Hello There Sexy

First, I feel the need to apologize for how "bare" my posts are going to look. I'm using The Boyfriend's lap top and frankly, I'm just not a lap top kind of girl. So don't expect lots of shiny graphics. I have taken some pictures, but I'm thinking they'll be posted after I'm back home.

Yesterday was a full rich day. The Librarian Event was, once again, a very good day. I now have a girl crush on Stephanie Laurens, who gave a great talk on biology and the romance novel (trust me, it ruled). I also really enjoyed the historical romance presentation given by Patricia Rice, Jo Beverley, Jodi Thomas. I got a lot of wonderful goodies, that I'm going to have to sort through and post about later. Sigh. Seriously, I'm working on sensory overload at the moment.

The Literacy Signing last night rocked socks. This was the first year I stood in line for a "big name." I hit Nora Roberts' line early, mostly because I wanted to earn major points with a coworker who lurves the In Death books. I know when I take that autographed book back to work, that my coworker will be over the moon. And also, because I'm selfish, I wanted to get a copy of Tribute for myself.

I bought a handful of books, a few for me, a few for friends. I also stopped to chit-chat with a few people. I always say hi to Kathryn Smith (love her!) and Susan Grant, who had her very adorable teenage son with her. I reviewed both of their debut novels back in the day, and loved both of them, so it's like a sort of "kinship." I know that sounds silly, but for me there is nothing more exciting that discovering an author on the "ground floor."

Then the unthinkable happened. I got a voice mail from The Boyfriend. The Detroit Tigers traded my man, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. As if that weren't heartbreaking enough.....

Pudge's incredible butt (oh, and his talent as a baseball player) is now going to be wearing Yankee pin stripes. PUDGE IS A YANKEE!!!!!

ARGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

A dirty, dirty Yankee!!!!!!!!!!

For the love of all that is holy, if you're going to dump Pudge can't he go to the National League? You know, where he wouldn't "hurt us" unless we saw him in the World Series?! Ugh!

Rosie was quite flummoxed by my outrage. Well, mostly because she doesn't give a crap about baseball (I hear some of you thinking, "It ain't just Rosie"). But for me, Pudge and his magnificent butt signifies "hope." Because he came to the Tigers back when the team was an embarrassment. They had just lost 119 games the season before. Nobody wanted to play for us. We were a joke. A laughing stock. And signing Pudge put us back on the road to respectability.

And now he's a Yankee. Seriously. Rosie is keeping all sharp objects away from me. But Kristie. Our dear sweet Kristie, who likes baseball. She understands. She's also keeping sharp objects away from me. Bless both their hearts.

At least I'm at RWA. Distraction is the best cure for a broken heart. Oh and in other news? My voice is shot. I've lost it. This is my fourth time coming to RWA and the first year I've lost my voice. Damn. I sound like a two-bit phone sex operator. Oh well. I probably would find my voice if I stopped flapping my gums long enough to look for it. But who am I kidding?

The Walrus Was Paul

Well folks, here I am in San Francisco. Tuesday is always a mellow day at the RWA conference, because that's when the bulk of the attendees really start rolling in. My day started out around 6:30AM, when I kissed The Boyfriend goodbye, gassed up the car, got my morning caffeine jolt, and drove out to the hinterlands to pick up Rosie. We were promptly on the road by 8AM, and made it to San Francisco is a little over 7 hours (perfect!).

The drive itselft was blessedly uneventful. Leaving from Rosie's was definitely the way to go since we were able to avoid the nightmare that is Los Angeles morning rush hour traffic. Heavens be, I even got to use my poor neglected cruise control! The trip flew by, mostly because Rosie and I prattled on the entire time.

The real fun was reserved for when we got into the city. For those of you who have never been to San Fran, every street is a frickin' one way street here, and parking isn't terribly obvious. After dropping Rosie off, driving several blocks, dodging pedestrians and one illegal u-turn later, I was able to flag down the hotel doorman who gave me directions to the hotel's valet parking. Once I, you know, asked....piece of cake.

Kristie and Katie flew in the day before, so they were out doing touristy stuff when we arrived. We soon hooked up with them, and several other bloggers for drinks at the bar.

Kristie, Rosie and I hit a local bar for burgers for dinner, and this is where things got sticky. Wendy had raw onion on her burger. It was mighty tasty. Despite the fact that raw onion and Wendy don't always get along so well. Yeah, I woke up around 4AM not feeling too hot. No one to blame but myself here - and now I've got Glass Onion by The Beatles wedged like a stubborn ear worm in my skull. Rosie, bless her soul, gave me drugs - and I'm on the mend.

Well, time to cut this short. Today is my busiest day, with the Librarian Event starting in about an hour. Tonight is the big Literacy Signing, and I'm currently telling myself to behave. Will I? Yeah, outlook not so good.

I Wonder If I'll Find My Mojo?

Here's a mind-numbing, rambling blog post for you all to enjoy before I take off for San Francisco and the RWA conference tomorrow. I've been planning this trip longer than most attendees. Try a couple of years. Once I moved to California, and noticed that San Fran was a "future conference site" I had it marked on my calender. Why? Because it means I can drive.

When I was a wee little Super Librarian, I lived in Michigan. The vast majority of my relatives live in Ohio. Which means from about the time I was 6 months old, my parents had me strapped in a car seat for what is, on average, a six hour drive. We made that trip to Ohio at least a couple of times a year. So while some people quake in horror at the thought of a long car drive....Yeah, me not so much. Hell, it will be just like old times.

I don't mind driving alone because it just means I run through my collection of Beatles CDs, but this year will be great because Rosie is hitching a ride with me. So I'm sure both of us will probably lose our voices on the way because we'll be blathering on. I'm heading out to the boonies bright and early to pick her up, which means I hope we avoid all Los Angeles traffic, and we're in San Fran absolutely no later than 5PM.

Today I need to hit the bank, hit the grocery store (so The Boyfriend doesn't starve while I'm gone), and hit the car wash to get my filthy car cleaned. Don't ask me the last time it saw a vacuum, because I don't know. Scary. Then it's home for last minute laundry and packing.

In random news, a friend of mine got her August RWR (Romance Writers Report - RWA's newsletter) and told me that I'm even more famous than she already suspected I was. What now seems like a billion years ago, the fabulous Sherry Thomas "interviewed" me for an article she was writing on how libraries purchase and select materials. Well that article is in the August issue, so for all you RWA members out there, check your mailbox for another dose of Super Librarian! I don't receive a paper copy of the newsletter, so am stuck waiting for them to post it online - which I'm assuming will be done once August actually rolls around.

In between packing and last minute errands, I'm hoping I do some reading today. I am in the mother of all reading slumps. Want to know how many books I've read in July? Two. Yeah, two. I'm hoping RWA will inspire me to stop being so lazy and to actually pick up a book again. Cuz dang, I'm starting to get a little depressed.

As far as blogging goes - I will be blogging from RWA thanks to The Boyfriend. He quit his job recently. No fretting, he has a new job. But this new job means that his shiny laptop he got for the old job is now available for me to steal use. So I'll be blogging, and skimming most of my Google Reader while I'm away. As for Twittering? Yeah, probably not so much. My cell phone is from the Paleozoic era, so texting is out - and I doubt I'll be hauling the lap top around with me.

The next time I'll be blogging I'll be at the conference. Stay tuned for updates and more general Super Librarian blatherings.

Hellllloooooo Nurse!

I've gotta be honest - the beefcake covers don't do a whole lot for me. Yes, I like men. In fact, I adore men. But I don't need to see a bare-arsed chest on every single one of my romance books. Just don't. That being said, I recently got some promotional bookmarks and among the batch was this eye-popping, jaw-dropping, stud muffin on the cover of Christina Skye's September release, To Catch A Thief. I hate to morph to one of those giggly romance fangirls who gets steamy over some hunky cover model - but dayum!

What I'll Be Doing

Today is my last day in the office before RWA, which means in between wrapping up some mindless projects here at work, I'm running through my head what I need to do, and need to get done before picking Rosie up on Tuesday morning and heading to San Francisco.

This got me thinking about what librarians actually do at conferences like RWA, because honestly it is incredibly varied. In the past I've done everything from the bare minimum to the whole shebang. This year it's going to be more in the middle, although I do have some specific tasks before me.

For one thing I'm going to try to be more diligent about is passing out my business cards, especially to any editor/publisher types. Mostly because I'm hoping they'll pass my information on to any library reps they may have, and also to get on mailing lists for things like catalogs and promotional items. Whether the publisher sends them via snail mail or electronically - my business card gives them either option. Plus, this year, I'm thinking I'll print up my blog address on return address labels and slap them on the back of my business cards. Two cards for the price of one, which should be handy.

My dance card isn't completely full, but it's also not completely empty. Wednesday is my Shot All To Hell day between the Librarian Event, the Literacy Signing, and a blogger gathering happening afterwards. Thursday night finds me with a dinner invitation, and Saturday is another invitation and the RITA ceremony. Any down time I have (ha!) will be spent at workshops, book signings and the bar.

Also this year I find myself having to work - well more so than usual. I've talked before about my library's annual Literary Event. Well, we're in the planning stages for our third annual to be held in April 2009. This year it wasn't just "Wendy find us some romance authors," but "Wendy find us some romance and mystery authors." In what is sure to be one of the greatest ironies of our time, I've got the mystery authors totally nailed down. The romance authors? Yeah, not so much - although the lovely Christie Ridgway has been confirmed. So it looks like I'll be spending some time at RWA trying to sway a "maybe" romance author into the "definitely yes" column, and scrounging up a third author to round out our panel. This sounds easy, right? Yeah, it would be if we had any money to offer for things like travel expenses. Which we don't. Which means I tend to throw myself at the feet of local authors. I've got some people in mind, and hopefully I'll be able to get one step closer to finalizing. After all, I'm probably going to be the one moderating the romance panel again this next year - so it's in my best interest to get this thing set in stone.

In between all of this, I have plans to scare up some goodies for friends and coworkers. Autographed books by favorite authors, and also promo items like bookmarks and pens. I love giving gifts, and surprises, so I'm hoping I can keep my greedy streak in check and share a bunch of the goodies I haul back with me.

Whew! It sure does sound like I'm doing a lot - but honestly, this is a lot more mellow than last year. The trick will be finding time to blog, although those following me on Twitter will likely be disappointed. I suspect I won't be Tweeting all that much....

For My Michigan Peeps

When it comes to book orgies, I've been spoiled living in southern California. There's more of everything out here - traffic, people, pollution, earthquakes, wild fires, sunshine and naturally, book stores. It also means there are more authors living out here, which means book signings are fairly easy to come by.

But when I lived in Michigan? I was a desperate woman. I once drove two and half hours to the Detroit area to attend a signing that Susan Wiggs was at. She signed my ARC of The Firebrand, which is still lovingly housed among my "keepers." I once went to see Debbie Macomber at a local signing, regardless of the fact that I had never read her (I since have, and have really enjoyed a couple of her books). When I attended my first RWA conference way back in 2002? I was still living in book-signing-deprived Michigan, so you can imagine how insane I went at the Literacy Signing. It was ugly folks. Really, really ugly.

Anywho, I was surfing around and landed on Jade Lee's web site (which I think is gorgeous by the way) and noticed she's doing a book tour this fall of Meijer stores in the southern part of Michigan. Coincidentally, it was on a tour like this that Susan Wiggs was on, when I hopped in my car and headed for Detroit.

I just checked out the roster, and damn skippy - if you're a romance reader living in this part of the world I encourage you to check it out. Authors on the schedule include: Jade Lee, Jessica Anderson, Kresley Cole, Allison Brennan, Kathryn Caskie, Elizabeth Hoyt, Kristan Higgins, Angela Knight, Susan Mallery, Sophia Nash, Gena Showalter, Sherry Thomas, and Roxanne St. Clair. Whoa doggie!

For a complete list of authors, plus dates, times, and stores where they will be signing - check out this page. I check my stats, and I know I have some Michigan readers out there. If you attend one of the signings, be sure to tell them Super Librarian sent you. Assuming, of course, they know who the hell I am - and most of them probably don't (although I know for a fact that Allison and Sherry do!). Still, it sounds cool for me to say that.

Dude, if I was still living in Michigan, studly cabana boys wouldn't be able to keep me away. If anyone decides to attend, be sure to give me all the dirt!

Sign Of The Times

It's hard for me to say no to kids. So when the sweet-looking, roughly 8-year-old little boy came up to my front door in his baseball uniform selling subscriptions to the local newspaper to earn money so he could go to summer camp, I found myself getting my check book out.

I hope the Girl Scouts don't find out where I live, or else I'm really screwed.

My newspapers started showing up over the weekend, so on Sunday I parked myself on the couch, turned on the baseball game, and proceeded to flip through it. What before my wondrous eyes should appear? A book review for Tribute by Nora Roberts. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

As a general rule I have little sympathy for people who refuse to help themselves. My most recent Romancing The Blog column was about independent booksellers refusing to stock romance fiction, then wondering why they lose business to Borders, B&N, Amazon and WalMart. Duh. I feel the same way about newspaper book coverage.

At this point, it's been fairly well documented that book review sections are dying in many national newspapers. Many literary types are gnashing their teeth, sending out battle cries, and generally continuing to remain utterly clueless. This trend has been no different for one of my local papers where book review coverage used to be a separate pull-out section a la The New York Times Book Review. Then it was cut in half, and the pull-out section became book reviews and editorial commentary. Now? Bye-bye pull-out section, hello to burying a couple of book reviews in the entertainment section.

I look at a variety of review sources for my job, including newspaper reviews. You know why these sections are in trouble? Because 95% of what they review are shit books nobody really wants to read. Maybe I was in college for too long (in fact, I know I was) but the minute I left I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Not only because I was done with school, but because I would never again have to read a book just because someone told me I had to. I could read whatever the hell I damn well pleased, and I wouldn't have to dissect it into little pieces, discuss it in class ad nauseam, and write a 20-page paper on it.

Sheer bliss.

I'm a very simple girl, with simple tastes. All I really want in a book is to be entertained. I want characters I give a damn about, an interesting plot, and to keep flipping the pages. Really, that's about it. And I think after you strip it down to the bare bones, 99.9% of readers out there would agree with me. But for too many years, newspapers have been providing book reviews for books your average Joe Schmo has no desire to read. The argument has been that newspaper reviews shouldn't cater to the lowest common denominator, to which I say "get bent," but hell - a couple of popular fiction reviews isn't going to cause the demise of western civilization. I'm not saying chuck all of the hoity-toity stuff, but dang, bring it down a notch or two.

So it was with part elation, and part trepidation, when I saw the book review for Tribute in my local paper this past Sunday. My good angel was thinking, "Yippeeee! They're reviewing a romance" while my bad angel was thinking, "Danger, Danger Super Librarian. Sneers, condescending attitude, and high blood pressure ahead!" But much to my delight it was a good review! And there was no backhanded sneering towards romance novels! Oh joy! Oh delight! Oh sunny day!

The review itself isn't online yet, and I already chucked my copy of the paper, so I'm paraphrasing wildly here - but in a nutshell? The reviewer said that Tribute was a highly-enjoyable pageturner, which should come as no surprise since Roberts has a reputation for writing highly-enjoyable pageturners.

So we'll see where this goes. Part of me hopes that the national newspapers will wake up and smell the coffee now that entire book review sections have been slashed. But then my bad angel pipes up and the natural cynic in me finds it highly unlikely. I'd resort to knocking newspaper editors in the head with a frying pan, but I'm not sure that would work all that well either.