What’s Is Women’s Fiction?
What’s Jack up to? The Jackster is getting ready for the weekend by ignoring this rainy day. He’s chilling. Sleeping soundly and storing up his energy so he can have a wild time once the sun is shining again.
Remember when I told you here that the fab Barbara Vey was snagging folks at Lady Jane’s Salon for one of her Drive By Videos asking the question: What is Women’s Fiction? Well, here is the video and, eek, I’m on it! Lord, is my head that big and is my voice that… blah? Yep, sadly so. But I will buck up and get past it because the video is great with tons of wonderful, insightful and varied answers to the same intriguing question. Watch and check out Barbara’s blog to let her know what you think.
Best,
KwanaCrushing It!
I’m still talking BEA today. Sorry if I’m boring you all but it was a pretty exciting weekend for me. One of the biggest highlights was getting to see Gary Vaynerchuk at the Book Expo. It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.I was walking around with Amanda McCabe since she had some time before her Harlequin signing. I had planned on going to the Bloggers panel when I saw the words Crush It listed right below the Bloggers panel. I turn to Amanda and said “I wonder if that’s Gary Vee the Crush It guy?” To which she looks at me like I’ve grown not 2 but 3 heads.
Then I explained to Amanda how Crush It is the name of Gary’s book that’s coming out and how I’ve been following him on twitter and how he’s a wine expert but I don’t really follow him for the wine I follow him for the inspiration. More strange looks from Amanda. Hmm? Now she may be questioning this growing friendship with me and the invite for drinks later. But I don’t stop.
Anyone who knows me, knows I can go on and on with a story. I explain how my friend N told me about Gary so I followed him on twitter then PVE ask did I see this video of this guy who’s kinda funny but cool on Makeunder My Life. I clicked. It was Gary! Loved the video. It was all about The Hustle and your passion and combing the hustle with your passion in order to achieve your dreams. Now I could totally relate because one of my favorite little sayings besides, “All roads lead to Oprah,” is “Every day I be hustling, hustling, hustling…”
Here is the video from Make Under My Life. After watching this a new motto was born, “Hustle 09!” The DD thinks it’s lame. I adore it.
By the end of my long story Amanda agreed to sit in on what she could of Gary’s talk before her own book signing. She was instantly drawn into his ideas about the new ways to do business and decided I wasn’t a total nut. Whew. Not cra-zy! You can click on his site here to see the full BEA talk. Or check him out at Wine Library TV here for good wine talk.
I don’t know if Gary was signing but I can’t wait to get a copy of Crush It when it comes out Oct. 13th.By the way Gary has a 10, yes, 10 book deal.
Also big congrats to Gary and his wife on the birth of their baby girl, Misha, born Sunday! Sweetness.So what are you willing to do for your hustle? Me? I’m working. Hard.Best,
Kwana
H09I Haz Books!
What’s Jack up to? Jack’s been a funny one. Honing his skills at owner training. He’s getting really good at getting us up and out and doing what he wants. Hanging around the kitchen at the perfect time to con the right individual out of a little morsel of something special. We are failing terribly. All the while he’s just as wild as ever. Barking like mad at whoever dares walks by our house let alone darken our door. Oh Jack.I had quite a few questions as to what books I got from Book Expo o9. Now some of my friends were not the book slut I was and did not get much of any at all. And in all honestly I didn’t actively seek out that many books. The moment I walked in a sweet young woman handed me a book on money. I couldn’t say no, could I? And of course I was with Katie from Babbling About Books and that woman can get a book. Lucky me.I guess I was in the right places at the right times. So here’s my haul:
DD is in book Heaven too.
Gotta remember to check my horoscope. Wonder if the DH and I are compatible? Kinda late all these years later.
And then the comics. My comic loving neighbor is very happy.
Do you see my Pride and Prejudice and the pretty Wizard of Oz?
Check out this great book. It’s already been decided that Jack’s somewhere between a Red and a Yellow. We have a lot of work to do. Sigh.
Best,
KwanaShe’s a Lady
Ok it’s official I’m pooped. After Book Expo, dinners out, the subway, walks around the city and The Strand (18 miles of books, yo) I then went to Lady Jane’s Salon last night. How could I resist?
The first readers were Diane Gaston and Amanda McCabe (my weekend hang out buddies) reading from The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor anthology. They were both charming and funny. Totally entertaining the packed house.
Also reading were New York Times Best Selling author of over 70, yes, I said 70 books Wendy Corsi Staub. It’s always fun to chat with Wendy. She had the room on the edge of their seats.
The evening finished with New York Times Bestseller paranormal author Marjorie M Liu. It was Marjorie’s first reading and she was fabulous! What a voice and what a talent.
It was great seeing all of you at Lady Jane’s last night. If you didn’t make it the next one is July 6th. Please come on out and support romance and have a fun night.Wish I could now sleep the day away but duty calls. Gotta get to work and the real world. There’s a house that has been neglected and then I have some writing to do. That’s what I do right?
Wendy, Marjorie, Diane and Amanda(sorry about my bad crackberry lighting Amanda)
Oh, before I go please check out Barbara Vey’s PW Blog today. Barbara did one of her Drive By Videos and I’m so scared I’ll be on it. It was fun seeing you again Barbara!
Also check out Romance Novel TV Maria and Marisa were in the house covering Lady Jane’s. Two wonderful and friendly ladies.
These cool industry blogs will give you much better coverage than mine.
Hope you have a great day!
Best,
Kwana
Books Galore
What’s Jack up to? This morning Jack has all the energy I don’t. He’s up bright and early doing his shoving on the bed thing, making sure we’re all up and doing what we have to on this Monday morning. Specifically, taking him out and getting him food. Good job, Jack.
Well this weekend had the great opportunity to attend my first Book Expo America at the Javits Center. It was massive, overwhelming and so much fun.I sent out a Tweet that I was on the way and checked out who else would be there since I knew I would be lost. The fist person I found was Katie from Babbling About Books over by the grand landmark of the giant Clifford The Big Red Dog. It was like meeting a long lost friend.
Here are Kate and Leanna Renee Heiber over at the Harlequin booth.
I had so much fun running with Stacy, Kris, Marissa and Maria and grabbing books galore. My shoulders my never recover. There were my many books being given away. Tons of YA. My children, DD especially are very happy.
Here is Gena Showalter signing her newest YA Intertwined.
Check out the signing of The Diamonds of Welboure Manor with Diane Gaston andAmanda McCabe. Shout out to Deb who could not be there.
Speaking of Diane and Amanda, how much do I love them? I crashed with them most of the weekend. Parking my books at their hotel before going out for drinks in Soho. Then meeting then on Sunday to head to The Strand for more book and some history and then dinner with the PIC. Thanks guys!!
Drinks in Soho organized by the lovely Elizabeth Mahon. Here is Elizabeth with Dianeand Amanda.
And me, Diane, Fab author and friend Hope Tarr and Amanda.
Also hanging with us: The Fabulous authors Jennifer St. Giles, Jacquie D’Alessandroand Wendy Etherington. We had the best time with the ladies.
Check out Jacquie’s Christian Lacroix’s shoes. Hot!
It was such a fun weekend. I’ll have more later in the week and tonight is Lady Jane’s Salon at Madam X where Diane and Amanda will be reading along with Wendy Corsi Staub and Marjorie M Liu. If you’re in town stop on by. Details here.
Shout out to the DH for all the rides and holding down the fort while I had fun and learned a lot from my writer friends. H09!
Best,
KwanaWho Says Feminists Don’t Have Humor?
Happy Saturday!
Nellie McKay from ted.com. I love her voice and humor.
Best,
KwanaSay It Ain’t So- Archie and Veronica?
Is it really Friday again? Wow that was a quick one. I hope it went went well for you all.So did you hear the news? Archie is proposing to Veronica! Yep, Veronica and not Betty. Read more here. Look at poor Betty sniffling in the background while Veronica looks all fake surprised, but secretly smug.
Wipe those tears Betty and forget that redhead once and for all! Besides you know it won’t last.I do believe my love of romance probably came from Archie comics and the Archie/ Betty/ Veronica twisted love triangle. I would always set aside some of my allowance money and run to our little variety store every week to get the most resent Archie comic. Ugh for the Jugheads. Whoo Hoo for the Betty and Veronica double digest. It was pre-Dynasty teenage catfights, good versus evil and I was crazy for it.
I also had a secret thing for the evil Reggie. Don’t we just love him with his snarky one-liners and dark good looks? That’s who I say you go for Betty. Why cry over Archie when Reggie is clearly the tycoon of your dreams.Can’t wait to see how this all plays out. I have a feeling all it’s not how it seems. The writer in me is coming up with tons of scenarios. I’m 10 again!Happy Friday.Best,Kwanaimages from archiecomics.comDid I Really Need To Know This?
What’s Jack up to? Just look. Is this dog spoiled or what? Ugh with the DH I can’t do a thing with him.
Check this out Audible.com now has a feature where you can download audio book right to your Crackberry. Did I really need to know this? Not really. You know how crazy I am for my books and my Crackberry, so to combine the two. Yowza! Mindblowing.
I’m such a book head but lately with all my editing and my family stuff I’ve been having the hardest time getting through a book. Even falling asleep in the bath during my beloved reading time late at night. It’s so frustrating.I have been enjoying The Lace Reader, my book club book, on audio though. My library has the coolest my thing. This great little audio pod called Playaway that contains one book that you can grab and go. So cute and handy. I just grab it on my way out the door with Jack for our walks. You supply your own headphones.
So how do you fit in your reading time?
Best,
KwanaHave You Met Anne?
What’s Jack up to? As I write this Jack is snug and happy sleeping on the couch. Oh yeah, he worked so hard for the day. So darn hard. Not.So have you met Anne Harwell otherwise known as Annechovie on her super cool blog?
Anne is a talented artist that creates the most beautiful pieces. Watercolors and ultra cool quote prints.
She has a wonderful way with color and a fabulous sense of style.I have been an admire of Anne for quite a while and finally ordered some of her prints from her Etsy shop. I was so excited when they arrived last week along with the sweetest note thanking me for the support. I couldn’t wait to run out and get frames for my prints. Here they are hung in my living room. Now I just need new curtains, maybe some throw pillows. All in due time…
I heart them!Thanks Anne.Best,KwanaThis Is Not A Surprise To Me
What’s Jack up to? Jack is being a little Jackster. Sneaking into the trash when my back is turned. Ripping up paper when he can. Just enjoying his life and getting into mess. He had lots of fun at our town’s Memorial Day Parade and made a new friend.
How was your holiday weekend? Did you BBQ and have lots of fun? I hope so. We enjoyed our town’s parade and hung with the neighbors.
So I took this color quiz that I got over at the Fictionistas. I was totally honest and not surprised by the results at all. What color are you? Report back and tell me if you are surprised.You are most like:
Black 
You are bold with a dark side. You make clear lines wherever you go, though you color outside of the lines. Many people may just see the surface of you and think you are merely plain, but you have a lot of depth to you as well.Take this quiz: Which Crayola Box of 8 Color Are You? Best,
Kwana
