|
I would have brought you news sooner, but things got a little crazy while I was on the road for 3 Months straight. Yep, it was wild, but great. Here’s what I’ve been up to:
July -
|
I attended the RWA national conference in San Francisco, California and had a super time. Sherrilyn and I were mobbed by the coolest group of fans on the face of the earth Wednesday night at the literacy signing. Here’s a shot right before they opened the doors…and fans ran across the room. |
| I had no time for photos after that. We followed that with a Dark-Hunter ACHERON party hosted by St. Martin’s Press to celebrate her mega-release the next week. And boy was that a release! I saw a lot of writing friends I only get to see at national, attended some great workshops and had the pleasure of seeing the wonderful folks from Pocket Books and St. Martin’s Press socially. |
|
Suzanne Brockmann was the master of ceremony for the 2008 RITA Awards. She and Ed were quite a pair coming down the steps to the ballroom. And Suz is so wonderful on stage. Cheers went up all night for winner after winner. I was pumped when my terrific webmistress – Pam Fryer – won the Golden Heart for Best Contemporary Series – Adventure Suspense. Afterwards, we gathered all the Noodlers of the famous Wet Noodle Posse we could find quickly and took a photo.
 |
AUGUST…FOURTH…(cue up Darth Vader voice) yes, the long awaited ACHERON book was finally released. I got home from San Francisco, picked up the second suitcase I’d left already packed and headed to Nashville, TN where over a thousand Sherrilyn Kenyon fans had traveled from all over the world for the launch night. We were at the Parthenon, a replica of the original one, and Sherrilyn signed until after 4am. The fabulous PW blogger Barbara Vey was there interviewing, photographing and filming all night. See it all at http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/880000288/post/1670031167.html
|
|
Then Sherrilyn and I struck out on for the rest of the tour. We saw 250-300 fans a night. The traveling through two airports every day and a different hotel every night (which we saw maybe 4 or 5 hours of) was a bit much, but every time we walked into a bookstore crammed with smiling faces of fans ready to have fun made it all worthwhile. You guys rock!!!!! Thanks for all the super gifts – you are the most considerate and thoughtful friends a person can have. That went on for 3 weeks straight, including having to work around a hurricane to make the last stop in Orlando.
September -
|
DragonCon parade – my husband Karl was the motorcycle rider all in black with the DARK-HUNTER hellions. He loved it. I was the one up on the scaffolding about fifteen feet in the air taking photos. <G> |
Oakbrooke, IL – I taught a Break Into Fiction® Plotting Retreat with Mary Buckham – the weather was awesome and the brainstorming was nonstop. Great group of writers.
Norfolk, VA – I attended a Book Festival the last Sunday that was held in conjunction with an acoustic music festival. What a beautiful site in Town Point Park along the river. I stocked signed on Saturday and met a lot of wonderful booksellers, like Rudilita “Rudy” Fronda from Barnes & Nobles and Melissa Keith who won one of my first book bag giveaways with my first book. |
|
October –
Portland, ME – Mary Buckham and I taught several workshops for the KOD (Kiss of Death) Retreat for a high energy group of writers. We loved being in the old port area near the docks that is full of galleries, restaurants and plenty to do. My hubby Karl joined me on that trip so we stopped in to visit our dear friend Bill Gayton who teaches at the University of Southern Maine.
| Richardson, TX – Sherrilyn and I attended the Buns & Roses Tea where she was the keynote. But we started the weekend on Friday night when Sara Reyes and the Fresh Fiction gang took us to Babe’s Country restaurant – if you’ve never been you gotta go. Saturday kicked off with a Readers & Ritas event hosted by Fresh Fiction at the hotel where we interacted with readers and enjoyed a wonderful meal. The fun continued that evening with Sherrilyn at a Buns & Roses reception and I joined the Fresh Fiction group for dinner and “ritas (you know, the yummy kind). We had an offsite booksigning on Saturday at the Borders bookstore in Plano, TX. Thanks to Jeanine Abernethy I actually have a photo from the signing. |
|
The Buns and Roses Tea on Sunday was hosted by the Richardson Adult Literacy Center and the Richardson Public Library and sponsored by FreshFiction. All proceeds went to Richardson literacy programs. What a weekend and a fabulous group of hosts.
| New Orleans for the annual KCon – Kenyon Convention – where I joined Sherrilyn and her band of minions for a wild weekend. Walking along the streets in the French Quarter we came upon…Acheron, who was all too willing to smile for the ladies (Christy snapped the shot before he disappeared through a bolt hole). |
|
PW blogger Barbara Vey has the energy of a ten year old because she stayed up late capturing everything going on then we’d find her tapping away on her laptop early in the morning at the Starbucks Café in the hotel. Here’s a shot she took and you can read more at her blog http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/880000288/post/1230035123.html.
 |
|
Then we hit the dungeon that night where you’ll see that I’ve added a mask to my standard coffin cape outfit (there is a story behind my cape…you have to be present to hear it). Heather McAuliffe snapped this shot of my new mask. Sherrilyn hosts one incredible party. The fans are THE BEST. We had fun kidding Suzi from Ireland who took us knicker shopping and Michelle from the UK who taught us how to convert UK sizes to American clothing sizes about their cool accents.
Coming up…The WET NOODLE POSSE is giving their blog a makeover and you don’t want to miss it. Staring in December the Noodlers are sharing heartwarming stories, pet stories, recipes, free short story and giving away prizes. I’ll be giving away a signed copy of my new story MIDNIGHT KISS GOODBYE that is in the Dead After Dark anthology. |
I’ll be back by much sooner this time. My husband has nailed my tail feathers to the computer chair. <G> But being the awesome hubby he is he made me a big pot of his famous chicken gumbo to enjoy.
And thanks again for your incredible support!!
Dianna
|
