For the last five days I’ve been at the RT Book Reviews convention in Kansas City. Today was the massive public book signing, which was totally fun, but also exhausting. The whole week is fun and exhausting, actually. For people who spend the majority of our time alone and in comfy yoga pants, spending a week with thousands of people and also wearing Spanx and high heels takes some serious effort. But it’s all worth it because even though it can be tiring, it’s so great to hang out with other readers and writers and remember why we do all this in the first place.
As always, it’s been great to catch up with old friends and make new ones. The readers are as enthusiastic as ever. And the panels have all been interesting and well-attended. I haven’t done a lot of the parties and special events this year, but, as always, the bar has been an interesting spot for industry gossip. I think the next 18 months are going to be verrrrry interesting, but that’s a blog for another time.
This year’s con has been especially awesome because I won an award. I have never won an award for my writing before, and to win one for writing the best book in my genre for the entire year of 2012 is pretty friggin’ amazing.
There are two other cool things about this award.
1. Blue-Blooded Vamp was the fifth and final book of my Sabina Kane series. If you’ve never written the last book of a series, let me tell you it’s pretty nerve wracking. Not only are you dealing with the normal nerves and stresses that come with publishing any book, but now you’re also dealing with needing to make readers feel like the entire journey of the series was worth their while. So, winning this award means a lot of people enjoyed Sabina’s wild ride. That makes me very happy.
2. Blue-Blooded Vamp was the book that I finally dedicated to my dad. He passed away 21 years ago last week, and his death left a huge hole in my life. If you’ve read BBV, you might remember that there’s a huge part of the narrative dedicated to Sabina’s relationship with her own father. Writing this book allowed me to work through some things I’d been carrying around since I was 17 and woke up to find out I’d never get see my dad again. So, yeah, winning an award for this book in particular was pretty meaningful.
I don’t get the chance often enough to stop and express how blessed and lucky I feel to be able to write stories for you. Readers are the best people in the world, and telling stories is my absolute passion. Thank you for reading mine.
Next week it’s back to deadlines and carpool, but for now I get to hang out with really cool people who love books as much as I do. I hope wherever you are tonight, you’ve got a good book to keep you company.
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