Posted by Suzanne McMinn @ 8:28 am | Permalink
Giveaways, RWA
Me, left, and Harlequin author (and mother-to-be) Michelle Willingham getting our groove on at the Harlequin party. More of the work, work, work at RWA. When Harlequin puts on a party for its authors, that means hundreds of women and almost no men, so it’s just one big ol’ lesbian party. And I have to say lesbian party because after I used the term lesbian party to describe this event last year, I discovered that one of the new, most frequent search strings that brought people to my site was lesbian party.
I need to figure out how to say lesbian party more than once a year. 
More about the party later….. (See my favorite picture from RWA at the bottom of this post.)
One the most fun things to do at RWA is people-watch. Hanging out in the lobbies and bars and other open spaces, watching the romance world go by. The Hyatt Regency in Dallas had a fabulous, huge second floor bar lounge, perfect for the sport of people-watching, hooking up with friends–old and new, eating, drinking, talking, laughing.
A random selection of photos from days and days of people-watching and hooking up with friends–
Old friends, Silhouette authors Cynthia Cooke (left) and Nina Bruhns.
Another view of the second floor bar lounge at the Hyatt. It was a great place to just watch people come off the escalator, sit down, hang out. People such as authors Elizabeth Bevarly (seated center, in the red) with Barbara Freethy to the left, Christie Ridgway to the right.
And people like, say, Nora Roberts. (At the table here to the left.) And then, yes really, THEN, she actually SITS DOWN LIKE A REGULAR PERSON and orders food.
Here’s me (right) with LINDA HOWARD!!! (I’m such a fan girl.)
Me again (right) with Berkeley author Beverly Long, a new friend from this conference.
Old friend Larissa Ione (left), Bantam author.
And one of my oldest friends, my darling Carla Cassidy, prolific Silhouette author.
HQN author Jennifer Skully, left, and Blaze author Joanne Rock.
My beautiful friends lined up for photos before the Rita and Golden Heart awards on Saturday night–(L-R) Kensington author Janette Kenny, Kacey Pickens, Berkeley author Beverly Long, me, Golden Heart finalist Jena Brown, and LaShon Ison-Hill. So. Much. Fun.
But it’s the Harlequin party on Friday night that is always my favorite event during RWA. There’s always plenty of pretty food….
…..sometimes, like this year, some strange DJs……
…..and even some strange dancing.
The party is always a blast, one more time to see friends and laugh and dance. Here I am with fabulous Silhouette author Loreth Anne White.
And here is my annual photo of Nora Roberts on the dance floor. (Center, in the green dress.)
And here I am, with my BFF (BEST FRIEND FOREVER) Nora Roberts!! Yes, that’s ME, with NORA. She’s touching me–see her hand on my shoulder??? Clearly, she adores me.
I HAVE BEEN TOUCHED BY A GODDESS!!!
I can never wash that shoulder again.
Winner of Cross My Heart by Carly Phillips–Tammy G! (Email me!) And, I have so many goodies to give away, I’m doing giveaways all week, every day, unloading my suitcase and sending it all to you. Up for grabs today–an autographed copy of Blood Calls, the new Nocturne release by Caridad Pineiro. Let me know if you want your name in the hat!
After breakfast with my editor, I stopped by a couple of the publisher-hosted free booksignings and, like a glutton who can’t stop, loaded up on free autographed books until I was staggering and couldn’t hold any more in my arms.
Tara Taylor Quinn!
Stephanie Bond!
Katherine Garbera!
Kat Martin!
Caridad Pineiro!
(L-R) Jess Michaels, Toni Blake, Sylvia Day!
And guess what? They are all for you. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be giving away autographed books from these and more authors, along with some unsigned books I picked up in the RWA Goody Room, plus all kinds of fun promotional items from a variety of romance authors–magnets, pens, clips, buttons, drink huggies, all kinds of fun stuff!
