#Vampire Blog Hop Day 5 & Some Upcoming Visits!

It’s FRIDAY!! Yeah for FRIDAY!! I’m looking forward to a weekend of writing and a nice long stroll along the boardwalk. Plus, I’m prepping for the Summer Book Club on Monday, May 21 at 8 pm. Join me and the wonderful Cynthia Garner as we chat about all kinds of fun things! Also look for a giveaway sometime during the Facebook chat. You can join us at 8 pm EST by clicking here.

Don’t forget to join the Caridaddicts Street Team! As part of the street team you’ll get some exclusive content, swag and other goodies from time to time and help me out in spreading the word about my books and projects like the HOPE FOR OUR WARRIORS commitment.

It’s Day 5 of our Vampire Romance Blog hop! Take a moment to visit each blog over the next few days for a chance to win some awesome prizes, learn why we write vampire romance and find out more about us!

Wanna talk vampires? Wanna win vampires?? Follow along the Vampire Romance To Die For Tour all week for both!

Here’s the schedule:

Here’s what you can win:

    1) A grand tour-wide prize of a $60 amazon or B&N gift card!

    2) Each day’s blog hostess will give away one book of a vampire romance to a commenter at their blog

What are the rules?:

    1) You must comment to enter to win with your email address. Blog follows are appreciated but not required
    2) Contest is open until midnight EST Monday, May 21
    3) Winners will be announced on May 22
    4) Open to international
    5) Winners to be picked using random.org
    6) Participating authors not responsible for biting, blood loss, or swooning-related accidents

Human Target Hottie Mark Valley & Contest

I have so gotten into HUMAN TARGET lately. It’s a perfect combination of action, adventure, quirky characters, dark comedy and sexual tension. The last few episodes with the developing romance with Elsa and Chance have been awesome! This is a show that’s on the bubble for Season 3 and I hope Fox decides to stick with it because it is really beginning to hit its groove. Not to mention that Chance, played by hottie Mark Valley, is a perfect alpha male action hero.

Don’t you think? He’s all cocky male, but with a real heart. Drop by the HUMAN TARGET website at Fox to watch some of the episodes if you haven’t already caught it.

Drop by Brigit’s Journals today where I’ll be blogging about what connections Aztecs have to Valentine’s Day and leave a comment for a chance to win some goodies.

Have a great Valentine’s Day!


Fun Friday – Smileys

Who doesn’t like a Smiley? 🙄

Well, some do more than others, but in the online world, Smileys help us say when we’re 😥 or when we’re feeling 😈 or when we want to just be 😎 .

😆

Since I’m in a Romantic Suspense Writer mood, maybe I should be using some of these cool Smileys that I found at FreeSmileys.org.


Smiley
Smiley
Smiley
Smiley
Smiley

Just a word of caution about Smileys and Emoticons, if you’re required to download any kind of software to get them, make sure you’re getting it from a reliable source. Some programs contain malware, while others have privacy and security issues.

Creativity and Chaos and Rubber Duckies

Many years ago I shared a meal with a friend at a legal conference and we got on a discussion of my writing as well as my firmly held belief that as a creative type I was allowed a little slack in the organization area. Mind you, clutter was something with which I grew up since my mother loved her little things.

In retrospect, that aspect of our lives was probably shaped by our departure from Cuba and leaving so many loved things behind. The two things I was able to bring with me were my gold Caridad del Cobre medal (my patron saint) and my little doll Pepito. He sits on the top edge of the sofa in my office in a place of honor.

But back to the clutter which invariably can lead to chaos and disorganization. In my mind I was entitled to some slack in the organization department because of my creative bent (and also a decided lack of time due to multiple jobs).

My friend looked at me and said, “Do you ever lose time trying to find something you need?”

The answer was an immediate “Yes” which was followed by, “And that was time that you could have spent being creative, right?”

At which point I was feeling rather embarrassed because she was totally right. If I spent half-an-hour searching for paper or something else that I needed, it was half-an-hour that I could have spent writing or relaxing.

Armed with that new insight, I took steps at home to clean up the clutter and get better organized. Not only did it make cleaning the house easier, but things looked neater and less oppressive. The one place I have yet to totally re-do is my home office.

There my doll Pepito sits, eyeballing the clutter, but I have started getting rid of the mess. And once a month, whether I like it or not, I get things organized. Now my goal is to just make it organized right away so that the once a month toss is not necessary. Get my ducks in a row which is in part why I chose that picture for today’s blog.

The other reason is that next week I’ll be at the RWA National Conference so you may see me be a little absent from the blog, although I am hoping to provide you with updates on what’s happening at the conference and some fun photos and videos!

If you happen to be going or if you’ll be in the Orlando area, please drop by the Literacy Signing which is taking place on Wednesday, July 28, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Walt Disney World® Dolphin Resort, Pacific Exhibit Hall. This signing is open to the public.

If you’re attending the conference, also look for me at the Grand Central Publishing signing on Saturday, July 31, from 3:00-4:30 p.m. at the Walt Disney World® Dolphin Resort, Southern Hemisphere, Salon 1. We’ll have copies of books for you as well as some special bookmarks and fun Jesse Bradford football duckies (hence the ducks also) in honor of the hero in STRONGER THAN SIN!

Jesse Bradford Football Rubber Duckie
(I swear the rubber duckie is bigger than this!)

Goody Time!

Dragon*ConI’m off to Dragon*Con on Thursday! Dragon*Con is an immense pop culture convention which focuses on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the United States. I’ll be a Dragon*Con virgin, but will be with friends who will hopefully help me survive.

I also hope to be bringing you daily updates of what’s happening, since I hear this is an amazing convention!

In preparation, I’ve been putting together a number of goodies which are beneficial to have for conferences or conventions.

Many of the promotional materials that are going out are directed at the science fiction and fantasy crowd at Dragon*Con because of SINS OF THE FLESH is really a hybrid of romance, science fiction and suspense. Some have called SINS OF THE FLESH a science thriller, others paranormal romantic suspense. But regardless of what you call SINS, it clearly falls within the science fiction/fantasy realm thanks to the genetic engineering aspect in the book which leads to the romantic suspense.

Because of that, the bookmarks and postcards for Dragon*Con stress all those elements of the novel. If you’re in need of either bookmarks or postcards, there are a couple of good places that I’ve used and have been happy with — overnightprints.com and nextdayflyers.com.

If money is tight, there is Vistaprint where you can layout some smaller sized bookmarks using their postcard template. Use the free postcard option and you can make 200 bookmarks for the cost of the shipping. Take the postcards to a local printer and they can cut them down for you if you don’t want to do it yourself, but for greater volumes, try the other two companies. The stock is of heavier quality and glossy on both sides.

**Note on Vistaprint – make sure you know what you are signing up for when you click on any third party specials or to get any rewards. Some of them do involve fees.

What else will I be taking? Some t-shirts of course. Those are always popular. For low volume color t-shirts, again try Vistaprint when they are running a 50% special. For THE CALLING t-shirts, I used Creative Solutions, a local NJ company that did a beautiful job with them, especially since I got several hundred at a shot.

Buttons, buttons, buttons. People love to collect buttons. Purebuttons.com did the trick for me!

Pens. What kind of writer doesn’t like pens? National Pen and 4Imprint (who did a marvelous job on the lunch bags) are ones to check out.

Cover Flats are always a good thing to have. Fans love to have autographed cover flats in their collections. Your publisher should be able to provide you with a supply of these when it is closer to the release date of your novel.

For reader/writer based conferences — if you can get ARCs to distribute that’s a good thing. Be sure to ask those that get ARCs to offer reviews on the various online bookstores. If you can’t get ARCs, prepare excerpts for people to take home and read.

Finally – there will be professionals at these conferences, in particular, press people. Make sure to prepare a press kit to be placed in the press area and also have one or two with you at your booth/signing area to distribute. Also make sure to have a good supply of business cards. Vistaprint is a great source for inexpensive business cards.

I hope today’s Tuesday Tip will be of assistance when prepping goodies for your own conferences. Also, although I’ve used the above-mentioned companies and have had positive results, it’s possible that your experience might be different. So please do not hold that against me and be sure to check out any and all companies before entering into any legally binding contract or offer.