Archive for category conventions

five things on friday: BEA and Save the Date

Jun 7

Posted by kate in conventions, five things, interviews, promo events, save the date, What There Is | 2 Comments

Weekly wrap-up!

1. Save the Date came out on Tuesday! It is now available at most ebook retailers. *dances*

2. It’s Kate McMurray Week at the Armchair Reader. Cole has bravely embarked on the task of reading my entire backlist. We also did an interview that was posted yesterday. Follow the link to all of the posts and leave a comment on the interview to win a copy of the book.

3. Other places I have been this week:

• I wrote a post for the All Romance eBooks cafe blog for Pride Month
• I guest-posted at Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Tea House.
• Today I’m at Flirty Author Bitches.

*The last two are stops on the Big Gay Wedding tour. Leave a comment at either to be entered to win a copy of Save the Date.

4. I missed posting last Friday because I was at Book Expo America. It was an interesting experience. Plenty of people have wrapped it up better than me, but I can tell you what I did there, which was a) sweat a lot because, as a friend of mine said, it was hot as balls outside; b) gave away a ton of books at the Dreamspinner booth; c) got some really amazing books and ARCs from around the exhibition hall; d) made some good editorial contacts; e) hung out with some awesome people; f) fangirled on some authors; g) saw celebrities, including Chelsea Handler, Julianne Moore, and Grumpy Cat.

5. I’m currently working on edits for What There Is, a short novella coming out this summer. It started out as a baseball story, but it ended up being about a former baseball player who wants to find something else to do with his life. It’s been a little bit of a struggle because I’ve been out for the count with a nasty cold most of the week, but I’m feeling much better today so I can concentrate on these edits. I saw a cover mock up yesterday and it’s gorgeous.

And that’s a wrap for this week. See you next week!

five things on friday: lots of news!

May 24

Posted by kate in conventions, five things, new york, rainbow romance writers, the stars that tremble | No Comments

I saw these gorgeous pink flowers yesterday. Hooray spring!

I saw these gorgeous pink flowers yesterday. Hooray spring!

Lots of things to report in the weekly wrap-up post!

1. I’m trying to get the word out that there’s still time to register for the GayRomLit Writers Workshop if you have not done so yet, but you only have until July 15th. It takes place the Wednesday before GRL and is a separate event, so make sure you register if you want to go. If you need an extra incentive, the preliminary schedule has been posted to the GRL website so you can get an idea for what you’re in for. I think this is a fantastic lineup and I’m really psyched for it. There’s something here for everyone, too, from the aspiring to the established author.

2. Ink is drying on the contract for my next novel, the book I’ve mentioned before that is a romance between an opera singer and construction worker called The Stars that Tremble. It’ll be out in the fall (hopefully in time for GRL *fingers crossed*).

3. Book Expo America is next week. I’ll be there on Thursday and Friday—if you will be there also, I want to know! Maybe we can wave at each other across the vast expanse of the exhibition hall!

4. The TV show White Collar has been filming in my neighborhood, much to the consternation of anyone who needs to navigate 8th Avenue in Brooklyn because they keep closing off streets, but I don’t even care because I walked past Matt Bomer on my evening commute Thursday, and that, my friends, made my week. Dear Lord, that is a beautiful man. (I was too awestruck to get a photo. Next time!)

5. You may have heard about the wave of anti-gay violence in New York City. Monday night, I was in the West Village for a book club meeting, and I saw part of the neighborhood rally against the violence. I’m appalled by these crimes—I think there have been 7 incidents just this month, including one man who was shot and killed—but it’s amazing to see people in Chelsea and the West Village come together. Still, it’s alarming; the crimes are seemingly random and unconnected, maybe not a reaction to anything specific so much as a coincidence. I’ve lived in New York in an era when it is one of the safest large cities in the country, and it’s so easy to forget that it’s still a city where crime and violence are not exactly anathema. Although, I also read an articule today that argued that it’s not so much an increase in anti-gay crime in the city as it is an increase in reporting.

BONUS! If you like Regency romances, I just read A Lady Awakened by Cecelia Grant and I loved it so, so much. (It’s not m/m, no, but it’s such a great book.) It’s so refreshingly different from every Regency you’ve read before, with a cold heroine who must be thawed and a flawed hero who has to grow up, and together they fumble their way through their specific purposes—hers to keep her estate, his to learn how to manage his land—and end up together, and it’s fantastic.

five things about RT

May 10

Posted by kate in conventions, five things | No Comments

Me at the RT Giant Book Fair (photo by Elizabeth North)

Me at the RT Giant Book Fair (photo by Elizabeth North)

Since I’m still buzzing from RT, I thought for my weekly wrap-up post this week, I’d just talk about 5 random things I saw/did at the convention. May this serve as your enticement to attend next year.

1. Heidi Cullinan dressed as Mitch from Special Delivery and was a QUITE CONVINCING dude. Like, I knew in advance that she was going to do the drag, and then I went to the Romance Pride party, where there was this rando standing outside the door, and it took me a minute or two to realize it was Heidi. (She posted some photos.)

2. So many books. SO MANY BOOKS. I won a bag of books at Cinema Craptastique my first night there and only kept the books from it I thought I’d actually read, but just by virtue of being at the con, 10 books (excluding my own books) made their way into my luggage, and I shipped another 6–8. (The box of stuff I shipped home arrived yesterday, but I’m kind of afraid to open it.) I did not purchase a single book, it should be noted.

3. This year’s RT featured the first ever m/m panel, although frankly, I am all for the integration of all romance, so I kind of hope it’s the last m/m panel. I’d like to see gay romance authors on many kinds of panels next year. (Here’s why: when Tara Lain asked the audience at the m/m panel who had not read an m/m novel, only maybe 2 people raised their hands, so I think the panel was mostly preaching to the choir. But we want new readers, no?)

I mean, sure, at the Giant Book Fair on Saturday, I did get the stink-eye from one reader who asked what I wrote, but everyone else was at least open to hearing about my books. There was a ton of enthusiasm for gay romance, actually, particularly at the book fairs. I sold a lot of books at the Thursday ebook expo (more than I was expecting) almost entirely based on the covers snagging people’s attention as they walked by, and some of my books have unambiguously male/male covers.

There was a great group of gay romance writers who did attend, so we made a good showing. There were at least 15 gay romance writers there that I can think of off the top of my head, probably more like 20.

And authors, don’t underestimate the power of just being friendly and respectful at a con. It goes a long way. I met some really cool people there and also got to meet some people I’ve only corresponded with online, and that was really fun.

4. I rode the elevators with some very famous authors, which was kind of surreal. I had been warned that whole book deals go down in the elevators. Cherry Adair complimented my shoes when we wound up in an elevator together, and that was awesome. I was staying on the 25th floor, so all journeys to my room were long and involved a lot of elevator-related shenanigans (I joked on Twitter that the elevators deserved their own Twitter account based on how quirky they were). At a place where romance authors are treated like rock stars (AS THEY SHOULD BE) sometimes, you wind up sitting in the lobby next to EL James or Jude Devereaux and sometimes you get so starstruck you start shaking as you meet one of your idols (not that this happened to me *shifty eyes*).

I mean, just as a longtime romance reader, RT was great. Like Romance Disney Land.

5. I didn’t go to as many panels as I thought I would—there was so much on my agenda that I just didn’t make it to—but the most informative panel I went to was on diversity in romance, led by Suleikha Snyder, Jeannie Lin, Shawtelle Madison, and Mina Khan. A lively discussion with the audience ensued in which we talked about how people of color are (under)represented in romance and how authors can get it right. The gist was to write characters first.

So, I had a good time at RT. Can you tell?

—

On the flight home, I read an entire Sabrina Jeffries novel (one that I got in one of the, like, 5 gift bags I was handed throughout the week) that I enjoyed. Fluffy Regency romances are my crack, basically. I love them. I read them when I’m feeling blue. I tend to glom on them, reading 5 or 6 in a row. I want to write a gay Regency one of these days.

I had been sort of wondering about the state of historical romance, since I’ve seen fewer of them reviewed lately (but no shortage of them published, it seems) and I got the impression at the Giant Book Fair at RT that the contemporary erotic romance authors (Sylvia Day, for example) were much bigger draws than the five big-name historical writers who were sitting across the aisle from me (Jeffries included). Then there was that post on Dear Author earlier this week, calling for the whole sub-genre to die. To which I said, “No! You will have to take my Regencies from my cold, dead hands!” (I finished the new Sarah MacLean book last night, and it was GOOD.) But I love historicals. I’d love to see more with different settings and different kinds of characters. (I’m working on a gay historical right now, in fact!) I get the point about there being kind of a sameyness to the books coming out now, but I think you could say that about any sub-genre. (Do we REALLY need more post-apocalyptic YA?)

Look, read what you want. If you don’t like Regencies, that’s fine, as long as there are plenty for me to read. And I got a bunch from RT, so neener.

Next up on my agenda: BEA!

I survived RT!

May 6

Posted by kate in conventions | No Comments

Actually, the whole thing was awesome. I will hopefully have more to say on Friday when I’m better rested (although I have deadlines this week, so that may be a pipe dream) but I did have a great time and I met some great people, and I laughed more this week than I have in a long time. There are a lot of romance fans and authors that I just adore and it was a pleasure to spend time with some of you last week. I am giddy with excitement for next year’s RT in New Orleans.

But a few things:

1. I was struck by the role of social media in an environment in which you are basically interacting face-to-face with people you would only see online (or in your dreams) otherwise. Because there was a lot of chatter on Twitter and Facebook through the whole thing.

2. Guys, I signed books at an event in which some of the best romance writers on the planet were also signing books, I had FANS come to my table specifically to see me and not just by accident, and I am humbled that such a thing happened. I mean, Laura Kinsale, you guys. I got to tell Laura Kinsale that Flowers from the Storm is my favorite historical romance of all time ever, and she was totally sweet in the face of all my gushing.

3. I mean, the big name romance writers are treated like rock stars at a convention like RT, and that is AS IT SHOULD BE.

4. Thanks to Mary G. for this very nice shout out in the RT coverage for the USA Today HEA blog.

That’s all I got for now; a week like that will wipe you out, and I was up late last night because I was still so wired, so I’m tired today. I will have more things to say in my weekly Five Things post on Friday, or sooner maybe. But yeah, it was really great. Also great, did I say great? (Synonyms. Hard to come up with when you’re down to your last couple of awake brain cells.)

five things: RT preview

Apr 26

Posted by kate in conventions, five things, vanity, WIP | No Comments

Weekly wrap-up!

1. RT is next week! I’m excited and also a little nervous and there’s still a lot to do to get ready! If you will also be there, I should be easily locatable if you want to say hi. Here’s where I will be for sure:

• Cinema Craptastique Tuesday night: We’re watching a movie I’ve never seen called The Covenant, which I’m told is pretty worthless except for the abundance of homoeroticism and pretty boys. A bunch of authors will be there tweeting about the movie; even if you are not there, you can follow along with the Twitter hashtag #RTmovieslam.

• I’m doing both signing events:
a. Thursday eBook Expo: I got some little cards made up with a QR code that goes to my author page at All Romance eBooks and I’ll have some paper books for sale as well. Even if you won’t be there, I believe the ARe promotions will be available to everyone, so keep an eye on the site. I will try to remember to Tweet about that.
b. Giant Book Fair: I got a spot at the last minute, so I will try not to get lost among the 400-some other authors. :) I’ll have books for sale.

• I’ll be at the Romance Pride party with bells on.

• I’m doing the FAN-tastic author thingie Saturday. I’m not totally sure what that entails, but there will be prizes and giveaways. I’m in the 7:15 session.

• Confidential to RRW members: we’re meeting Wednesday night and details are on the chapter website.

I also made a list of all the workshops and spotlights and things I want to attend. There’s one on m/m I think on Friday. So I think it will be good.

I’ll try to remember to Tweet my whereabouts, although no promises because I tend to space out about Twitter being a thing at conventions. If you aren’t already following me, my Twitter handle is @katemcmwriter.

2. I am OBSESSING about what to wear. Like, I think for the sake of not carrying seventeen bags to Kansas City, I’m going to have to start narrowing down my costume changes. And shoes, I own so many pairs of shoes. I love excuses to dress up, I’ll be honest. I’m not so much for costumes, so I probably won’t be looking too whacky, but I do love fashion, and, I mean, how many excuses will I have to wear my brand new electric blue Steve Madden pumps?

Who's a pretty, pretty princess?

Who’s a pretty, pretty princess?

3. What else is going on? Well, I bought a new sofa on Sunday, which is probably only significant to me, but it was a Big Deal because I finally got to replace this old, ugly, hand-me-down futon in my living room. I splurged on some new throw pillows, too, which the cat immediately took advantage of. I call this her pretty princess pillow.

4. I’ve been working all week on a historical baseball story that will hopefully see the light of day this fall. If all goes to plan, I will finish the first draft of that this weekend.

5. I’m reading an Amish romance for my romance book club, which could be an interesting experience, although I may have to find the dirtiest, raunchiest book I can to counterbalance all this sweetness. I’ve never read an Amish romance before, so I’m looking forward to the book club discussion. I feel like it’s part of my romance education.

five things stand with boston

Apr 19

Posted by kate in conventions, five things, new york, save the date, What There Is | No Comments

Here’s my weekly wrap-up post for what ended up being a WEEK.

1. Storytime! When I was 19, my boyfriend at the time took me to Boston for New Years. He grew up in the Boston suburbs—though most of his family was from the city proper and had the accents to prove it—so he knew a lot of people in the area and we met up with a group of his friends. Boston does a First Night celebration with short concerts and comedy shows and that kind of thing all over the city in various venues. It gets crowded, so I think we spent more of that night waiting on line to get into theaters than we did actually watching entertainment. This was long enough ago that my memory is a little fuzzy, but I do remember running across Boston Common in the cold and getting lost down odd side streets trying to find a theater playing some jazz and stumbling into a diner late because we were cold and hungry. Toward the end of the night, we found a good spot to watch the fireworks, and at midnight, my boyfriend kissed me and told me he loved me, and that was the first time anyone had kissed me at midnight on New Years and really meant it.

I lived in Massachusetts for a while, but I’m a New Yorker at heart, and we New Yorkers derive a fair amount of pleasure from ragging on Boston. But when I heard the news on Monday about the bombing, one of the first things I remembered was that First Night in Boston and how magical it was. I’ve spent a lot of time in Boston over the years and that city holds a lot of great memories for me. I watched a lot of news coverage Monday night and couldn’t stop thinking about how things would change for Boston now, how the city was different, how this memory would now be embedded in one of my favorite Boston neighborhoods.

The last third of my upcoming novella Save the Date actually takes place in Boston.

Because, on that night when I was 19, what I didn’t know was that this man and I would spend the next decade either together or negotiating how to be together until we reached a crossroads and finally ended it. I didn’t know that, in the fall of 2012, I’d be getting an invitation to his wedding to another woman. I didn’t know a joke I made about that on a thing called Twitter would turn into this really silly novella about a guy whose ex gets married in Boston. All I knew that night when we kissed at midnight under the fireworks was that we were young and in love and had a whole future ahead of us. Even if the relationship didn’t work out, it’s still a fond memory.

So, I’m thinking about donating some of the proceeds from the sale of Save the Date to One Fund Boston or the Red Cross or something. I feel like that’s really the least I can do for a city that gave me a lot.

2. The bad news has kind of overshadowed the good, which was that I had a blast last weekend at the Rainbow Book Fair in New York. Heidi Cullinan and Ethan Day flew out for it, and we had locals Damon Suede and Tere Michaels at the table, too, and they are all great and I enjoyed myself immensely. The change in venue from last year didn’t seem to slow down traffic much. Well, it felt a little roomier than in past years to me, but people kept pointing out that the room was about the same size, so maybe I’m crazy. But that was a good day.

3. Save the Date second edits went back to my Loose Id editor last night. The pub date for that is June 4th! Also, I posted what I now see is an awkwardly-worded blurb for my next story after that, a short novella called What There Is, to my Upcoming page. A blurb for Save the Date is there, too. There will be updated blurbs and covers and things as I get them.

4. On Tuesday, I had dinner with a friend in the West Village. We ate at a place on Bleecker that serves a few dozen varieties of risotto, then we visited a new bakery that specializes in macarons (we had to check this place out… for science), and then on the walk back to the subway, we passed a little shop that only serves popsicles. I should open a cafe that only serves one thing. Ideas? Maybe a bakery that only makes whoopie pies?

5. Those of you who are attending GayRomLit may be delighted to know that there are still spots left in the writers workshop, which yours truly is now helping to coordinate in my capacity as VP of Rainbow Romance Writers. It’s shaping up to be a pretty cool event. A schedule will be posted to the website once we’ve confirmed and finalized everything.

So that’s all the news this week. Let’s hope next week is a lot less terrible.

five things: stop worrying people will think you’re crazy

Apr 12

Posted by kate in conventions, five things | No Comments

Weekly wrap-up!

1. Rainbow Book Fair tomorrow! (Holiday Inn Midtown on W. 57th Street, noon to 6pm!) I will be there with bells on. I should be at the Rainbow Romance Writers table most of the day.

2. Would you like to win a copy of Show and Tell? Of course you would. You can do so over at Elisa’s blog.

She looks all innocent, but is actually eeeevil.

She looks all innocent, but is actually eeeevil.

3. My cat caught another mouse yesterday morning and thought it might be a good idea to bring it to me while I lounged in bed. I disagreed with her, yelled, “NO NO NO NO!!” and then she dropped the mouse and it ran under my bed. Then the cat caught it again, again tried to bring it up to me in bed, again prompted me to scream a lot. (My roommate later told me that she heard me screaming, but said, “I just thought the cat was throwing up on your rug again.” So… yeah. The joys of cat ownership.) The mouse got away a second time. I have no idea where it got to. (Out of my bedroom, I hope.) The cat seems to be catching them in the pantry. (We store pots and pans in the pantry, not food, so I don’t know what the appeal to living there would be for a mouse, and yet.) I barricaded the pantry (well, I MacGuyvered a way to lock it closed so the cat can’t get back into it to terrorize more mice) so I hope this stops soon, but I’m going to be having nightmares about tiny mice crawling over me in my sleep for a while, so thanks, cat.

4. I’ve been reading The Artist’s Way, and there’s a bit toward the beginning in which Julia Cameron explains things we can do to stop getting in our own way creatively. One of the things she says is, “Stop worrying people will think you’re crazy.” And I thought, “Oh, man, yeah, that’s exactly it!” How often do we inhibit ourselves out of worry someone will think we’re nuts? I don’t know about you, but I do this kind of a lot. So, I’ve decided, my new mantra is Stop worrying people will think you’re crazy. I wrote it in all caps on the whiteboard over my desk. So look for more crazy in the future, I guess? (Actually, I’m mostly applying this to my self-esteem. Stop worrying people will judge me for writing romance, stop worrying people will judge me for writing m/m, stop worrying people will judge me for whatever. I’ll just own it and do what I want. Or something.)

5. I read the new Ty and Zane book this week. The ending, OMG. I’m hopping up and down for the next one. Anyone read anything good this week?

five things: moving right along

Mar 22

Posted by kate in conventions, five things, WIP, writing | No Comments

Another week over. Why are you speeding by so fast, 2013? Slow down!

Kate at LSFW1. I had a great time at the Liberty States Fiction Writers convention last weekend. (There’s a photo of me at the book fair.) The convention was fun and very well-organized, definitely worth the trip to New Jersey. Plus I got to hang out with some fabulous authors. (Because of the alphabet, I shared a little m/m corner of the book fair with Tere Michaels and K.A. Mitchell, who are both wonderful. And I’m definitely not just saying that!) I got to see and talk to and hang out with some old friends and I met some new people, and I’d list everyone but I’d probably space and forget someone, so suffice it to say it was good.

2. I attended a few really great workshops at LSFW. My favorite was one K.A. Mitchell did on writing characters that connect with your readers. This is something I already knew she did well, which is always a good thing in a workshop. She talked a lot about personality types and Enneagrams, which I didn’t have much familiarity with. (I bought a book on Enneagrams earlier this week to help me develop the characters in my current WIP, although it’s hard not to diagnose my friends. I’ve been following people around and being all like, “Well, clearly you’re an eight.” Um, sorry, friends.)

It’s inspiring to look at something in a different way. That’s an important takeaway from talking with other writers. A lot of people I’ve met in my travels have varied techniques for developing character, plot, and setting, and even though I don’t think all of them will work for me, I appreciate learning new ideas and techniques. The thing with writing, for me anyway, is that there’s always something new I can learn. Let’s hope I can apply some of this to the WIP.

3. So next up is RT. I’m pulling together everything for that now, including last-minute book and swag ordering. I’m a little intimidated by the size of this convention, but I’m excited, too. Although, actually, the Rainbow Book Fair in New York is the next thing on my public-appearance agenda, but that’s one day and doesn’t involve travel so it feels a little less overwhelming, I guess. That’s on April 13th.

4. In non-convention news, I’ve been busy with my day job and revising The Stars that Tremble. Both things are going well, but I’m having one of those weeks that has been so intense and busy that I am quite looking forward to being able to sleep in Saturday.

5. And it’s still winter. Boo. There were snow flurries in New Jersey on Saturday. It snowed here in Brooklyn earlier this week. There were snow flurries today. Um, hullo, universe? It’s spring now. Catch up.

five things on friday

Mar 15

Posted by kate in conventions, five things, the stars that tremble | 1 Comment

Wrap it up, week!

1. I leave in a few hours for the wilds of New Jersey for the Liberty States Fiction Writers conference. If you’re in the area, the book fair Saturday evening is open to the public. I’m excited; I’ve heard from past attendees that it’s a fun conference. And I’m really excited about the lineup of workshops and attending authors.

2. Speaking of conventions, I registered for GayRomLit last weekend. I’ll be attending as a featured author. I am super excited about that, too! I’m helping out a bit with the writers workshop, too, and I think that will be a really great event as well.

3. I finished a draft of my opera singer novel, tentatively titled The Stars that Tremble. I still need to write the epilogue and I have a lot of revision work to do, but the first draft is basically done, so woo!

4. I bought a lot of accessories this week; I guess I was feeling too plain. I now own a couple of pairs of sexy shoes and some funky new jewelry. These things make me happy.

5. I’m still reading a lot of nonfiction, but it’s all pretty good stuff. The problem I’m having right now is that I’m reading, like, five books at once and so not finishing any of them. (And then last Sunday, I had dinner at my brother’s place and borrowed another book. It’s a problem I have.)

five things on friday

Feb 22

Posted by kate in baseball, conventions, five things | No Comments

Weeekly wrap-up! It’s been sort of a slow-news week (personally) but let’s see if I can’t come up with five things to talk about.

I’ve had a lot of coffee today, so this might be a little silly. Also, I’m currently wearing unseasonable Santa socks, because they were clean. I have boots on, no one can tell! So now you know a secret. Shh.

Jock week1. I’ll be participating in Jock Week over at Joyfully Jay’s next week. There’s a huge book giveaway, so definitely go check it out. Here’s a preview. (I think my guest post goes up on Tuesday. I bet you can guess what sport I wrote about.)

2. Speaking of jocks, spring training has started! Baseball is coming! (It’s like “Winter is coming” except the opposite because it’s spring and there’s baseball!)

Hey, let’s get the 2009 World Series Champion New York Yankees to cheer!

The World Series Champion 2009 Yankees

3. If you saw my post on Tuesday, you may be happy to learn that I seem to have gotten past my writing slump/rut/whatever and have been giddily typing away at my WIP all week and it’s going well and makes me happy.

4. I’ve been bogged down with reading stuff that is not for fun, so while I finish that up, I’ve been buying books like they’re going out of style. (I should clarify, I’m judging a contest and am reading books for that contest, and some of them have been quite fun, so it’s not all misery here. Just, because of the sheer volume of stuff I have to read by a certain date, I’m not allowing myself to read purely for fun.) So, I saw a special on TV a couple of weeks ago on the historical origins of Robin Hood and then promptly bought a bunch of books on, like, Medieval European history and the British monarchy. Yes, these are things that I will read for fun! Also, scrolling though my Kindle, I see I also bought a book on sexuality in the Ancient World that looks pretty good as well as 3 m/m novels that I REALLY want to read. (I mean, lord save me from 1-click buying on Amazon, because I just sit there and am like, “Oh, sure, that looks good!” *click* So, yes, folks, a decent cut of my royalties gets recycled right back into the publishing industry. It’s like when I worked retail in college and, like, half of any paycheck would go right back into the store. Being around all those cute clothes all day was too much temptation.)

5. Now is as good a time as any to point you toward my events page, which I just updated since somehow I failed to include RWA in July. I’m still planning on GayRomLit; that will I hope be the capstone on a most excellent year.