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Today was the second day, and the one with the most stuff, on this weekend’s conference. For those playing catchup, I’m at the Annual Reader & Author Get Together, put together by Lori Foster and her fantastic group of volunteers. It’s been a tiring day, but also very fun and informative. Definitely a great start for my first conference. It’s smaller (but not TOO small, over 400 registered attendants!), but it’s also pretty relaxed, pretty fun, a laid-back atmosphere. For example…not really many (if any) business suits. I’m wearing black pants, black flats, a colorful tank top and a lightweight, summer cardigan over that. And I’m very comfortable. But lots of jeans and things, and those aren’t out of place either.

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We found some Divas (from the online community Romance Divas) in the morning, eating some breakfast. So of course, we had to snag a picture. Pictured here (from left to right) are Paige Tyler, Kaily Hart, me (tall one in the back), Maddy Barone, Keri Ford and Sasha Devlin. Note how we sort of just take over our area. We’re pretty cool like that. For breakfast, it was your simple continental affair. Bagels, toast, fruit, coffee, juice.  We ate, we chatted, we relaxed. Well, all but Keri, who claimed she needed “real food” for breakfast and had something in the hotel restaurant.

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Then I headed in for my first workshop. There were also author chats offered, and some agents and editors were doing pitches. My workshop was the one run by Jenn Stark about promotion, what works and what doesn’t. It was more interactive, which was good, and we got to see the results of the survey given the night before on what everyone liked and didn’t like, what worked and didn’t work as readers. This is something we all, as authors, want to know. Because the goal is never to annoy readers, only to make sure they know that we’re here so they can make their reading selections. So great knowledge. And Jenn was a really funny, personable presenter. In the next few days, I’ll post an actual post dedicated to what I learned with this workshop. HERE is the link to my notes from the promo workshop. Click to read! Very interesting stuff.

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Then I was able to sit in on a Q&A with Sue Grimshaw. That was pretty awesome, actually. I’ve heard amazing things about Sue, but having never been to a conference before, clearly I’d never met her in person. She was wonderful, very open about her thoughts on her new job, the publishing business as a whole, and what she would tell authors to do if it were up to her. So that was very nice. Lovely lady. And just like the other workshop, I’ll post what I learned in the next day or two, and come back here to post the link.

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After that, there were Author Q&As, but I was tired. I headed back to the ballroom and sort of hung out with Jess Granger and Stephanie Julian. Aww, so sweet, those two ladies. Stephanie actually shares all three publishers with me (Ellora’s Cave, Carina and Sourcebooks). So we talked about that a little. And then it was lunch (buffet style) and the signing. I managed to snag autographs from Lori Foster, Toni Blake and Judi Fennel, who I am also sharing a publisher with in Sourcebooks. Another great lady. She was so sweet, in my book she wrote “Welcome to the family.” How cool is she?

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Then it was time for some group pictures. I included those below as well as labels. Hell, I can’t get everyone’s names right, so if you want to comment in here on who you are (or who you know is in here) along with what you/they are wearing, that would be extra appreciated!

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After that was dinner, which was also buffet style. We hung out, we had some laughs, and Kaily and I plotted a new contest coming up on Passionate Reads. During this time, they were finishing up the raffles. Kaily won something…I forgot what. haha Keri won a bag full of spa things. And after joking the whole time that I never win anything like this (because I don’t!) … I, of course, won something. A basket full of lovely reading material from Turquoise Morning Press. There are seriously 18 books in here, along with a cute journal, some towel clips, and a tshirt and beach towel. Thank goodness I’m driving, because this sucker would never have made it on the plane! Thanks Turquoise Morning Press!

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And then it was off to the bar, where Keri and I hung out a little more, along with others. Keri managed to get herself wedged into a booth and it would have been difficult to get out. But someone just HAD to hit the bathroom. So she limboed, literally, out from under the table. This picture of her is not upside down. She, instead of crawling, did the limbo under the table. And this is what it looks like from my side of the table.

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And of course, here are the group photos. As I said before, go ahead and let me know in the comments section if you recognize people!

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These are the Ellora’s Cave authors. I know that we’ve got Kaily Hart, myself, Sasha Devlin, Paige Tyler, Stephanie Julian, and…help me out, guys!

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Divas from the online writing community, Romance Divas. So many of us, go ahead and help me out!

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Be on the look out the next few days for the notes from the promo workshop and also the Q&A with Sue Grimshaw. Good info. And I hope, if you weren’t able to come, you’re getting a little something out of these blog posts. Because I love knowing what’s going on at conferences!

So here we are on Day 1 of the Reader & Author Get Together. The drive here wasn’t too bad at all, only two hours. That’s not two hours from my home, but I had to leave the Tot somewhere. So I drove last week to my parents’ house, and then on Thursday I headed to the hotel in Cincinnati. The actual town the hotel is in (West Chester) is pretty decent, nice little area. First I’ll give you the lowdown on what went on, and then I can go ahead and post a few pictures!

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Registration was easy, just giving them both my pen name (which is on my name tag) and my real name, they handed me my tag, my goodie bag (more on that later, maybe tomorrow) and a raffle ticket. Sasha Devlin, Keri Ford (both pictured to the left), Kaily Hart and I meandered a little and found a table. We sat, we chatted, we waited and then at 6pm Lori took the mic and announced a few things, including introducing the special guests (editors and agents taking pitches) and the volunteers.

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Then it was time for pizza, provided by Liquid Silver. And a huge cake that a few people (volunteers I think?) brought, celebrating the fact that Lori Foster has been a published author for 15 years. So it was an “anniversary cake.” Pretty cute. Some people took off to do dinner elsewhere. And others had editor/agent pitches tonight. But Kaily, Sasha and I stayed and ate pizza. We hung out, checked out the baskets that were there for a raffle. Keri Ford and I actually put one together between the two of us. It’s over there to the right. It includes Keri’s book (Volume 1 of the Apple Trail series), actual apples, some sodas, a thumb drive with all my books, mason jars and apple tea.

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There were lifesize cut-outs of Lori Foster’s newest three heroes, the men who walk the edge of honor. You could get your pic taken with them. I managed to snag a picture of Lori herself standing with “her boys.” Then they started up some games. There was something like musical chairs…except they read excerpts from books instead of playing music. And then there was also Pin The Post-It On The … Dog Tag. (You totally thought I was about to say something dirty, weren’t you? haha) They brought over one of the cutouts that had visible dog tags and you were blindfolded and had to find the tags. That was amusing. Somehow a lot of post it notes ended up a little close to crotch level…

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Sasha, Kaily and I headed to the bar afterward. (See myself and Kaily pictured to the right. Not my best photo ever…but Kaily looks great!) We talked with a few people, I had a delicious raspberry daiquiri, and we just relaxed a bit. And then we headed up to our rooms, where I am now writing this blog post.

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So far, it’s been fun. But tonight wasn’t really the meat of the conference. Tomorrow (Saturday) is going to be the big day. There are workshops, there are “author Q&A” sessions, and there’s the book signing, which I’m really looking forward to. Following are a few more photos of the day. More to come later. Check back for day 2 and photos and more of what I experienced at the Get Together!

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Here’s Keri putting together our basket before we went down for the registration. We had quite a bit of amusement on how to wrap the whole thing up. And wow, there were some unbelievable, awesome baskets donated this year!

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Here’s one of myself and Sasha before I got ready. She’s all cute and made up, and I don’t even have makeup on! But she looks so cute, I couldn’t not share it.

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Here’s something cool. My first signature! And it’s on a tote bag, of all things. haha Someone from Author Island is using the tote bags as give aways, and she asked all authors to sign it. So I signed several tote bags (along with the other authors at my table). My first signature! (Of course, since I took the pic, that’s not me doing the signing. That’s Keri. But my signature is in the blue-green pen. )

In a few days I’ll be heading to Ohio for the Annual Reader & Author Get Together sponsored by Lori Foster. This is my first conference as a professional writer. Nerves and excitement are warring in me, but overall I’m just thrilled with the opportunity to meet some people that I have known online in the writing communities for awhile now. Plus, the days without being a wife or a mother will be a great break for my mental health!

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I am hoping to blog and tweet about the event as it goes along. Whether I am able to actually blog and tweet during the workshops or if I wait until the night to blog about how the day went, that remains to be seen. But if you would like pretty timely updates on how the Get Together is going, how I’m enjoying things, or seeing some pictures that I end up taking, make sure that you are following me on twitter at @authorKJReed and that you have subscribed to my blog so you get quick updates!

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And if you’re within the Cincinnati, OH area, it is so worth it to come for the book signing. Authors such as Lori Foster, Toni Blake, Kate Douglas, Nalini Singh, Shiloh Walker and SO many more are going to be there signing books, talking with fans, and mingling. That’s at 2pm on Saturday, June 4th. Come on over to the Cincinnati Marriott North on Mulhauser Road, get a book or two signed, and talk with some authors. How much better of a Saturday can you get?

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And if you can’t get there, then just follow me! I’ll lead you through the conference as best I can.

Uh, no. Not the Adam Sandler version. No, no, no. How about this though? I wonder if the water hits his skin and then just sizzles… I should probably note…I had to crop this picture. Yeah. You can guess where it got cropped. Don’t hate me.

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I’m always on the hunt for finger-foods, no utensils required. With a toddler who hates using a fork or spoon (correctly, anyway…), finding food that isn’t messy but is new and interesting can be a big challenge. So when I saw these Italian Parmesan corncakes on the Weelicious blog, I thought, Perfect! She loves eating pancakes with her hands (no syrup or butter) so maybe she’d like these for something a little different. And the other great thing was, everything for the recipe I already had in my kitchen, except for actual cornmeal. But that’s cheap and easy to find, so no huge problem there.

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Just so you know, for the full recipe and a much nicer picture of the finished product, head on over HERE and check it out, along with a ton of other great recipes that are kid-friendly. (I am giving a photo of the finished product too, but my photography leaves something to be desired. haha) I’m going to basically give you my play-by-play here, along with pictures from the actual process.

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We started with 1 cup cornmeal, 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon baking powder. Mix those all together in a decent-sized bowl. Then in a second bowl, beat together 1 large egg, 3/4 cup milk and 2 tablespoons oil.

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Mix the dry and wet ingredients together. It’ll be thicker than pancake mix, more grainy looking. That’s okay. Then let them rest for 10 minutes. I’m not sure why, but it has something to do with the texture. I know my cornmuffin recipe says to do the same thing for crunchy tops. But the science is lost on me. Whatever, I do it anyway. haha

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KJ Note: These 10 minutes are a good time to wash your measuring spoons and whatever else you used to create the batter. I’m one of those people who can make one dish, but my kitchen looks like I fed an army afterward because I forget to clean. Honestly, you’ll thank me for this later. Take the time during these 10 minutes and wash what you can.

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Back to the recipe. After it’s rested, heat your skillet or frying pan. Whatever you use to make pancakes with, if you ask me. The official Weelicious recipe says to oil your pan or skillet, but here’s my thing…if you don’t oil it for pancakes, then don’t oil it now. Is it hot? Good. Pour one tablespoon of batter onto the skillet for each corncake. Doesn’t seem like much, but it’s enough.

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KJ Note: For me, the batter was a little thick. So what I did was after pouring the tablespoon onto the pan, I sort of used the spoon to smooth it out a little until it was a tad flatter, and circular. It’s not in the recipe, but it helped after the first one, make them a little flatter and cook through easier. You can see above there, that’s an un-smoothed cake before I flattened it a tad. It looks sort of like an uncooked oatmeal raisin cookie. Smooth it. Promise.

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Again with the official recipe. Cook them for about two minutes each side, or until they’re golden brown. Just like pancakes. No real science or surprise here. She suggests serving them with marinara sauce on the side for dipping, and I can see where that would compliment the Italian Parmesan flavoring. But for Tot, she just went to town on the finished product. No dipping required! There she is a the bottom, watching her new all-time favorite thing ever: Tangled. Which she calls ‘Punzel. “Watchin’ Punzel mama?” Daily. This movie has been out a month, and I’ve already got it memorized. Thanks Disney.

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Oh, I should probably mention…I’ve got a release coming out today! Strike a Chord is an epilogue to my first release, Songbirds. It stands alone as a Naughty Nooner short story, but if you read Songbirds and you liked it and want to see what Ava, Cross and Knight are up to now, check it out! Click on the cover for more info.

Animal Kingdom!

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Wait, huh? Oh, right. The Derby, not the blog contest. Yes, I know that my blog reaches all kinds of people, but the equine variety is another story. Animal Kingdom was a long-shot for the Derby, especially since he changed jockeys last minute! But he managed to take the Derby, leaving everyone with the reminder that on game day, it’s anyone’s race.

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Huh. That was almost insightful for me. I should quite while I’m ahead.

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Now, for something a little more close to home. The blog entry! Oh, there were some awesome suggestions for what you would name your racehorse…if you had a bajillion bucks to buy one. (Seriously, did anyone actually listen to hear how much each one of those horses were truly worth? You could buy Subway franchise for less.)

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But the winner of this contest happens to be ….. (are you imagining a drumroll in your head? You should be…) Jessica B! Her answer of How’s The View really gave me a giggle, though her actual win was simply a luck of the draw. But everyone had fantastic answers. Thanks for stopping by to play, and Jess, check your email in the next few days.

It’s the Kentucky Derby today, and I’m super excited! My mother was practically born and raised on a horse, and I’ve had a love of riding since she first put me up in the saddle at 6 months old. (Uh, with help, of course!) Sadly, I’ve gotten away from riding but the love of the animal still reigns.

I watched Seabiscuit and Secretariat this last week to get me in the mood. And I wore a big floppy hat around Target in celebration. (Okay, not really.) But I do love watching the fashions that emerge. They seem slightly more subdued than what we saw at the royal wedding…cause wow… Thank God for that.

I also LOVE the names that owners give their horses. Let’s face it, the rules of naming a horse are actually a little more strict than you’d think. Sure, you can just call it Bob when you’re at home in the stables. But to register the name with the Jockey Club, it has to fit certain criteria. The most famous one being that the name must be shorter than 18 characters. Other rules include no deceased celebrities or people’s names (without written permission), no trademarked or copyrighted material, and no vulgar and/or obscene names.

The last one, let’s face it, is a little bit of a bummer. But hey, just for giggles, what would YOU name your racehorse? Let’s ignore the last, “vulgar” rule and stick with the rules of: 18 or less letters, no brand names or trademarks, and no celebrities or notorious people’s names. Oh, and no stealing names from horses currently entered in this year’s Derby! Names may be as short as you wish.

All those who leave a comment by 11:59pm Eastern time with their fictional horse’s name will be in the drawing for all 4 of my books! Songbirds, Text Me, Faithful to a Fault, and my newest release, Strike a Chord!

So come on, hit me with your best racehorse name!

Why would an author use a pen name? It’s a question I get asked a lot, actually. So I answered with a few reasons (some mine, some other authors) for why an author might be using a pen name. CLICK HERE to read the blog post and watch a funny video as well.

Today’s guest blogger is Keri Ford. She’s come to talk about the inspiration behind the big dumb mutt in her new release, In The Hay. The dog behind the fictional dog? Mine! My own moronic-but-always-well-meaning dog was who she modeled the pup after. Let’s see what made her choose this furry fellow over another.

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This is Clyde.

Adorable, isn’t he? I think so. The very proud owner of Clyde is my critique partner, KJ Reed. (KJ Note: Proud? Right. Sure. Proud…) KJ graciously let me put her dog in my latest release,  In The Hay.  I think maybe she was hoping I’d take him home with me for a few weeks for research. (KJ: Few weeks, few months, forever…whatever.)

How could you not just LOVE this guy?? Seriously KJ. 24-7 adorable lovable guy, right there. I can’t imagine being angry with this fellow. So what if he ate your whole plate of M&M Cookies when you were out of the room. (How about the time he got ahold of some paper towel from his cage and ripped it to shreds?)

Look. At. Those. Eyes. So easy to forgive when he drank your hot chocolate OUT of your mug this past winter. (I happen to love hot cocoa. And it was the last packet I had in the house.)

And sure, I get that when your Marine husband is away on duty, you all but have to medicate the poor guy for depression…but look at him…. (Anxiety causes him to do very stupid things at very inappropriate times. Like, all the time. I mean, just look at him. He’s…well, just look at him.)

Loveable cuteness. You are one lucky woman and thank you so much for letting me borrow you dog for my story. I think Nicolette found him … just as charming at times as you do. (Charming. Annoying. They’re the same thing, right?)

Anyone have any pets? If you could have any one pet in the world, what would you have? (Please! Take mine!)

Very cool stuff. My fourth contract with Ellora’s Cave has just been signed. This one, Strike a Chord, is revisiting the three main characters from Songbirds, my first-ever EC book. It’s showing them a year later, how life is now for them and if they’re still one happy threesome.

It’s going to be a Naughty Nooner, which means it’s a short little delicious snack for readers. Just a quick peek to check in on Cross, Ava and Knight. But I had several people asking me if these three were going to span the test of time. Hopefully I can shed some light on that with this story.

No release date that I know of. Likely sometime this summer. That just depends on how things are with my editor and Ellora’s Cave itself. But I’m very excited about this new story and hope everyone likes it!

I’m currently working on Brice and Mary Ellen’s journey. We first met Brice and Mary Ellen in Text Me, my second book, got another sample of them in Faithful to a Fault. And now, they finally get their story in a currently untitled novella of their very own. These two were ones I’ve been asked about the absolute most. And I had intended on showcasing their relationship from the start. I’ve just had some bumps along the way, so it’ll take awhile to get to them. But I’m so excited for their story to be out there as well. Here’s hoping I can finish their book sooner rather than later!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

KJ