I’m just back from vacation which was wonderful and a much needed break after the Romantic Times convention. (It was fabulous, BTW). But I came home to what I’m going to call Life on Slow. I have a book due, but not for months and months. I’ll get back to it, but I also need to start thinking about my next books. I need to clean the house, find the desk underneath all the papers, and maybe even clean out old clothes from my closet. Frankly, there are piles in my bedroom that I don’t really want to see, but it needs to be sorted out sometime, hopefully by me and not my heirs. I’m writing comic book scripts, so I ought to be thinking about those. It’s a whole other way of thinking, so that will be a challenge. Plus, I’ve got contest entries to read and judge for my local RWA chapter.

Stuff to do. Stuff to throw out. Stuff to finally take care of.

Who wants to do that? What am I really doing? Playing racquetball–my knee is so swollen it no longer fits comfortably inside my pants. Playing pogo.com – I’m up to 24 million tokens (and yeah, they’re relatively useless). And eating crap – do you know how absolutely YUMMY barbecue potato chips are????

Am I getting any cleaning done? Well, I just did the dishes because I ran out of clean bowls for my guacamole dip. Beyond that…no. Am I thinking of new story ideas? Well, always, but none of them in enough detail to do anything with. Am I even reading books? Um, yes. Some. But mostly, I’m just wasting time. Which is…well, a big fat waste.

So, anybody else struggle with life on slow? Because I seem to be at zero or 1000 mph. Life on slow translates to zero with the added minus that I’m not really enjoying myself. I mean, yeah, the potato chips taste great going in, but then I just feel sick. If I’m going to do NOTHING, then at least I ought to do NOTHING in ARUBA. *sigh*

Help me friends! Give me your strategies for getting off my increasingly large ass. One lucky commentor will win In Good Hands by Kathy Lyons!

On the day this blog goes live, I’ll be flying out to California.  I’m going to the Romantic Times convention in Los Angeles, but that won’t start until April 6.   I’m flying out early to visit family including a new nephew!  (I gotta say, I love being an aunt.  I get to bring gifts, be the cool adult, and then give them back when the kids become annoying!  My guess is it’s a lot like being a grandmother!)

Anyway, some of you may know Cindy Dees.  She doesn’t write for Blaze, but she’s in a lot of the other category lines.  She does incredible work.  A lot in military romance (aka Suzanne Brockmann before she went single title) but also a bunch of other stuff.  She even won a Rita last year!  Here’s her latest book, btw.

She and I were talking about RT, and she has decided not to go this year.  There were many factors (time, family, deadline, etc) but we started talking about whether RT was the best conference for category readers.  Certainly there have been times when I’ve thought that RT was dominated by the small press.  Other times I thought the major presses were everywhere!  I’ve been going for ten+ years, so I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years.  Ten years ago, I hadn’t even heard of Ellora’s Cave!

But RT has always (as far as I can remember) had a few workshops on category books.  Carina Press (Harlequin’s e-imprint) was launched at RT.  This year will include “Lights, Camera, Action, the Series Romance Way.”  And let’s not forget that I will be there as Kathy Lyons (not just Jade Lee).

So now here’s my question to you: are you going to RT?  (If you are, make sure to find me!  I have kitch for anyone who tells me they love my work!  And even for those who say they can’t wait to read my work!)  And do you think RT does enough to support us category readers/writers?  One lucky commenter will get a copy of my latest IN GOOD HANDS, by Kathy Lyons.

  I love conferencing. I’m the rare person who is both a writer and an EXTROVERT! And yes, I’m the kind of extrovert you put in capitol letters. I’m just that loud and (hopefully) that fun. Right now, I’m in Chicago for their Spring Fling conference.  Then starting Monday morning, I’m going to be in Ohio for the Romantic Times Convention.  I love meeting people-fans, booksellers, random people in elevators-they’re all just part of my world wide playground. But that’s me.

What if you’re one of the more typical SHY writers? It’s hard to make the NY connection if you (a) can’t afford a convention, (b) haven’t the time for a convention, and/or ( c) end up staring at your shoes in anxiety. Don’t hear me criticizing you. Some very big NY Times bestsellers still struggle with being shy. They’d much prefer to hang out at home and write.

Well, Harlequin Historical has started a program just for you! Here’s the link: Editor Pitch  It’s for virtual pitches. Yes, you too can connect with an editor without showering or changing out of your jammies! There are specific rules which should be adhered to closely. But prospective HH authors submit a two-paragraph blurb and then must be available to pitch in an on-line chat at the specified time. This is especially cool because Harlequin Historicals is based in England. So any US, Australian, or wherever else writers can connect without an overseas flight.

Okay, it’s now time for you to dish. Tell me your embarrassment woes or lack thereof. I’ll confess that I have indeed been THAT author that followed an editor into the bathroom. But in my defense, we were talking from a workshop and just kept going into the bathroom. Still, looking back, it was really tacky of me.

One lucky commenter will win an Are you a Tigress tee shirt?!

And don’t forget! My Blaze UNDER HIS SPELL is in stores now!