The 2007 Romantic Times Book Convention! Moulin Rouge!
A night at the cabaret, courtesy of Ellora’s Cave Publishing! They’re my most splendiferous publisher. These people know how to throw a party. Guests were treated to a night of French cancan, chocolate fountain and other decadence. Ellora’s Cave’s cover models were also in attendance to thrill the crowd with two musical shows (these poor men probably suffered retinal damage with the explosion of camera flashes that greeted them!). They also posed with guests, and part of the proceeds will be donated to the Montel Williams MS Foundation.
Recognize anyone? One of these handsome gentlemen is none other than Ryan, the cover model for my dementedly popular novel, DamNATION. Pay close attention to the second man from the right (back row). And yes, that’s me in the middle, in pure agony over the treatment I’m getting. I mean, all these gorgeous men, smiling and having fun. Ellora’s Cave authors are SO mistreated. *Le Big Sigh* Back row, left to right, are the gentlemen: Devin, Michael, Kimo, John, Lorenzo, Rodney, Ryan, and Brooks. Front row are Jason and Julian.
Ellora’s Cave Authors Dressing Up (or down)
Ann Jacobs and Tawny Taylor, two lovelies dressed to break hearts and trigger sprinklers. Well, it *was* the Moulin Rouge party! Photo courtesy of Tawny Taylor
The witty and hysterical Ann and me discussing the finer points of quantum physics. Her argument was that the underlying mathematical framework of many fields of physics and chemistry, including condensed matter physics, solid-state physics, atomic physics, molecular physics, computational chemistry... Photo courtesy of Cait Miller
The fine gentlemen from Ellora’s Cave signing calendars and generously posing for fans. Photo courtesy of Cait Miller
The three masked banditas! Ruby Storm in the middle. Unfortunately, I don’t know the other two ladies. Photo courtesy of Kate Douglas
Faery Ball - Who’s the Fairest of Them All?
Stephanie Burke, a.k.a. Flash, who’d make a supermodel look ugly compared to her.
Tawny Taylor in her winning costume. If she hadn’t won, my table and I (comprised among others of Renee Bernard) would’ve started a riot. Every time she’d walk by, we’d scream “Number 25!!!” to the judges. But she won and all was saved.
No costume. Sorry. But here’s Ryan and me, outside the grand ballroom after the Thursday night Faery Ball. Ryan has also appeared in the much celebrated Ellora’s Cave calendar since he graced the cover of DamNATION. He not only does modeling, but he is also part of a dance male revue and is about to launch a brand new product in the fitness industry. As soon as I have details, I’ll post all the good bits here. Meanwhile, you get to laugh at me and my goofy grin. But hey, I was excited to finally meet my favorite South African. I don’t know why people say he has an accent. We were in Houston Texas...I thought *everyone* had an accent! Look our hair matches!
Some of the 60+ Ellora’s Cave Authors attending the Booksigning!
Here I am with Lucinda, the lucky reader who won the framed, autographed (by both Ryan and I) picture. If you squint, you’ll be able to spot DamNATION on the left, followed by a small thank you note, then a picture of me in my best goofy form. Congratulations Lucinda and thanks for participating!
It’s me! Signing books! I got to sign cloth bags, playing cards, books, pictures, and much more. I kept hoping to sign a muscled shoulder or even a nice shiny pec. Oh well... :) RT staff set up the tables well in advance so disorganized people like me could come over and arrange our little corner of the book-signing world. I had such friendly neighbors! To my right was Amber Green and to my left Susan Grant. Both made this book signing a delightful experience.
Susan Grant, my “next table neighbor” (isn’t that picture the BEST?!) I know it’s not from RT, but she rocks!
Amber Green, my other “next table neighbor”. I know, it’s not from RT, so I had to go scrounge it from her site. She spent the booksigning reading my book, Femme Metal. How cool is THAT?!
Renee Bernard (with whom I shared a fun elevator ride...complete with an anti-books Cro-Magnon)
Mr. Romance Competition
The contestants and hosts
Chosen among several other candidates for his romance IQ, Ellora’s Cave’s very own Jason Santiago! Doesn’t he have the gaze of a matador?! Go ahead, stick your thumb on the screen and block the bottom half of his face, keeping just the eyes. See? Matador, I tell you.
Ellora’s Cave Deck of Cards
Ellora’s Cave designed two decks of cards to celebrate the 2007 Romantic Times Booklover Convention (get your own deck right here!). And hey, do you recognize Ryan? Yep. It’s him, on the Moulin Rouge-themed deck, and the handsome Julian for the western-themed deck (Julian was the cover model paired to walk me across the stage...thanks Julian for keeping me from falling on my face!) To make it fun, conventioneers were invited to chase authors down and have them sign these beautiful cards (mine was 2 of Spades). To those who had amassed the most signatures went a gorgeous prize! Ellora’s Cave folks know how to throw a party!
