Apr 26
2010

RT Schedule

Yes, I know that yesterday I said that I’d post my Romantic Times schedule “later today.” I, of course, meant a Mercury-length day.

Ahem.

Sorry.

Anyway, here’s where to find me this week:

WEDNESDAY: 11:15 - 12:15
MYSTERY: BAD GUYS WE LOVE TO HATE

What makes a villain compelling rather than cartoonish? How do writers create their bad guys, and what do readers love and hate about them? Join these bestselling authors to see how to make a bad guy come to life … BYO fava beans and chianti, as you never know who might be served for dinner.
Captain: CJ Lyons Panelists: Brett Battles, Juliet Blackwell, Diana Rowland

WEDNESDAY: 5:00PM - 6:00PM
PARANORMAL: INFUSING PARANORMALS WITH A CAST OF UNIQUE CHARACTERS

From antiheroes to kick-ass heroines, bestselling authors will discuss why their characters’ quirks not only make them unique, but irresistibly intriguing.
Captain: Patrice Michelle Panelists: Ann Aguirre, Stacia Kane, Cheyenne McCray, Diana Rowland

THURSDAY: 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM
THE MYSTERY CHIX AND PRIVATE DIX

It’s no mystery why this Mystery Mixer is a perennial fav at RT! Join us for free food, free books and other goodies, as well as the chance to meet your favorite mystery writers. Over a dozen mystery and suspense writers will unveil their latest creations and give readers a sneak peak into future whodunnits.
Hosted by: Lori Armstrong, Brett Battles, Juliet Blackwell, Robert Gregory Browne, Toni McGee Causey, Carole Nelson Douglas, Harley Jane Kozak, Julie Kramer, Sophie Littlefield, CJ Lyons, Rick Mofina, Brad Parks, Diana Rowland, Hank Phillippi Ryan

FRIDAY: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
CRAFT: WHY BAD CAN BE SO GOOD: HOW TO WRITE DELICIOUSLY EVIL VILLAINS

The hero may always win but the villain has more fun. Villains get to break the rules. They don’t have to play nice. Lying, blackmail, kidnapping, torture, murder, illicit sex … a villain forces your hero into the dark places we’re supposed to shun, and readers can’t wait to go along for the ride. We’ll discuss our favorite bad guys and girls, and the motivations for their amoral behavior. Learn how to give readers what they want, a wicked guilty pleasure.
Panelists: Mario Acevedo, Juliet Blackwell aka Hailey Lind, Mark Henry, Diana Rowland, Jeanne C. Stein

I’ll also be at the Book Fair on Saturday. Otherwise, look in the bar!

Apr 25
2010

NYC

Digging out from under my terrifying to-do list…

So, last week I made a trip up to New York City for meetings with my agent, my editor at DAW, and my editor at Bantam (though not all at the same time!) It was an enormously productive trip, and lots of great stuff was discussed and accomplished. But the biggest news (for now, at least) is that we have a release date for the third Demon book:

Secrets of the Demon will be out from DAW on January 4th, 2011! (Yes, I know, it seems like an enormous length of time to wait. Part of the reason for this is the change in publishers. (More info on that here.) However, it’s really only about a month longer than the wait between Mark of the Demon and Blood of the Demon. And I have high hopes that the next few books will be coming out with even less time between releases!)

The other bit of cool news is that the Demon series is going to get new cover art. Now, I’ll say right now that I absolutely love the covers of the first two books. However, I knew that the switch to another publisher would most likely mean a change in the cover design. I had a fair amount of trepidation about this, but all of my fears were set aside when my editor told me that they were getting Dan dos Santos to do my covers! *swoon* I LOVE his work! (Plus, she promised me that there would be NO tattoos..haha.)

Jack and The Kid came up to New York with me, and did touristy stuff while I did business stuff.
Jack and The Kid

The Kid would have been perfectly happy spending the entire time in Central Park and FAO Schwartz, but Jack managed to drag her away and they saw everything from the Museum of Natural History to Battery Park to Little Italy and Chinatown.
The Kid in profile

We don’t have mountains or hills in South Louisiana, so the Kid thought that the Big Rocks in Central Park were the coolest thing Evah!
The Kid climbs a mountain

The one bit of touristy stuff that I was able to participate in was a Thursday night Yankees game. Jack is a HUGE Yankees fan, and had been talking about seeing about getting tickets–nosebleed seats, since that was probably all we’d be able to afford. But then we had a HUGE stroke of luck! A friend of ours is an MLB Umpire, and it turned out that he was calling the Thursday night game! He offered to get tickets for us, and we were more than glad to accept them. (And they were NOT nosebleed seats!)

Jack and Diana at the Yankees game

This was only the second game that Jack and I have been to. The first was on our honeymoon, so bringing the Kid to this one was extra special.

In other news, I’ll be at the Romantic Times Booklovers’ Convention April 27th through May 2nd. I’ll post my schedule later today to make it easier for people to stalk me. :-)

Apr 8
2010

Winner Ping

Bianca F and Nicole L, I haven’t heard back from you yet, which means that either my email to you went astray, or you’re trapped under a piece of heavy furniture. Either way, please email me as soon as you can so that I can get info from you re your prize! diana at dianarowland dot com. (With the “at” replaced by the @ symbol, and the “dot” replaced by a “.” You know the routine. :-) ) Thanks!

To the rest of you, I’m stupid busy this week, and am struggling to get caught up on everything. I hope to resume my usual irregular and spastic posting very soon!