I mentioned that I’d do a run down of my trip to New Orleans. Today, I’ll talk about the fun stuff. Tomorrow, I’ll talk about the writing stuff.

Heidi and I headed out just after 6:00 a.m. We headed south to Dallas, then angled across to Shreveport, southeast to Lafayette and Baton Rouge, and more southeast to New Orleans. LSU was playing at the Superdome and I figured we’d get caught in traffic like we did last year. Uhm…no. We breezed right in, and I was checking in the Hotel Monteleone about 7:00. After luggage arrived and we unpacked, we headed out in search of food. Up the street, we discovered Felix’s, a nice little hole-in-the-wall bar with terrific food! I had the shrimp po’boy and Heidi had the roastbeef po’boy. YUM! We wandered around Bourbon Street, shopped, and got back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

Friday morning, we hit the St. Charles street car. For $1.25, you can ride it to the end. St. Charles Street runs through the heart of the Garden District (huge, historic homes), past Loyola and Tulane Universities and Audubon Park. When you get to the end, you get off, walk around to the other side of the car while the driver switches ends, pay another $1.25 and ride back downtown and to the Quarter. I have pictures. I will have to download them. Soon. LOL! After our streetcar ride, we walked across the Quarter to Jackson Square and had beignets and frozen café au laits. Then it was back to the hotel, with some window shopping along the way, to register and for the afternoon panels. I’ll talk about them tomorrow. After panels, we all converged on Bourbon Street and the Krazy Corner balcony to watch the people parade on the street below, drink, and scarf down king’s cake and other munchies. We hung out with Sarah Wendell from Smart Bitches and Krista Stroever from MIRA.

Friday night was the “Red Carpet Party” at the WWII Museum annex, the Stage Door Canteen. We had an interesting buffet of “movie/drive-in” food — corn dogs, BBQ sandwiches, hamburgers, milkshakes, and lots of yummies. As we walked in on the red carpet, a girl ran forward to get our autographs. She later appeared as a “cigarette girl” offering, “Cigars, cigarettes, cigarillos!” All in candy form, of course. There was a fun little program and then karaoke.

Saturday was a full day of panels with a long lunch and more time for shopping. That night, we dressed up for Masquerade – costumes and masks. Dinner in the ballroom was AMAZING steak! SOOOO tender. And an hysterical show put on by the Slush Pile Players, Heather Graham’s group of friends and family. At our table? L.A. Banks, her daughter, Krista and Sarah, two aspiring writers and their significant others.

Sunday morning was pitches, a lovely tea with scones, clotted cream and lemon curd, along with finger sandwiches and fruity things like chocolate covered strawberries. The book signing followed tea and then we had time to shop, wander around, see a museum, and eat at the Café Beignet before meeting the group for a vampire tour and wine tasting. It was during this tour that L.A. Banks called me her soul sister. Yes. THAT L.A. Banks. OMG! She was talking about her road to publication and I swear everyone of us needed Depends(tm)! I kid you not. There is no way to recreate her voice so I’m not even going to try. HERE is a video of her giving a talk so you can get a sense of her. Trust me, when she gets started, you laugh. You can’t help yourself. We had a blast on the vampire walk.

Then it was “get up at the ugly plumber’s buttcrack of dawn” to head home. Yes, I am intentionally teasing y’all. I did five pitches. I have six requests. Yes, I can count. I’ll be explaining all about it.

In the meantime, am I the only one who talks about food and restaurants when talking about a trip?

I got home so late last night, I ate, unpacked, visited with the family, and crashed. Until…oh…about 30 minutes ago, when I woke up panicked, realized I didn’t have a blog for my day at Happy Endings or here. I have one there, now–just a quick overview of the panels. I’ll do more here in upcoming days. Iffy has reminded me that she needs the computer for her interview tomorrow. I think I’ll grab another nap while she talks to Moira.

Winner of the last semi-finals in the Mr. Summer contest (by a narrow vote!) is Gilles! He’ll go up against our other two winners this Saturday. (Don’t ask me who they are, my brain is running on a few sips of caffeine and I’m not even sure of my name at the moment!) Winner gets a full spread.

Winner of the WFNO bag and choice of 2 romantic suspense or 2 contemporaries by way of random.org is JANET! I’ll get the prize in the mail, along with the books I still owe Ev and Ban because…uhm…my brain was/is running on fumes.

Here is a brief rundown of the weekend: L. A. Banks (yes, THE L. A. Banks and I are soul sisters — her words, LOL). SEASON OF THE WITCH was very popular. I think I walked six miles in 2 1/2 hours on the vampire tour Sunday night (my knees are STILL complaining!). I still love New Orleans and shall have to set one of the Penumbra books there…oh…hrm. OH! Lightbulb! *plotplotplotplot* Sorry about that. And last but not least, Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches coined the best phrase of the weekend: Bat crap crazy pants.

On that note, I have 569 emails to sort through, 77 blog posts, bills to pay, and plans to make on submissions. What did y’all do while I was gone? Oh! And RWA members…have you voted yet?!? This friendly reminder was brought to you by your local candidate for Region 5.

OMG! What a weekend! I’ll be doing a series of posts over all the things we did and learned. At the moment, though, Heidi and I are making our way home. I’m ready to sleep in my own bed with the critters but I had a blast this weekend! I love New Orleans plus Heather and the writers, editors, agents, and just nice folk who come hang out are made of awesome.

I don’t have much to say today–con hangovers are like that, yeah they are! So, I’m throwing out a question and y’all can talk among yourselves!

Where is the best place to read? (And a second question *bwahaha* Where is the best place to read FAERIE FIRE?)

I’m in New Orleans! Here’s my starting point today. Registration for the conference starts at noon so Heidi and I are off to explore. I’ve always wanted to ride the St. Charles Streetcar from beginning to end (from the Quarter all the way to the Uptown area and Tulane, and then back. That’s my plan for this morning. We’re going to hope the streetcar and ride, looking at the lovely mansions in the Garden District, and then returning…

…hopefully in time for a trip to Jackson Square and the Café de Monde for café au lait and beignets. Last year, Heidi and I sat at the table right behind the street musician. As for all that powdered sugar? I figure I’ll do enough walking to justify those calories! Just sayin’!

See y’all later! And don’t forget…Brunch tomorrow!

Hey, guys. It’s me, Iffy, again. You know my interview yesterday? Well, I just wanted to share another picture of Professor Michael Shannahan. I think there’s more to him that what he let on yesterday! A friend of a friend of a friend emailed this undercover picture of Michael to Silver. He looks…not so friendly or scholarly in this picture. What do you guys think?

Silver and I are on the road today! Yippee! New Orleans here we come! Feel free to talk among yourselves, especially about FAERIE FIRE, but NO SPOILERS! Silver promises to check in as she can! It might be from her iPhone so replies will be short and sweet. Don’t forget Saturday! Semi-finals for the Mr. Summer contest. And comments all this week go in the random drawing for cool swag. Catch you guys later!

Today is a travel day. After a wonderful lunch with Justin and his lovely bride, Stacie, at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, they’ll drop me off at the Tampa airport and I’ll be winging my way home. As much as I loved RWA10 and visiting, I’m ready to get home. Of course, this is what’s waiting for me:

Want to win a Nook? Click on the Long and Short of It button over there on the right, toward the bottom for information. See y’all tomorrow!

I’m up, up, and away! Come see me at Chicks of Characterization’s THE WRITER’S LIFE blog. There’s a giveaway each day for one random commenter.

And don’t forget, starting August 1, you can join the 3rd Anniversary Party at Long and Short of It Reviews. There are lots of prizes donated by the participating authors plus the chance to win a Nook! Click on the banner for details!

First, Iffy has been hounding me to have a contest for FAERIE FIRE. So… I’m over at Sky Purington’s Blog this week and she’s giving away an ebook copy of FAERIE FATE and a gift certificate to Wild Rose. Since most of you (ALL I hope! LOL) have FATE, I thought I’d do a Just For Penumbra Peeps contest. If you drop by Sky’s this week and leave a comment (not to mention you might learn something about Ciaran you don’t already know… ) I will randomly pick the name of a Penumbra Peep to win a .pdf ARC of FAERIE FIRE. Sound like a deal?

Wow. RWA ’10 starts in two weeks. ACK! I’m soooo not ready! For those going, I’ll be at registration helping out on Wednesday morning, the literacy signing Wednesday night, the AGM on Thursday morning (more about that in a moment), the PRO retreat on Thursday afternoon, where I’ll be the Official Photographer(tm). Thursday night is the OKRWA NRCA reception so I’ll be out of pocket. Friday and Saturday days and Friday night, I hope to have some time to kick back, visit, and enjoy the convention.

I’m also headed back to New Orleans over Labor Day weekend for Heather Graham’s Writers For New Orleans conference. This is such a fun time! Heidi, my stalwart road trip companion and CP extraordinaire, is going with me again. There are costume parties, great panels, great food, and I’ll get to participate in the book signing on Sunday afternoon. Anyone around N’awlins, drop in and say hi!

I’ll need to get posts for the Mr. Summer contest and Friday Flash done in advance. Hotel wifi is iffy at best.

Are you making fun of me?!?

No, Iffy. I’m not. Do you want to tell the readers about tomorrow?

Sure! I’m gonna chase Silver out again tomorrow–with my scissors if she’s not careful! Then I can do more interviews. Sort of. I thought I might share a scene that was cut from FAERIE FIRE so you can get to know Senator Patrick O’Connor and his good friend, Allan Steele. (Yes, that would be Margaret’s husband.) By the way, it’s about time you started giving away ARCs of FIRE! Just sayin’…. You guys be sure to go to Sky’s blog and leave a comment. Trust me! You realllllly want to read FAERIE FIRE. OMG! It’s HAWT!

No pun intended, right, Iffy? Now…as mentioned above, I’ll be attending the Annual General Meeting at RWA. Why? Because I have declared for the Region 5 Board of Director position. I’d appreciate votes from those of you who are members when the time comes this fall. Changes are coming fast and furious to the romance publishing world, and I’d like to help RWA meet the challenges.

On that note, back to work on FOOL. I’ve left Rory in a very dire predicament and he says he’s been dangling long enough. OH! One other thing. Any suggestions for a category for this Saturday’s Mr. Summer contest? Not the contestants themselves, but a category!

Long ago and far away, when Lawyer Guy was an army captain and we lived in post housing at Ft. Knox, I discovered Army Music Theatre. I started college as a Drama major. Yes. Really. I heard that snicker! I finished college as a poly sci/history major so sh’up. Anyway….jeez. Y’all are as bad as Iffy on the distractions. Where was I? Oh, yes. Ft. Knox. I read in the post paper about try outs for the next dinner theatre production: Crimes of the Heart. If you aren’t familiar, go HERE. That’s the link to the movie, but you’ll get an idea of the storyline. I wanted the part of Meg McGrath. I ended up with the role of Chick Boyle, a cousin of the McGrath sisters. I adored playing her! In the opening scene, I had to put on a pair of pantyhose. On stage. In a dinner theatre, which is a very intimate setting. People had just finished eating.

On opening night, two things of note happened. The commanding general of Ft. Knox was seated at the table front and center. He was about six feet from where I was to sit to put on that damnable pair of pantyhose. (I hate them. Passionately!) Knowing I wore a pair of pink dance pants (like the bottom of a leotard with elastic in the waist), I flashed the General. Intentionally. But the gods of theatre got me back. As I was pulling up the second leg of the hose, a huge run appeared. I mean HUGE! It was obvious even to the audience as evidenced by their snickers. Seizing the moment by the horns, I ripped off the hose, tossed them onto the kitchen table (part of the set), and ad libbed. Unfortunately, the “actress” playing Lenny had no experience. This was her first role. Ever. She stood there, completely aghast. I’m not sure what got to her most–the ad lib or the puddle of hose on the table. I carried on like this was part of the play, as was her reaction, and steered the dialogue back to a point where she could reply and it all make sense. I had to prod her verbally a time or two, but it all came together.

During the after-show critique, the director couldn’t stop laughing. He was trying to figure out how to keep that bit in the show. Poor Lenny almost panicked. We assured her there were other ways to milk laughs from the audience. I went on to other shows with FKAMT, including several where I got to shock the CG. (He was a major jerk!)

Where is this story going? I was prepared to rant about the move of RWA from Nashville to Orlando. I’ve not been a fan of The Mouse(tm) since Walt died. Where I might have once wanted to visit, I haven’t felt that way in years. I’d planned to drive to Nashville, a nice one-day adventure with friends on a road trip. Those plans have all changed. I’ll still be going, just not looking forward to it. (Well, except I may be able to squeeze in a visit with Justin and his wife! That is cool, if it works out.) Getting to see several of you there was a huge plus point for me! Now…I won’t have the fun of doing so.

Life likes to throw cra…stuff at us when we least expect it. The best we can do is roll with the punches and improvise. It’s the same with writing, if you think about it. I promise not to get all heavy and philosophical here. Just when you think you have a character figured out, a plot point set in stone, or a black moment guaranteed to set your readers on their ears, the universe ups and changes the “rules” all willy-nilly. And that’s when the ability to improvise becomes worth it’s weight in gold. Wait…how can you weigh an ability? Are there scales for that? Did I mention I did NOT win the lottery? Someone did. Not me. *cries* Okay. Crocodile tears.

Why am I babbling? Because I hit another spot in SOTW where I wondered WTF!?! I was doing. Then I decided to improvise. I think it’s going to work. I hope. And since we aren’t going to Nashville, I’ll still invite some of those hunky C&W stars for brunch tomorrow. See? Improvising.

While on the cruise, I did take time to people watch because there were so many different (and weird) ones to observe. I often wanted the writer’s teeshirt with the sentiment: I’m a writer. Be nice or you’ll be in my next book. Or the really tacky one: Please Do Not Annoy The Writer. She May Put You In Her Next Book. Whenever I slipped off with laptop in hand to work, got set up somewhere, and started in to revise, someone or several would plop down in my general vicinity and want to visit. “Hi, watcha doin’?” (Working…) “Oh! You’re a writer? Have I read anything of yours?” (Uhm…how the hell would I know?) “What do you write about?” (short explanation follows- I write romance with a touch of magic and mystery.) “Oh…I don’t read those kind of books.” (Then why are you still sitting here trying to read over my shoulder?) “How do you write the sexy parts?” (I put my fingers on the keyboard and type…)

Not everyone was like that. A wonderful couple from Iowa wanted my postcards and the husband was as curious to read FAERIE FATE as the wife was. The French Foursome, in halting English, wondered if there would be a French translation. (I wish!!!!) While Justin and Stacie occupied the stateroom on one side of us, we had a lovely Canadian couple (older) on the other, eh. They’d just dodged that massive snow storm to make connections for the cruise. They stayed onboard for the next leg of the cruise, to the east side of the Caribbean.

One of the sea days, while the boys napped, Stacie and I headed up to the top deck to try out the hot tubs. We ended up sharing one with two older men. I…I’m sorry. They were such clichés. Really. Truly. One was draped in gold chains and bracelets. He was a New York Jew in every clichéd stereotype possible. He hated that “boy from New Joisey. Y’know the one. Springsteen, right? He can’t sing. Music? Ha! There’s no music beyond Broadway.” “Hammerstein? He was a genius. A god. Until he hooked up with that Rodgers mensch.” I. Kid. You. Not. Stacie and I were pinching each other under the water to keep from bursting out laughing. After about ten minutes of this, we gave up, conceded the hot tub to them and boogied, giggling the whole time.

As I start the countdown toward FAERIE FATE’s release date, I thought I might introduce ya’ll to some of the characters. And you get to pick who’s first. Who shall it be? Ciaran, our dashing hero? Becca, our sassy heroine? Or one of the fae? Manannan or Abhean? Perhaps a secondary character–Riordan, Niall, or Siobhan? Feel free to talk among yourselves. Decide today and let me know. Friday, I’ll post an interview and pics.