Tag Archives: OCC/RWA

70-Author Booksigning on Sunday, March 29

California Dreamin Writers ConferenceIf you didn’t already know, there are going to be 70+ authors signing their books in Brea, California, this weekend. And I’m one of them – woohoo! Here are the details:

Where: Brea Embassy Suites, Brea, CA
When: Sunday, March 29, 2015, 2-4pm
Who: Mostly romance writers of all types, but some also write urban fantasy, young adult, and more

You can find a map and a list of all the authors (including links to their web sites) HERE.

Please share this on social media so your friends in Southern California can stop by. It’s free and open to the public. You buy the books you’d like to get autographed, or just come and shake hands. 🙂

Lady Jane Salon – Author Readings

There will also be a Lady Jane Salon Saturday night, March 28, from 9-11pm at the conference. This is also open to the public. There will be 12 authors in each of two rooms at the Brea Embassy Suites, each reading from one of their books for 10 minutes.

I’ve never done this before! Ack! But you have to try new things, right? I’d love for a few friends to show up! 🙂 I will be in the Tut room, adjacent to the hotel bar, and I’ll be reading from 9:20 to 9:30pm.

Also in the Tut room, in order of appearance, are: Mary Leo, Elizabeth Boyle, (then me), Jane Porter, Lucienne Diver, Dayle Dermatis, Susan Squires, Christine Ashworth, Vicky Dreiling, Christie Craig, Teresa Carpenter, and Louisa Bacio.

Reading in the Giza room are: Laura Drake, Louella Nelson, Patricia Rice, Rebekah Ganiere, April Kihlstrom, Susan Meier, Linda O. Johnston, Debbie Decker, Lisa Kessler, Shirley Wilder, Anne Cleeland, and Maggie Marr.

Hope to see you and your friends there!

Time and Project Management Class Starts Monday

j0227558Hello my friends! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s. I sure did. I’d planned since last Christmas to take two full weeks off and relax. Right up to the last minute, I was sure I wouldn’t “be able to” do it. But in the end, I did!

My workload piled up during the two weeks off, but I feel so much more relaxed and rested and ready for work! How did I manage to take so much vacation time when life has been battering me for the last couple of years? The primary reason is because last January I laid out a written plan for my year.

Granted, a LOT of things went wrong with the plan. I couldn’t have anticipated six months of unemployment for John. I made more money than I did in 2012, but it wasn’t enough to offset the costs of a few book-selling risks I took that didn’t pay off. Near the end of the year, I had to put my writing business on the back burner and work full-time at a temp job.

Calendar 2013But for the whole year, I could look at my writing plan and my calendar and I could figure out how each of my plans would be affected by the new turn life took. I could move the sticky notes on the calendar to change deadlines. I could cancel things that just couldn’t be accomplished now that the course of life had changed.

And I could do it all with more peace than usual because I had a written, changeable plan.

If you’d like to work with me over the next four weeks to get a plan in place for you this year, please sign up for my online class Going the Distance: Goal Setting and Time Management for the Writer. Due to popular demand, this is the fourth year I’ve taught this class, and there’s always something new to learn and share. I hope you’ll join us!

What do you want to accomplish this year?

Fun, Friends, and Writing Stuff

James Scott Bell at a booksigning

Jim and John being silly for the camera

My favorite days are often the second Saturday of the month. That’s when I go to the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America, my chapter. After more than ten years there, I have a lot of friends to see and talk to. I’m always one of the last people to leave because I’m trying to say hello to everyone, and I never get to everybody.

This past Saturday, I also had a friend coming as one of the speakers, so double reason to be there. John came with me so he could listen to James Scott Bell talk about plotting and structure – always a great presentation. Then John and Jim and I got to hang out a little and catch up on life.

Jim always uses the best movie references when he’s teaching and I’ve got a long list of movies in the margins of my notebook. I need to see if Netflix has them. I’ve seen almost all of them, but some movies are worth seeing over and over. (Now I just have to find the time for that.)

Authors James Scott Bell and Nancy Farrier

Jim signs a book for author Nancy Farrier

If you’re a writer, you might want to check out Hiveword to see Jim’s been up to. He’s got a piece of writing software out that is completely in the cloud, no downloading necessary. Knockout Novel will help you plot and structure your fiction. It’s based on his bestselling book Plot & Structure. Check it out.

On the way home, we stopped by our friends-who-are-our family to drop something off and ended up staying for dinner. It was fun and relaxing with lots of laughs. Gotta love days like that.

How was your weekend? Do anything fun? Hang out with friends? Relax? Hope you had a nice couple days, and I really hope you have a great week!

First Public Book Signing – Woo-hoo!

Sorry I didn’t get this posted earlier but I have been running around like a mad woman getting ready for the SoCal RWA Conference this weekend. My very first book signing was at my Romance Writers of America meeting earlier this year, and that was awesome. It was not at all scary because it was all my friends.

SoCal RWA Conference

But on Sunday I’ll be participating in my first public book signing. A couple dozen romance writers will be selling and signing books (sorry, Barnes & Noble said you can’t bring in books you already own to have them signed) all together in a big conference room at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Santa Ana, California. Click here for details on who, when and where.

If any of you are in the area, I’d love to see a friendly and familiar face! If you won’t be around but you know someone who lives in the area, I’d love for you to pass the word. 🙂

I won’t be home in time to post pictures for next Monday’s blog, so I’ll wait until Tuesday to post. That way I can tell you all about it and show you the pictures! I can’t decide if I’m more nervous (I’m scratching my arm like crazy!) or more excited (I can’t wait for people to see my Little Miss Lovesick t-shirt and the mockup for the Unexpected Superhero book cover!) but one way or the other, this train has left the station!

Woo-hoooo!

Kitty’s First Book Signing

Kitty signing a book to author Nancy Farrier

Kitty signing a book to author Nancy Farrier

A week ago Saturday I participated in my first book signing! It was so much fun! The signing took place at my RWA meeting, the Orange County Chapter of the Romance Writers of America.

I got to sign my romantic comedy Little Miss Lovesick – my very first book. 🙂 And I was one of 16 authors signing our anthology, Romancing the Pages.

What a hoot with all sixteen of us lined up at tables with a line of our friends waiting to get sixteen autographs!

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Kitty signing next to author Sharon Hampton

At the signing, I learned several interesting things:

  • You should figure out what you’re going to write besides your name before the signing.
  • It’s hard to talk and write at the same time.
  • It’s hard to appear friendly when you’re not talking to the person.
  • When you talk about one thing and write something else, you are eventually going to write what you just said. And then you have to fix it!
  • Makeup and pretty, comfortable clothes that make you feel good about yourself and then you’re even friendlier.
  • A nice V-cut blouse looks good…but I began to wonder if my cleavage was showing. My friends laughingly assured me it wasn’t. 😀
  • Chatting up all the wonderful people who asked for my autograph made for a long line.

I had a great time. I think everyone had a great time. And all I can think of is – I can’t wait to do it again! 😀