. Oh god, I'm missing everyone...

Barbara: Oooh, I met CL Wilson, too. Very nice lady

Aztec Lady: Julie James, Tessa Dare, Caroline Linden... erm... hold on, there are more... *head desk*

Barbara: I missed Carolyn Jewel *sobs*

Aztec Lady: thank you! Carolyn Jewel. Olivia Gates

Barbara: Sure rub it in

Aztec Lady: Barbara Caridad Ferrer, Carrie Lofty

KristieJ: Wasn't Julie James a doll? I just love her - not that I don't love all the authors I met - but that she spent an evening with us was wonderful!!

Barbara: Julie is soooo pretty!!

Aztec Lady: Sherry Thomas, Meredith Duran... there are more, there are more... Oh, Lindsay Sands

Barbara: YES!!! Merdith and Sherry...so nice!!

KristieJ: Are there any authors you met that you hadn't read their books that you will now try them?

Aztec Lady: and riffing off Barbara's comment: what's with all this gorgeous authors? isn't it enough that they are talented, do they ALSO have to be so beautiful?

Barbara: Yeah, Lisa's. She was too cute.

KristieJ: *g* There are a lot of gorgeous authors aren't there?

Barbara: Yeah, more than alot. OMG, Toni Blake is another stunner!

Aztec Lady: You know [or learned during the conference] that I'm in danger of losing the girly card, but even I could appreciate the gorgeousness when I saw them

Barbara Oh stop! You had the same shoes as me, so we all know you know good girly stuff when you see it.

KristieJ: I dunno - you were pretty girly during the RITA's *g*

Barbara: Thank you Kristie! AL the Girly Girl

Aztec Lady: Gah, please don't! I have a reputation to uphold! [and thank you]

Barbara: LOL!

KristieJ: It's not everyone who curls their eyelashes using a spoon - I've never done it

Aztec Lady: But seriously, gorgeous all around, all the time--which is so freakingly unfair when I was dragging but pretty much from Thursday on!

Barbara: She's got talent, that's for sure

KristieJ: I think everyone does by that time. It's such a go, go, go atmosphere all the time - specially if you take the first part of the week to do sightseeing

Barbara: I want you all to know I've slept nothing less than twelve hours since I returned home. I was SHOT! Twelve hours A NIGHT!

Aztec Lady: I wish I could have slept...

KristieJ: I took today off too and slept most of the day. I didn't even get dressed!!

Barbara: LOL! Aren't those the best days?

Aztec Lady: We drove back to Florida, leaving Maryland about 4:45PM on Sunday--and hitting traffic around Washington, which cost us an hour.

Barbara: Awww...stop complaining AL. Your man is a sweetie so I'm sure you enjoyed the extra time together

Aztec Lady: Got here mid morning on Monday, to a house that was upright but... well, let's say that leaving two teen age siblings in charge of the house wasn't my wisest move. I read to him as he drove, most of the night--Dorothy L. Sayers' "Murder Must Advertise" and man, did we have a fun time with it!

KristieJ: He is indeed a keeper AL!! What a great guy he is and I'm so glad I got a chance to meet him!!

Barbara: Awwww...I love that you two read together. That's so romantic.

Aztec Lady: ((Kristie)) and ((Barbara)) thank you--and I am most definitely keeping him :wink:

KristieJ: And meeting fellow bloggers - what was that like for both of you?

Barbara: Oh, meeting my fellow bloggers alone would have made the trip worth it. I was nervous, I won't lie, but it turned out to be the most fun I've had in a long time! Everyone was just amazing.

Aztec Lady: bloggers: oh. my. GOD!!! Really, no words. : Look, it's one thing to hit if off online, chat for hours or comment constantly on blogs--but to see a face, get a hug, and then just take off running on long conversations on this or that book, that trope, this cliche, that author...: it's just breathtaking, in the best possible way. By Friday I felt like I would burst into tears at any and everything--I felt so full of emotion - GOOD emotion

Barbara: I was really sad when everyone left

Aztec Lady: there's something indescribable about the acceptance and energy in that crowd.

Barbara: I agree 100% with AL

Aztec Lady: I was so effin' sad to leave!

KristieJ: I know - I feel that way each time too. The first year I was the last to leave and it seemed so lonely after everyone left

Barbara: Oh, believe me I felt your sadness. It was so depressing to return to the room alone.

Aztec Lady: please note that, as Pollyanna-ish as my previous comment may come across, I do know not everyone [and perhaps not even 7 in 10] people at RWA are nice and lovely, but that wasn't the point or an issue, at all.

Barbara: I had so much fun with all of you

Aztec Lady: Barbara, me too--it was just... gah, words fail me.

Barbara: It just sucks we live so far away from each other

KristieJ: I had such fun with both of you too!! Both of you really made it great for me - seeing you excitement -sharing the newness of it all with you

Barbara: Maybe it's for the best. Can you imagine those book shopping trips? We'd all be broke, lol.

Aztec Lady: oh god, the credit card bills would be *shudder*

KristieJ: LOL - well hopefully I'm stuffed with new books for a while. I looked at July and Augusts new releases and I think I'm safe until September

Barbara: LOL! Mine's already screaming for RWA!

Aztec Lady: as it is, Kristie is responsible for way too many of my book buys!

Barbara: I hear you! Kristie and her recs.

Aztec Lady: and she's right about 3 out of every 4 for me--that's just NOT good, I tell you

Barbara: I haven't been disappointed by Kristie yet.

KristieJ: So - by the time you add the conference fee, the hotel bill, food etc - it can be pretty pricey. Did you both find it was worth it?

Barbara: ABSOLUTELY! I wouldn't hesitate to spend it again, although....my hubby might, lol.

Aztec Lady: *ahem* well, you guys know *I* didn't cough up the dough... but if I have my way, I'll go again next year.

Barbara: Lucky lady...

Aztec Lady: *sheepish* I know

KristieJ: I think so too *g* While you almost get the cost back in books alone - it's the experience of meeting authors and even more special - fellow bloggers beyond price!!

Barbara: I won't be able to make next year's conference. But 2011 in NYC--I'm there!

Aztec Lady: YES! See, even without the free books [which hello, are NIIIIIIIIICE] it's the people there who made it so amazingly worth the time, effort and money

KristieJ: And what did you think of some of what they offered? How about the lunches. What did you think of the author speakers?

Barbara: It definitely is worth it!

Aztec Lady: I loved loved loved both speeches

Barbara: Oh, I thought Linda Howard was hilarious and I loved Anne Stuart's workshop on writing Dark Romance.

Aztec Lady: Hello, Mistress of preparedness and keeper of the nuts Howard

Barbara: that's Anne, btw. Lol

Aztec Lady: and then Eloisa James had me in tears pretty much from the beginning

Barbara: I missed Eloisa...I was too busy napping because y'all had me running around all day, lol. I was shot!

Aztec Lady: And of the workshops I attended (fewer than I had hoped, but the lines for the publisher signings sucked the time) were all really good, frankly

Barbara: They were all good. I just loved Anne Stuart's lol. She's toooo funny!

Aztec Lady: There was ONE author who, in my never humble opinion, should not sign to give workshops. Some of us are not public talkers, and we should acknowledge our limitations. Luckily the other two authors in her panel were AMAZING so I didn't end up leaving the talk.

KristieJ: I hope the publisher signings are rethought a bit. This years was the most disorganized I've been too - not to mention some didn't have enough books

Aztec Lady: Signings: I feel like an ass for complaining, but complain I will.

Barbara: Oh, I agree on the books bit. They should have had more. I ended up having to choose which signing I wanted to go to more because I knew by the time I was done the other wouldn't have any books left. Not that I'm complaining, I left there with well over 75 books!

KristieJ: I was kind of disappointed too. Despite all the books I did get - there were quite a few I missed out on.

Barbara: Yeah...Carolyn Jewel!!! *weeps*

Aztec Lady: The signings on Thursday were ohmygawd amazing--so many authors, so many books! piles and piles of the shiny, purty, new, coveted books....

KristieJ: And what about the literacy signing? Was that not an amazing, wonderful, scary zoo?

Aztec Lady: but I'm peeved that so many authors got so few copies for the Literacy Signing--hello, what'syournamepublisherIcan'tremember, Tessa Dare only got 15 copies. 15!!!! She has three books coming out in successive months and you only put out 15 copies for a literacy signing attracting something like 500 authors and over 2500 fans???? what the fuck?

Barbara: OMG I LOVED IT! Yes, it was a zoo, but I didn't care. I was too awe struck, lol. I met so many of my favorite authors!!!

KristieJ: I know - I really wanted to get one of her books - but missed out altogether

Aztec Lady: And then Berkley, NAL, Ballantine--I don't know how many of the tables at the signings were EMPTY and the authors who *had* books had so few that even the people at the front of the line didn't get more than two or three signed books

Barbara: I did stick to my plan of going up and down the isles. I was a bit nervous about asking for pics--as I usually am--but everyone was so gracious about it.

KristieJ: I had my list for the literacy signing but then lost it half way through - and without my list my mind went blank on the books I wanted. I only remembered most of them the next day and could have kicked myself for forgetting

Barbara: Ugh, CAROLYN JEWEL!!! That's all I'm saying about being forgetful. Dang it all!

KristieJ: Which just goes to prove how greedy we are book wise LOL - we get all these incredible books and mourn at the ones we didn't get! But honestly - entering those rooms filled with books - it's like beyond the biggest best candy store ever built!!

Barbara: I know! I was in heaven!!! Ladies...my mommy duties are calling. The kidlets have to got to bed. It's almost 10:00. Okay!!! I had so much fun and I just want to thank you both for taking this baby blogger in and making her feel at home. ((BIG HUGS))

Aztec Lady: Kristie, thank you so much for inviting us. This was very cool, Kristie! *hug*

This was very cool, Kristie! *hug*: Good night, Kristie *hug* and again, thank you. You made the conference a blast for me

KristieJ: And big hugs to you too!!! I LOVED meeting and spending time with both of you. You made it a blast for me too