#ThrowbackThursday A Visit to the Turn the Page Bookstore & Nora Roberts

I’ve had the immense pleasure of not only visiting the Turn the Page Bookstore, but also being able to sign there next to the amazing Nora Roberts! What a lovely person and an immense writing talent. Her IN DEATH series is one of my favs of all time.

This is a picture of Nora, me and little Spottie. Spottie was the hero’s beagle in THE LOST and this was taken the year THE LOST was nominated for a RITA. Spottie was with me for the whole journey that year!

If you get a chance, it is truly worth it to go to the bookstore or maybe even splurge for a night at the Inn at Boonsboro.

P.S. – Don’t forget to check out the ONE SUMMER NIGHT Pre-order Blog Tour & Giveaway and also take a moment to pop by my buddy Lois Winston’s blog for a behind the scenes look at ONE SUMMER NIGHT and an ARC Giveaway.

#ThrowbackThursday Turn the Page Bookstore Signing 2012

One of my most exciting times as a writer was being nominated for the 2012 RITA in the Paranormal Romance category! It was so amazing to attend the awards ceremony and all the related hoopla. It was also exciting because in July of that year I got to sign at the Turn the Page Bookstore and got to sit next to none other than Nora Roberts. What a fan girl moment for me. It was all I could do not to squee! LOL!

This is a picture of me with the amazing Nora Roberts at the signing at the Turn the Page Bookstore.
noracaridad

#TravelTuesday A visit to Nora & the Boonsboro Inn

I’ve been lucky to have been able to travel to lots and lots of interesting places thanks to both my legal job and my writing. One of my fav places to visit was Nora Roberts’ Boonsboro Inn.

I went there with friends one Christmas season to see the rooms during their open house and then again the next year for the big July signing where I was able to sign next to none other than Nora. What a fan girl moment for me!

Each of the rooms at the inn has a different literary theme, like:

      Marguerite and Percy
      Nick and Nora
      Jane and Rochester
      Elizabeth and Darcy
      Titania and Oberon
      Eve and Roarke
      Westley and Buttercup
      The Penthouse

You can not only enjoy the luxurious rooms, you can visit the Turn the Page Bookstore to pick up releases from Nora or from a number of other authors.

For history buffs, the Antietam National Battlefield is just a few minutes up the road and totally worth the trip.

So on this Travel Tuesday, I’m sharing some photos from one of my trips there!

Hope you enjoyed taking this trip with me!

#ThrowbackThursday Ultimate Fan Girl Moment with Nora Roberts

There are some moments as a writer and reader that you will never forget. One of those moments was being invited to sign at the Turn the Page bookstore and sitting next to Nora Roberts at the signing! Well, sitting next to Nora’s fabulous son and assistant at the signing. Afterward, I got a chance to get a picture with her and chat with her a bit. She is such an open and lovely person. It really meant a lot to me then and it still does. Here are some pictures from that day and to prove I really did sit next to her, you can see the plaid shirt in both shots!

As for why I’m holding the plush beagle doll, I had a beagle named Spotty in THE LOST and he was keeping me company on my trip up to the 2012 RITA Awards.

Fangirl1

Fangirl2

#ThrowbackThursday My Fan Girl Moment with Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts is one of my favorite writers, not only because she is AMAZING, but because she is such a nice, down-to-earth individual. I’ve always seen her treat her fans like friends and never ungraciously.

I got my most amazing fan girl moment when I was invited to take part in a book signing at the Turn the Page Bookstore where I got to sit next to Nora!! OMG! It was all I could do to contain my squee of excitement.

And being a gracious lady, she was willing to pose with me and Spottie who was hanging out with me on my way to the 2012 RITA party where I was a finalist in the paranormal category for THE LOST.

nora&caridad

You can see more photos from that book signing weekend here:

#ManCandyMonday Cristiano Ronaldo

Had a blast this weekend at the Turn the Page Bookstore! It was so nice to meet the other authors, fans, friends and of course, the wonderful Nora Roberts. I’ll have photos for you tonight.

We went out to dinner on Saturday night and the discussion turned to sexy men. The younger crowd thought Beckham was so done, but that Cristiano Ronaldo was way hotter. So in honor of them, today’s Man Candy Monday is soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo!!

If you can’t see the video below, you can click here.

Sharing My Weekend Writing Retreat

I wish that Google+ photos actually allowed you to do a slideshow. For the life of me, the little create slideshow link just isn’t showing up! So, you can go to visit the album here, but in the meantime…

I headed out on Saturday with my friends Melinda Leigh and Rayna Vause for a writing retreat weekend! Our destination: The Inn at Boonesboro and the Turn the Page Bookstore where we got to meet Nora Roberts as well as a number of authors.

I got up at 5, was on the road by six and picked up my friends shortly after 7. We hit the road and got to Boonesboro just before 11. It was the open house day at the Inn so we got to visit all the rooms, but first we met my friend Lora and then headed to the book store to pick up our books and get ready for the signing. Here’s a picture of my buds in front of the Inn.

Rayna Vause and Melinda Leigh

At the bookstore, we got our purchases and since Vesta’s pizza was packed, headed to Crawford’s Guns, Ammo and Restaurant for a bite before the signing. Where else can you pick up ammo, check out the rifles and get some delicious sweet potato fries?

Crawford's Guns, Ammo & Restaurant

Then it was time for the signing!! I had my books for research (nothing better than Eve and Roarke to get me inspired!). I also had a J.D. Robb “book lamp” that I had made and Nora was so nice and signed it as well. Here’s me and Nora!

Nora Roberts & Caridad Pineiro

Then we were back to the Inn for the open house. Such gorgeous rooms and bathrooms. I loved the Galahad pillow on the chair in the Eve and Roarke room! The rooms were totally romantic and did any of you guess which room I would choose for Rey and Paola from AMAZON AWAKENING?

If you guess that it was the Westley and Buttercup room you were right. I could so imagine a big bed like this made of a sustainable rainforest wood like Ipe.

Westley & Buttercup Room

After that we headed for a walk through Boonesboro and then to dinner. We returned to the site of the Inn with all its lovely Christmas trimmings.

Inn at Boonesboro

Ducking inside the inn to take off the chill, we had some wine and cheese and also celebrated my friend Melinda’s debut book (more on that on Thursday!).

In the morning, we headed to the Antietam battlefield for a bit of history and research. Since Ryder from THE CALLING/REBORN Vampire Series was a physician during the Civil War, I’m toying with the idea of bringing back someone else from that era. You may remember that Samantha Turner from TEMPTATION CALLS knew Ryder back then (and was the one who turned him). Not sure whether this someone is a hero or villain, but walking/driving the fields of Antietam certainly gave some ideas for a new character.

I even managed to climb the Observation Tower! The trip up was quite a hike, but the trip down was interesting as my fear of heights kicked in. Luckily Rayna lent me her shoulder to hold so I could keep my face to the wall and not see the big open scary hole in the middle of the stairs!

Antietam Observation Tower

I hope you enjoyed this little travel journal!

Also, if you need some tips on writing short fiction, come and play with me today at my friend Catherine Bybee’s blog where I am talking about how to move from writing long fiction to short!