I found out Friday afternoon that my story, “Naughty or Nice” in the Under the Covers anthology is a finalist in the National Readers Choice Award. Woot!

Even cooler? I had a few friends final in other categories, which means we could all win and I wouldn’t have to feel bad because another friend lost. So, let’s hear it for my friend sweep of the contest!

Patti O’Shea for Edge of Dawn in the Paranormal category.

Gemma Halliday for Scandal Sheet in the Mainstream with Romantic Elements category.

Victoria Dahl for Talk Me Down in the Single Title category.

Sabrina Darby is up for Best First Book with her story “Roses are Rogue,” which I think is a novella in her On These Silken Sheets anthology.

Sooo much to do before RT. I have a huge to-do list. Pack this, make this, print this, shop for this, order this, ship this.

I’m totally ready for a vacation. Who’s with me?

Yeah, yeah. I know it’s technically past hump day this week. Do I care? Nope, not a jot. Why? Because when something is this pretty, it needs to be shared with the world, that’s why.

I give you Mischa Collins aka the angel Castiel from Supernatural (which is on tonight).

It’s more complicated than you might expect. I’m not doing the costumes for the parties because that’s just not my cup of tea, but the rest of the Smutketeers are total costume hussies, so I’ll be the regular chick in all their pics. Should be entertaining.

However, the Smutketeers are doing another steampunk photo shoot this year, as an update to the one last year. Secretly, I think the other Smuts were a) thrilled to be able to do another costume, and b) thrilled I was going to play along and dress up with them. Easy to please, that lot. When it comes to costumes anyway.

So…my preliminary costume has this skirt I love and the most beeeeautiful corset of all time. Lemme see if I can find some example pics.

The corset:

The skirt (and corset from the back):

Copy edits for Primal Heat are done and in the mail. I repeat, copy edits for Primal Heat are in the mail. Yes!

And I’m going to go curl up in a little ball and sleep now. I’m spent!

Totally worth it for this cover, though! Preeeeeettty! *pets*

Yeah, yeah…I know the conference was over a week ago. I’m slow, what can I say? However, I give you the awesomeness that is the romance scholars at the Poplar Culture Conference. I went and got my scholar on for a few days and since I am never without my camera (hey, you never know when a Kodak Moment will pop up. Best to be prepared) there were of course many pictures.

The first night of PCA was just the small-ish group of us that have been getting together for a few years. So I went around the table and took pics. First up, (going left to right on all the pics) we have Angela Toscano and An Goris, two fabulously smart and funny women.

Then we have Eric Selinger, Jessica Miller, and Jayashree Kamble. Jessica reviews books and is all about ethics. She rocks. Eric and Jayashree presented the next day on Bollywood. They kicked off the awesomeness that was our Romance Area this year. They set the bar high…woot!

Then there’s Jayashree’s friend and I feel terrible that I’ve forgotten her name. Next to her is Tessa Kostelc, who studies food culture and applies it to Nora Roberts’s books. She’s all kinds of delightful. I wish you could all meet her. Then comes Angela’s mom, Margaret. And finally we have Sarah Frantz, Eric’s critique partner in crime. She was one of the ringleaders of the romance scholars this year, so kudos to her for a job well done!

Of course, I took a trip to the arch. Because I was in St. Louis. Duh. Didn’t this pic turn out cool, though? I loved it!

Sela Carsen drove a bunch of us over to the arch. I miss her already!

There were a bunch more pics, but I don’t want to overload everyone. Sabrina Darby presented there with her sister, and they were super sweet! Jeannie Lin and Amanda Berry also came and presented on a panel with Sela and me, but alas, I forgot to get a group shot of just us. Blonde moments, I has them. Overall, it was a great conference and a fun trip. Glad to be home though and gearing up for RT!

Copy edits have landed on my doorstep for my November book, Primal Heat. I forgot how long and intense this book is. Time to strap in an get it done, but it’s going to take a few days. Then I’m heading out of town for a conference, where I will also get to see my grandparents and M’s parents. I love getting visitation time in when I have to travel for work. Makes it all shiny and awesome.

Anywho, all that means it’s going to be quiet on the blog until I resurface on Sunday.

Something to keep you entertained while I’m away!

I’m over on Shelley Munro’s blog today giving out a tip for writers. She’s got a bunch of them from lots of different authors going right now. Check them all out!