Just as I thought, once RWA got going, there was no way on earth (or in hell) that I would be able to blog—or read other people’s blogs for that matter. Conference brain hits early and hard! Knowing this was going to happen, I made a point of having paper and pen with me at all times, naïvely thinking I would remember to take notes during the day.

Yes, I know: of course it didn’t happen.

Still, I took pictures like a the crazy woman I am and I’m hoping *sending vague prayers upwards* that a visual prompt will help me remember at least some of the highlights… Plus, of course, all the cards I tucked on the back of my badge. Really, some memories should surface.

Right?

A couple of things I forgot to mention in my previous post: first, that while sitting with the bloggers at the Dolphin’s lobby on Tuesday afternoon, I saw Eloisa James walk by. I said her name out loud, and she looked over, smiled… and walked just a tad bit faster… I think I’m scarier than I know

Second, when AnimeJune joined us there, she was coming back from (in her own words) indulging her obsession with all things Disney. She sat down, exhausted, and put her feet up. Then she noticed our badges and wonderful, roomy, pretty, heavy-duty tote bags, and asked where the registration area for the conference was. When told that it closed less than ten minutes later, she jumped up and literally raced across the lobby. Amazing, the reviving powers of the shiny, eh?

And without further ado, here’s the first part of my way too long and image heavy round up: (more…)

which means I won’t post anything coherent about RWA until Wednesday.

In the meantime, though, here’s the newest addition to chez Aztec:

Got kitten!

This utterly comical ball of fluffy fur (and he’s a ball, his stomach feels like a really tight drum skin) was found a week ago by a co-worker.

Next to the median in a very very busy road.

The rescue included some heroics and some drama (I hear rumors of an eight car pile-up, as a matter of fact), but the baby came home unscathed—and an orphan.

He’s just about six weeks old (as of Sunday) and has yet to be named. Considering I already have a Shadow (a shiny black cat weighing more than 18lbs), do you have any suggestions for our new baby?

Please note that although he’s mostly black, he has three white spots (one in his neck, the second high on his chest between his front legs and the last one low on his belly near the tail) rather like clown buttons.

* * *

(once again, please forgive the crappy picture–technology ain’t my friend)

Sounds ominous, doesn’t it?

Well it wasn’t—quite but it started with just a tad of stress.

For reasons that have nothing to do with anything, I haven’t driven a car for a number of years (nine? ten? something like that) but in order to attend RWA—which is happening just over 35 miles southwest of my house—I have to drive down there. And back. Every day this week.

Freaking out time chez Aztec (and don’t give me the “like riding a bicycle” thing—I’ve been riding the bike for over five years now, and I’m still not comfortable with it).

But lust (books! fellow bloggers! books! authors! free books! did I mention books?) won over fear. So yesterday, with more than a little trepidation, I rented a car and drove down there a little before two. It was… an interesting experience for someone who stresses over stuff as much as I tend to do, and more so because the Walt Disney World complex? compound? is literally a city within a city—one I’m not familiar with, full of long empty roads that loop and twist and turn and separate (buses only, service access, etc.).

It was with no little relief—and some pride—that, about forty five minutes later, I managed to reach a parking lot right by the Dolphin side of the Dolphin and Swan Resort without incident. (Okay, so I had to stop and ask once—but I was within sight of the hotel, which should count for something right?)

Now, for those (few) who don’t know, (more…)

Here I come!

For the second year running my beloved has gifted me with the registration to (and the means to attend) RWA’s National Conference. Starting this afternoon, I’ll be up to the top of my head in romance bloggers, romance authors, and romance books.

Bliss.

I wish I could promise to post interesting, timely pieces on who I meet, what I see and hear, etc.–but I can’t. The days are going to be long and every second of every minute of every hour of them is going to be packed: with people to see, books to lust after, workshops and chats and Q&A to attend.

So I plan on wearing comfortable shoes, carry a couple of tote bags (one empty, inside the other one–which should be almost empty) and remember to take the camera with me everywhere. With any luck I’ll be able to put something together after the fact, like I did last year.

See you on the other side!

*     *     *     *     *

ps If you hear loud, intermittent squeeeeeeeeeeing sounds over the next few days… it’s probably me.

The Search, by Nora Roberts

Reader beware: I am a fan of Ms Roberts’ writing, and very rarely do I feel disappointed by it. The Search was definitely not one of those rare books. In fact, it was quite the opposite: an engrossing read with interesting characters, great dialogue, and solid writing.

Here is the hardcover jacket blurb:

Number-one New York Times-bestselling author Nora Roberts presents a novel set in the Pacific Northwest, where an island provides sanctuary, the lush forests seduce the unwary, and a man and a woman find in each other the strength to carry on.

To most people, Fiona Bristow seems to have an idyllic life—a quaint house on an island off Seattle’s coast, a thriving dog-training school, and a challenging volunteer job performing canine search and rescue. Not to mention her three intensely loyal Labs. But Fiona got to this point by surviving a nightmare.

Several years ago, she was the only survivor of a serial killer—a madman who stalked and abducted young women, strangled them, and left them buried with a red scarf on their bodies. As authorities were closing in on the Red Scarf Killer, he shot and killed Fiona’s cop fiancé and his K-9 partner.

On Orcas Island, Fiona has found the peace and solitude she needed to rebuild her life. Yet all that changes on the day Simon Doyle barrels up her drive, desperate for her help. He’s the reluctant owner of an out-of-control puppy, foisted upon him by his mother. Jaws has eaten through Simon’s house, and he’s at his wit’s end.

To Fiona, Jaws is nothing she can’t handle. Simon is another matter. A newcomer to Orcas, he’s a rugged and intensely private artist, known for creating exquisite furniture. Simon never wanted a puppy, and he most definitely doesn’t want a woman. Besides, the lanky redhead is not his type. But tell that to the laws of attraction.

As Fiona embarks on training Jaws and as Simon begins to appreciate both dog and trainer, the past tears back into Fiona’s life. A copycat killer has emerged out of the shadows, a man whose bloodlust has been channeled by a master with one motive: to reclaim the women who slipped out of his hands…

By choice I have read very few in the way of actual reviews of this novel. Generally speaking, when one is spoiler-phobic, it’s wiser to avoid most chatter on books one is planning on reading. However, it is difficult to avoid all mentions of highly anticipated novels—which happens to be the case with most of Ms Roberts’ releases.

(more…)

Welcome to Harmony, by Jodi Thomas

Between having a couple of older books by Ms Thomas in the scarily huge TBR mountain range and seeing this novel mentioned often around the blogosphere, I couldn’t help but pick it up when I saw it at my local grocery store. I am glad I did.

Ms Thomas’ writing voice is both soothing and engaging; so much so that it took me a good hundred and fifty pages to wonder whether Welcome to Harmony was a romance. It so happens it is not—classified as mainstream fiction in Ms Thomas’ own website and with the word “novel” in the spine, the novel focuses mainly on Reagan’s growth during the first few months of her stay in Harmony, though not as exclusively as the blurb may make you believe:

A place to belong

Sixteen-year-old runaway Reagan has always wanted a place to belong. She’s never had a real home of her own, but maybe she can borrow someone else’s. At least for a little while…

At the nursing home where Reagan works, Miss Beverly Truman’s fond memories of Harmony, Texas, seem to fill an empty space inside the girl. After Miss Beverly passes away, Reagan travels to Harmony, pretending to be the woman’s granddaughter, and is taken into the home of Beverly’s surviving brother.

Still, Reagan is afraid to trust the gruff kindness shown to her by Jeremiah Truman and the warm friendship offered by another teenager named Noah, who dreams of being a rodeo star. She keeps her distance from Noah’s sister, Alex McAllen, who’s the town sheriff and busy with her own stormy relationship with volunteer fire chief Hank Matheson.

But when prairie fires threaten Harmony, Reagan learns the true meaning of family, friends, and home…

The novel starts as Reagan, having hitchhiked her way from Oklahoma, arrives in town. Inspired by the fond memories of a now dead old woman, she has decided that this little town in the middle of nowhere will be the starting point to the rest of her life.

Reagan, being a newcomer, is the perfect vehicle to introduce the reader to the town and its residents It is through her eyes that we meet many of the other characters whose lives and relationships make the fabric of the story, starting with the three ‘founding families’ of Harmony: the Trumans, the McAllens and the Mathesons—and their long standing feuds.

There are a number of threads weaving around each other throughout the novel. (more…)

Or perhaps it’s more like a series of mini-rants.

Either way, here we are:

• Why is it that people believe that buying a lousy cup of coffee for less than two bucks gives them the right to treat the employees at the coffee place like slaves?

• How can people coming in for breakfast/lunch right after church justify to themselves calling wait staff “bitches”?

• What makes a man call a bus person over to a table—while she’s carrying a heavy plastic tub full of dirty dishes, thanks so much—to tell her, “this is the worst goddamned coffee I’ve ever had”?

• Where does a male customer get off calling the young female employee preparing his food ‘brainless’ and telling her that ‘a monkey could do her job’?

• In which universe do customer type people live that they believe it’s okay to tell an employee eating lunch during her break, “Since you work here, would you mind giving us your table?”

• Who tells customers of any age that it is okay to stick chewing gum to non-disposable dishes?

• When has it become acceptable to buy food ‘to go’ at one place and enter another establishment—with the full family, drinks, etc.—to eat it?

Did I mention that customer type people suck?

Well, too many of them do, at any rate.

Her Secret Fling, by Sarah Mayberry

After reading so much praise of Ms Mayberry’s work, it was inevitable that I would grab the next one of her novels that crossed my path—and this Blaze title, released in June 2010, was it. (Which means, kmont, Kristie(J) and SLWendy, that I am a Mayberry-virgin no longer). Her Secret Fling follows Australian swimming star Poppy Birmingham as she starts to build her life-after-the-Olympics. This entails finding a paying job—no matter how good the endorsement contracts, no money lasts forever when one has to eat, right? And for a former Olympic athlete, the offer to become a sports columnist for the Melbourne Herald is really too good to pass up.

Here is the much-better-than-average back cover blurb:

Talk about office politics!

Jake Stevens—start reporter and celebrated literary genius—is a snake. How else to explain the way he turns Poppy Birmingham’s hero worship into loathing with a single conversation? So what if she’s got a lot to learn about journalism? Aren’t they coworkers now? On the same team? Jake can take his attitude and…

Then during a job-related road trip, their relationship goes from antagonistic to hedonistic in no time flat. And suddenly Poppy can’t think of anything more delicious than having a secret fling with Jake. But with all this intensity, can she really keep it no-strings-attached?

Why much better than average?, you may ask—and it would be a good question. Read it again, carefully.

Got it?

No?

Okay, I’ll tell you: it’s all about Poppy. Her feelings, her reactions, her perspective.

Mind, the author does an excellent job of showing us Jake’s perspective as well, but the blurb beautifully avoids the… well, the cheesy-ness that afflicts many a category back cover blurb. So yay for that! (more…)

Savage Garden’s Affirmation (Sony Music 1999)

I believe the sun should never set upon an argument
I believe we place our happiness in other people’s hands
I believe that junk food tastes so good because it’s bad for you
I believe your parents did the best job they knew how to do
I believe that beauty magazines promote low self-esteem
I believe I’m loved when I’m completely by myself alone

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can’t appreciate real love ’til you’ve been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don’t know what you’ve got until you say goodbye

I believe you can’t control or choose your sexuality
I believe that trust is more important than monogamy
I believe your most attractive features are your heart and soul
I believe that family is worth more than money or gold
I believe the struggle for financial freedom is unfair
I believe the only ones who disagree are millionaires

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can’t appreciate real love ’til you’ve been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don’t know what you’ve got until you say goodbye

I believe forgiveness is the key to your own happiness
I believe that wedded bliss negates the need to be undressed
I believe that God does not endorse TV evangelists
I believe in love surviving death into eternity

I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can’t appreciate real love until you’ve been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don’t know what you’ve got ’til you say goodbye

There is only one statement in the lyrics with which I disagree–everything else? Spot on, as far as I’m concerned (can you guess which one?).

*it’s Vivian Arend’s fault for posting her Saturday Snippets, but it all started with Lauren Dane…

All of Me, by Patricia Ryan

Before there were Blazes, there were Harlequin Temptations. Then someone had the brilliant idea of introducing “spicier” novels to the line and the Temptation Blazes were born (tag line: “BLAZE—Red-hot reads from Temptation!”)

All of Me, which I believe to be my first story by Ms Ryan, was one of the line’s launching titles, back in the dark ages of 2000. The novel follows the relationship of innocent and beautiful Nora and experienced and debonair David. Here is the back cover blurb:

He wanted a rose in his lapel…

David Waite knew exactly how to please a woman, but he’s had enough of social climbers and users. His solution? “Arm candy”—a beautiful woman to accompany him, no strings attached, either emotional or sexual. Then he saw Nora, and had a sudden, sharp craving for sweets…

She was it

Nora Armstrong was a wholesome, virginal beauty fresh from the Midwest. Her cousin asked a favor—go out with David Waite. She couldn’t say no, any more than she could say no when David asked for a second date, and another. According to “arm candy” rules, she should have been safe, except David wanted to break the rules. Then Nora realized it was a risky business, being flavor of the month… and falling in love.

As the novel starts, (more…)