American Title III...Five Days and Counting....So I’m giving away books!

Yes, the contest starts in five days. That's Monday, October 16. The Fear and Panic are building, so I’m trying to think about other things...happy things. Ah, here’s something happy to think about.............

I belong to the absolutely fabulous Orange County chapter of RWA. This Saturday, we’re having our 25th birthday bash and it’s going to be huge and happy. We’ve got two incredible speakers -- RWA founder Rita Clay Estrada and T. Jefferson Parker.


Not a bad line-up, right?










The first OCC meeting I ever attended was the October meeting, almost ten years ago. (Holy *#%, was it that long ago? I was barely legal!) I was a member of Sisters in Crime (and a closet romance reader) and past president Marianne Donley invited a few of us SIC board members to attend a meeting and “mingle” with romance authors.

It changed my life.

Seriously, I’d never seen so many savvy business women in one place in my entire life. Romance writers are serious about this business, people! And they dress a whole lot better than mystery writers (a fact which mystery writers wear like a badge of honor, of course *g*).

The president of OCC at that first meeting was Amy J. Fetzer.

She shocked and amazed me with her style and ability to whip the group into shape. Talk about kick-ass! Guess it helps that she’s the wife/mother/daughter of Marines. *g*

It was the October meeting so it was their annual birthday party, which is always a special event. I sat down at one of the beautifully decorated party tables (Balloons! Free books! Chocolate!) and struck up a fun conversation with a pretty, young woman who confessed that she’d just sold her first seven books that week. Another chin-dropping moment.

The woman’s name was Jill Shalvis. I think she’s still writing books and selling them. LOL

Part of the excitement of every OCC birthday party is the raffle. I’ve never seen so many raffle baskets and fabulous prizes -- TV’s, Alpha-Smarts, iPods, DVD players, you name it, they’ve raffled it off. Plus critiques from published authors, vacations, you name it. It’s a really cool raffle. At that first meeting, I won two raffle baskets! I was hooked!


This year I hope I win the iPod. Wish me luck!

Are you a romance writer? Tell me about your RWA chapter. Are you a reader? Leave me a comment and I’ll send you a couple of Jill’s books!