More RWA pictures!!

My friend Lindsey Brookes is quite stylish with her Possum Purse. Yes, I did make it for her. Yes, really. I'd tell you not to ask, but well, you would anyway, right? Let's just say it was a gift to make her smile--and it definitely got folks' attention at conference. Despite my 10 year old suggesting I quit my day job to stay home and make possum purses to sell on ebay, I have no plans to do so, which leaves Lindsey's purse as an one of a kind original Janice Lynn creation--which should have Prada breathing a sigh of relief. ;)Kathleen Long, Lindsey Brookes, & Janice Lynn with the Possum Purse in the lobby lounge. These ladies are two of my bestest buds in the whole wide world! Anna Sugden and Terri "the perfect" Garey (yes, I'm ducking because I know I'm in trouble for saying that--you can tell I'm scared, right??? ;) Terri Garey, Anna Sugden, Lindsey Brookes, & me at The Golden Network reception! Yes, I love my pal Julie Linker even though she is absolutely gorgeous & kept me up talking until like 2 in the morning while some guy eavesdropped!! My daughter absolutely LOVES Julie's young adult books!! and so do I! Hey, Terri, here's your sign! ;) Yet another reason why I love my friends!!! Big lips and bunny ears. That says it all, doesn't it?? No, really, we're on the right floor.

The fabulous Nora Roberts!!!!!!!!!!! A legend and awesome advocate for the romance industry!

2009 RITA/GOLDEN HEART photos

Lillian Darcy made the Medical Authors very proud with her Rita nominee!

Since she won the 2008 Best First Book RITA, Terri Garey presented the award for the 2009 winner! Kathleen Long's name on the big screen!

Lindsey Brooke's Golden Heart moment! Okay, the second of her Golden Heart moments because I didn't catch the first nominee when it flashed across the screen. Her Series Contemporary nominee was the very first one to go up on the screen. :)Shoshana Brown is a darling young adult author who I know from From the Heart Romance Writers! She won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Another pal also won--Kim Law who is a co-member of the Music City Romance Writers. :)
The very beautiful (shall I say "Perfect"? Yep, I shall, but I'm going to duck while saying it. LOL! ) Terri Garey. Lisa Childs, Lindsey Brookes, & me! on the back row of the VIP seating section of the RITA/GOLDEN HEART award ceremony. :)

Me and RITA nominee for best series romantic suspense Kathleen Long!

I'm currently on my way to North Carolina for a weekend on the river. Will be back online Sunday and will post more pictures. :)

RWA photos continued...

While at conference I attended some fab workshops. The best of the bunch (no, I'm not biased--much. ;) was moderated by the great Anna Sugden and given by Beth Andrews, Kathleen Long, and Harlequin Blaze Senior Editor Brenda Chin. Before the Rita/Golden Heart Award ceremony a bunch of us went to a restaurant in the hotel to eat. Unfortunately it took forever to get our food. I was supposed to be downstairs at 7:15 and I didn't leave the restaurant until 7!!! On the plus side I had absolutely no time to stress over make-up and hair--although perhaps I should have, eh? LOL.

Lisa Paitz-Spindler & Leslie Dicken at the restaurant.

Terri Garey & Lindsey Brookes with Beth Andrews in the backgroun. :)

I'll post photos from the RITA/GOLDEN HEART ceremony tomorrow. :)

More RWA 2009 pictures

My conference roomies! Beth Andrews & Rita nominee Kathleen Long.

Two of my favorite people who traveled a LONG way to attend conference! My dear pal Tawny Weber wasn't able to attend conference this year (who needs a new house? I mean, really???) and we missed her so much! During the conference we video conferenced with Tawny. Wasn't as good as real life, but was fun talking to her! Back to the Harlequin Party--can you tell I had lots of fun there??

Some of the yummy food served at the Harlequin party!And, of course, there was the fabulous chocolate fountain with fresh fruit that I posted a pic of yesterday. YUM! I'm sure I didn't get pics of all the dessert tables set up, but I wanted to give you an idea of some of the goodies served!

Beth Andrews & Janice!Anna Sugden & JaniceVery talented Harlequin authors on the dance floor! :)

Doing the "Thriller" dance. Yes, our hands are in the were wolf pose. ;) LOL.
I'll post more pictures tomorrow night. :)

2009 RWA National conference

I had the privilege of attending the 2009 Romance Writers of America National Conference in Washington DC. Due to time constraints, I'm only posting pics from the Harlequin party on Friday evening at the Ritz Carlton. LOTS OF FUN. You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, here's my way of meeting my word count for the day. ;)

Kathleen Long, Janice Lynn, Anna Sugden, & Beth Andrews on their way to the Harlequin party.

This year is Harlequin's 60th anniversary so that was the night's theme. :)

Janice Lynn with her fabulous Senior Editor Sheila Hodgson.

The deejay for the Harlequin parties is FANTASTIC. Very wisely, IMHO, they had the same deejay from last year. Kathleen Long, Terri Garey, & Janice Lynn saying "cheese".
My favorite of the dessert tables...the chocolate fountain.

Last for tonight's post, but certainly not least, the 2009 Harlequin RITA finalists. My fabulous roomie Kathleen Long's book Cold Case Connection was up for the Series Romantic Suspense category. She didn't win the RITA, but she's always a winner in my book. :)

Happy 40th Anniversary!!

Today my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. Forty years. Wow. When I think of it, it doesn't seem like they should have been married that long but since I'm 38 I suppose they should, eh? Unfortunately a family member's brother was killed in a tractor accident and his funeral was today, so it was a day of mixed emotions. My sister and I did take my parents out to eat at Cracker Barrel after church tonight and we gave them a card and gift certificate. Everyone except my brother and his two kids were there, so we had a huge table, laughed lots, and enjoyed our time together. It was nice to spend time with family. Wish I had pics, but my sister was the one who took pictures tonight. I'll have to get copies from her.

While we were there my daughter bought a stuffed possum--but that's another story altogether. ;)

We played our first All Star game yesterday and lost. We play again tomorrow night. Wish us luck! :)

Locks of Love

Yesterday, my daughter made her fourth donation to Locks of Love, putting her at just over four feet of hair donated. I'm so proud of her!! :)The last picture was taken this morning prior to her leaving for 4-H camp for the week. :)

Single Doctor, Single Dad

The free online read at eharlequin is half posted now! The first ten chapters are there for your reading pleasure and the following ten chapters will be posted daily for the next two weeks (week days only!). How cool is that? :)

The Heart Surgeon's Secret Son

Yea! The Heart Surgeon's Secret Son won the 2009 Golden Quill for Best Traditional Romance!! I love this book for so many reasons and am so excited over the win. Daniel and Kimberly's story is one that is still strong in my mind and of all my Medical Romances, it's one of my favs. :)

Thanks to Desert Rose for sponsoring such a fabulous contest, to the judges who read The Heart Surgeon's Secret Son, and to everyone involved in making writing contests such a success. :)