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Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
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| Breakfast buds: Claranne Perkins, Jennifer Clark and Leslie Langtry |
At the breakfast gathering, Christie Ridgway took us through her journey to become a published author. This fast talking dynamo barely took a breath as she had the crowd laughing along with her.
I met Debbie Macomber a few years ago on the Author's at Sea cruise and then again at a booksigning here in Milwaukee, so I knew how she could entrance a crowd. Saturday morning was no different. As I took my seat, I saw Debbie moving up and down the aisles, shaking hands and greeting adoring fans. If she were running for office, she'd win by a landslide.
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| Conference organizers: Joelle Charbonneau-Blanco and Deb Gross |
Debbie talked about following trends in the quest to get published, citing England, TV, movies, catalogs, magazines, news, the internet and even video games as virtual fonts of inspiration.
I snagged a front table at lunch to hear Eloisa James's story that had me blinking back tears. It turns out that Midnight Pleasures was written during her pregnancy while she lived with the fear of a premature labor, so she poured her anxiety into her book where her heroine lost the baby at 5 months. Real life followed the same path and while Eloisa's baby was stillborn at 5 months, she was revived and is now a thriving 9 year old. Just like a romance writer to give us a happily ever after.
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Eloisa James fan bash at Spring Fling |
To the delight of local Eloisa fans, she had a party in her suite and offered prizes, drinks and delicious desserts homemade by her assistant, Kim. Introductions were a blast with people introducing themselves as "Island girl" and "Irish eyes" their online personas.
Debbie was the dinner speaker and her success in the face of dyslexia was inspiration to all. My favorite story was of her adventure in Alaska to research a book. She had to take a prop plane which did mail runs to a remote area and because of fuel issues, they had to
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| Author June Sproat and daughter at booksigning |
The silent auction was a huge success with everything from critiques (extremely popular) to autographed book by Janet Evanovich to baskets of goodies (favorite was donated by author Jennifer Stevenson, a chest filled with dvds, mini vibrator with extra batteries, dice game for partners, silken ties
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Blythe Gifford and Pat White |
To finish off the conference was live music and a packed dance floor.
Bottom Line: I'm still with Debbie and will stick to my Driver's License weight...no matter what.
Victoria Curran, editor Harlequin and Tessa Woodward, editor Avon
Authors Jenna Petersen and Ann Mace
Authors Connie Cox and Marcia James
Lots more Drive by Videos coming up probably later today, so stay tuned.
Posted by Barbara Vey on April 27, 2008 | Comments (26)
April 27, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Ann Macela commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Ann Macela commented:
Hi, Barb. I hope you made it home okay through the constructions. What fun Spring Fling was! And I'm happy to see that I didn't make too big a fool of myself on the video. Get some rest now. The next conference will be here before you know it. Cheers, Ann
April 27, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
June Sproat commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
June Sproat commented:
Hi, Barb. Spring Fling was such a blast! Thanks so much for including me in your blog. It was a great time and such a pleasure to meet you. Thanks June www.junesproat.com
April 27, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
mary s commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
mary s commented:
Oh Barb--you are so lucky--to get an autographed book from Janet Evanovich!! The Debbie Macomber Alaska flight story was so funny!!
April 27, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Nancy J. Parra commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Nancy J. Parra commented:
Hi Barb! It was great meeting you and having lunch on Friday of Spring Fling. Thank goodness Leesa's car had a navigation system to help us through construction. I love the way you worked the room, letting everyone know about the booksigning and literacy auction! Keep in touch. www.nancyjparra.com
April 27, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Nancy J. Parra commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Nancy J. Parra commented:
Hi Barb! It was great meeting you and having lunch on Friday of Spring Fling. Thank goodness Leesa's car had a navigation system to help us through construction. I love the way you worked the room, letting everyone know about the booksigning and literacy auction! Keep in touch. www.nancyjparra.com
April 27, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Candy commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Candy commented:
Barb, It was so nice to meet THE Barbara Vey at Eloisa's bash. It was the experience of a life time and everyone was so gracious and fun. I look forward to reading your blog in the future. Thanks for the laughs.
April 27, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Blythe Gifford commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Blythe Gifford commented:
You and your camera were everywhere! Lots of fun snippets. I'm just grateful you weren't shooting video once the band started and we got out on the dance floor. You weren't, were you?
April 27, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Blythe Gifford commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Blythe Gifford commented:
You and your camera were everywhere! Lots of fun snippets. I'm just grateful you weren't shooting video once the band started and we got out on the dance floor. You weren't, were you?
April 27, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Jenna Petersen commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Jenna Petersen commented:
Hello Darling THE Barbara Vey! How I adored meeting you this weekend and having lunch with you, Tessa and Victoria on Friday. You rock and expect emails and ARCs to be arriving soon. Can't wait to see you again at RWA, drinks are on me! JennaP
April 27, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Morgan Mandel commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Morgan Mandel commented:
Hi Barbara, It was so nice to see your smiling face again, this time at Spring Fling. I must agree with everyone that Joelle and Deb did a really great job and thought of everything. Also, the headliners, Debbie Macomber, Eloisa James and Christie Ridgway gave spectacular speeches and were very approachable. It was a wonderful conference. Morgan Mandel
April 27, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Morgan Mandel commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Morgan Mandel commented:
Hi Barbara, It was so nice to see your smiling face again, this time at Spring Fling. I must agree with everyone that Joelle and Deb did a really great job and thought of everything. Also, the headliners, Debbie Macomber, Eloisa James and Christie Ridgway gave spectacular speeches and were very approachable. It was a wonderful conference. Morgan Mandel
April 27, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Kim commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Kim commented:
OMG, is that, really can it be, THE Barbara Vey?!?!? *squeal* Great reporting as always, Barbara! It was so wonderful to see you and well, I owe you big for saying my deserts were delish ;)
April 28, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Liz commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Liz commented:
I read the book that Debbie wrote following that Alaska trip. The story was hilarious -- but how gross to have your weight on drivers licence!
April 28, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Liz commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Liz commented:
I read the book that Debbie wrote following that Alaska trip. The story was hilarious -- but how gross to have your weight on drivers licence!
April 28, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Juli Schuitema commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Juli Schuitema commented:
Hi Barbara! It was great meeting you at Spring Fling. Your drive-by video first thing in the morning helped me so much and set the tone for the rest of the day - fun and exciting. Thank you. Juli Schuitema
April 28, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Marcia James commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Marcia James commented:
Hi, Barbara! It was wonderful to meet you, and I loved being part of one of your drive-by videos with Connie Cox! Thanks for being such a great romance roving reporter! -- Marcia James ;-) www.MarciaJames.net
April 28, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Liza commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Liza commented:
Thanks for sharing all your travels with us! Love the driver license story. So glad that TN doesn't require weights to be listed anymore.
April 28, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Eloisa James commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Eloisa James commented:
Hi Barbara! It was wonderful to have you at my party -- thank you! That was a wonderful sum-up of the conference too. I swear I didn't mean to make everyone cry...but I have to say, I felt pretty proud when I looked out and saw a MAN wiping away tears! Eloisa, Queen of Tragedy!
April 28, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Jennifer Stevenson commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Jennifer Stevenson commented:
Hey, Barbara--thanks for doing the drive-by videos, those are a hoot! Hope to see you at RWA National in SFO.
April 28, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Lori commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Lori commented:
Hi Barbara! I got to sit at your table for dinner saturday night and you were a blast!
April 28, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Lori commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Lori commented:
Hi Barbara! I got to sit at your table for dinner saturday night and you were a blast!
April 28, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Sarah M. Anderson commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Sarah M. Anderson commented:
Hello Barbara! It was great to make your aquaintance, even if you did whip out a camera before I quite realized what was going on! Thanks again!
April 29, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Kristina Riggle commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Kristina Riggle commented:
It was wonderful to meet you, Barbara! I can't believe I'm only just discovering your blog, but you're now on my Google homepage.
April 30, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Kay Stockham commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Kay Stockham commented:
Hi Barbara! It was soo good to meet you in Chicago! The videos were fun but nerve-wracking. Hopefully ours will turn out without us (ie, me
May 4, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Sara Daniel commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Sara Daniel commented:
Barbara, join us again for Spring Fling 2010. You were a great hit. . . and so was that mini vibrator. Hugs! Sara Daniel www.saradaniel.com
May 4, 2008
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Sara Daniel commented:
In response to: Laughs, Tears and a Mini Vibrator
Sara Daniel commented:
Barbara, join us again for Spring Fling 2010. You were a great hit. . . and so was that mini vibrator. Hugs! Sara Daniel www.saradaniel.com
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