RWA 2015~New York!!

I attended RWA 2014 last year in San Antonio and loved it!

Unfortunately, I won't be attending this year's conference in New York. The ever dreaded finances have gotten in my way. Am I depressed about it? You bet! I think RWA is one of the best conferences you can attend if you are a romance writer.

What is RWA? It stands for Romance Writers of America and is pretty big deal to be a part of. You have to have met certain criteria in order to be considered for membership, as well as, pay the membership dues. They have two levels: PRO and PAN and each forum for those groups is a great way to find a wealth of information about romance and the publishing world.

When I attended last year, I met writers from all walks of life and who write in all genres of romance. They had great workshops that also covered different styles of writing! One of my favorite parts was attending the book signings. It was a chance to get up close and personal with some of the biggest names in the world of romance today! Not to mention all the awesome free books get as well...

Speaking of those books, I made sure to grab the ones that were nominated for RITAs. I have enjoyed reading them this past year and getting a feel for what counts as award winning material in the world of RWA. Reading them inspired me to tighten up my own work and to delve more deeply into my material.

Another great thing about the RWA conference? It's a great place to meet agents and editors. However, if you've ever been curious about the small press or wanted to dip a toe in the world of self publishing, this conference provided a lot of insight into both.

So yeah...I'm bummed about not going to New York for RWA 2015, but hey...there's always next year! I'm already saving up for RWA 2016 in San Diego!

Esmae~

P.S. The The TAMING OF THE PRUDEis free all this week at Amazon!

Thoughts on RWA Nationals 2014

I loved RWA! It was like finally finding "your people."

Writers, agents, editors, publishers...ah, the mother ship had landed in San Antonio! And what a ship!

I've been to many other writing conferences, so I knew sort of what to expect, but this was entirely different. Most conferences you wander around, meet some other writers at the bar, and then you take a few classes. You exchange business cards, maybe pitch an agent or editor and then you go home feeling ready to write again.

RWA was like that, too--only bigger and better! This was a conference where you got to brush elbows with big names and big publishers. The keynote luncheon speech was given by Sylvia Day, best selling author and attended by lots of other best selling authors. There was a "Chat with Nora Roberts" where she answered questions candidly about her writing process and her series. My favorite piece of advice from Nora?

"Stop whining and start fucking writing!"

And then there were the books. Free books from the big publishing houses. Signed by their authors who were there happily signing away, ready to chat one on one with you. There were free books at lunch, free books at breakfast, free books in the Goody Room!

Mary Ann and I both came home with over a 100 books.

I also attended workshops presented by writers who were all on the best seller list. I discovered the importance of doing what's best for my career--that there is no one size fits all when it comes to publishing anymore. Hybrid authors and their ability to publish traditionally and self publish were all the rage. I learned the roots of historical romance and was reminded of why I started writing romance in the first place--Rosemary Rogers and Sweet Savage Love.

One of the highlights was attending the Rita Awards. This is like the Academy Awards for Romance Writers. It was a big, flashy affair and lots of fun!

Did I come home invigorated? Hell, yes. Inspired. Ready to work. With more faith in myself than ever before.

Will I attend RWA next year? Hell, yeah! Bring it on! NYC here I come.

Short Tales from Hell's Leak

As many of you know, my urban fantasy romance Nephilim was recently acquired by Kensington Publishing. I'm really excited about this new acquisition! To celebrate, I've published a series of short stories that are companion tales to Nephilim and Nathan Ink. Want to know what he was like prior to meeting Faye? Want to see how his special brand of tattoos affected people with the Seven Deadly Sins? Then check out these short tales--a steal for only .99cents at Amazon! Drop a review, and if you are in San Antonio in July, drop by the RWA Conference and get a signed copy of Nephilim!

NEPHILIM

When sin stains your soul, he tattoos your skin…

Tattoo artist Nathan Ink is more than he seems. An angel living in secret on earth, he forces his clients to face their flaws by tattooing images of their sins on their bodies, but this glimpse into the soul often results in his clients' deaths. Although Nathan avoids the other angels, when they ask him to keep an eye on Faye, a nephilim being stalked by another of her kind, he reluctantly agrees.

The angels have kept Faye in the dark about her stalker, but to keep her close to Nathan, they've tasked her with investigating the high mortality rate of Nathan's clients. Despite her distaste for his methods, she finds herself fighting a growing attraction to Nathan, and discovering he's not a rogue after all forces her to question her own mission. When Faye learns her stalker is another nephilim who intends to use her to breed a new race of hellish beings, teaming up with Nathan may be the only way to prevent a genocide.

FEED YOUR SOUL: A SHORT TALE FROM HELL'S LEAK

We are all guilty of sin every now and then, but at Hell's Leak, your sins can be branded onto your soul... 

Bob is lazy and his old habits that once made him a loveable if odd "character" have finally run off all his friends. Stuck in a lifestyle full of selfishness and sloth, he can't really figure out what went wrong in his life. Getting a tattoo seems the perfect thing to help him start up conversations, impress new friends, get a girl or two into his bed. But entering the small tattoo shop on Sixth Street called Hell's Leak proves to be more than egotistical Bob expects. His new goat tattoo is not just visually impressive--it can walk, smoke cigars, and sounds a little like George Carlin. The problem is that it won't shut up and makes suggestions that slowly drive Bob insane. How far will he go to quiet the tattoo that now marks not only his skin, but his soul, too? 

Feed Your Soul is one of several short companion stories to Mary Ann Loesch's book Nephilim featuring Nathan Ink and his infamous tattoo shop, Hell's Leak.


SILENCED ENVY: A SHORT TALE FROM HELL'S LEAK

Envy. It's one of the most common Seven Deadly Sins. For Karen Robison, it's a way of life. Vile thoughts. Trash talking. Gossip. Karen doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut. When she sits down in Nathan Ink's chair at Hell's Leak, she discovers that her own lies and envious deeds are about to be sewn up in a neat little package.

Sort of.

Step inside Hell's Leak, my friend. Nathan Ink doesn't just mark up your skin with a tattoo. He brands your soul.

Silenced Envy is a short tale in the Hell's Leak series which features Nathan Ink, a character in the novel Nephilim.

Romance Writers of America in San Antonio!!

I love writing conferences! They are an awesome place to meet other writers, editors, agents, and of course, bartenders. I mean, let's face it: it ain't a conference if there ain't a bar. The best deals in the world are made over a vodka martini!

But I digress.

Writing conferences can benefit a writer by providing far more than mere alcohol. That's why I'm excited that Romance Writers of America's annual conference will be in San Antonio this year. That's my home town, baby! I can't wait to go hang out on the Riverwalk with all the other romantic literary types and pick their brains about their skills!

Need more details for yourself? Check out RWA's link: RWA

See you there!