Plot Monkeys

Since we’re into fat free, calorie free these days (someone PLEASE remind me of this BEFORE I eat! ), this Friday’s Jungle Madness Giveaway is a calorie free indulgence you can share with your friends.

The yummy Jaqua Jeannine’s Bakery giftset from Bath and Body Works includes a Pumpkin Papaya Puree Enzyme Face Mask, Peach Parfait Exfoliating Body Polish, Buttercream Frosting Shea Body Butter and three (3) invitations to send to your friends so you can pamper yourselves together and relax. And while you’re at it, think of the plotmonkeys, LOL. Also included is a Carly Phillips book for you and your three friends! That’s FOUR (4) signed copies of SUMMER LOVIN’ - one for you and three to give to your friends.
Remember just post to enter. Winner announced on Sunday, chosen at random by an unbiased monkey family member. Unfortunately winner must live in the United States or Canada. We’re really truly sorry about this, but logistics just make it simpler.

Good luck! And Happy Pampering and Happy Reading!

I live in Southern California, and for me, Las Vegas is only a short 3 hour road trip. Over the years, it has become our family’s “quick getaway” vacation spot when we need a change of scenery. Yes, we take the family – my two daughters are now fourteen and sixteen, but I think they were about eight and ten when we took them to Las Vegas for the first time.

Now, you might be wondering why we’d take our children to Las Vegas – which is also referred to as “Sin City”. I’m sure there is a whole lot of sinning going on somewhere in the city, but Las Vegas has become such a family-friendly place to visit that it’s the perfect place for us to spend a few days together. There are a ton of shows to see, and we’ve seen everything from magicians, hypnotists, variety acts, concerts, ventriloquists, and even a few Cirque du Soleil shows. At night, as you walk down the main Las Vegas strip, there are many hotels that put on free shows for tourists.

The Bellagio has a magnificent water show like nothing else I’ve ever seen, with hundreds of spouts spraying in tune to various songs. Treasure Island has a fun pirate act that keeps both adults and kids entertained. Out in front of the Mirage, there is a volcano that erupts every ten minutes, with enough fire and heat to make you believe you’re standing in front of a real volcano!

The Venetian offers gondola rides, and tourists who are hoping to get a glimpse of a celebrity can visit Madam Tussauds Wax Museum where the newest attraction is Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Baby Shiloh. There are also hotels that have amusement rides and roller coasters, along with elaborate water parks and slides. There’s the M&M factory, shopping galore, and even rock climbing. I’m telling you, there is enough to keep a family busy for a couple of weeks!

Then there is food. Lots and lots of food. Restaurants and buffets everywhere you look! If you’re craving something in particular, I can guarantee you’ll find a restaurant in Las Vegas that can fulfill your request. Most of the buffets are great . . . and huge in their selection of food items, and there are restaurants that range from lavish 5 star dining, to $1.99 steak and eggs.

This past weekend, we took off for one of our Las Vegas getaways. Usually, we stay in a hotel that is centrally located to everything, but this time, we decided to stay in The Orleans Hotel, which is located off the main strip where all the activity is happening. The Orleans is a wonderful hotel that features 15 different restaurants, a 50 lane bowling alley that’s open 24 hours, and a movie theater offering 16 different shows. Considering the temperature in Las Vegas was 118 degrees in the shade, we decided to spend most of our time in the hotel, instead of walking from hotel to hotel on the main strip.

We were in Las Vegas for three days and two nights, and we had a fun, relaxing time with the girls. My husband and I don’t gamble when we take the kids, so instead we went bowling the first and second day we were there, for a total of five games each. It had been years since any of us had bowled, and we all laughed a lot at all the gutter balls and our less than stellar form. We all managed to get a strike or two, but it was all pure luck. However, out of the five games we played, I beat my husband four of those games. He’s demanding a rematch in the near future, LOL!

We also caught a movie. MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND. I have to say that for as corny and unbelievable as the premise of this story was, we laughed a whole lot. It was cute and funny and we did enjoy it. We were hoping to catch TALLADEGA NIGHTS, but it wasn’t playing at the theater. My husband works for Wonder Bread, and he loves the fact that Will Ferrell wore a NASCAR uniform with Wonder Bread as the sponsor, along with a car with the Wonder Bread logo. To date, Wonder Bread has never sponsored a NASCAR team, and it was Will Ferrell himself who insisted on using the Wonder Bread brand!

The second day/afternoon, we hit a fabulous seafood buffet, then headed over to the Mandalay Bay Hotel where we had tickets to see MAMMA MIA. My husband and I have seen the play before, but our daughters never have, though they do enjoy Broadway plays. What’s funny is that MAMMA MIA integrates most of ABBA’s most popular songs (Dancing Queen, Take a Chance on Me, The Winner Takes It All, etc.) and my girls had no idea who ABBA was. However, they recognized all the songs and were able to sing along because about five years ago a new group called the “A-Teens” put out a CD with all of ABBA’s greatest hits, and my girls loved that CD. It was a fun night, and my daughters thought it was one of the best plays they’d seen.

The next morning, after breakfast, we drove back home. So, despite how quick our get-a-way was, we managed to cram in a whole lot of fun and family time, which was the whole point of the mini-vacation.

When you want to escape and get-a-way from it all, what do you do? Do you have a special place you visit or go back to time and again?

One of the best things that happened to me while at the RWA conference in Atlanta (no, this isn’t another conference post!) was that I received two books as gifts from two authors I admire greatly–Gena Showalter and Caridad Ferrer. What is unusual about these books is that they are not aimed at my demographic. I’m a 40+ year old soccer mom who while young at heart, is not young.

The books I received from Gena and Caridad were both published by MTV books, a division of Pocket, and firmly aimed at the under 18 crowd. I got them under the guise of giving them to my 13-year-old niece. But I read them both first and loved each and every word.

I learned my lesson the first time I got a book for my niece, back in January when I had the amazing pleasure to sit beside Liza Conrad (aka Erica Orloff) whose books I love. That time, I got my niece a copy of HIGH SCHOOL BITES. Erica signed it and my niece ate the book up. Alas, I learned a lesson–while it was great to see this young lady so enthused about a book (she’s had some trouble with reading…not with WANTING to read, but with the act of reading itself), I couldn’t discuss the book with her because I gave it to her before I read it.

I learned my lesson.

The first book I read was Gena’s. The title alone is worth the cover price–OH MY GOTH. The book revolves around a smart-mouthed, independent-minded young woman named Jade who has adopted the Goth look, to the horror of the “Barbies” she goes to school with. Thanks to the machinations of an evil assistant principal, Jade is sent into an alternate reality where Goth is the acceptable look (worn by parents, teachers and nerds alike) while the Barbies are the outcasts. She’s joined in this hell by her arch enemy, a Barbie named Mercedes, who is now an outcast when she was once the most popular girl in school.

The plot was totally outlandish and exciting…not the stuff I was used to in the days where I read Paula Danziger or even Judy Blume. The dialogue is smooth and hip and young and more than a little edgy, which is reflective of the characters. But Gena tempered her realism with just enough innocence in the character of Jade that I had no trouble handing this book to my niece with my rousing endorsement. She started it last night and is really excited about it.

The second book also completely blew me away…ADIOS TO MY OLD LIFE, by Caridad Ferrer, also published by MTV. In this book, musical prodigy Alegria Montero sneaks behind her traditional Cuban father’s back to audition for a spot on the Latin American Idol, a reality-show called Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Song). Ali isn’t just a singer–she’s a real musician who has studied the guitar her entire life. With help from her bubbly friend, Sosi, and her father’s colleague, Elaine, Ali not only makes the show, but advances to the final four.

I don’t know if I can say enough about this book–first of all, I love how Caridad handled the Latina aspect of the book. As an author who strives to find a way to bring the Latina experience into the mainstream, I was blown away by how seamlessly the culture was weaved into the book. You don’t have to know a word of Spanish to savor this story, trust me. Young girls with dreams are young girls with dreams in any language or culture.

What I think I loved most was the portrayal of Ali and her music. She’s a strong character–a young woman that I know is going to set the world on fire because she’s got the stuff, both personally and musically. She’s naive, but never stupid (same can be said for Gena’s heroine as well…both are girls I admired greatly.) She has faith in the world and in people…she’s genuine and sweet, without being a pushover. There’s this one scene where she pushes this bitc… Oh, I don’t want to spoil it! Needless to say, it’s a kick-ass scene.

The other thing I loved about the book (okay, I loved a gazillion things, but this blog has to end somewhere) is how she handled the music. She used mostly familiar songs and even when I couldn’t conjure the rhythm in my head, I felt the music through the words. Ali and the other musicians on the show acted and reacted the way I imagined real musicians would, even when they used lingo I didn’t know because I don’t play an instrument. I was never lost, but felt like I got a whole new appreciation for music and musicians.

The plot is quick-paced, the settings exotic, the characterizations varied and handled with care. I can’t say enough about this book. About either book. If you have a teenager in your life, particularly a female one, I’d run, not walk to get copies of these books.

Which leads me to the point of this blog. (Aha! It’s not just a book review!) No, it’s about growing readers. It’s about making sure that the next generation loves books as much as we do, especially girls, who can be just as empowered by this new wave of young adult fiction as we are by the strong heroines in romance novels. I look back on my early reading and I don’t remember feeling empowered by Judy Blume. I remember feeling very disconnected from her characters. I’m not knocking Judy! I loved her books and can’t wait for an upcoming essay collection about her work. But I don’t remember ever WANTING to be a heroine of a young adult work. That didn’t happen to me until I started reading romance.

I wonder if this new wave of young adult books will change that. I know if I was 13, I would have wanted to be either Jade or Ali. Strong, independent, loyal, friendly, honest and a little smart-mouthed. The books aren’t brimming with ugliness that some YA books are (I’ve read and returned more than a few of these) because, I think, they’re written by romance writers who understand that not all parents feel comfortable putting books about drugs and sex in the hands of their kids. Not that these issues don’t come up in both books–they do. But they are handled so deftly, I had no trouble turning this book over to my thirteen year old niece, knowing her mother wouldn’t kill me.

So think back…what books did you read as a young adult (save the adult books we all stole from our big sisters, mothers, etc.)? What books are your kids reading (nieces, granddaughters, daughters, friends)? Do you think we’re growing a generation of readers? I do. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but I don’t think it should be. I’d like to hedge my bets on a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I watched the previews of the upcoming MIAMI VICE movie starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx and following the preview, NBC reshowed the pilot of the original MIAMI VICE with Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas as Crockett and Tubbs. So who was old enough to have watched the original?

Me me me! It was the 80’s. I was in college, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. I had big hair, big tops, leggings (hey did you know leggings are back for the fall?) and a boyfriend. Now he’s my husband of ::gulp:: 17 years! 22 years together if you count the day we started going out, Valentine’s Day 1984. But I digress. Back to MIAMI VICE.

The question that keeps coming back to me is this: Watching the original, knowing my husband wants to go see the new one, will I miss Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas or will I get lost in the new version? I asked my husband and he said we’ll love the new edition.

I don’t know. Can Colin Farrell top Don Johnson? Can Jamie Foxx replace Phillip Michael Thomas?

If I close my eyes, I’m back in the 80’s. They still come alive for me and Don Johnson is as hot as a man can get.
White jackets, hot colored shirts, scruffy facial hair and BAD BOY written all over him.

I was never a huge Tubbs fan, but I’ve always loved Jamie Foxx, so I think he has a chance … but the rest of the guys? How do you replace Edward James Olmos?

I’m going to have to see the movie.
I’m going to have to report back.
But I’m wondering …

Can a remake be better than an original? What do you think? And not just of Miami Vice?

Okay, last week’s RWA signings were wonderful…conference booksignings usually are. But the in-store ones? Another story altogether.

Below are some comments I have gotten when doing signings…which convinced me to just give them up. (Mostly)

10. “Where’s the bathroom?”

9. “I bought this book as a gift and I need to return it but I don’t have my receipt…you mean, you don’t work here?” Annoyed look. “Oh.” Saunters off.

8. “Are you signing those because that’s you on the cover?”
(seriously got this from someone when signing Night Whispers!)

7. “I don’t read those books.”

6. “Anybody can write those, right? Don’t they give you a formula or something?”

5. “I love trashy romances! But I only ever buy them in used book stores.”

4. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to have that kind of cover right in the front of the store where children can see it.”

3. “I’ve been meaning to write a book sometime.”

2. “I’ve got a real-life story that would make a great book. How about I tell it to you, you write it, and we split the money?”

and the number one comment that made Leslie want to give up booksignings forever…

1. “Ever need any help with your…” (picture bushy gray men’s eyebrows bobbing up and down…) “…research?”

Yes. Eww.

So tell me, please, WHY I agreed to do a booksigning this week? I must be out of my mind.

But it could be because I’m not doing it alone, I’m doing one with some fun and fabulous authors–my incredibly talented buddy Roxanne St. Claire, who writes edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense, Rachel Hauck, who writes warm-hearted inspirational romance, and Karen Hawkins, who writes hysterical historicals! B&N has ordered in all of my HQN single title releases, so I will be signing more than just HERE COMES TROUBLE–just in case you missed the Walker brothers books.

So, if you’re anywhere near Melbourne, Florida, and you want to come by to make some OTHER comment than any of the ones listed above, please stop in! It’s at the Barnes & Noble, 1955 W. New Haven Avenue (Rt. 192) Melbourne, FL, (321) 726-9505.
7-9pm, Friday, August 11.

And if you can’t come, please just wish me luck, okay? Because I swear, one of these days, I’m just going to stand up and start telling people where the bathroom is or asking them if they have a receipt for the book they want to return.

The winner of this week’s Jungle Madness Friday contest is…

Elisa Varey

Congrats Elisa! And thanks so much for entering!

Please write to me at author@lesliekelly.com and give me your snail mail address, and also your size for the sleep shirt. Thanks so much for supporting Plotmonkeys!

Now, for a Sunday morning grin…

QUESTION: While in Atlanta with the Plotmonkeys, what stories did each of you plot, and can you tell us a bit about those stories?

JD: I plotted my next “Wilde” book, which is actually going to be a spin-off into a new series I’m calling the “Elite” series. (You’ll still get updates on the Wilde family in these books, but there aren’t any more of the Wilde family to write about!) This book will tell the story of one of Joel’s Marine friends that he’s in business with, and we came up with a fun and sexy story I can’t wait to write. Security specialist Jon Knight is hired to watch over sexy, spontaneous night club promoter, Jillian Shaw after her father, who is running for governor, starts receiving death threats against himself and his daughter. Except Jillian has no intention of going into hiding when she has work obligations to fulfill and one of the biggest nights of her life that could make or break her career as a night club promoter. So, Jon is forced to kidnap Jillian in the middle of the night and takes her to the family estate where he can watch over her until the election is over. What ensues is a battle of wills, (Jillian is a feisty, independent heroine!), and the kind of close confinement that leads to a whole lot of sexy situations that the hero is hard pressed to resist! But once the election is over and Jon and Jillian return to civilization, the threats take on a different twist and turn that neither one of them ever suspect.

I came to Atlanta with no idea of what my next story would be, and I have to admit that it took us a long time to nail an idea that “sparked” for me. But once Julie and Leslie hit on this story idea, I knew it was perfect for me, and my characters, and promises to be the kind of fun, sexy story I love to write. Carly chimed in with character and conflict, and whaa-laa, I now have a fully formed idea and story. While this will be the first book in the “Elite” series, I had a talk with my Berkley editor in Atlanta, and we decided to keep the “Wild” titles (but drop the “e” at the end) so readers would know that these books are loosely connected to the Wilde series. I can’t wait to get started on this one!

CP: I came to Atlanta knowing I’d recently decided to continue the HOT ZONE series because of reader letters asking for more books. Also thanks to reader letters (see, we DO listen!), the first story is going to be John Roper and Amy’s (Riley’s cousin) story. The three titles are tentatively: (HOT PROPERTY, HOT TICKET, HOT STREAK). We plotted Roper and Amy’s story and I am really jazzed. It turns out Roper has a close knit family - who knew! - and he’s the man of the house. The YES man. Anything his mother or sister need, Roper says yes! And until now, he’s had the money to back up their desires. But what happens when he’s in a professional slump, has an injury that may prevent him from returning to baseball, when he’s lost money in an investment and now his sister wants the wedding of her dreams? The pressure is mounting on our favorite guy who loves the finer things. Bring in Amy who has arrived from Florida, ready to turn her life around. She meets up with Roper in her job as a party planner, helped along by her cousin by marriage, Sophie Jordan, who has just the connections to hook Amy up with THE party of the year - Roper’s sister’s wedding. They each have something huge at stake - they each need to succeed - but their goals are very different. Roper needs a small wedding. Amy needs a blowout to launch her business. And of course then there’s the little problem of falling in love …. OK this is a loose idea. But you get the gist. I’m psyched! Now back to finishing SEALED WITH A KISS …

LK: I was there to get the monkeys to help me figure out what to do with the next Trouble book, which comes out next summer. I had it plotted out but it needed some refining, which they were able to help me do. It’s the story of Mike Taylor, (Max’s younger brother) who is a cold case detective in NYC. He comes to Trouble to visit Mortimer, and meets this sexy, smart-ass woman stranded out in the middle of nowhere (she was dumped by her great-aunts, Ida Mae and Ivy.) The two of them get caught up in a 40 year old murder mystery–an up and coming rock-and-roller who may have been murdered by the heroine’s own great aunt. Should be lots of fun and a worthy follow-up to Here Comes Trouble. (Only, from what I found out today, suddenly it won’t be called Trouble Or Nothing…Harlequin has decided I have to change the whole concept of covers/titles…can’t say I’m sorry aboutu the change in covers, but I sure did like those Trouble titles!)

Other than that, we also plotted my next Blaze, a “Bad Girls Club” book next September. It’s the last of the Santori family stories–about brother Nick, who’s been off in the Marines throughout all the Santori stories. His family is pushing him to find a “nice girl and settle down” and he thinks he’s found one–the sweet, pretty, quiet baker at the local Italian bakery. But by night, he’s totally out of his mind hot over a masked stripper who’s driving the men of Chicago wild…never realizing they are one and the same woman.

Can’t wait to write that one!

JEL: I also plotted my “Bad Girls Club” Blaze. Mine will be out in August of next year. (Tori Carrington is writing the third in the series…this is a redux of the series we did in Temptation.) Mine will have a paranormal touch, as my heroine is a witch who had her powers stripped because she was using them for personal gain. (Shades of Charmed, yes, I know.) She hooks up with a former lover who left her because of her powers. He’s a no-nonsense, Show-Me state cop who didn’t appreciate my heroine manipulating him, but she might just have the key to take down a crooked lawyer who possibly has powers of his own. I know it sounds heavily paranormal, but actually, since the heroine’s powers are gone, she has to learn how to manipulate the hero with her more ‘natural’ charms rather than the supernatural ones. Should be fun. It will lead into a witch-themed anthology I’m doing the very next month with Rhonda Nelson and Mia Zachary.

We also finalized the storyline on the third Marisela Morales adventure. I can’t say much without giving away quite a bit of DIRTY LITTLE LIES, but this one is called TALK DIRTY TO ME and the plot will revolve around a stolen Church relic, Marisela’s struggle with her faith in both herself and in a higher power, Cuban politics (very timely!) and will feature quite a bit of the Max character, who was a reader favorite from DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS. We learn all sorts of cool stuff about him…and how he affects Marisela’s life. And of course, Frankie will be sniffing around, luring Marisela into all sorts of carnal delights. Only he’s not exactly working WITH Marisela anymore…they’re working together yes…but also against each other. I’m writing the synopsis right now.

Of course, this book won’t be written unless DLL sells well and Pocket invests in the next book. Cross your fingers!

As I read over all that we plotted during a super-busy conference, I’m amazed all over again. We’re a fine-oiled monkey machine!

Here Comes Trouble!!!

In honor of my current release, and in honor of the fabulous Monkey pj’s Julie got all of us for Atlanta, I’m offering this week’s Jungle Madness winner a chance to be an honorary Plotmonkey. You’ll get your very own Monkey PJ top…with my favorite slogan, HERE COMES TROUBLE!!!

Along with the sleep shirt, the winner will get an autographed copy of either She Drives Me Crazy, or She’s Got The Look, my first two HQN single title romances. Both of them are full of trouble, too!

Just comment and I’ll draw a random winner this weekend.

Speaking of HERE COMES TROUBLE, here’s a shameless plea: I could REALLY use your support on this book. I’m very worried about the future of the TROUBLE books and a vote in the bookstore could make a big difference for me. So if you like my books in the past, or like the excerpts you’ve read, and you are thinking of buying the book, I am falling on my knees begging you to do it. I *promise*–if you like my books, you will NOT be disappointed by this one. It’s very funny, very sexy, very outrageous.

Begging done. As always, THANK YOU for your amazing support and encouragement!

Leslie

Food.
It may not be the obvious topic of choice for my blog about the RWA National conference in Atlanta, but as you’ll see, it’s the most fitting. First, you should know that Janelle usually comes to the conference as the goodie lady and I’m not talking about promo products. Hershey’s kisses with caramel, nestles milk chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. You name it, she brings it. I love it! Not this year. This year we both came armed with protein and energy bars. If nothing else, we were determined to come home and not have gained weight.

My problems with food began the very first day. In the airport, I ate a 2 point Weight Watchers bar because I had no time to eat breakfast at home. On landing, while waiting for my luggage, I had another bar because I was starving and knew I wouldn’t make it to the next meal. At noon, I had lunch with Nancy Berland, my publicist at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. By the time I arrived, I was so hungry, a mere salad wasn’t going to cut it. I had a hamburger and fries, took off the top of the roll, and inhaled everything else on the plate. You see? This is what happens when you skip breakfast, the most important meal of the day.

After a cocktail party at Stephanie Bond’s, where we experienced true southern hospitality, off we went to dinner where the plotmonkeys ate with our editor Brenda Chin and talented historical and contemporary author Jacquie D’Alessandro. (The gorgeous woman in the teal dress) It doesn’t help that Jacquie is the cutest thing going or that she dresses to the nine’s making the rest of us (me) feel like chopped liver, but I love her anyway. She is just one of those honestly good folk. A little Southern talk here. Plus she likes dessert. And speaking of dessert …

Dailey’s can be described in one word: DESSERT. Dessert was included in the price of dinner and there was an entire bar devoted to displaying the choices. Needless to say, everyone ordered something different and we shifted the plates around the table. I’m a picky eater and so once I tasted the bread pudding, I refused to share. No matter how delicious the other desserts looked, I only liked the pudding. Like Daffy Duck says, “Mine, mine, mine, all mine!”

Wednesday morning, I had breakfast with my agent, Robert Gottlieb and Jenny Bent. I ordered my usual AM meal, Raisin Bran cereal and skim milk. The plotmonkeys love making fun of me because I will happily pay a $20 room service bill to have my fix late at night. Then we plotted and as everyone said, boy did we rock. The next HOT ZONE story will be John Roper and Riley’s cousin Amy from Florida’s story and I can not wait to dig into writing it!

Wednesday’s plan was to work all day and eat late in the afternoon in order to hold us over for the Literacy Signing, where the authors sit from 5:30 – 8:30 and have no time for dinner. Let me tell you something now. Raisin Bran does NOT hold one over until 4 PM. I was a raving bitch. And yes, I said it, the other monkeys didn’t have to. Starve me and I go mad. By the time we made it down to the restaurants, I was downright nasty. Still we were able to get a table in the bar and once again, starving beyond belief, I ordered a hamburger and fries. I’m supposed to be watching my cholesterol AND my food intake. I wasn’t happy with myself but I can honestly say it was the best hamburger I’ve ever had in my entire life. Stomach full, I was ready to take on the three hour Literacy signing.

At Literacy, I only had copies of CROSS MY HEART. This is a good and a bad thing. Good because readers wanted it. Bad because it hit shelves the day before and it’s always better to sell where it counts towards first week of sales. Good because the money goes to Literacy. Bad because not all readers there want to pay money for a hardcover. I sold about a case and a three quarters – roughly 30 or so books. Pretty darn good! And I got to catch up with old friends: Kimberly Raye (can’t WAIT for her new book Dead End Dating). I waved to Sophia Nash because what else can you do for three hours with tables separating you? Sophia did throw chocolate kisses at me, feeding me when I was hungry, and boy was I grateful! I sat next to Barbara Pierce who writes historicals and is just about the sweetest person ever, and many many more.

Back to food, on Thursday I had breakfast with Liz Pearson’s from Brilliance Audio, who publishes my hardcovers in audio format. I love her. We have so much in common and she’s gushes over my books and my covers (but that’s not why I think she’s so great – she just IS). Anyway, I had THE best Crispy French Toast – LoCholesterol – dipped in eggwhites – that I have ever had. I even poured Equal over it instead of sugar (I like sugar not maple syrup on my French Toast) and pretended it wasn’t fattening. Again, I licked the plate clean. I had a chicken salad for lunch, and dinner was, shall we say … interesting?

First Janelle and I went to our agents’ party (Trident Media Group) and then we dinner plans with Robert Gottlieb, Jenny Bent, and author duo Tori Carrington, Tony and Lori Karayianni, who write the Sophie Metropolis series. The original plan was to go to Dailey’s but since we’d been there and didn’t want to repeat the cake, Robert graciously agreed to make reservations somewhere else. That somewhere else ended up being: FAT MATT’S RIB SHACK. We received an email confirming that read like this: Hi! The 8.45pm Thursday dinner following the Trident party has been changed to FATT MATT’S RIB SHACK, a short (4 mile) cab ride from the hotel. It is first come, first serve, cash only, no tight ties. Have fun! Amy Assistant to Robert Gottlieb. We were prepared. We changed from party clothes into jeans and it’s a good thing we did!

Right next to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack is Fat Matt’s Chicken Shack. The chicken shack was closed but I’m not sure why. The Rib shack was packed. And rocking. There was a band but we’ll get to them later. This is WORLD FAMOUS FAT MATT’S RIB SHACK. We waited and quickly got a table. Tony and Robert, ever the gentlemen, went up to order and bring the food to the table. No waitresses or waiters, only bus boys. The menu was on the wall. See? To make it easier for Tony and Robert, we wrote our orders on a piece of paper – Janelle and I wanted BBQ chicken. We wrote: 2 ½ Chickens. Meaning, we each wanted a ½ chicken from the menu. We told this to Tony as we handed him the paper. Tony has the cutest Greek accent and sometimes things get lost in translation. So Tony looked at the paper and said, “You want two and a half chickens?” All I could picture were two whole chickens coming out of the kitchen. Alive. Not sure where the half would have come from. “No, Tony, we want 2 half chickens.” He nodded. We weren’t sure what we’d get, but Tony got it right. Hurray!

The atmosphere was so much fun and as I said, rocking. The band was playing loudly. Robert called his wife so she could hear for herself. And I took a look at them and said, “I get dibs on the drummer.” I really don’t know what possessed me to say it or why I thought I was so funny. But I did. So I took his picture, knowing I’d show you all and hope you thought it was funny too. But maybe you just had to be there! I ate my half chicken which was delicious and I should have left it at that, but wouldn’t you know, they had to serve 2 pieces of white bread with the dinner. You know the kind? Soft and mushy like Wonder Bread – ready to dip into the BBQ sauce. Yum. So I ate them. Both. Crust and all. Sigh.

By Friday, the plotmonkeys learned to work around my eating schedule and so I had a normal breakfast and they agreed to a 1 o’clock or so lunch so I couldn’t pass hungry and get to bitchy. I had a wrap and was a good girl. Until dinner at the HQN Author dinner, where I ate not only the chicken, but the entire cheesecake. It was worth it. I also had so much fun at the dinner, with Harlequin President Donna Hayes and authors Gena Showalter, Susan Grant, Susan Mallery, Linda Lael Miller and Diana Palmer! What a real treat this was for me. When we got to the Harlequin party at the Ritz Carlton, I was not hungry for dessert which was a pity because they had a chocolate fountain and yummy looking food! Of course this is after I took a cab ride there with Leslie and Roxanne St. Claire and realized halfway to the restaurant that I HAD NO MONEY. All I can say is, thank goodness for friends!

Which about sums up my fabulous week. Good food and even better friends. What more can a girl ask for? Well, her book can be displayed front and center at the Atlanta airport, which mine was. For more pics, including CROSS MY HEART at the airport, visit my website photo page

If you’re curious about what you missed at the workshops including Chat with Carly Phillips (aka The Devil is in the Details) and my PAN workshop on Business Balls (Not my choice in titles, LOL!) click on those links and check it out.

For the history of writing Cross My Heart, I guestblogged on August 2 at The Idea Boutique and you can visit me there to read about it.

I think that’s about it for now … I hope you’ve enjoyed our RWA Atlanta retrospective as much as enjoyed telling you all about our trip!

Oh and did I gain weight in Atlanta? That’s between me, myself and my scale. And we’ll never tell …

Sorry this went up late…I had it all written and then messed up the date. Sorry!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I was in Atlanta. I have pictures to prove it.

Okay, not this one…

…but this one!

Because this has been such an exhausting year for me, I made the hard choice to make myself rather scarce except during official “appearances” or scheduled meetings. The rest of the time, I was in the room chilling out, working or well, working. Work is not stressful for me. I love to work when it’s writing we’re talking about. So I’m really sorry if I missed meeting anyone…I honestly was protecting my health and mostly–my sanity.

RWA can drive you crazy. Anyone who has been there knows this. Since I long passed crazy and went into insane about March or April of this past year, I didn’t want to risk someone in a white coat actually finding me and dragging me off to a padded cell where I belong. Luckily, I got to meet plenty of wonderful readers when I was out and about…big hugs to Stacy…but lots of others, too. One particular woman was a huge Marisela fan and though she talked too quickly for me to get her name, I totally enjoyed seeing her. (Very petite, short curly hair, absolutely adorable…who are you?)

I was at the Literacy Signing from the start time until just before 7:30, when I had to leave to meet with my agent. We went to this uber-funky restaurant called Two Urban Licks. We had mojitos, but I’m not sure that they had much rum because I drank two and felt zip…and trust me, as much as I love to drink, I’m a relative lightweight who feels her booze pretty quickly (as all the plotmonkeys will testify to!) However, this place was tres-hip, and I loved the whole experience yet again.

I also did the Pocket Signing on Friday where I have to say I was both excited and dishearted that 48 people had never read DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS, the book from last year that I was giving away again this year. Okay, 46. Two people had read the first book and were getting copies for friends. But excitement set in quickly after (did I mention writers are neurotic?) when I realized that maybe those 46 new readers will buy DIRTY LITTLE LIES when it comes out next month. Everyone at the Pocket signing received a cool, four-color brochure/excerpt from the book, a beautiful bookmark and a silver packet of cinnamon red hots that said “She’s red hot and she’s back! Readmarisela.com.” Those went over very well…and I’ll soon be making the whole package of goodies available to Plotmonkey readers if there is any interest.

I was also at the Blaze party, where my cover for THE DOMINO EFFECT was used to top the cake, though they changed the name of the book and the author. Here’s a pic Janelle took…the marzipan broke by the time it was removed from the cake, but it was cool anyway.

The highlight of my week, not surprisingly, is the time we spent in the room working together. We’d never attempted to plot at an RWA conference, though we had tried in NYC at RT and it simply didn’t work. Of course, we’ve gotten much better at the process now. And knowing that I wanted this time most of all, during my shopping spree before the conference, I found these adorable Bobby Jack pajama bottoms that I had to buy for my monkey sisters!

Most fun of all was matching them to our personalities. I bought the “100% Mischeivous” ones for me. Janelle’s have the naughty double-entendre. Carly’s show the monkeys napping. Leslie’s say “Here Comes Trouble.” They were the perfect uniform to wear when working (even when Leslie stole mine to wear to the eHarlequin pajama party…LOL!)

And this is what we look like when we work:

We lounge. We drink (that’s caffeine free diet coke by me…we don’t drink hard stuff if the books actually have to make sense) and we record the sessions, too. Take notes. Laugh. A LOT. Good times.

In the spirit of Leslie’s post with screw-ups, I must mention mine. Look at these two pictures. What is different?

I’m not in the first picture. Imagine…I go to the Harlequin party specifically to get my coveted 25 book pin and then they announce my name and I’M NOT THERE. No, I wasn’t in the bathroom. I was just outside the ballroom, taking pictures of my friend Carmen Green and her friends. I haven’t seen Carm in a long time, so chit-chatting was involved. I still don’t remember who grabbed me and yanked me back into the ballroom, but I’m very glad they did. It might have been Carly. I’m almost sure it was.

And yes, the red dress was a big hit (even if my bra strap is showing…trust me, most of my mishaps for the week involved lingerie and cleavage. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.)

All in all, the week was utterly marvelous. Kudos to the staff of the Marriott who were phenomenal. (Rumor has it that some native New Yorkers–Carly excluded–complained mightily about the pace of the workers in Atlanta…uh, welcome to the South, ladies.) I found everyone completely delightful, friendly and accommodating.

I left as the other plotmonkeys…refreshed and raring to get to work. We plotted my third Marisela book…and probably the only tense moment of the conference was realizing in no uncertain terms that that book might not make it to contract if the second book, DIRTY LITTLE LIES, didn’t do well. So, the pressure is on. But you know what? I’ve done all I can…I wrote what I think is an excellent book. I’ve done a ton of promotion. Now, it’s up to the readers!

Today, to top off my conference experience, I learned that RT Bookreview (who knew they’d changed their name again?) agreed that the book is good. If you don’t mind a little blatant self-promotion, here’s a quote:

Leto jumps in with both feet in her latest entry in the Marisela Morales series. The heroine is sassy, saucy and sexy, and the book sizzles. Leto’s style is fast, breezy and loaded with tension. She’s created a complex plot that’s executed with precision. Her characters have no middle ground and are worth a second look. Plus, Boston makes a wonderful backdrop.

It’s enough to make a girl blush.

Most of all, I’m glad to be home. Now…off to write!