What's Fresh with C. Leigh Purtill's All About Vee + a Giveaway!

Veronica May ("Big Vee") is a bubbly, gorgeous, confident, eighteen-year-old theater actress from Chester, Arizona. She is also two hundred pounds. She puts off college, her life, and her questions about her mother's death twelve years earlier to care for her widowed father.

Then Daddy announces that he's going to remarry and Veronica feels replaced. She decides, then and there, it's time for Big Vee to shine! She escapes Arizona and follows in the footsteps of her mother, who was an aspiring actress, to Hollywood.

Between shifts with a cute co-worker at the local coffee bar, Vee auditions, falls in love, dumps a toxic friend, learns to deal with love and loss, and finally, finds her place in the spotlight.

Hello, Leigh, it is great to have you here! Could you please tell us a little about your writing background and how you made your first sale?

Leigh: I've loved books all my life but only came to writing them after I'd spent years writing screenplays. I studied screenwriting at Boston University in its graduate film program and fell in love with the structure of screenplays: the dialogue and three acts, the constraints of the form. I then wrote about a dozen scripts, each time thinking it was the next best thing since "Star Wars." I never sold one but I did get a manager out of them: a fantastic producer named Adam Peck read all my scripts and we stayed in touch while we lived on separate coasts. When I moved to LA, I got an idea for the book that would eventually become ALL ABOUT VEE (but was not my first sale). I realized it was too small to be a screenplay idea – it needed to be a book. I was naïve – I just started writing, turning my little idea into a big fat book: 800 pages. Adam read it, loved it, and believed in it. With his help, I got an agent, the amazing Faye Bender. She tried to sell VEE first but found no takers so I gave her a manuscript titled, JENNIFER ANISTON IS MY BEST FRIEND. Kristen Pettit, my wonderful editor for both of my books, bought it for Razorbill, the YA imprint at Penguin. After a year and a half of revisions (and title changes), LOVE, MEG came out in hardcover in July '07 and was released in trade paper in April '08, the same day ALL ABOUT VEE was released as well.

Readers and writers often like to get a behind the scenes peek of an author's writing routine. It would be great if you could please share your typical writing day schedule.

Leigh: The number one thing people should know about me is that I hate to sleep. Honestly. When I go to bed each night, I cannot wait to wake up in the morning and write. I'm up by seven every day, even weekends, and I make coffee right away, a half-regular/half-decaf blend, usually from Trader Joe's. While that's brewing, I check my email and post my blog and hope my sleepy state will give me some good ideas. I try to dispense with the internet distractions as quickly as I can because my most creative energy flow is early in the morning. Since I also teach ballet, I usually take a dance class mid-day which is a perfect time for me to get away from the computer for a couple of hours and recharge my batteries. In the afternoons, I handle the business end of things: emails to people, phone calls, website stuff. Late in the day I often get another burst of creative energy so I might use that time to take notes for the next day's writing and work on outlines. I write at least 2K words every day but I never write until I'm exhausted because then I won't have anything to come back to the following morning. At the end of the day, I teach my ballet classes. I love my schedule. Love it! Having the ability to write and dance every day has been a dream come true for me.

Please tell us about your latest novel, ALL ABOUT VEE, and what we can expect from your characters.

Leigh: My most recent novel is called ALL ABOUT VEE and was published in April '08 by Penguin/Razorbill. It's the story of 18 year old Veronica May, a gorgeous and talented actress from Arizona who just happens to be plus-sized. After discovering her late mother was also an actress, she heads to Los Angeles to follow in her footsteps and become a movie star. She leaves behind her two very good friends, Virginia and Val, and her widower father who is about to marry his longtime girlfriend. She thinks making it in Hollywood will be a piece of delicious chocolate cake for someone as talented as she is but instead, she learns that it's not so easy to be the star of the show, that people discriminate against her because of her weight, and that one of her former best friends has changed so much she's barely recognizable. Will she find success and happiness and love in this strange new city? Or will she run home to seek comfort in the arms of her father and true friends? That, in a nutshell, is the story of ALL ABOUT VEE.

Sounds great! What's up next? Do you have another project in the works? If so, please tell us about it.

Leigh: The best thing about my current writing schedule is that I have been amazingly productive in the past year since my first novel, LOVE, MEG, was released. I finished a sequel to ALL ABOUT VEE and two coming-of-age novels that I hope to get out into the world soon. I am also working on (shhh!) a story with a supernatural twist to it that I'm fantastically excited about!

It's been a pleasure to chat with you, Leigh! Best of luck with your books. Would you like to close with a writing tip?

Leigh: My biggest piece of advice for aspiring writers is to finish what you start. Please understand that, even if you're an amazingly talented writer with creativity flowing through every part of your body, nothing is ever perfect the first go-round so you will have to rewrite. Whether it's a short story, a novel or a non-fiction magazine article, it will have to be rewritten for an editor or agent and the only way to do that is to finish it first.

Young adult author C. Leigh Purtill attended Mount Holyoke College where she received a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology and Dance and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. From Boston University, she received her Master's degree in Film Production. She worked as a script supervisor on dozens of films and hundreds of commercials in New York City. In Los Angeles, she was a Broadcast Standards and Practices editor at The WB and The CW Television Networks; she covered such popular shows as "Gilmore Girls" and "7th Heaven."

Leigh's debut novel, LOVE, MEG, was published in hardcover by Penguin/Razorbill in 2007. Her second novel, ALL ABOUT VEE, was also published by Penguin/Razorbill in April 2008, the same day LOVE, MEG was released in trade paper.

She lives in West Hollywood with her husband, Maurice. She can be reached through her website, www.leighpurtill.com, or her blog, cleighpurtill.blogspot.com.

Leave a comment for Leigh from now until Monday night, and be entered to win a copy of ALL ABOUT VEE! The winner will be announced Tuesday Morning, September 2nd. Happy commenting!!

2009 California High School Collection!

Kelly and I received some wonderful news this week. Our California-based books, Graffiti Girl and Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress, have been selected to be listed in the 2009 California High School Collection!


California Readers is a group of educators, librarians, authors, artists, parents, book sellers, and business representatives whose main goal is to connect California authors and artists with students and teachers in the Los Angeles area. The guidelines in which to be selected for this honor ranges from having to be a California author or illustrator to meeting the criteria of excellent literature to raising awareness about issue important to California.

Please peruse the list to see what other great books were selected:

CALIFORNIA COLLECTION

Kelly and I are both super-proud to receive this recognition, and want to thank California Readers!

We Have a Winner!

I loved all the responses, and it was hard to choose one winner, but this one made me LOL:

After the Old Woman exploded, these were the only recognizable remains of her last meal.

So congrats to Wendy Toliver!

Wendy, contact me through MySpace or admin@tinaferraro.com with a mailing address, please!

And to everyone else, stay tuned, more Friday giveaways coming soon!

Caption It!


Okay, once again, we're doing a Caption It! contest, running between NOW and Sunday, August 24th at 6 pm PST.

The winner will receive a hard cover copy of Erin Vincent's stirring autobiography, GRIEF GIRL. This is one you don't want to miss!

I'll start the captioning off with...

"It used to be that little birdies who misbehaved had to sit in a corner..."

Now come on, you can do better than that!

What's Fresh Stephanie Kuehnert's I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone

A raw, edgy, emotional novel about growing up punk and living to tell.

The Clash. Social Distortion. Dead Kennedys. Patti Smith. The Ramones.

Punk rock is in Emily Black's blood. Her mother, Louisa, hit the road to follow the incendiary music scene when Emily was four months old and never came back. Now Emily's all grown up with a punk band of her own, determined to find the tune that will bring her mother home. Because if Louisa really is following the music, shouldn't it lead her right back to Emily?

Hey Stephanie, as always, good to chat with you! Could you please tell us a little about your writing background and how you made your first sale?

Stephanie: I've been writing since grade school, but I really started to take it seriously at the end of high school. However I didn't think going to school for writing was necessary. I thought I should just work and write. It didn't work out very well, so I ended up pursing my BA in Fiction Writing at Columbia College when I was 21. I stayed on for MFA and I met my agent, Caren Johnson, at a literary festival hosted by my college in March of 2005. I was working on I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE as my thesis and I met with her for a critique. Instead of critiquing me, she asked me when I could finish the manuscript. I was in the midst of writer's block, so I asked to have the summer to finish. I brought the manuscript to her in NYC in September. She gave me some revisions and we signed a contract in early 2006.

It took over a year to sell the book though, so thank goodness she was really passionate about it. She shopped it to all the adult houses with no luck, and then decided to try shopping it as a YA. Jen Heddle at MTV Books snapped it up right away and I couldn't be happier with that!

Readers and writers often like to get a behind the scenes peek of an author's writing routine. It would be great if you could please share your typical writing day schedule.

Stephanie: In about a week this is going to change and hopefully for the better because I'm quitting my full-time job. I'm a binge writer which means I like to have 6 to 8 hours to write. That's how I wrote IWBYJR and most of my second novel. Then I finished school and had to get a full-time job. Right now my routine goes, come home from work around 5:45, cook dinner and eat it while watch One Life to Live. Yes, the soap opera. It's been my guilty pleasure since the summer I turned 14. I use it to unwind. Then around 7:30, I try to start writing. I usually spend 30 min to an hour screwing around on the internet and wind up with about 2 hours to write before I have to go to bed. It's been really hard, which is why I have to take the risk and change jobs. I'm going back to bartending which is much more flexible.

Please tell us about your novel, I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE, and what we can expect from your characters.

Stephanie: My first novel, I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE, was published by MTV Books in July 2008. It follows the intertwined stories of Emily, a small-town Wisconsin girl with the dreams of being a punk rock goddess, and her mother, Louisa, who left when Emily was an infant, supposedly to follow punk rock. You can expect to learn about Emily's trials and tribulations both as a female musician in the male-dominated rock world and also as a girl struggling with the hole her mother left in her life. You'll also learn about Louisa, the real story behind her leaving, and between the two of them, you'll see what happens when you follow your dreams versus when you run from your nightmares.

I already told you how much RAMONE rocked! :) What's up next? Do you have another project in the works? If so, please tell us about it.

Stephanie: Yes, my second novel, BALLADS OF SUBURBIA, is forthcoming from MTV Books in Summer 2009. It's a little bit harder for me to summarize other than to say it's a classic coming-of-age story, following a year or so in the life of Kara, a teenage girl from the suburbs of Chicago as she finally finds friends that she feels she fits with, but all of them--Kara included--are grappling with some pretty heavy issues. They try to take care of each other, but things spiral out of control….

Can't wait for it. Thanks for sharing, Stephanie! Best of luck with RAMONE. Would you like to close with a writing tip?

Stephanie: Writing should not be viewed as a solo activity. I spent four years trying to write by myself without getting feedback from others. I never got much done because I had nothing to motivate me and what I did produce wasn't very good because I wasn't getting suggestions from others. So find a trusted group of readers. Find other writers via a writing program (my route), a writing association like RWA (many of my friends' route) or online to be your critique partners. You'll get amazing feedback and you'll be inspired by reading their work to keep improving as a writer.

STEPHANIE KUEHNERT got her start writing bad poetry about unrequited love and razor blades in eighth grade. In high school, she discovered punk rock and produced several D.I.Y. feminist 'zines. After short stints in Ohio and Wisconsin, Stephanie ultimately returned home and received her MFA in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago. She currently resides in Forest Park, IL. I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE is her first novel. Visit her website at www.stephaniekuehnert.com.

Win Books!

The fabulous Tera Lynn Childs, author of Oh. My. Gods., is holding a contest of Olympic Proportions with books from YA authors. :)

Here are the deets:

"Every day of the games there will be a different contest--devoted to a different Olympic sport--where you will have a chance to win your choice of a copy of OH. MY. GODS. or, if you already have one, a totally top secret 5 pages of the sequel, GODDESS BOOT CAMP and at least one other great book. (I have a bunch of awesome authors lines up to donate their books, so you will not be disappointed!)

Also, at the end of the contest I will draw one name from my mailing list to win a grand prize with a copy of OH. MY. GODS. or the 5 page teaser of the sequel and a great collection of gifties from San Francisco's Chinatown (since the games are, you know, in China). I'll post more info on how to enter the grand prize contest (and pictures of the great prizes) this weekend.

All winners will be chosen at the end of the contest (aka August 24) and posted on August 25, and you have until then to enter each and every contest."

A very cool contest, indeed, with many chances to win! You can play here on Blogger or on Tera's Myspace.

Check out Tina's giveaway for HOW TO HOOK A HOTTIE and mine for a chance to win INVISIBLE TOUCH.

:)

Help Me Decide!

The gracious and talented Sonya Sones took photos of the published authors at the SCBWI conference in Century City earlier this month, and e-mailed them to their rightful owners. Is she wonderful, or what?

I have been wanting a new blogger profile picture (you know, the one you see when I leave comments) for some time, and now it’s just a matter of which one. Please help me decide!

#1

#2

#3

#4

Now remember, these will be small--probably 1/3 the size that you are seeing right here.

So...what say you?

Greetings from the SCBWI, Part 2

Last Friday I gave you some of the social highlights from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrator’s conference in Century City, California. And now, following a short vacation, I’m back with more...

Each year, there is an outdoor party with a pre-determined theme, and this year, it was to wear red. Here I am with my good friend and sci-fi/non-fiction writer friend, Paddy Lock, painting the town...


A short-time later, we were joined by MySpace reviewer, Melissa , who I sure enjoyed chatting with and getting to know in real-life!


Later, during the thick of the dancing (luckily no You Tube videos have surfaced of me disco dancing--YET), I got the chance to meet Cindy Pon , whose debut novel, SPIRIT BOUND, will be released by HarperCollins in 2009. Posing with her here is the aforementioned Jay Asher, who I am sure was wearing red suede shoes...


Jumping now to the next--and last night--here’s The Conference Weary, Yet Ready To Get Back to Work Gang, Lisa Smilan, Pam Smallcomb, Janie Emaus, me, and Paddy. These terrific ladies are much of the reason I had so much fun...serious authors who know how to laugh!


I had a fantastic few days with all the writers featured in these two blogs, and with quality time spent with my editor, Krista Marino, and the Firebrand Literary Agency partner, Michael Stearns. Can’t wait for next year!

What's fresh with Megan Kelley Hall's Sisters of Misery

There are some girls who have everything...

She has the right clothes, the right friends, and the right last name, but fifteen-year-old Maddie Crane sometimes feels like an outsider in her clique in the wealthy, seaside town of Hawthorne, Massachusetts. And when her gorgeous, eccentric cousin Cordelia LeClaire moves to town, Maddie is drawn toward her ethereal, magical spirit and teeters even more toward the edge of her friends' tightly-knit circle...

Then there are the jealous ones...

Kate Endicott and the Sisters of Misery--a secret clique of the most popular, powerful girls in school--are less than thrilled by Cordelia's arrival. When Kate's on-again, off-again boyfriend Trevor takes an interest in Cordelia, the Sisters of Misery become determined to make her pay...

Now Maddie must choose between the allure and power of the Sisters of Misery and her loyalty to her beloved cousin. But she'll have to give up on ever fitting in and accept the disturbing truth about the town, her friends, her mysterious cousin, and even herself as she faces the terrifying wrath of the Sisters of Misery...

Hi Megan, congratulations on your debut! Could you please tell us a little about your writing background and how you made your first sale?

Megan: I’ve incorporated writing into all aspects of my career. I’ve written radio commercials, I worked as a writer in a PR firm and I’ve written for national magazines like Glamour, American Baby, and Working Mother. It wasn’t until I had a stroke and open heart surgery at the age of 32 that I realized I had never fulfilled my dream of being a published novelist. I had a 4 month recovery period after my sternotomy, which I used to whip my manuscript into shape. Within six months I had an agent and then six months after that, a two-book deal with Kensington. The day I got “the call” my agent, Elisabeth Weed, left me several messages and I could tell from her tone of voice that it was good news. I remember at least waiting until I got off the phone before I started screaming. Her eardrums can thank me for that. I’ve lucked out with both my agent and my editor. Elisabeth Weed (of Weed Literary) and Danielle Chiotti are a writer’s dream come true.

Readers and writers often like to get a behind the scenes peek of an author's writing routine. It would be great if you could please share your typical writing day schedule.

Megan: I’m not one of those people that can fight through writer’s block and just write to get something onto the page. I let thing percolate in my mind until things come out in an explosion. The only problem is that it could be in the middle of the night when all of the words are trying to get out and I need to let them. Since I have a five-year-old daughter and I’m a partner in an independent literary publicity company (Kelley & Hall Book Publicity), I get very few moments to sit and write. This is why I’m most often found at my computer in the middle of the night. It’s really the only time I can get peace and quiet, and focus completely on my writing.

Please tell us about your novel SISTERS OF MISERY and what we can expect from your characters.

Megan: Here’s my elevator pitch for SISTERS OF MISERY, Kensington, August 2008: A Modern Day Witch Hunt is Ignited When “Mean Girls” Meets “Practical Magic”. What happens when a hazing prank goes terribly wrong and a young teenage girl goes missing? The debut suspense novel, SISTERS OF MISERY, brings us inside a small, seaside town near Salem, where Maddie Crane, the teen protagonist investigating her eccentric cousin’s disappearance, ignites the wrath of the Sisters of Misery – a powerful high school clique, whose activities mirror the witch hunts of the seventeenth century. Hawthorne is a town filled with secrets and the supernatural. Stories hidden for decades come to light after Cordelia’s tragic disappearance. Cordelia’s mother, Rebecca, descends into madness while internal struggles amongst Maddie’s family members are all consequences of the supernatural “gifts” that they possess. Maddie Crane must choose between the allure and power of the Sisters of Misery and her loyalty to her beloved cousin and her own family. Fans of Alice Hoffman, Jodi Picoult and Stephenie Meyer will be haunted by this story of three generations of women and their struggles against each other and a town ruled by fear.

Sounds great, Megan. What's up next? Do you have another project in the works? If so, please tell us about it.

Megan: The Lost Sister is the second in the series of the SISTERS OF MISERY. It picks up where SISTERS OF MISERY leaves off and answers some questions, while raising others.

Thanks for sharing with us, Megan! I wish you the best with your debut. Would you like to close with a writing tip?

Megan: If you want to be a writer, stop talking about it and just do it. The more you talk about it, the less writing you actually get done. Believe me, I know from first-hand experience!

Megan Kelley Hall, who lives north of Boston with her husband, Edward, and five-year-old daughter Piper, started a literary publicity company, Kelley and Hall, in 2005 with her sister, Jocelyn Kelley, and mother, Gloria Kelley. Her freelance magazine work has been published in Glamour, Elle, American Baby, Working Mother, New England Bride, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald MetroSports, Parents and Kids, and many other magazines. She studied creative writing at Skidmore College under the Pulitzer-Prize winning author Steven Millhauser. Her work can also be seen in the former CNN anchor Daryn Kagan’s anthology entitled, What’s Possible! (Meredith Books, May 2008.) The second in the series, THE LOST SISTER, will be published by Kensington in August 2009. Visit her website, http://www.megankelleyhall.com/

Carol Is In The HOT SEAT!



Tina: Hello, Carol! Thank you for being our fourth and final HOT SEAT Interviewee. Could you please tell us a little about your background and how you came to be a book reviewer?
Carol: I started reading at a young age and I loved how books were able to transport me in to their world. Growing up in a bad part of Los Angeles where there was a shooting every night, drug houses, and gangs prowling the streets, books were my escape. When we moved to Texas a couple of years back, I stopped reading for a while. *gasps* (Yeah I know this was a horrible thing for me to do. I still can't forgive myself.) The streets were much safer here. After we moved again to a smaller town, I re-discovered my love for reading. Since everyone at my school knew each other since babies, they rarely let new kids in. That year pretty much sucked, but I didn't really notice it since I always had my nose in a book. (YAY! I rekindled my affair with books.)

In March ’08, I was surfing the ‘net and came across a blog dedicated to reviewing books. Immediately, an idea started forming in my head "What if I started my own book reviewing blog?" I eventually did start one in April, but didn't really get into it until May/June.

Tina: Tell us how you typically go about reviewing a book. How do you make your choices? How long does it generally take you from the time you start reading the book to when you post your review?
Carol: After I finish reading the book, I think about it--the characters, plot, dialogue, and writing. If the book was great, then I give it a great review. If the book was so-so then I give it a good review. Now if I thought the book was really bad, then I give it a bad review and state my reasons. It depends on what time it is. If it's morning then I will post my review soon after I finished reading the book. If it's later in the afternoon, I take about 2-3 after I read the book to post my review. If it's night, then I will mostly likely post my review first thing the next morning. It just depends on the time of day.

Tina: Tell us, have you ever put down a book before writing the review, and if so, why?

Carol: Yes,I have. I was reading this book and it was just amazing. I put it down because I didn't want to finish it. I wanted for it to last longer but the waiting made me crazy. I also sometimes put books down if I can't get into them or if they're just so bad and I don't want to go on.


Tina: I have put down books I've loved to make them last longer, too! Now, have you found any favorite authors through the reviewing process, and if so, who?
Carol: Yes, I have. I found Melissa Walker, Megan Kelley Hall, C.K. Kelly Martin, Stephanie Kuehnert, Cherry Cheva, J.M. Warwick, Tera Lynn Childs, Kelly Armstrong, Jennifer Kogler, Catherine Ryan Hyde, Daphne Grab, Coert Voorhees and many more.

Tina: Some of our favorites, too! Last question: you're about to take off on a 14 hour international flight. Sure,they'll be movies and meals, but plenty of time to read, too. You can bring one book--either one you've already read, have been wanting to read, or one that's in the works like "Stephenie Meyer's latest." What's it going to be and why?
Carol: I would bring...hmm... this is hard. I have so many. Can't I just stuff as many books as I can in my carry-on bag? =) If I had no other choice, I guess I would bring City of Glass by Cassandra Clare. I can't wait for it to come out in March 29, 2009. (Which is BTW 11 days after my b-day!)

Tina: Thank you so much, Carol, for talking with us, and we look forward to seeing more of your reviews! And everyone, check out her site at BOOKLUVER-CAROL.

Greetings from the SCBWI!

We sure enjoyed seeing Kelly’s pictures from the RWA. Now it’s my turn, posting pictures of the great times and great friends I met at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrator’s conference in Century City, California last weekend.

I want to start with a fantastic surprise that Children’s Writers and Illustrator’s Market editor, Alice Pope, bestowed on Kelly and me. Alice had been kind enough to feature me as a First Book Author in her 2007 edition, so I went up and introduced myself before her session, only to have her tell me that she included YA FRESH in her list of recommended author’s blogs and group blogs!

Here we are, meeting up later in the lobby. Be sure to check out her very informative blog, CWIM .


That night was the author signing, and wandering past me at one point was the sweet, lovely, Miss (a-hem) two-book-deal-at-pre-empt-last-week, Holly Cupala !


I was thrilled to get to share in the warmth of her first sale glow, and to realize that the reason I recognized her name was because she had been the winner of one of our YA FRESH contests last year!

That next afternoon, I had the pleasure of dropping in on a readergirlz event and meeting up with more bright, interesting people. Like:


Sonya Sones and Justina Chen Headley .


Me, Lisa Yee , reviewer Little Willow , Justina and Joyce Lee Wong .

And how cute is:



Paula Yoo ?

And here's Little Willow chatting with Jay Asher .


Okay, that’s it for today, but look for more in the near future...

And here we are with the other half of the conference pics!

Wendy Toliver and myself at a RWA luncheon. Wendy is the author of The Secret of a Teenage Siren and Miss Match.

UPDATE: Here are the YA author RITA finalists at the finalists reception. (L to R) Rosemary Clement-Moore, Melissa Marr, Simone Elkeles and me. Everyone was so nice! And I'm noticing we are all around the same height--short. haha! ;)



Then some of the YA authors hooked up for a hang out Friday night...

Tera Lynn Childs & Sara Hantz



Teri Brown and Amanda Ashby



More fun shots of the night with all of us, and debut author Bethany Griffin...





The next day I participated in my first workshop, 10 Things I Love About Writing YA Romance, with Shelley Adina, Agent Jennifer Jackson, myself, and Carol Culver. Totally talked too fast with nerves, but I got through it and hopefully gave some helpful tidbits!



Here is YA author Dona Sarkar-Mishra author of How to Salsa in a Sari.



And Ally Carter, author of the Gallagher Girl series and myself. Ally came to support me at my first workshop, she made me stand up at the podium, haha. But she did give me a lovely box of chocolates so I forgive her!



I think that will be it for me this week on the RWA conference. Tina will share her pics soon. If I grab some more next week from other authors, I'll be sure to share! :)

Wow! What a conference week!

I have so many pics to share from the San Francisco RWA conference and I'll have to do a double whammy post. I want to start out by giving a shout out to Melissa Marr, winner of the Young adult Romance RITA award for Wicked Lovely. Congrats, Melissa!

I met Melissa during the finalists reception, and darn if I didn't have my camera, so as soon as Simone Elkeles (hint, hint) sends me some pics, I'll be sure to post them. And Melissa said she enjoyed my book, shall I just faint now? haha. Thank you, Melissa!

Oh, and look at the surprise Tina sent me to wish me good luck with the RITAs. She is like the coolest critique partner ever!

Let's start off with the "Readers For Life" Literacy signing where over 500 Romance authors were gathered to sign donated books by publishers to raise money for Literacy. Heather Davis was nice enough to send that photo of me in the previous post, and thank you to Tina for posting! And I had my handy dandy camera ready to shoot any YA writer I came across. Not many could get past my quick trigger finger. Let's see who I ran into...

Brooke Taylor, debut author of Undone. Hello Brooke!



Alyson Noel, author of Cruel Summer and Saving Zoe with writer, Elizabeth.



Barb Caridad Ferrer, author of Adios to My Old Life & It's Not About the Accent.



Tera Lynn Childs, author of Oh. My. Gods.



Soon to be debut author, Trish Milburn.



Author of Read My Lips, Teri Brown.



Soon to be debut author, Rhonda Stapleton and writer, Amanda Brice from the Fictionistas.



Soon to be debut author, Heather Davis with Ruth Kaufman. I'm sorry Heather, I got you with your eyes closed!



And those are the authors I caught in action! :) Whew! More to come this week!