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Say it isn't so! I feel like I haven't stopped since Christmas. It's been one holiday after another, then on top of that there was the kiddo's birthdays; the grandbaby (Gigi) arrived in February; my anniversary trip in March, and I also submitted not one, but 2 books this year already. Woot!

I hate to confess that it took me a few years to write the last full novel, but that's because I rewrote it like almost 4 times. (Because I doubted myself. I had to put a stop to that "they won't like me crap", and ask an editor to give me a firm deadline. Yes. I did. She gave me 3 weeks. Holy crap! But it worked. Yay! (Thanks, CH!) I had to learn a hard lesson with that book. Write what you love. Don't change the "entire" book because 1 person suggest you do so. Go with your gut.)

However, I did write several novella's in between that time, and took lots of classes, attended several conferences, so it wasn't like I wasn't writing or learning. ALWAYS LEARN! (Which means you have to do a lot of reading too.)

Anywho...I can't wait for May to be over. My youngest daughter is graduating from H.S. I know right....Exciting! I'm so proud of her...Then there is the RT Convention in New Orleans. Right smack in the middle of Graduation time. Oy. We'll get through it. I can't wait though, there will be over 700 authors attending. (Not all of them are signing, but you'll get to see sooooo freakin' many that your head will be spinning. Plus I have a few friends staying with me. All at different times, so it's going to so much fun! :-) I think Thursday night is the pub crawl. I'll be at Bourbon Heat with the Entangled Peeps. Come find me.

I hope to meet you all at RT. Please come say hi, and if you see me hiding in a corner please come drag me out. I'm a little shy and need people to drag me from my shell sometimes. For more info about RT go to www.RTconvention.com  I think the Saturday book fair is $5.00  Be prepared for long long long lines.

Have a great weekend,
Dawn Chartier

(p.s. Please excuse any typos. I haven't had my coffee yet. :-)

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It was so awesome hanging out with the Buzz Girls in Los Angeles at the RT Convention. As others have said Teen Day rocked the house. We had a fabulous booksigning, then a party where teens, their friends and parents, joined over twenty YA authors for free books, pictures, and signatures. It was amazing to see the smiles on the girls' faces when they delved into their goodie bags of books to see favorite authors and new ones to enjoy.



(Heather, me, Simone, Dona, and Tina in front)

It was also fun to hang with former Buzz Girl, Simone Elkeles, who is now a big time USA Today and New York Times bestseller. But she's still Simone...and her fans love her. She's a blast to hang out with and we miss her smiling typeface around here.



(Tina and me with Simone)

Tina and I had a fabulous dinner with her. Here's a pic of my filet and shrimp....mmm....you know me and my foodie-ness!



I, too, got a huge stash of books. Even accidentally packed "The Teachings of Budha" book that was in the hotel room. Oopsies! There were so many books around...who knew? There are just so many cool reads coming out this year (including GHOST HUNTRESS: THE DISCOVERY in 18 days!) that it's hard to keep up with everything.



(My fur baby, Boo, modeling my stash.)

So, I'm going to give away my copy of Meg Cabot's graphic novel, AVALON HIGH-CORONATION. Just leave a comment in the trail here about books you're looking forward to this year and I'll pick a winner and announce next week.

Hugs,
Marley = )

http://www.marleygibson.com/
http://www.ghosthuntress.com/

Ghosts don't hang up their sheets after Halloween
GHOST HUNTRESS series - The Awakening, The Guidance,
The Reason, The Counseling - available now!

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Last Thursday, Heather posted pictures and an update on the fun that the five of us Buzz Girls were having at the Romantic Times Booksellers Convention!

Here's one more picture, of our Marley Gibson with Knight Agency super-agent, Elaine Spencer (who just happens to represent both Dona Sarkar and me):


Saturday was TEEN DAY! Hundreds of teens and their adult companions joined the 1,000 or so readers already in attendance in a mega-signing that featured a football sized room full of romance authors. The Young Adult authors got their own row, making it fun for the readers and authors alike. (For instance, the alphabet being what it is, I got to sit between Simone Elkeles and Marley Gibson!)

Later came talks from YA authors, book readings, face-to-face chats, and finally, a teen party with a mega book giveaway. Great fun!

The one thing I felt I missed was something called Mr. Romance, where male cover models vied for that coveted title, because it conflicted with my author schedule. However, never one to let things totally pass me by, I did get to spend time with this hottie:


And on that silly note, please tell us in the comments the name of the super-hero that you'd like to meet, and be entered to win a copy of RANSOM MY HEART by Meg Cabot! The winner will be announced next Monday!

Good luck!

Tina

Tina Ferraro
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
How to Hook a Hottie
The ABC's of Kissing Boys
www.tinaferraro.com

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Five of the Buzz Girls are loose in LA -- oops, that sounds bad!  But we really are at the RT convention, sponsored by RT Booklovers Magazine.  The event culminates with a massive Teen Day event on Saturday!

Here I am with Dona, decked out for Melissa de la Cruz's awesome dinner party for YA authors at her home here in LA.  Not only does fabulous Melissa have a to-die-for home, but she's also got the cutest husband and kids ever. 

And, the guest list was extraordinary!  From Melissa Marr (hard-working organizer of the RT-Con Teen Day Event on Saturday) to Alyson Noel and Carrie Ryan, there were interesting YA authors filling ever square foot.  We ate, drank, and wrapped ourselves (ok, I did) in cozy blankets, hanging out on her deck until well past dark.

Here is Buzz Girl Tera with Sophie Jordan (Firelight) and debut author Josephine Angelini (Starcrossed).  




It was fun to hear about all the new books coming out, and to talk about the state of the industry in general.







 
Here are Marley and Dona with the aforementioned YA goddess Alyson Noel, who is not only a great writer, but is also super sweet.


Here are Tina and Dona, I think right after the red velvet cake and chocolate mousse cups arrived.  See those satisfied smiles?  The food was really, really yummy!
But, around one AM we were hungry again, so we went up to Marley and Tina's room to order in some snacks. 

Marley's holding up the fruit, but we really ate turkey burger and grilled cheese.  All this writer talk makes us hungry, obviously!

Although we're missing our bee sisters Wendy and Steph a ton, we're having a great time so fa

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Last Wednesday, I offered up an advanced copy of the next GHOST HUNTRESS book, THE DISCOVERY. And the winner is...

Congrats Amanda! Please e-mail me at marley_gibson AT yahoo dot com with your contact information so I can get it in the mail to you. A really cool thing...I'm blogging from 35,000 feet. Thanks to a nice $5 connection from Southwest, I'm able to wave down at you from the friendly skies as I'm headed out to Los Angeles for the RT Booklovers Conference. I'm really excited to see fellow Buzz girls, Tina, Tera, Heather, and Dona, and our former Buzz girl, Simone Elkeles and so many others. My agent, Deidre Knight, and I are doing a panel on how agents sell film rights to books. I'm participating in CLUB RT, giving away a fun ghost hunting basket, and, of course, I'll be participating in Teen Day!

As Tina and Tera mentioned in their posts, I'll be among the teen authors appearing at Teen Day at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention on Saturday. Something cool is the teen authors will have their own rows, all together, for easy access. Then all of the YA gang will move into various activities like meets-and-greets, interesting talks, author readings, one-on-one "speed dates," and then all followed by a teen party. This is my first RT conference and I can't wait!

Come by and say hello!

Hugs, Marley = )

www.marleygibson.com www.ghosthuntress.com Ghosts don't come out only at Halloween! THE DISCOVERY, available May 2nd!

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By this time tomorrow (early, early, early) I'll be on my way to Los Angeles for the RT Booklovers Convention. I have to admit that I have an ulterior motive for going to this event. Sure, I'm exciting by all the fabulous teen stuff happening on Saturday--I love any chance to meet teens and readers!

photo by Kansas Sebastian

But I'm also suffering from SoCal withdrawal. I haven't been to southern California in a few years and I'm missing a lot of things.

• Air that smells like tropical flowers
• Sun and sand and beautiful weather
• Sea breeze
• Art deco architecture
• Convertibles (I'm renting one!)
• Shopping, shopping, shopping
• Amazing sushi (vegan please)
• Star spotting
• Drinks from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
• Fun, laid-back, hip vibe

There are also quite a few quintessentially LA things that I've never done, and maybe I can check a few of them off my list during this trip.

• Griffith Park Observatory
• Hollywood Bowl
• Santa Monica Pier
• La Brea Tar Pits
• LACMA
• Queen Mary
• Walt Disney Concert Hall
• Union Station
• Huntington Library

And if I have time to visit the Getty again I will totally make the effort. It's an amazing collection and an amazing building.

Have you ever been to Los Angeles? If so, what were your favorite things to see and do? If not, then what do you dream of seeing or doing in LA?

Hugs,
TLC

teralynnchilds.com

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