Hi all!  I’m back from New York and have tons to blog about…but for today…HAPPY 4th of JULY!  Thank you to the men and women who have fought and those still fighting to preserve the meaning of this day!

Welcome to the summer solstice blog hop!  If you’ve fallen off the bus, here’s the link:  http://justromance.me/

I had some blog issues and lost my solstice blog…so thought I’d give you a sneak peek of CLAIMED, which will be out in November.  Here’s an excerpt:

Several hours after dinner, Dage stood near the bar and tipped back a bourbon on the rocks, half-listening to Jordan’s good natured recap of his speech.  The tables had been
cleared from floor to make space for dancing.  He nodded at his friend while his gaze remained on the woman across the room.  Emma.  So close.  Finally.

The chandelier cascaded light down to create shimmers of movement in dark hair she’d pinned up in an intricate knot, leaving her delectable shoulders bare.  Even with the
distance between them, her heartbeat echoed within his own chest.  Her eyes a sapphire blue, her skin the purest of marbles, even without knowing her as he did, he’d be interested.  But he did know her.  A fierce intellect pounded behind that pretty
face, outmatched only by the spirit of fire held within her breast.

His mate.

She tossed her head, laughing at something Katie said next to her side.  Then Katie gave a nod and wandered toward another bar in the far corner.

A man approached Emma and Dage fought the urge to growl.  A vampire, a young one.  Tall, blond and from somewhere in the eastern district.  What the hell was his name?

The young vampire took her hand and leaned over to brush a kiss on it.

Dage let a snarl loose.

Emma laughed and tugged her hand away, smoothing her hair back before speaking to the interloper.

Dage would kill him.  The bastard had touched his mate. 

Setting the glass on the bar behind him, Dage shifted his stance and set his feet, his gaze focused on his prey.  All sound receded into the background.

The young vampire turned and Dage caught his eye.  A slow smile slid over the king’s face,
menace tinged with a promise of pain.  For a brief moment he let a hint of his power glint in his eye and glow from his skin.  He’d have the young buck fearing his own shadow by the end of the night.

Blood drained from the vampire’s face until his lips turned purple, his eyes wide.  He stumbled away from Emma, a placating gesture sweeping his hands out.  With a bow of his head toward his king, he backed away several feet until turning on his heel and dashing for the nearest exit.

Emma fought to keep her balance, the abrupt departure of her companion startling her.  Suspicion filtered in and she turned to look where Dage stood across the room.  His dimples flashed when he grinned at her, pure innocence shining in his deep eyes. Baloney. 
Next to him Jordan struggled to contain his laughter, studying the floor. 

Pitch with finesse, not a hammer…

There are many good sites that give direction about pitching to editors and agents at a conference.  So I wanted to approach the situation from a different direction. 

1)      First and foremost, remember that…AGENTS AND EDITORS ARE PEOPLE, TOO.

Yeah, I said it.  And I’d even go as far as to say they’re a lot like writers.  We all love books and chose this industry because of the good stories.  Many people who enjoy getting lost in books are kind of…shy.  So keep in mind, the agent/editor you’re pitching to might also be a little nervous.

Don’t sit down and instantly barrage them with your story.  Pretend you’re meeting them for the first time (which you probably are), and act accordingly.  Say…  “It’s nice to meet you.”  Ask them how the conference is going for them. Ask them the best part of the conference…or if they had been to any good workshops yet.

2)      Try not to go all fan-girl (or fan-boy) on them.

Remember the kinda-shy part?  Well, if you start gushing about how great they are…they’ll probably get uncomfortable.  HOWEVER, you know who they love?  Their AUTHORS—and their BOOKS.  Tell them how much you enjoyed AUTHOR x’s last book and how surprised you were by who the bad guy turned out to be.  The agent/editor will warm up…and hey…you have something in common.  You both loved the book.  (Caveat – don’t tell them you loved it if you didn’t.  Honesty counts.)

3)      Have confidence in your book—and do your research

Yeah, you’ll be nervous. That’s okay.  But you need to have confidence in your book.  Don’t apologize for pitching it.  When the time comes, and it usually does with the agent saying, “So…tell me about your book.”  Start with your pitch…and let them know right off the bat what kind of book it is.  IE.  “I’ve written an 85,000 word dark paranormal that I think will fit in the Brava line.”  That way they know where to put it.

4)       Tell them about the characters, plot, and twists…but more importantly…how is it different???

So you’ve written a vampire book for Brava.  Yeah.  There are tons of vampire books out there…so what makes yours different?  In my case, it was the science involved…the fact that vamps and shifters are just different species on earth…much like humans.  Then a genetic virus was created…

So while you’ve shown what type of line the book should belong to…how does yours stand out?

5)       Remember that you love your book!

This is fun.  You’re discussing your book – those characters you adore—with someone else who also loves books.  Enjoy yourself—when the agent/editor asks you a question, dive in.  Get philosophical about the black moment.  Gush about the hero.  Admire the heroine.  Smile…and have fun.

This is part two in the Countdown to Conference blog series.  In the last blog we talked about what to wear to the conference.  This entry is about how to schedule your time and what else you should bring, besides clothes.

Try to have a game plan before you arrive.  I go through the conference schedule, read about all the workshops, note when the spotlights and signings are and then create a FLEXIBLE schedule for each day.  Then I schedule a meeting/lunch/coffee/dinner whatever with agent/editor/pr person/pals, etc… so I can see how my days have filled out.  Then, taking note of publisher and agent parties, I look to see when the chapter parties are and if I have time to hit a couple.

• Spotlights:  Most of the publishers will have a spotlight.  (See conference schedule).  During this time, the editors will usually talk about what’s hot, what they’re looking for, and how to submit to them.  It’s very handy.  They’ll also sometimes highlight what releases they have coming up…so you can see what’s hot.  They take questions…and I’ve seen people line up to do a quick pitch when the presentation is finished.  Also…look around the room.  AGENTS attend these spotlights.  The one you want to pitch to might be sitting next to you.
•  Book signings:  Besides the literacy signing the night before the conference actually starts, the individual publishers also have signings.  Translation:  FREE signed books.  (Though you end up with tons of free books even if you don’t make it to the signings.)  NOW…I will be participating in Kensington’s book signing on Friday from 12:00-1:30, so I hope to see you there!
• Workshops:  I love workshops.  Just love them.  So I create a schedule with my first choice, second, and so on…and often end up going to my third choice because it may be about craft, and the ones I’d attended already were about PR. 
• PRO Retreat:  If you’re a member of PRO – definitely go to some this.  They have cool workshops.  (See guidelines for PRO).
• PAN Retreat/workshops:  There’s a list up now of the workshops for PAN members – looks awesome!  (See guidelines for PAN).
• Goody Room:  Don’t forget to check out the goody room for pens, books, notebooks, candy…
• Free Time:  Give yourself some.  Trust me.

So, there’s a breakdown of the conference and how to schedule your time.  Now…what should you bring besides clothes? I always bring:

• Granola bars.   You will be unexpectedly hungry and running from workshop to workshop…and who wants their stomach to growl in the middle of the presentation?
• Emergen-C .   Some people bring that Airborne instead.  You’re in a place with a lot of people, maybe not eating right, and probably not getting enough sleep.  I drink one of these every day of the conference and haven’t come down with that ‘conference cold’ so many people go home with.
• Comfortable shoes.  By day three, your feet are freakin sore.  Yeah, bring the pretty shoes for night and even the first day.  By day three, you won’t care how your feet look.  You’ll wear the flip flops.  Trust me.
• Safety pins.  You’ll be a hero.  There are always wardrobe malfunctions…and safety pins are necessary.
• Sunglasses.  You may end up venturing outside with Cynthia Eden because she wants to check out the ducks in the middle of a pond.  You don’t want to go blind.
• Pen and notebook.  You’ll be surprised how many notes you’ll take at the workshops…you can even blog about them later.  And you’ll be getting email addresses for new friends.
• Laptop…if you want.  I bring mine.  Many people will tell you they don’t write while attending conferences.  I do.  I’m usually inspired by something and will need to type something…but you could always just write it in your notebook.  J
• Prepaid USPS (or Fed Ex) labels.  You’re going to get a lot of stuff.  Books, postcards, pens…so many!  They’ll have boxes and labels at the conference, but if you have your own, you can pack the boxes in your room and drop them at the mailing place WITHOUT waiting forever in line.
• Ones.  If you’re going to the cocktail parties, you’ll want to tip the bartenders.  Bring ones—you can usually fit those with your cell phone in your conference badge so you don’t have to carry a purse.
• Your book on a flashdrive.  If you’re pitching (see later posts), bring this.  Don’t bring a hard copy. We’ve all heard the urban legend of the author who pitched and the editor asked for a digital copy to read on her kindle during the plane ride home—loved it and bought it.  Have the flashdrive…just in case.

Okay, that list is by no means exhaustive.  But it’ll get you started.  Next time (on Friday) I’ll blog about pitching…

The RWA National Conference is early this year…June 28-July 1st. This year will be my third year attending the conference, so I thought I’d throw out some tips. Of course, if you’re like me, the first question you have is…WHAT DO I BRING TO WEAR?

Yeah. There are tons of pitching and networking opportunities (see later posts), but hey, if you’re naked, you probably won’t want to pitch. Or network.

RWA has FAQ’s on its website and states that “business casual” is the norm. I think this is a good start—but what exactly is business casual? I’ve worked in a large law firm, a small law firm, and a local college. Business casual is slightly different in all three.

First and foremost, be comfortable. Based on the last two years, for the first couple days, you will see:

• 40% Dress slacks and pretty blouses
• 40% Skirts-long and knee length – lots of flowing flowers
• 15% Nice Capri’s with pretty shirts
• 2.5% Full suits
• 2.5% Jeans

Then, as the week moves forward, you’ll see more Capri’s and jeans during the day. I’m one of the Capri and jean gals. By the last day, unless I have meetings, I wear jeans. (But I’m definitely in the minority). Last year I had meetings…so I wore a skirt on Saturday. Also, if you’re pitching, you dress up more that day. Skirts or nice pants are fine. To be honest, when I pitched, I wore very nice Capri’s with a pretty blouse, and I felt fine.

[For men:  Slacks and nice shirts during the days]

At night there are publisher parties (you need an invite), chapter parties (FF&P’s is a good one, as is KOD’s Death by Chocolate party and of course the Chicklit party rocks)—and I wear a cocktail dress. There will be some people in nice pant suits, but most will be wearing simple cocktail dresses.

[For men:  Slacks, nice shirt, and sports jacket.]

Then, on the last night there’s the 2011 RITA & Golden Heart Awards Ceremony. This is the fanciest night of the conference. You’ll see short cocktail dresses, long cocktail dresses, even formal dresses with boas. Wear what works for you. If you want to go all out—go for it! You won’t be the only one.

[For men:  Suits, slacks w/sports jacket, or even a tux.]

Keep in mind that hotel conference sites often splurge on the AC. Have a sweater or cardigan with you at all times…just in case. I froze my butt off at the Washington DC conference—even though it was JULY in DC. But in Orlando, I was fine. So, like a Boy Scout or vampire hunter, be prepared.

In the next post on Tuesday, I’ll cover what to bring besides clothing as well as how to prepare for those awesome workshops beforehand. See you then. 🙂