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Saturday, July 28, 2012

Birthdays, Kindles and Online Conferences, Oh My!

Today is my birthday so this post will be a little of this and a little of that. First I want to say I've been getting surprisingly good feedback on my writing craft essays, which can be a bit opinionated at times--*cough*-- so I'll be doing more of those. I also have a few Grist for the Story Mill articles planned, which means I'll have more personal stories to share.

Thanks, everyone, for supporting KNIGHT'S CURSE and DARKEST KNIGHT. The books are doing well and could always do better, so please spread the word. By the way, I'd love more Amazon reviews, if you're so inclined. I'll be signing both books in Denver, Colorado, on Friday, September 7th, at the 30th annual Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference to be held at the amazing Renaissance Hotel. If you're in the area please stop by and say hello.

I didn't think I'd be able to make it to the Colorado Gold this year, but I scraped enough money together to pay for the trip. Yay! Judging the annual Colorado Gold contest helped bring down the registration fee, and as always it was a rewarding experience to read some talented new work. If you plan to attend the conference, I look forward to seeing you there!

On the writing front, I have a proposal ready for my next series to present to Harlequin Luna, but it's in a holding pattern as I wait for feedback from my agent. I've been posting an occasional short teaser on my blog and I'm very excited about what I'm calling Mythic Fantasy. Very fun!

My husband got me a Kindle Fire for my birthday and it arrived a couple of days ago, so I'm having a good time playing with it. I'm filling it up with books. Woot! But wow, it can do so many things! It's like a mini computer all by itself. The keyboard is a bit of a pain, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

I didn't go to RWA's National Conference, but I did attend the Not Going To Conference Conference sponsored by Romance Divas online. Very cool! I love the forum style conference as opposed to the yahoogroup type, which tends to be insanely chaotic. The conferences and workshops run by Romance Divas are well organized and professional, and it was well worth checking out all the discussions that went on. There were even editor pitch sessions: Ellora's Cave, Burrough's Publishing Group, Avon, Crimson, Turquoise Morning, and Crimson Publishing were all there taking pitches.

I'd like to give a shout-out to my pal Authoress, who has a new Secret Agent contest in progress at her Miss Snark's First Victim blog. The entries are in and the secret agent has been reading and commenting on the 250 word entries. Stop by and check it out! The entrants would appreciate your critique, and you'll get an education reading what an agent has to say about that all-important first page. The secret agent's identity will be revealed on Monday.

Have a great weekend, everyone, and remember to watch out for the grammar nazis!




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, Karen! :-]

Unknown said...

I love my Nook! I'm sure you'll love your Kindle! I really enjoy reading your essays on writing.