Awards and a Birthday!

This has been a week of good news.

And the 2010 Romance Writers of America New York City Chapter "Author of the Year" goes to... *drumroll* Me... (!) *surprised and thrilled happy dance* My 'home' chapter, has voted me the 2010 Author of the Year and I am honoured, thrilled, blessed and humbled. The award will be presented this September at the Golden Apple Awards.

Then today, in the mail, I received a trophy. (!) The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker has been nominated for several awards whose results will be forthcoming, but she has won her first award! She is the Orange County Book Buyer's Best winner in the Young Adult category! Go Percy go! Yes, that's a sketch I did of Miss Percy herself in the background there. (And the pretty, pretty Prism from Dark Nest last year beside it - It remains to be seen if Miss Percy's final in the Fantasy category of the Prisms this year will garner a matched pyramid set, I'll know at RWA Nationals.)

And I also had a birthday. It was quite lovely.

The day consisted of a lovely picnic in one of my favourite places on earth, Greenwood Cemetery, high on a hilltop overlooking the chapel. What's a Goth girl to do but spend a special day with crosses, angels and good friends?

- Then on to the Irish-Victorian Lillie's where I felt right at home. (Particularly by the Millais painting!)

It was a 90 degree day otherwise I would have been there in all my Victorian regalia rather than in such scandalous undress with only a shift and a parasol. But if I have to live in this modern era, I'll take advantage of not having to wear as many layers on a hot New York City summer day. My sparkly eye-liner does, however, match my tiara. Thanks to my beloved writer friends Isabo Kelly, Elizabeth K. Mahon, Hope Tarr and partner Raj, Mary Rogers, actress Molly Thomas, and of course my sweetheart, for making it such a great day! And a very extra special thank you to a dear friend of mine for years and years, Biz Urban Photography for these fabulous pictures. (And if you're anywhere in the NYC metro area, I can't recommend her photography enough, for an event, author shots, actor headshots, etc. She has a special going on right now, check it out.)

Adventures in Non-Linear Creativity...

So I've begun tweeting about my Adventures in Non-Linear Creativity as I write Strangely Beautiful #3. I'm loving writing this book but people, it's killing me. It is a prequel so I'm trying to make sure I weave in everything I've laid out in the first books while tending to TWO, yes, count 'em, TWO separate Guards, a lot of Whisper-world politics and a ton of world-building tricks and traps. Somewhere in there I squeeze in character development. It's the sort of complicated book that might benefit from a linear approach. But guess what? I just don't work that way. Hence, its an adventure!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Hey Buffalo, NY! I'll be a guest at the Buffalo Book Fair on July 10th! Come visit! I will be doing a reading / Q and A at 12:15 and presenting my popular workshop Direct Your Book! Theatre Techniques to a Blockbuster Novel at 2pm! There will be opportunities for signings after each event.

Blessings, stay cool!