Well, almost everything. Here are ten things that happened to me this weekend, most of them fantastic:
1. I attended the Emerald City Writers Conference, run by the Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America, and got to hang out with a bunch of amazing friends and writers and meet some new ones!
2. Sweet Disorder went up on Kindle for pre-order
3. I won a raffle basket! I feel so lucky, especially since I won (in my humble opinion) the very best basket, donated by Linda Allen and Montlake. I got a new Kindle and a 2-day stay in a cabin in Whidbey Island!!! It doesn’t get better than that.
4. While going to Barnes and Noble to buy a clip-art book for the new banner for my website, I saw that Lemony Snicket is going to be there! So I signed up for that. Wooo!
5. I plotted my first ever erotic novella, set in Lively St. Lemeston and starring a confectioner and his cashier. We’ll see how that goes! I’m a little nervous, as writing short is not usually my thing.
6. As you may know, Sweet Disorder is set around a local election. Lively St. Lemeston has two major local political parties, who have party colors that can be worn by their supporters during times of conflict. The Whigs are orange and purple, and the Tories are pink and white.
One common way to display one’s party colors was the rosette (the most famous example nowadays is the tricolor cockade, symbol of the French Revolution). I commissioned Heather Sheen of Creative Cockades to make me some rosettes for Lively St. Lemeston, and they arrived on Saturday! They are SO BEAUTIFUL. I haven’t figured out yet how or when to give them away, but I HAVE spent quite a bit of time stroking them lovingly.
7. I discovered what can happen when a hotel napkin is the exact same color as your skirt. 🙁
8. I bought Jeannie Lin’s new book, The Lotus Palace! I am so excited. (I also bought a signed copy of that and a few other books to give away to you, gentle readers! My next contest will start next Monday.)
9. I got a text alert during a conference dinner that 72 hours notice had been given for grocery workers at Safeway, QFC, Albertson’s, and Fred Meyer to strike in several Washington counties. I am a grocery worker (though not at one of those stores) and this is pretty important to me, so I’d like to ask you to support striking workers and not to cross picket lines to shop. You can follow the strike on facebook, and find a map of some alternative pharmacies and union grocery stores to shop at here (however, there are loads of independent small stores that aren’t included–the main thing is just not to shop at stores where workers are on strike). Okay, thanks for listening! PSA over. Strike called off! Agreement reached! Wooooo! Workers still need to vote on their new contract but apparently the bargaining team has unanimously recommended it, so let’s hope it’s good. \o/
10. I started my marketing plan for Sweet Disorder. I can’t believe the book will be out in just six months! (I know that might seem long to you, but when I look at the list of stuff I have to do between now and then, it doesn’t feel that way to me.) Any requests for swag?